Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

and calamities,” referring to the many crises Jacob encountered during his lifetime. Jacob also had a twin brother, Esau, whom he tricked out of a birthright and a blessing (Gen. 27:36). Out of fear of retaliation, Jacob was sent by his mother into exile in Syria for twenty years, where he worked continually and had his wages changed ten times (Gen 31:7, 38). Jacob was blessed with a large family of twelve sons. His daughter, Dinah, was raped (Gen. 34:1–5), and his favorite wife, Rachel, died giving birth to their last son, Benjamin (Gen. 35:16–18). Later Jacob was deceived, thinking his favorite son, Joseph, was devoured by a wild animal (Gen. 37:32–34), and years later he had to survive a severe famine (Gen. 42). Jacob had endured years of distress, living on the run, and had become a gray-haired man full of sorrow, believing he would soon step into the grave filled with all his sorrow (Gen. 44:29–31). However, Jacob’s final years became his best days, spent in Egypt with Joseph, his two grandsons, and his own sons and their children, living in the fertile land of Goshen in Egypt. He was able to watch his sons and their children mature into a large family of seventy souls (Exod. 1:5). Prior to his death, Jacob is calling upon the angel of the Lord that redeemed him from evil to go with his grandchildren. T HE R EDEEMING A NGEL