After over two decades, Jacob is a much different man from the one who fled his home after cheating his brother. Toiling in his uncle’s fields and experiencing the humiliation of being cheated have matured him. When he has a falling out with his uncle, Jacob decides to move back home, where he will have to face Esau for the first time since Jacob cheated him.

In Jacob’s darkest time, God appears to him in a vision and promises that He will bless Jacob. However, the blessing does not arrive in an immediate cure-all form. On the run from his vengeful brother, Jacob seeks refuge in the territory of Laban, his uncle. Over the next two decades, Jacob toils for his uncle, steadily increasing the population of Laban’s flocks. In return for his labor, Laban cheats Jacob.

If the nation of Israel had a Mount Rushmore, Jacob’s face would almost certainly be carved there. Regularly mentioned alongside fellow founding fathers Abraham and Isaac, Jacob was an integral part in his country’s formation. But he did not start that way.