Reading Genesis as a literary text, I notice a change in one of the main characters. Jacob is a deceiver, he tricks Esau out of his birthright and steals his blessing; his name means "he grasps the heel" which could figuratively stand for "he deceives" (a note in my bible brought this to my attention). Even when working for Laban, Jacob breeds the lambs to favor his flock. Yet, these twenty long years of work might have taught Jacob something. First, Jacob has the desire to work honestly for Rachel; yet, he is still deceived by Laban. This way Jacob experiences deceit firsthand - and accepts it. He works another seven years for Rachel. The initial desire to honestly obtain Rachel, whom he highly values and loves, sparks a change from Jacob's deceiving ways. While Jacob does not entirely lose his original ability of deception, he is given a new name for his determination and honesty, which are tested when he wrestles with God. Jacob's new name, Israel, literally means "he struggles with God" and denotes righteousness to Jacob's new character.
P.S commented on Ashley Harding's post.
Sometimes it takes the worst of things to get our attention. Maybe Jacob needed to feel what it was like to be tricked and lied to in order to see that what he was doing was wrong.
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