This week’s reading: Genesis 29:1-30
Hi Friends,
After Jacob has to run away from home so that his brother, Esau’s temper can calm down, God Himself appears to Jacob for the first time. As we said last week, this has a deep impact on Jacob’s heart, and it almost seems like he is lighter on his feet as he continues his journey to his uncle’s house. We will read about God’s perfect timing today, as well as the lengths some people will go for the sake of true love. We will also see a clear indication of how sowing and reaping can be a very real thing, and how, if we have not sown good seeds, it can come back to bite us. We are in Genesis chapter 29 reading verse 1 until verse 30. Listen to how love can make all of life’s challenges seem like nothing at all:
“Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, ‘I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.’ Laban said, ‘It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.’ So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” Gen 29:16-20 NIV
God’s perfect timing. Jacob had lived a quiet life up until this point. He may have had a bit of an entitlement attitude since he knew the prophecy God had proclaimed over his life. Jacob knew God chose him to be the future leader of this family and would bring about the blessing promised to Abraham through Jacob. After tricking his brother, Esau, and lying to his father, Isaac, Jacob is given the title of firstborn, much to the disgust of Esau. To escape Esau’s rage, their mother, Rebekah, sends Jacob off to find a wife among her relatives. On his way, Jacob has an amazing encounter with God and now it seems like his heart is finally ready to be humble. I say all this to point to God’s perfect timing. God has a plan for each of our lives, yet only He knows when we are ready to enter into the center of that plan. Jacob needed to check his heart attitude and become meek if he was going to lead this family God’s Way. Had time and events not softened him, Jacob would not be the leader God desired him to be. And so God continues to work with what He is given. Yet God’s hands are never tied, of course. It is when Jacob is afraid for his life and runs away from home, and before he makes it to his uncle’s, Laban’s home, God literally shows up in Jacob’s life. That dream we briefly discussed last week was God placing a vision of a future that would come about through Jacob. That image of the stairway to Heaven is actually a picture of our Messiah, Jesus. (see Jn 1:47-51) When the Apostle Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus, he is amazed that Jesus knew his heart so intimately. I can almost hear Jesus laugh with joy as He tells them both, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that. I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (Jn 1:50-51) Jesus is our Bridge to Heaven. Later He says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6) Not only would the descendants of Jacob be a blessing to all on earth, but now more specifically, God was giving Jacob this promise, “The world’s Savior will come through you.” Do you see a little clearer why that dream was so incredible? Why it began to transform Jacob’s selfish heart? Jacob would have a hand in literally bringing Heaven to earth. This required Jacob be ready to follow God. This required Jacob’s heart to be humble. This required God’s perfect timing. We see this also when Jacob does get near Laban’s land. It “just so happens” as Jacob stops to talk to some shepherds sitting by a well, that Laban’s beautiful daughter, Rachel, comes with her father’s flock. See the timing here? Jacob takes one look at her and falls in love. Look back on your own life and see if you cannot discover a time when this happened to you: you wanted something for a while but could not find it, until it was God’s perfect timing. I know this is what happened to me when I found my husband. I was graduating from college and I really wanted to meet someone to settle down with. Through circumstances I won’t go into, boom, right then, God brought Joe into my life. We were married exactly two years after our first date. I am not sure what your heart longs for, but if your dream has not yet come to pass, won’t you decide today to trust God further. If you are still here and still breathing, God is not done with you yet. In the meantime, we must connect with God. We must allow Him to soften our hearts and make us more like Himself, humble. We must follow God’s lead wherever it takes us. Jacob initially was not aware of God’s real Presence in his life. God was just a theory to him. But as he steps out of his comfort zone, leaving home and going out into the unknown, God meets him, and his whole life is changed. God will do the same for you and me too. Choose to trust Him.
All for the sake of love. First, we will look at this story through the eyes of love. As I said above, God brings Rachel to Jacob at just the right time, and he falls in love with her. Rachel is a humble servant, a shepherdess, the Bible tells us. (Gen 29:9) This is a beautiful quality in a wife, is it not? And so Jacob makes his move. He begins by making himself useful to her, as he removes the stone from the well, and waters her flock. I have to pause a moment to point out the symbolism here. What Jacob does for Rachel is what God is doing for Jacob. God is removing the stone from Jacob’s heart so that he may have access to the Living Water God desires to pour into him, so that God’s Flock may be watered. God’s Word is so very cool! Anyway. Afterwards, Jacob tells Rachel who he is and he respectfully kisses her and then begins to weep. Listen to these thoughts from Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers: “Then, overcome with joy at this happy termination of his long journey, and at finding himself among relatives, he can restrain his feelings no longer, but bursts into tears.” I think it hits Jacob that God got him safely to his destination, and to the right woman, and he let’s out all his fear and anxiety, breathing in a joyful relief. Think back on your life. Have you ever had a situation that was pending for so long that you just could not help yourself but cry when it finally happened? I can remember a time during Rebecca’s trial where she had not spoken a word for months and months. Of course, I always longed to hear her sweet voice and know what was on her mind, so her silence was heartbreaking for me. Then one day, while at a doctors office, all of a sudden, she spoke. I know the woman attending us had no idea what was going on, but I fell to my knees beside Beckie’s wheelchair and began to cry. Like with Jacob, these were not tears of sorrow, but of incredible gratitude towards God. Of joy and relief. Of hope and the strength to move forward. God is so very good that at times He will grant us these moments. Don’t be afraid to cry. Tears are cleansing. Tears help us see life clearer. Tears knit us to God’s heart more closely. I imagine Jacob’s tears melted Rachel’s heart for him, and she too, fell in love. She runs to tell her father about this relative who has travel long and far, and Laban welcomes Jacob into his household. After being there a month, and probably after Laban seeing how handy Jacob could be, Laban desires for him to stay with them. And so Laban asks Jacob what he can do for him. Jacob still freshly in love, promises to work seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage. As I have read, this would serve as the dowry the groom should give his bride’s family. Since Jacob had nothing else to give, he offers Laban his services in order to be married. Laban seems to agree, more on that in a moment, and so Jacob begins his labor of love. Hear this beautiful verse again: “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” (Gen 29:20) Now listen to what Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary has to say: “If we know how to value the happiness of heaven, the sufferings of this present time will be as nothing to us. An age of work will be but as a few days to those that love God, and long for Christ’s appearing.” Wow, right?! Oh the incredible truths in God’s Word! So much we can learn from every Saint and person in Scripture. All for the sake of Love, God sent His one and only Begotten Son. All for the sake of love, Jesus came and died in our place. All for the sake of love, the Holy Spirit calls to our hearts so we may surrender to God’s Grace and be saved forevermore. I pray that it is all for the sake of love that we obey God and work for Him the rest of our lives here, and then there. God loves us. God is a gentle Master who only wants what is best for us. Obeying God’s Holy Will is not only of the greatest benefit to us, but also to the rest of the world. What we choose to do or not to do does not end with us. There is power that goes forth from our words and deeds that effects every person we encounter in life. If we choose to work, like Jacob did here, to pay our rightful dowry to our Heavenly Father, who knows who else will come into God’s Forever Family because of our of humble service? Let’s choose to just obey. Let’s choose to trust Him.
The Deceiver is now deceived. Now let’s look at this same story through the eyes of sowing and reaping. We know that Jacob swindled Esau out of his birthright and duped Isaac into sealing the theft by granting him the blessing. And as I said above, we never really know what will come out of our actions, for good or bad. Well, here we see it. Because of his sincere love for Rachel, Jacob promises to work for seven whole years before he can be married to her. And as I mentioned above, it seems like Laban is agreeing, but is he? Listen to what he tells Jacob after playing the old switcheroo with his daughters. “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughters bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” (Gen 29:26-27) Here is a great quote from Benson Commentary about the answer Laban had given Jacob initially when they made that deal for Rachel’s hand: “His answer is ambiguous and crafty. For he does not directly grant Jacob’s desire, but only insinuates his consent to it, in such terms as hid his design, which the event showed.” Laban already knew this custom where the older daughter must be married first. He never had any intention of giving Jacob Rachel before finding a husband for Leah. What he wanted was all those years of service. What he wanted was to get blessed through Jacob’s hands. What he wanted was what HE wanted. He cared little about what Jacob wanted. Sounds like Jacob when he was back home, right? Sowing and reaping is a real Biblical principle! Now Jacob was stuck. At this point Jacob had already slept with Leah, so he could not deny her rights. And he had already pledged his love to Rachel, so he could not deny her either. Now, Jacob is saddled with two wives, and two sisters to boot. Can we already see the rivalry, with all its headaches, starting? More on that next week. We reap what we sow, and because God is a loving God who only, and always, wants what is best for us, often He allows us to reap at the right timing too. God does this as He is working it all together for our good, so we can be humbled as Jacob is here, being transformed into God’s Humble image more. Yet praise God for His Mercy! He reserves the right to show Mercy on whoever He desires, so many times we do not have to deal with the consequences of our wrong choices. (see Ro 9:15) We see this in its greatest form at the Cross and through the Resurrection. We sowed wickedness, but Jesus reaped the death for us. Again praise God! So this principle is true in general, but God is God. There are even times, like with Job and his suffering, where we do not sow trouble but receive trials anyway. We must trust, like Job did, that God has His purposes for everything. Our part is to hold on to Him and trust Him further. In the end, God is Sovereign— may we never forget that— so only He knows which seed we sow will benefit us, by growing roots then showing up in our lives in real ways. Here God is continuing to humble Jacob. I am sure Jacob thought long and hard about what he had done to his brother and father, and was beginning to regret his sinful actions. Yet sowing and reaping can work for good too. Galatians 6:8 says, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:8) So when we choose to obey God and follow His Holy Will, we will also reap goodness and blessings. Jacob will see this also as he begins to humbly work the “extra” seven years to marry his real love, Rachel. Trusting God through every type of circumstance is what brings us closer to His Goodness, so we may experience it, then imitate it too. Again, I encourage us to trust Him.
Jacob humbly obeys. He does what is expected of him. He finishes out the bridal week with Leah, but then is given Rachel in matrimony too. The Bible says, “Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.” (Gen 29:30) Jacob is understanding what love is all about, sacrifice and selflessness. Jacob is learning to be humble as he continues to be a blessing to Laban by caring for his flock. Jacob is growing in his walk with God, step by crooked step, until God straightens him out…or actually until God gives him a limp, but I am getting ahead of the events. We too, my Friends, must turn to God and learn all the lessons He is attempting to teach us. When the students do not learn the material, it is very often not the teacher’s fault…and with God, it is never His fault. The students, or disciples, must do the work to study, to learn and to implement what is understood, all in humility, leaning on the Holy Spirit to help us. This is challenging, I well know. Yet it makes life so much more rich! It helps me see the events that happen to me with bigger, more clear eyes. Knowing that God loves me, and desires for me to have the Abundant Life here, as I await the Eternal Life with Him…and my Beckie…forevermore? It makes me hungry to pay attention to everything, so that I may grasp what God wants me to know and change in my own walk with Him. And every time I obey and trust Him further, God shows me a most beautiful truth: He trusts me with His message, with His Grace, and with His Love. This is our part in the New Life in Christ, to trust Him… all for the sake of love. Want that too? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
