Introduction

Good morning and welcome once again to our walk through the book of Genesis.  Turn to chapter 29 this morning and we are going to look at Jacob’s marriage to Leah and Rachel.  A few things to consider as we get into this text this morning.  We are going to see once again the familiar theme of God continuing to work even through the sin of his people.  Despite man’s foolishness, pride, and blatant deception, God does not go back for a second on his promise and he continues his faithfulness to Jacob.  

We will also have the opportunity to contrast the power of prayer and God’s willingness to grant our requests against what happens when we try to act on our own wisdom.  Finally, we see how God works through humble means and is often very near to the neglected and broken hearted.  It is certainly my prayer this morning that we see how merciful God is and how silly our pride is when we have the benefits of hindsight.  May it please the Lord to show us this and whatever else he wishes this morning.  We have a bit longer passage to read and quite a bit to cover today so please stand with me once more as we read our text from Genesis, Chapter 29.  I will skip around a bit so hang with me.  

 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. 2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well. 

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” 6 He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.” 

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father. 

16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.

25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing. 

The Absent Prayer

Have you ever had a big decision that you had to make in your life? I think it’s safe to say that everyone over the age of 18 has either had a big decision (or many of them) that they had to make or is about to very soon.  I’m talking about big decisions like buying a house, or a car, changing jobs, or the decision to get married and to whom. Decisions like these are the ones that seemingly make or break your future.  The question I want to begin with this morning is when faced with those decisions do you pray? 

Do you earnestly seek the Lord and his will or do you trust in your own judgment.  Sure you may “pray about it” to check the spiritual box and make yourself feel better about a decision you have already made, but I’m asking, do you really seek the Lord’s will? Let me draw your attention back to Genesis 24 when the servant of Abraham journeyed to seek a wife for Isaac.  If you remember, when he got to the well he immediately prayed asking God to grant him success in his search and then he also prayed for certain actions that would confirm the kind of character in a person suitable to be the wife of Abraham’s son.  He was seeking an answer, in this case a woman, whose character aligned with the character of God.  We mentioned that this was the definition of praying according to the will of God.  

Now then, when we read out text this morning and Jacob shows up at the well, which was quite possibly the same well where the servant of Abraham met Rebekah some 50 years earlier, what was noticeably absent with Jacob? He didn’t pray.  Not only did he not pray, but he shows up and starts giving orders.  “Why are you gathering the sheep now? It’s still the middle of the day, water them and put them in the pasture.” Their reply was that there was a particular way that they do things which involved waiting for all the flock to arrive so they could be watered all at once together.  Perhaps his rash behavior was because he wanted to get the men out of their so he could be alone with Rachel who just showed up so he takes it upon himself and moves the heavy stone (which is so typical of a guy wanting to lift heavy things in front of a girl) and waters the flock, against the plans of the family.  

This is followed by him just going up to Rachel, kissing her a weeping aloud. Jacob is our brother so I am not going to disparage him here but as brother Stephen is known to say, “bro needs to relax.”  Jacob’s pride and ego is clearly in the driver’s seat here and not only is he not seeking the Lord’s will but he is asserting his own will and kissing the first pretty girl that arrives at the well.  There was no discernment or thought put into this behavior, nor was there any sort of seeking God’s will.  We have the benefit of hindsight but this is not a good start and if we were to give Jacob some pastoral advice we might tell him to slow down a bit before he gets himself into trouble.  Maybe he wouldn’t have listened but no such advice was offered to him and as we know he did get himself into a bit of a mess, didn’t he? 

What was the problem? He didn’t pray. That was certainly an issue and involved in that was the fact that he was making decisions based on his own eyes and his own heart not upon the will of God.  If he had approached this situation in humility and prayer perhaps he would not have ended up in what amounted to slavery to Laben for 20 years.  As we have established though, God uses the foolish and brash behavior of Jacob to bring about his promises.  

Something that immediately stuck out to me was how quickly we forget the face and presence of God.  We don’t know how much time has passed between the revelation of God at Bethel and this encounter at the well but even if it was months it’s still too short a time for Jacob to forget about God.  The Lord, not long ago, showed up in a dream and promised to lead him and guide him and keep him and in turn Jacob vows to serve the Lord but in relatively no time at all, he has seemingly forgotten who is leading here.  This is a silly mistake by Jacob but I contend that such actions and attitudes are just about a daily occurrence for us.  Not that we are deciding who we are going to marry everyday, but how quickly do we forget who is doing the guiding and the leading and the keeping, right?  May we be a people who prays first and acts second. 

The Company of Greed

Next in our story is Laban’s response to Jacob being there.  Let me draw your attention again back to the story of the servant of Abraham and his coming to this place to find Rebekah.  It was Laban, the brother of Rebekah, who ran out to meet the servant of Abraham, the same Laban who is now giving his daughters in marriage.  If you remember, the servant of Abraham brought lots of gifts with him when he came to seek the hand of Rebekah in marriage.  He brought silver and gold jewelry, garments, and costly ornaments (Genesis 24: 52-54).  So “as soon as” Laban hears that there is another child of Abraham at the well seeking a wife, he runs out to meet him, embraces him and kisses him.  

Maybe he was just really excited to see his nephew and it had nothing to do with the potential gain from Jacob but I think the rest of the story paints a little different picture.  We didn’t read it to open but the passage says that Jacob told Laban everything that had happened that brought him there.  We can only assume that the “everything” that Jacob told Laban included the deception, the swindling of the birthright, the deceit to get the blessing and his exile running for his life.  To which, Laban replies, “Surely you are my bones and my flesh!”

This comment should have immediately been a red flag to Jacob that after recounting all the trouble his deceitfulness has put him in, the reply is, “we are very much alike, you and I.” No follow-up question like, “what do you mean we surely are flesh and bones?” All the signs are there that Laban is not one to be fully trusted but it seems that Jacob is so blinded by his desire for Rachel that he doesn’t see it, not yet at least.  

The other difference in this story and the circumstances surrounding Rebekah is that when the servant of Abraham brought all the gifts Laban, after consulting with Rebekah, gave her away and let her go back to Isaac.  Here we see when Jacob is empty handed Laban doesn’t freely offer his daughters but rather offers Jacob a job and there is an agreement to work for 7 years.  I don’t want to make too many assumptions about the passage but it does seem more than a bit greedy that a man would leverage his daughters to get work from his family.  He is essentially selling his daughters which is not a great look.

Laban is personally benefiting, and greatly so, by all the work that Jacob does for him, so much so that he does everything he can to keep Jacob under his control.  Laban even tells Jacob that he has learned “by divination” that the Lord is blessing Laban because of Jacob and again tries everything he can to keep Jacob around.  Who was Laban hearing from when he learned by divination that his exploitation of Jacob was profiting him? 

Jacob is fully in the company of greed here and the irony of Jacob getting angry because a deceitful switch-a-roo was played on him in switching Leah for Rachel when that is literally the same thing he did to his own father, should not be lost on us.  I can’t help but think of the connection here to the words of Paul in Romans 2: 

2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

Make no mistake about it, the mess that Jacob got himself in here is a judgment of God on account of his sin and deception and Jacob rightly receives chastisement from Lord at the hands of Laban but in this grand mystery of God, the deception and the judgment becomes the blessing.  Not just a blessing for Jacob, Leah and Rachel but all of humanity will reap the benefits of this story.  Let’s look at that next. 

God Works in Mysterious Ways

Everyone really screwed up here, right? The only real inocent party, if you could call her innocent, is Leah.  She was used as a pawn in Laban’s plan of deception and Jacob despised her from the start because she wasn’t very good looking.   Many modern commentators interpret the statement that Leah had weak eyes (verse 17) as a positive statement.  I ssume this is their attempt to scoot around the bible referring to someone as not pretty by saying that it was a positive term and what the bible really means is that Leah had gentle eyes; she just wasn’t as pretty as Rachel.  The obvious problem there is that that is not what the bible says and I think one of the main emphases of this passage requires that Leah be not very good looking.  

She was mistreated, used, despised, and rejected by her father and soon to be husband.    She was humble in appearance (to put it kindly) and in many ways discarded and the only reason why she even ended up married was because of her fathers trickery.  What a heartbreaking situation, right.  But God.  What did the Lord do through this otherwise painful situation? He brought forth the following sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, (who through came Moses and Aaron), Issachar, Zebulun, and most importantly Judah.  Six of the 12 tribes of Israel were born through Leah, the discarded, unwanted, unattractive, daughter of Laban.  Even more, the great King David, from her fourth son Judah, from whom also was born our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

What does it mean that the father chose to bring his son, “The Son” into the world through an unattractive, unwanted, discarded vessel? Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the connotation connected with Leah’s weak eyes is carried through Leah to Christ and his message of whom Paul says, concerning the foolishness of this message that we preach, 

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God

Or hear the Lord’s words to the prophet Samuel.

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 

How often does our present culture consider the opinions of someone to be of greater value when that person has an attractive appearance.  This is exactly why we care what influencers have to say.  Or churches consider people to be leaders in the church when their only qualification is that they give a bunch of money.  I promise I am not going to get on a soap box here but this is so anti-gospel and is in complete opposition to what the bible teaches.  The entire lineage of Christ is filled with the younger, the weaker, the unwanted, the mistreated, and the sinner so that we may know both that God has a heart for the neglected and that this is his work and we have nothing to boast about.  

How many times does God show his character by working through the younger, the weak, the rejected,  and the humble? That’s all he does is continually work through those means so that we will see Christ who was himself all those things.  So often we look for God in the big things and the grand things, in the lightning and the earthquakes but he is rarely there.  You will find him in the gentle breeze.  The humble vessels doing his humble work. Leah points us to Christ and to the character of God who doesn’t neglect the neglected but uses them wonderfully in his story.  What an Amazing God we serve who is near the brokenhearted and does wonders through them.  

Conclusion

So let’s pull all that together for a few points of application. First, going back to my original comments to open, the text demands that we be diligent to pray for the Lord’s will in our lives.  Often we are our own worst enemy and we need to plead with the Lord to help us get out of our own way.  Big decisions, small decisions and everything else in between, let us pray first, asking him for the things we know are in his will and trusting that in that humility he will guide us.  Present state of our country included, the necessity for prayer and petition for God to guide us and have mercy on us is as pressing as ever.  

Secondly, we must be encouraged by the reality that God uses the humble and the ordinary.  The humble and the ordinary are often his primary mode of transmission. Do you feel like you are lacking in life? Are your days filled mostly with unglamorous things?  Changing diapers, running irrigation lines, farming chickens, selling widgets, standing over a hot stove, working on AC’s, or just living life as a retired person.  It doesn’t have to be fancy or flashy to be godly, often it isn’t.  Whoever you are, wherever you are God can use you and will use you for kingdom work, eternity shifting kind of work.  Yes, even you.  Believe that and keep walking with him. 

Finally, I feel like I have repeated this many times now, But God’s plans will not be changed.  You can make a lot of dumb decisions that put you in a lot of really bad situations and often we do but even then you can be assured that God’s plans will not be thwarted and he is always at work, no matter what.  I know we have read this passage quite a bit lately but considering our text this morning and what happened yesterday I think it is important to hear it again and I pray that our passage this morning and the current political context helps to drive these words straight to the heart.  

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is truly a blessing.  Amen.

Bibliography

Greidanus, Sidney. 2007. Preaching Christ from Genesis: Foundations for Expository Sermons. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.