INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
- I don't know about you- but sometimes I find it hard to relate to the people of the Bible
- After all, they...
- Lived a long time ago
- Had a lot of strange customs
- And sometimes they can seem so super-saintly- so other-worldly
- It becomes hard to relate to them as real human beings
- But every so often I'll come across a situation that is so familiar- so universal
- That all the holy polish gets stripped away
- And I see these folks as ordinary people dealing with the ordinary- and not so ordinary- problems of life
- The 29th chapter of Genesis is one of those situations. It’s plot line is as familiar as... run-of-the-mill chick flick
- Boy meets girl
- Boy and girl fall in love
- Boy and girl face a few challenges
- And finally- boy and girl get married
- Of course- in this particular love story the plot is a little more complex:
- Boy meets girl
- Boy and girl fall in love
- And talk about CHALLENGES!
- Boy agrees to work for seven years to win the girl’s hand in marriage
- Boy marries girl- only to find out he’s married her older sister by mistake
- Boy confronts his father-in-law
- Who agrees to let him marry the girl of his dreams-
- But only if he'll work seven more years
- And finally- boy and girl get married
- At which point things REALLY get strange
- But that’s a story for next weeks episode of this compelling Biblical soap opera
- As for today- I want us to focus on the incredibly bizarre circumstances surrounding Jacob’s marriages to Rachel- and her older sister Leah
JACOB’S VOW
- Please read Genesis chapter 29
- This morning we're going to focus most of our attention on verses 16-30
- But first- let me set the stage for what’s about to happen
- If you remember the previous sermons in this series Jacob-
- Had taken his older brother Esau’s birthright through a cruel business transaction involving a bowl of soup
- Then- with his mother’s help- he'd tricked his father into giving him the special blessing Isaac intended to give to Esau’s
- Once Esau’s realized his blessing had been stolen- he was a man on a mission
- He fully intended to kill his younger brother
- In order to reclaim his birthright- and his father’s blessing
- But before he had a chance to do that- his mother Rebekah did two things:
- First- she told Jacob to high-tail it out of town until Esau’s cooled down
- Then she convinced Isaac to send Jacob back to the land of her ancestors to find a wife
- After a long day of travel- Jacob settled in for the night only to have a powerful dream
- In the dream God promised...
- To give Jacob a country to call home
- To provide him with a great posterity
- To make Jacob a blessing to all the nations of the Earth
- And to be with him always
- With those words- Jacob had become the child of the promise
- Just as God had done with his grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac
- Jacob had been chosen to be the recipient of God’s special love and grace
- In response Jacob makes a vow to God
- Now I want you to notice something about Jacob’s promise: God hadn't asked him to do any of these things
- In other words:
- Jacob isn't trying to earn God’s love- or win God’s favor
- God had given him these things as a gift of grace
- Rather- by making this vow Jacob is responding to the grace God has already given him
- Folks- there’s an important lesson here that all Christians need to learn
- There’s NOTHING you can do to make God...
- Love you more
- Love you less
- In fact- He loved you first- and He loved you best
- He sent Jesus to die for you on the Cross
- And if you've accepted Jesus as your Savior- He’s poured His grace into your life
- So what should you do about it?
- You need to respond to God’s love by worshiping and serving and loving Him with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your spirit
- This is what Jacob is doing in Genesis 28
- He’s not making a bargain with God
- He’s saying: "God, you've loved me so much- I want to worship and serve You all the days of my life"
JACOB ARRIVES IN HARAN
- Anyway- with the assurance of God’s love Jacob sets out for Haran
- Now remember-
- He’s going somewhere he’s never been before
- Trying to find an uncle he’s never met before
- To say the least- those are pretty daunting odds
- I mean- it wasn't like Jacob had a map, a GPS guidance system or even an address for his uncle
- This was pretty much a shot in the dark
- Except for one thing: God was guiding Jacob every step of the way
- So much so that when he got to Haran the first person he spoke to knew his uncle
- Look at what the Bible says in Genesis 29:1-6
- Folks- Jacob was either...
- The luckiest man on the face of the Earth
- OR God had worked a miracle!
- There’s no doubt about how Jacob interpreted these events
- He knew God had been found faithful!
- And he responded to God’s faithfulness with thanksgiving and sobs of relief
RACHEL AND LEAH
- Pam and I have been married for 26 ½ years- and I STILL remember the first time I saw her
- I was sitting in a classroom at Southeastern Seminary waiting for an Old Testament class to begin
- When she walked in the door
- She was wearing a blue mini-dress with a scooped neckline
- She looked GREAT- and my mind immediately turned to mush
- That’s the way Jacob felt when he saw Rachel for the first time. Talk about love at first sight
- Jacob immediately ran over-
- Planted one on her lips- which you didn't do in those days
- And THEN introduced himself as her father’s nephew
- Evidently Rachel’s heart must have skipped a beat because she immediately ran home to tell her father all about her handsome cousin
- Anyway Jacob winds up staying with Labia’s family
- Finally- after about a month- his uncle makes a proposition
- Read Genesis 29:15
- Now remember Jacob’s personality: He was a con-artist
- His life was dedicated to using wit and guile to avoid hard work
- But this time all his skills and talents abandoned him- and it was all because of Rachel
- Over the centuries Leah has gotten a bad rap
- And it’s because English translations of the Bible say Leah had weak eyes
- Which have lead some people to conclude that Leah was rather unattractive
- That she was a wallflower who could never hope to get a man
- Unfortunately, weak is a poor translation of the original Hebrew word used here
- A better translation would be to say that Leah had delicate or lovely eyes
- In other words: Leah was a pleasantly attractive young woman
- But Rachel was another story all together.
- The Bible makes it clear that she was drop-dead gorgeous- that she radiated sex appeal
- Let’s put it this way:
- Rachel was so smokin’ hot
- That Jacob- the master con artist- proceeded to make the worst deal of his life
- Laban must have thought he'd hit the jackpot
- He was ready to agree to almost anything Jacob said...Jacob was family
- But here Jacob is essentially selling himself into slavery- it was a deal Labia’s couldn't pass up
- When seven years seems like seven days
- You’ve got it- and you've got it BAD!
- Jacob was so in love with Rachel the days seemed to fly by
- Each day that passed
- Was one day closer to the day he could take Rachel to be his wife
- And finally- the day of reckoning arrived...
LABAN’S DECEPTION
- I’m one of those people who refuses to accept passages of Scripture at face value
- That doesn't mean I doubt the absolute truth of the Bible
- It’s just if something sounds strange to me
- I’m going to ask some questions
- Well I have a lot of questions about the 23rd verse of Genesis chapter 29
- The Bible is telling us that Jacob never realized he was sleeping with the girl he thought was his sister-in-law
- I’m sorry- but how is that possible?
- I mean-
- Jacob’s lived with Labia’s’ family for seven YEARS!
- It’s not like he didn't have a lot of chances to get to know Rachel and Leah
- Some people try to avoid this thorny question by suggesting that Leah concealed her identity by keeping a veil on throughout the night
- Folks- that doesn't make any sense
- Jacob’s been waiting seven years to be with Rachel
- This is his wedding night-
- He can take off her clothes
- And he’s not going to remove her veil?
- I don't buy it- not for a single minute
- Other people argue that Jacob had gotten drunk at the wedding feast
- So drunk- he wouldn't have known the difference between the two sisters?
- So tell me- if he was that drunk- how was the marriage consummated?
- And then there’s Leah- put yourself in her shoes
- Obviously she knows that Jacob is in love with her sister Rachel
- So why would she have agreed to go along with her father’s crazy scheme?
- Did she have such a poor sense of self-esteem that she seriously thought no man would ever want her?
- Or did she secretly love Jacob and want him for herself? Interesting.
- And what about Rachel- the Bible indicates she and Jacob fell in love on the day they met
- Rachel HAD to know what her father was up to- she was probably one of Leah’s bridesmaids
- Are you telling me:
- She never registered a word of protest?
- That she never tried to warn Jacob about her father’s deceptive plans?
- Look, the Bible doesn't answer all these questions- but I've got a theory about why Jacob failed to recognize Leah
- For some reason- known only to Him- this was a part of God’s Will for Jacob’s life
- God was using this dysfunctional group of folks to accomplish His Will and Purpose
- See here’s the thing: God always had a plan
- His plan was to establish a special relationship with the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
- A relationship that would climax with the coming of his only begotten Son- Jesus the Christ
- Please read Genesis 3:1-15
- What you've got here is the first prophecy concerning the coming of Christ
- And it happened immediately after Adam and Eve had sinned
- God tells the serpent- who is Satan:
- You think you've accomplished something. You think you've destroyed the relationship I have with My people
- Well you're dead wrong! I've already put a plan of salvation in place
- Out of My chosen people will come a Savior
- Even though you will strike at His heel- He is going to CRUSH you
- And bring about the redemption of My people! The people I dearly love!
- Now THAT’S a plan
JACOB’S RESPONSE
- With all that in mind- let’s get back to Jacob
- He wakes up the next morning- turns over- and sees Leah lying there
- Suffice it to say- he wasn't very happy about it.
- Here’s irony for you:
- Why had Jacob received his father’s blessing?
- Because he'd fooled Isaac into giving him- the younger son
- The blessing Isaac intended to give to his older son, Eau’s
- Why did Leah have a husband?
- Because her father Labia’s had fooled Jacob into taking his older daughter Leah
- Rather than his younger daughter Rachel- the one Jacob really loved
- In other words: The con-man had been conned!
- Jacob’s subsequent actions suggest he understood Labia’s’ deceit to be a form of divine retribution
- He must have thought:
- My past has finally caught up with me
- God is punishing me for what I did to my father and brother
- In any event Jacob didn't protest any further
- He dutifully completed the week-long honeymoon with Leah
- And then took Rachel to be his wife- in exchange for seven more years of hard labor
CONCLUSION
- But here’s the question I want you to consider:
- Question:
- Was Jacob’s assumption correct?
- Does God punish His children when they sin?
- Well...it depends on what you mean by the word punish
- If you mean: I lose my salvation and God condemns me for eternity to a sinner’s hell- the answer is ‘Absolutely no!’
- When you received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord-
- God forgave all of your sins- past, present and future
- And gave you the gift of His grace- eternal life in Christ Jesus
- John 3:16-17
- Now with that in mind- please read Hebrews 12:5-6
- Folks- there’s no doubt God disciplines His children when they sin
- And sometimes- from our perspective- God’s discipline can feel like harsh punishment
- For instance- if God lets you face the consequences of your sin
- You- or your loved ones- may suffer a period of intense pain or sorrow
- But here’s where you have to understand God’s motives:
- He’s not trying to harm or destroy you
- Instead, he’s disciplining you...
- And He’s doing it because He loves you
- He’s doing it so you can become a mature, Spirit-controlled man or woman of God
- To put it another way:
- God loves you so much- He wants to make you into a better you!
- Galatians 5:22-24 explains what God’s ultimate goal for you is
- Now THAT is a gift of amazing grace! Let us pray
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