TURNABOUT’S FAIR PLAY

August 13, 2023

Reading: Genesis 29

Focus: Genesis 29:25 – When morning came, there was Leah! So, Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”

Father God, open our eyes to Your word today.  Help us to see the lesson You have for us.  Teach us Your heart.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Jacob leaves Bethel and travels on.  It doesn’t say how many days but he arrives at a well in the afternoon.  There are shepherds and flocks around the well but the well is not open and the flocks are not being watered.  Naturally, he asks why.  He is told that they can’t remove the stone covering the well until all the flocks have gathered.  They point out that one more is coming.  So Jacob waits until Rachel and her flocks of sheep arrive.  Jacob sees her and immediately removes the stone covering the well and helps to water the flocks. 

We have a picture of Jesus here.  Jesus is waiting by the well watching the flocks gather.  They are thirsty but can’t open the well.  He opens the well of Living Water and gives freely to all who are thirsty.  He gives water that will satisfy man’s thirst for God.  For that Someone who can give them wisdom, light and life.  Just as Jacob did, He opens the well for us when we come to Him.  All we must do is come to the Well of Living Water, Jesus Christ Himself, to be filled.  There are no rules, no rituals, just drink from the well.  Accept the teachings of Jesus, just as you are.

Jacob met Rachel here at this well.  He had given water to his uncle’s sheep and introduced himself to Rachel.  She immediately ran to tell her father of Jacob’s arrival. Laban came to the well as soon has he heard who had arrived.  He was elated to meet his sister’s son.  Laban brought Jacob to his home.  I can only imagine how long they talked about Rebekah and Isaac and how they were faring in Canaan.  There was joy in the house of Laban and Jacob stayed with him a whole month.  Apparently, Jacob was working for his uncle because Laban said it was not fair that he work for nothing and asked what Jacob thought was a fair wage.  Can I tell you?  Jacob is about to get back what he had dished out to Esau.

Remember when we talked about the bride price.  Jacob arrived in Paddan Aram with little beyond the clothes on his back.  Jacob was in love with the younger daughter of Laban, Rachel, but he had nothing to offer Laban as the bride price.  So, Jacob said he would work for Laban for 7 years in return for the hand of Rachel.  Laban agreed, saying it was better to give her to someone he knew than to a stranger.  So, the bargain was struck.  Jacob worked for Laban in order to win the hand of Rached.  The time passed swiftly for Jacob because he loved her so much.  At the end of seven years, Jacob requested that he be allowed to marry Rachel.  Laban held a wedding for Jacob and his daughter.

Now, it was custom in those days that the elder daughter must be married before the younger.  Leah was not the most attractive and did not see very well where Rachel was beautiful.  Women were considered property in those days.  A commodity to be traded for profit and alliances.  So, Leah knew that her prospects were not very good.  This meant that Rachel’s wedding must be delayed until Leah married.  However, Laban had a plan to kill two birds with one stone.  Brides were heavily veiled when they are brought to the groom.  Jacob would not know the difference until it was too late.

The wedding plans were made.  People were invited to celebrate.  A feast was had by all.  As was custom, Laban brought the heavily veiled bride to Jacob and they retired to their tent for the wedding night.  In the morning, the fur hit the fan.  Jacob found Leah in his bed instead of Rachel.  Immediately he went to Laban and called him out on the deception.  “What is this you have done to me?  I served you for Rachel, didn’t I?  Why have you deceived me?” (Genesis 29:25b).  He was outraged.  He had worked for 7 years just to be able to marry Rachel, but he married Leah instead.  I cannot imagine how Leah felt.  A new bride and rejected after one night.  Jacob, the deceiver was on the receiving end of deceit.  I wonder if he realized the irony.

Laban explained the custom of marrying the eldest before the youngest.  He offered a solution.  Jacob and Leah were to have their ‘honeymoon’ week and then, Jacob could marry Rachel and work another seven years for Laban for that privilege.  That is what Jacob did.  One week, Leah was the accepted bride, and then she was shuffled off to another tent while Jacob married and spent a ‘honeymoon’ week with Rachel, the beloved bride.  All the while Jacob worked the second seven years for Rachel, it was obvious that his love for Rachel was so much more than what Leah received.  Jacob also acquired the maid servants for both women, Zilpah for Leah and Bilhah for Rachel. Now Jacob had 4 women in his household. 

What a mess.  Sisters as brides to the same man.  One more loved than the other.  Both were expecting to bear children.  When God saw that Leah was not loved, He enabled her to conceive easily.  She had four sons, one after the other, but Rachel was barren.  Leah’s first son was named Reuben, meaning ‘Behold a son’.  The name showed Leah’s hope that her husband’s heart would turn to her.  Leah’s fertility caused Rachel no end of pain.  Month after month, she never conceived.  On top of having two wives, when Leah stopped bearing children, she gave her maid to Jacob as a concubine. Then, Rachel, not to be outdone, did the same, so that she could have children of Jacob. Can you imagine Rachel’s pain?  Her jealousy?  I can.  I was unable to have children.  Seeing the babies of all my friends hurt.  It killed me to hear of another child for one of them.  While we pastored a small church, I was involved in the dedications of several babies.  Those were some of the most excruciating moments of my life.  Holding that child, all the while knowing I would never give birth to one of my own.

We often don’t realize that our choices and our actions, somewhere along the line, will bring pain to someone else.  Jacob’s favoritism between his wives brought pain to both of them.  Sometimes those choices and actions bring pain to ourselves as well.  Jacob loved Rachel above all, and when she proved barren, I imagine it hurt him too.  But he was blind to the consequences of what his favoritism was doing to both of his wives.  I can see why one man-one wife is the best arrangement.  There is no competition, no favoritism.  The relationship is developed without outside interferences.  Husband and wife can concentrate on building their relationship with each other and with God.  If you look down through Biblical history, many kings were brought to their knees because of multiple wives. 

God did not approve of polygamy, but He allowed it.  He knew the heart of man.  David, Solomon, Jacob and many others had more than one wife at a time.  David’s multiple wives led to adultery and murder.  Solomon’s many wives led him into idolatry. Jacob’s two wives and two concubines led to jealousy between the women and eventually among their sons.  That is why “. . . a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24).  This is the original formula for marriage.  This is how it was intended to be from Eden forward. God knew humankind’s sinful nature and could see the harsh reality of multiple wives, so rules were established to safely compensate for the errors in taking more than one spouse. Now you may wonder why God blessed such people in various sinful marriage relationships and rightly so.  But just because God used a sinful situation to fulfill His plan does not mean that the action was righteous. Jesus recognized the problems of marriages, indicating that the Jews were an adulterous generation who chose to live outside of God’s rules and therefore, made their own rules to interpret God’s law. Just because the Jews tolerated polygamy, does not mean that God approved it.

We see Jacob as a sinful human man.  We see the jealousy caused by his actions but God chose Jacob to become the father of 12 sons, who became the fathers of the children who became the nation of Israel.  We don’t have to be perfect to be used of God.  He uses our weaknesses and faults to bring about great and mighty things.  Don’t ever think that just because you are not perfect that God cannot use you.  When you are weak, He is strong.  Seeing what God can do with your weakness just might bring another into God’s family.  Don’t sell yourself short.  Don’t sell God short.

Are you willing to be a failure for God?

Father God,  Thank You for Your blessings.  Thank You for showing us Your plan for marriage and how in our weakness we can mess it up.  Help us to be willing to be fail for You, so that Your strength will be seen. Be our Strength.  In Jesus Name. Amen.

Food for Thought

1. Do you see Jesus in Jacob’s actions at the well?  What do you see?
2. Do you think Jacob saw the deception coming?  Why or why not?
3. What do you think Jacob thought about being deceived?
4. Why do you think that many people today believe marriage is temporary?
5. Should you go into marriage thinking that if it doesn’t work out, you can always get a divorce?  Why or why not?