1I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God didn’t reject his people, whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have broken down your altars. I am left alone, and they seek my life.” 4But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5Even so too at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. 8According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
9David says,
“Let their table be made a snare, a trap,
a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.
10Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see.
Always keep their backs bent.”
11I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. 12Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry, 14if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. 15For if the rejection of them is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead?
16If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches. 17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree, 18don’t boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you. 19You will say then, “Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.” 20True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don’t be conceited, but fear; 21for if God didn’t spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23They also, if they don’t continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, 26and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written,
“There will come out of Zion the Deliverer,
and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
27This is my covenant with them,
when I will take away their sins.”
28Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. 29For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, 31even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. 32For God has bound all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.
33Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
34“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35“Or who has first given to him,
and it will be repaid to him again?”
36For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.
Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, born immediately after Esau, and Abraham was his grandfather. He achieved the right of the firstborn by trickery, in offering his older brother, Esau, food in exchange for the birthright, who cared little for this position. He also received the blessing of firstborn from his father Jacob before his death by cunning, and with the assistance of his mother Rebekah.
After his deception of Esau, receiving the blessing from his father, Jacob escaped to his uncle Laban, who in turn deceived Jacob into working for fourteen years for the marriage of Jacob to Leah, and then his beloved Rachel. Laban also sought to deceive Jacob of wages, but God intervened to ensure he would prosper. In a time of trial, when he feared the wrath of Esau, upon returning to the land of Canaan, Jacob had an encounter with God, and his name was changed to Israel, the one who wrestles with God. Even though his early life was characterized by deception, God worked through the situation to ensure that Jacob would be the one in the line of the patriarchs, to create a great nation and ultimately fulfill His purposes in the earth, especially through the future Messiah. The Messiah would guarantee the promise of the land to Abram and a person who would rule over Abraham's descendants, but also He would bring blessings to all the people of the earth (Gen 12:1-3).
In spite of Jacob's early failure by deception, God worked through him, and finally, Jacob became a different type of man after his struggle with God. As one has said,
"Despite Jacob’s faults, God chose him to be the leader of a great nation that still bears his name today. But for this, it is unlikely that we would know much about Jacob, who appears to be in the middle of events while the key players are those around him. There is no great wisdom or bravery in Jacob to speak of, and we are tempted to see him as little more than God’s passive instrument. If we are tempted to think that, because we aren’t in the spotlight performing great acts for God, we are unimportant to Him, then we should consider the life of Jacob and know that, in spite of our failings, God can and will still use us in His plan."
For more on Jacob, see "Who was Jacob in the Bible?", https://www.gotquestions.org/life-Jacob.html