Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. He loved her very much. In time, they had two children​—twin boys.

The older boy was called Esau, and the younger one, Jacob. Esau loved being outdoors, and he was good at hunting animals. But Jacob liked to stay at home.

In those days, the oldest son was given most of the land and money when his father died. That was called an inheritance. In Isaac’s family, the inheritance also included having a part in the promises that Jehovah had made to Abraham. Esau did not care much about those promises, but Jacob knew that they were very important.

One day Esau came home very tired from a long day of hunting. He smelled the good food Jacob was cooking and said: ‘I’m starving! Give me some of that red stew!’ Jacob said: ‘I will, but first promise me that I can have your inheritance.’ Esau said: ‘I don’t care about my inheritance! You can have it. I just want to eat.’ Do you think that was a wise thing for Esau to do? No, it wasn’t. Esau gave away something very precious, just for a bowl of stew.

When Isaac was very old, it was time to give a blessing to his oldest son. But Rebekah helped Jacob, the younger son, to get the blessing. When Esau found out, he was very angry and he planned to kill his twin brother. Isaac and Rebekah wanted to protect Jacob, so they told him: ‘Go and stay with your mother’s brother, Laban, until Esau calms down.’ Jacob listened to his parents’ advice and ran for his life.

Jehovah promised Jacob that he would protect him just as he had protected Abraham and Isaac. Jacob settled in a place called Haran, where he got married, had a big family, and became very rich.

Eventually Jehovah told Jacob: ‘Go back to your homeland.’ So Jacob and his family began the long trip back. On the road some people came to Jacob and said: ‘Your brother Esau is coming, and there are 400 men with him!’ Jacob was afraid that Esau wanted to hurt him and his family. He prayed to Jehovah: ‘Please save me from my brother.’ The next day Jacob sent Esau a gift of many sheep, goats, cows, camels, and donkeys.

That night while Jacob was alone, he saw an angel! The angel started wrestling with him. They wrestled until the morning. Even though Jacob got hurt, he would not give up. The angel said: ‘Let me go.’ But Jacob said: ‘No, not until you bless me.’

The angel finally blessed Jacob. Now Jacob knew that Jehovah wouldn’t let Esau hurt him.

That morning Jacob looked into the distance and saw Esau and the 400 men. Jacob went ahead of his family and bowed down before his brother seven times. Esau ran to Jacob and threw his arms around him. The two brothers burst into tears and made peace. How do you think Jehovah felt about the way that Jacob handled this situation?

Later Esau went back to his home, and Jacob went to his. Jacob had a total of 12 sons. Their names were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. One of those sons​—Joseph—​was used by Jehovah to save His people. Do you know how? Let’s find out.