1 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:08,766 There it is. 2 00:00:08,833 --> 00:00:09,266 Okay. 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:16,333 I always get on to everybody about not doing the mics right and I mess it up to you. 4 00:00:18,266 --> 00:00:21,633 All right, if you open your Bible with me in the book of Genesis chapter number 29. 5 00:00:27,899 --> 00:00:31,966 Genesis chapter 29, verse 31 is where we'll be starting. 6 00:00:32,966 --> 00:00:35,733 And we'll go down to chapter 30, verse number 24. 7 00:00:36,299 --> 00:00:39,966 I'm sorry about the mini verses, but that's the story. 8 00:00:40,033 --> 00:00:41,233 So we'll be reading a lot of that. 9 00:00:41,299 --> 00:00:44,766 And I want you to notice the title of 10 00:00:44,766 --> 00:00:45,799 the message today. 11 00:00:45,866 --> 00:00:49,299 God's that the days of God's rogue's life. 12 00:00:50,066 --> 00:00:53,700 And that should ring a bell, especially for some of you, older folk, 13 00:00:53,700 --> 00:00:55,066 which is most of us, to be honest. 14 00:00:56,299 --> 00:00:59,166 You might recognize that, and you'll see why in a 2nd. 15 00:00:59,233 --> 00:01:00,733 And with that, I'll give a disclaimer. 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,133 We're in the Old Testament, and then the author of the 17 00:01:05,133 --> 00:01:08,233 Old Testament books inspired by the Holy Spirit 18 00:01:08,233 --> 00:01:09,599 tells things like they are. 19 00:01:10,466 --> 00:01:13,633 And so this is a PG-13 passage 20 00:01:13,633 --> 00:01:16,099 that I've tried to make PG. 21 00:01:16,333 --> 00:01:20,233 So if you get offended by the content 22 00:01:20,233 --> 00:01:22,099 of the text, I can't help you, but Philip can. 23 00:01:22,466 --> 00:01:23,133 So... 24 00:01:24,333 --> 00:01:25,333 All right, Geneson. 25 00:01:26,533 --> 00:01:27,599 Hey, would that work? 26 00:01:27,599 --> 00:01:30,599 Genesis 29, 31. 27 00:01:33,266 --> 00:01:36,400 God's word says now the Lord saw that Leia 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,200 was unloved, and he opened her wound, but Rachel was barren. 29 00:01:40,799 --> 00:01:43,933 Leia conceived and bore a son and named 30 00:01:43,933 --> 00:01:48,433 him Reuben, for she said, because the Lord has seen my affliction, 31 00:01:48,666 --> 00:01:50,533 Surely now my husband will love me. 32 00:01:51,566 --> 00:01:55,166 Then she conceived again, and bore a son, and said, because the 33 00:01:55,166 --> 00:01:58,200 Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has 34 00:01:58,200 --> 00:01:59,866 therefore given me this son also. 35 00:02:00,500 --> 00:02:02,000 So she named him Simeon. 36 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,166 She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, 37 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,900 Now this time, my husband will become attached to me, because 38 00:02:09,900 --> 00:02:12,966 I have borne him three sons, therefore, he 39 00:02:12,966 --> 00:02:14,833 was named Levi. 40 00:02:15,199 --> 00:02:18,966 And she conceived again, and bore a son, and said, this time I will praise the Lord. 41 00:02:19,500 --> 00:02:21,233 Therefore, she named him Judah. 42 00:02:21,733 --> 00:02:22,866 Then she stopped bearing. 43 00:02:23,699 --> 00:02:27,000 Now, when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no 44 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,433 children, she became jealous of her sister, and 45 00:02:30,433 --> 00:02:34,766 she said to Jacob, give me children, or else I die. 46 00:02:35,966 --> 00:02:39,033 Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel, and he said, 47 00:02:39,033 --> 00:02:42,533 am I in the place of God, who has withheld you, the fruit of the womb? 48 00:02:43,099 --> 00:02:46,333 She said, here is my maid, Bilhah. 49 00:02:46,566 --> 00:02:49,733 Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, 50 00:02:49,766 --> 00:02:53,000 that through her, I too may have children. 51 00:02:53,233 --> 00:02:55,633 So she gave him her maid, Bilhah, as a wife. 52 00:02:56,066 --> 00:02:57,333 And Jacob went in to her. 53 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,666 Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son. 54 00:03:01,333 --> 00:03:04,500 Then Rachel said, God has vindicated me, and has 55 00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:07,733 indeed heard my voice, and has given me a son, therefore 56 00:03:07,766 --> 00:03:09,099 she named him Dan. 57 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,233 Rachel's maid Billhawk conceived again, and bore Jacob a 2nd son. 58 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,866 So Rachel said, with mighty wrestlings, I have wrestled 59 00:03:16,866 --> 00:03:20,099 with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed, and 60 00:03:20,099 --> 00:03:21,666 she named him Naphtali. 61 00:03:22,566 --> 00:03:25,866 When Leia saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid, 62 00:03:25,866 --> 00:03:28,266 Zilpa, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 63 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,766 Layus made Zilpab war Jacob a son. 64 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:33,633 Then Leia said, how fortunate. 65 00:03:34,099 --> 00:03:35,466 So she named him Gad. 66 00:03:35,833 --> 00:03:38,400 Layas made Zilpop wore Jacob a 2nd son. 67 00:03:38,833 --> 00:03:42,133 Then Leia said, happy am I, for women will call me happy. 68 00:03:42,599 --> 00:03:43,866 So she named him Asher. 69 00:03:44,466 --> 00:03:46,733 Now, in the days of wheat harvest. 70 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,099 Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and 71 00:03:50,099 --> 00:03:51,666 brought them to his mother Leia. 72 00:03:52,033 --> 00:03:55,866 Then Rachel said to Leia, please, give me some of your son's mandrakes. 73 00:03:56,366 --> 00:03:59,900 But she said to her, Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? 74 00:04:00,433 --> 00:04:02,766 And would you take my son's mandrix also? 75 00:04:03,300 --> 00:04:06,366 So Rachel said, therefore, he may lie with you tonight in return 76 00:04:06,366 --> 00:04:08,233 for your son's mandrix. 77 00:04:08,766 --> 00:04:11,900 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then 78 00:04:11,900 --> 00:04:14,966 Leia went out to meet him and said, You must come in to 79 00:04:14,966 --> 00:04:18,566 me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes, 80 00:04:18,566 --> 00:04:20,300 so he lay with her that night. 81 00:04:21,266 --> 00:04:24,500 God gave heed to Leia, and she conceived and 82 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:26,066 bore Jacob a 5th son. 83 00:04:26,766 --> 00:04:30,833 Then Leia said, God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband. 84 00:04:31,399 --> 00:04:33,066 So she named him Issachar. 85 00:04:33,500 --> 00:04:36,133 Leia conceived again and bore a 6th son to Jacob. 86 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,233 Then Leia said, God has endowed me with a good gift. 87 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,500 Now my husband will dwell with me because I have borne him 6 sons. 88 00:04:44,066 --> 00:04:46,166 So she named him Zebulun. 89 00:04:46,933 --> 00:04:49,699 Afterward, she bore a daughter and named her Dinah. 90 00:04:50,766 --> 00:04:54,500 Then, God remembered Rachel, and 91 00:04:54,500 --> 00:04:57,066 God gave heed to her, and opened her womb. 92 00:04:57,066 --> 00:05:00,433 So she conceived, and bore a son, 93 00:05:00,433 --> 00:05:03,266 and said, God has taken away my reproach. 94 00:05:03,666 --> 00:05:06,833 She named him Joseph, saying, May the Lord give 95 00:05:06,866 --> 00:05:08,233 me another son. 96 00:05:08,300 --> 00:05:08,899 Let's pray. 97 00:05:09,300 --> 00:05:12,600 Heavenly Father, we love you and thank you for your mercy on us this morning, 98 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,433 allowing us to be here, to worship you, Lord. 99 00:05:15,666 --> 00:05:18,899 I pray that you bless your message, inspire the messenger, your 100 00:05:18,899 --> 00:05:21,666 word to our minds, our hearts, and to our lives, in Christ's name. 101 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:22,266 Amen. 102 00:05:23,533 --> 00:05:26,600 So as we go through this story, as we've been going 103 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,500 through of Abraham's grandson, Jacob, 104 00:05:30,500 --> 00:05:33,566 the deceiver, the supplanter, the the the 105 00:05:33,566 --> 00:05:36,733 heel grabber, the the biggest thing, 106 00:05:36,733 --> 00:05:39,899 the the number one thing that that we should have seen, I 107 00:05:39,899 --> 00:05:43,033 should have brought out in all the previous messages, and it will bring out over 108 00:05:43,033 --> 00:05:46,266 and over again, because this is the story that that this 109 00:05:46,266 --> 00:05:49,633 is the point that the word is trying to get across, 110 00:05:49,633 --> 00:05:52,933 is that that God's sovereignty and his his providence 111 00:05:53,166 --> 00:05:56,333 his hand is working in each of our lives, 112 00:05:56,366 --> 00:05:59,433 in every circumstance, that all of 113 00:05:59,433 --> 00:06:03,000 the events that we have gone through in Jacob's 114 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,233 life so far, except for Jacob's vision 115 00:06:06,266 --> 00:06:09,333 of the latter that went up to heaven, and the 116 00:06:09,333 --> 00:06:12,733 angels were going up and down on it, have been every day, 117 00:06:12,733 --> 00:06:15,866 normal human things and events, 118 00:06:15,866 --> 00:06:16,933 human happenings. 119 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,533 We all have gone through the same life events. 120 00:06:21,066 --> 00:06:24,500 His birth, and then squabbles over inheritance. 121 00:06:24,566 --> 00:06:26,133 Has anyone had to deal with that before? 122 00:06:27,733 --> 00:06:29,899 Family issues, marriage problems. 123 00:06:31,266 --> 00:06:34,699 We haven't had to deal with the marriage problems of having four wives, 124 00:06:34,699 --> 00:06:37,699 but we've all dealt 125 00:06:37,699 --> 00:06:40,933 with that if we've been married, running from your twin 126 00:06:40,933 --> 00:06:43,399 brother because he wants to kill you. 127 00:06:44,100 --> 00:06:45,666 That one, maybe not so much. 128 00:06:45,966 --> 00:06:49,033 But we've had trouble with our siblings, I'm sure, 129 00:06:49,033 --> 00:06:51,133 if we've had siblings. 130 00:06:51,199 --> 00:06:54,933 That's very common for all of us to go through. 131 00:06:55,166 --> 00:06:58,899 But all through the events of Jacob's life. 132 00:06:59,666 --> 00:07:02,766 We have seen God's hand working, 133 00:07:02,766 --> 00:07:05,833 weaving that tapestry that he is creating. 134 00:07:06,500 --> 00:07:09,733 And sometimes he worked directly in Jacob's life. 135 00:07:09,966 --> 00:07:13,699 He spoke to Rebecca and gave her a dream. 136 00:07:13,866 --> 00:07:17,933 He gave him a vision, and sometimes, indirectly, 137 00:07:17,966 --> 00:07:21,033 as in the previous passage where his name 138 00:07:21,033 --> 00:07:25,066 wasn't even mentioned when dealing with Rachel. 139 00:07:26,233 --> 00:07:29,699 But all of every aspect of their lives. 140 00:07:30,300 --> 00:07:33,533 God's hand has been working to 141 00:07:33,566 --> 00:07:37,166 his end, and for his purpose, and 142 00:07:37,166 --> 00:07:40,266 no matter what the situation was, God's 143 00:07:40,266 --> 00:07:42,733 will was always done. 144 00:07:43,566 --> 00:07:46,699 Now, we get the benefit of seeing the 145 00:07:46,699 --> 00:07:50,100 whole story, we can read all of 146 00:07:50,100 --> 00:07:53,166 the chapters that have to do with Jacob's life, and we can 147 00:07:53,166 --> 00:07:56,600 read all that happens afterwards, up until Christ, 148 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,600 the lion of Judah comes on the scene, 149 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,666 and we can see the big picture 150 00:08:02,666 --> 00:08:04,033 ourselves. 151 00:08:04,633 --> 00:08:07,933 But, but, Jacob, and Rachel, and Rebecca, 152 00:08:07,933 --> 00:08:11,066 and Leia, and Zilpah, and Bilhah, and 153 00:08:11,066 --> 00:08:14,399 Isaac, and Laban, and all of them didn't 154 00:08:14,399 --> 00:08:16,199 have that benefit. 155 00:08:16,633 --> 00:08:17,966 They didn't get to see the whole picture. 156 00:08:18,199 --> 00:08:21,266 They lived through the circumstances 157 00:08:21,266 --> 00:08:24,266 one day at a time, just like we have to live 158 00:08:24,266 --> 00:08:25,533 through our lives. 159 00:08:26,766 --> 00:08:31,199 So when we left last time, Jacob had worked seven 160 00:08:31,199 --> 00:08:34,266 years in order to marry the love 161 00:08:34,266 --> 00:08:37,633 of his life, the one who was just so beautiful to 162 00:08:37,633 --> 00:08:40,633 him, Rachel, but found after 163 00:08:40,633 --> 00:08:44,833 the wedding, and the marriage feast, as 164 00:08:44,833 --> 00:08:47,166 the narrator put it in Genesis 29:25. 165 00:08:47,399 --> 00:08:48,466 So it came about in the morning, 166 00:08:48,566 --> 00:08:50,666 Behold, it was Leia. 167 00:08:50,966 --> 00:08:54,566 He had married the wrong sister, because of the trickery, 168 00:08:54,566 --> 00:08:58,299 and the lying, and the deceitfulness of Laban. 169 00:08:59,399 --> 00:09:02,566 Now, when we read that, especially 170 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,500 how the word puts it, behold, it was Leia, surprise. 171 00:09:07,399 --> 00:09:09,266 I always kind chuckle at it. 172 00:09:09,700 --> 00:09:13,166 But if you think about it, to Jacob and to Leia, 173 00:09:13,166 --> 00:09:14,666 it was no laughing matter. 174 00:09:15,299 --> 00:09:17,866 Leo was used by her father. 175 00:09:18,899 --> 00:09:21,899 Her whole life was used by her father as 176 00:09:21,899 --> 00:09:24,966 a trick to get Jacob, to trick 177 00:09:24,966 --> 00:09:28,133 him into working another seven years, and building 178 00:09:28,166 --> 00:09:31,166 Labon's family empire. 179 00:09:32,166 --> 00:09:36,200 And Jacob, obviously, didn't want to marry Leia, 180 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:41,000 but they were married now, and he had to work another seven years to marry Rachel. 181 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:44,100 This is an unimaginable situation to me. 182 00:09:44,899 --> 00:09:48,033 How difficult would it be to be thrown into 183 00:09:48,033 --> 00:09:51,166 an unwanted marriage as the husband, and 184 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:52,833 as Leia, as well? 185 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,233 Can you imagine your husband, not 186 00:09:56,233 --> 00:09:59,233 wanting to marry you in the first place, not growing to not want 187 00:09:59,233 --> 00:10:03,299 to marry you, but from the very beginning of your marriage, especially 188 00:10:03,299 --> 00:10:04,333 by trickery. 189 00:10:04,566 --> 00:10:07,700 So Jacob has to work another seven years for 190 00:10:07,700 --> 00:10:11,066 Labon, to marry the love that the 191 00:10:11,066 --> 00:10:13,033 one he wanted to marry in the first place, Rachel. 192 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,233 And when he does, his feelings, 193 00:10:17,233 --> 00:10:20,299 obviously, weren't the same for Rachel, 194 00:10:20,299 --> 00:10:23,133 as they were for Leia, or vice versa. 195 00:10:23,833 --> 00:10:25,799 He didn't want Leia as a wife. 196 00:10:25,799 --> 00:10:27,066 He loved Rachel. 197 00:10:27,799 --> 00:10:30,933 Now, as the name of the sermon 198 00:10:30,933 --> 00:10:34,266 implies that there's a genre of television 199 00:10:34,266 --> 00:10:37,266 that is based on romantic drama 200 00:10:37,266 --> 00:10:40,266 and daily cliffhangers that 201 00:10:40,266 --> 00:10:42,233 get you to watch the next day. 202 00:10:42,299 --> 00:10:44,166 And this is the soap opera. 203 00:10:44,666 --> 00:10:47,666 And the soap opera thrived off of this 204 00:10:47,666 --> 00:10:50,799 type of drama, the same drama that we see in our 205 00:10:50,799 --> 00:10:53,933 text today, Jacob and 206 00:10:53,966 --> 00:10:56,966 his wives found themselves in the 207 00:10:56,966 --> 00:11:00,700 midst of a soap opera style drama. 208 00:11:00,899 --> 00:11:04,500 But this passage tells that story in 209 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:06,833 a very real and a matter of fact way. 210 00:11:07,799 --> 00:11:10,866 Our story moves its focus from what happened to 211 00:11:10,866 --> 00:11:14,333 Jacob to what's happening between the 212 00:11:14,366 --> 00:11:16,633 two sister bride of Jacob. 213 00:11:16,866 --> 00:11:20,333 And in the beginning, the very start of Jacob's family. 214 00:11:21,133 --> 00:11:24,299 And again, this family would eventually become the 215 00:11:24,299 --> 00:11:27,533 12 tribes of Israel, and it would lead 216 00:11:27,566 --> 00:11:31,500 to God, the coming of God, 217 00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:33,233 the Son, into our world. 218 00:11:33,666 --> 00:11:36,899 So let's look at the pain and the suffering 219 00:11:36,899 --> 00:11:40,200 of the trials and the drama that these two sisters 220 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,200 had to go through as they started their new 221 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:44,766 families with Jacob. 222 00:11:44,899 --> 00:11:48,000 And we'll see exactly how God works through those 223 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,066 trials, to weave that tapestry of 224 00:11:51,066 --> 00:11:54,733 his plan, and how he redeems the 225 00:11:54,733 --> 00:11:58,866 trials and the suffering that Leia and Rachel had to experience. 226 00:11:59,899 --> 00:12:03,600 In the first part, in the last section of chapter 227 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,899 29, we see that God sees Leia's 228 00:12:06,899 --> 00:12:08,466 longing, verse 31. 229 00:12:08,700 --> 00:12:12,299 Now, the Lord saw that Leia was unloved. 230 00:12:12,733 --> 00:12:15,066 And he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 231 00:12:15,899 --> 00:12:18,899 Le conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, 232 00:12:18,899 --> 00:12:22,566 for she said, because the Lord has seen my affliction. 233 00:12:23,299 --> 00:12:26,233 Surely now, my husband will love me. 234 00:12:27,133 --> 00:12:30,266 Then she conceived again, and bore a son, and said, because the Lord has 235 00:12:30,266 --> 00:12:33,566 heard that I am unloved, he has therefore given 236 00:12:33,566 --> 00:12:34,833 me this son also. 237 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:37,466 So she named him Simeon. 238 00:12:38,066 --> 00:12:41,899 She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, Now this time, my 239 00:12:41,899 --> 00:12:44,899 husband will become attached to me, because I have borne 240 00:12:44,899 --> 00:12:48,566 him three sons, therefore he was named Levi. 241 00:12:48,966 --> 00:12:52,100 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, this time, 242 00:12:52,100 --> 00:12:53,433 I will praise the Lord. 243 00:12:53,899 --> 00:12:56,899 Therefore, she named him Judah, then she stopped 244 00:12:56,899 --> 00:12:58,633 bearing. 245 00:12:59,666 --> 00:13:02,000 Leia was the firstborn sister. 246 00:13:02,833 --> 00:13:06,966 But she was always considered second in Jacob's eyes to Rachel. 247 00:13:07,799 --> 00:13:10,299 And I have mixed feelings about this situation. 248 00:13:10,799 --> 00:13:13,866 I don't know how I'd react if I had 249 00:13:13,866 --> 00:13:17,700 been put in Jacob's shoes. 250 00:13:17,766 --> 00:13:20,833 If I was given the wrong sister, if I had expectations 251 00:13:20,833 --> 00:13:23,966 of marrying one person, and on the 252 00:13:23,966 --> 00:13:27,500 wedding night, I found out that I married a different person. 253 00:13:28,766 --> 00:13:32,600 And this is so far out of our cultural 254 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,666 understanding of our mindset as 255 00:13:35,666 --> 00:13:38,666 modern Western people 256 00:13:38,666 --> 00:13:42,033 that I don't even know how much. 257 00:13:42,066 --> 00:13:45,799 We can imagine ourselves to be in this 258 00:13:45,799 --> 00:13:49,700 situation, as we try to put ourselves in Jacob and Rachel and Leia's shoes. 259 00:13:50,466 --> 00:13:52,033 I don't know if I could picture it. 260 00:13:52,100 --> 00:13:55,833 So I don't know if I blame Jacob for being disappointed, 261 00:13:55,833 --> 00:13:59,766 or for loving Rachel, more than Leia, 262 00:13:59,799 --> 00:14:02,899 but for the situation to be as bad 263 00:14:02,899 --> 00:14:05,899 as it seemed, especially for Leia, 264 00:14:05,899 --> 00:14:08,899 he definitely wasn't in the right and 265 00:14:08,899 --> 00:14:10,266 how he handled it, either. 266 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:13,799 So it's kind of one of those life situations where 267 00:14:13,799 --> 00:14:16,500 there's the big gray area. 268 00:14:16,566 --> 00:14:17,533 But God saw her. 269 00:14:18,500 --> 00:14:21,633 He saw the plight that she was in the pain that 270 00:14:21,633 --> 00:14:25,033 she was feeling, and he caused her to become pregnant. 271 00:14:25,266 --> 00:14:29,466 He opened her womb, but he closed Rachel's womb. 272 00:14:30,299 --> 00:14:33,600 That the Bible is aware of the physical mechanics 273 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,733 of conception of pregnancy and of birth. 274 00:14:37,766 --> 00:14:40,933 But it also knows, ultimately, the 275 00:14:40,933 --> 00:14:44,966 one who opens and closes the womb is God. 276 00:14:45,899 --> 00:14:49,433 And so God blesses Leia with four sons at 277 00:14:49,466 --> 00:14:53,000 this time, and she names them all as 278 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:54,566 a prayer to God. 279 00:14:55,266 --> 00:14:58,933 And we need to read these 280 00:14:58,933 --> 00:15:02,700 names and her description of why she named these 281 00:15:02,700 --> 00:15:06,433 four sons the way that she did as a cry out to God. 282 00:15:07,166 --> 00:15:07,899 The pain. 283 00:15:07,933 --> 00:15:10,933 Just read the names, and read the descriptions, and 284 00:15:10,933 --> 00:15:14,833 imagine how you would feel if you were writing these prayers. 285 00:15:15,366 --> 00:15:17,766 The 1st son is named Reuben. 286 00:15:18,266 --> 00:15:21,366 And his name is a play on the word that means to 287 00:15:21,366 --> 00:15:23,033 look, or to see. 288 00:15:23,899 --> 00:15:27,200 And she says that she names him this because she says, 289 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,200 Yahweh has seen her affliction. 290 00:15:31,466 --> 00:15:33,733 Then her second son is Stimian. 291 00:15:34,266 --> 00:15:37,399 His name sounds like the word for to hear, 292 00:15:37,399 --> 00:15:38,600 or to listen. 293 00:15:39,299 --> 00:15:42,833 So Yahweh has heard that she was unloved. 294 00:15:43,866 --> 00:15:46,933 And then Levi, his name sounds like 295 00:15:46,933 --> 00:15:50,066 the word for it to be joined, or to be put 296 00:15:50,066 --> 00:15:53,133 together, because it says that she hopes that 297 00:15:53,133 --> 00:15:56,166 now that she's had three sons, that her 298 00:15:56,166 --> 00:15:59,299 husband would become attached, or joined with her. 299 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,500 But apparently not, because she just comes to the fourth 300 00:16:03,500 --> 00:16:07,866 son, a Judah, and his word, 301 00:16:07,866 --> 00:16:11,700 his name sounds like the word for to be celebrated. 302 00:16:11,700 --> 00:16:13,666 And so she names him because at this 303 00:16:14,399 --> 00:16:16,133 She says, I will just praise the Lord. 304 00:16:16,266 --> 00:16:17,299 None of this worked. 305 00:16:17,366 --> 00:16:19,766 I'm just going to praise the Lord. 306 00:16:20,533 --> 00:16:23,833 So, at this time, they didn't have baby books or 307 00:16:23,833 --> 00:16:27,133 baby name books, what to name your boy 308 00:16:27,133 --> 00:16:30,133 in 2026, all 309 00:16:30,133 --> 00:16:33,366 of the names that she gave to her boys, 310 00:16:33,366 --> 00:16:36,666 were cries from her heart to God, called 311 00:16:36,666 --> 00:16:40,500 out to him from her broken heart. 312 00:16:41,466 --> 00:16:44,766 And God was bringing her answers to 313 00:16:44,766 --> 00:16:48,133 her longing heart by giving her sons, 314 00:16:48,133 --> 00:16:51,200 but also, she was looking at 315 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:55,166 those the birth of these boys as the solution to her problem. 316 00:16:55,266 --> 00:16:56,766 Maybe if I have another boy. 317 00:16:57,266 --> 00:16:58,033 He'll love me. 318 00:16:58,399 --> 00:17:00,966 Maybe if I have another one, he'll listen to me. 319 00:17:01,033 --> 00:17:01,799 He'll see me. 320 00:17:02,466 --> 00:17:05,700 But God was using this to show her that the 321 00:17:05,700 --> 00:17:08,933 final solution, the solution to her problems and 322 00:17:08,966 --> 00:17:13,166 her pain and her suffering, wasn't just having boys. 323 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,400 Jacob would never really come to love her in 324 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:18,666 the way that she wanted. 325 00:17:18,866 --> 00:17:22,000 We can see that as we go through the story, that 326 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,099 Jacob, in his old age, would 327 00:17:25,099 --> 00:17:28,466 love Rachel and her sons more than Leia, 328 00:17:28,466 --> 00:17:29,833 and her sons. 329 00:17:30,666 --> 00:17:33,799 But God was watching out for her. 330 00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:37,633 She felt unloved, but she really wasn't, 331 00:17:37,633 --> 00:17:39,133 because God loved her. 332 00:17:39,299 --> 00:17:42,533 God heard her, and answered her prayers. 333 00:17:42,900 --> 00:17:45,966 Her sons would become as unloved as 334 00:17:45,966 --> 00:17:49,266 she was, would become the heads of 335 00:17:49,266 --> 00:17:51,833 12 tribes of Israel. 336 00:17:52,799 --> 00:17:55,866 And specifically, the two names that should stick out to you 337 00:17:55,866 --> 00:18:00,133 the most, or not necessarily Reuben and Issachar, or Simeon here. 338 00:18:00,599 --> 00:18:04,033 It's Levi, and Judah, that 339 00:18:04,033 --> 00:18:07,400 her sons would be the start of the priestly 340 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,000 line of Israel, and the 341 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,166 royal line of Israel, that David and 342 00:18:14,166 --> 00:18:17,333 Solomon would come from, and eventually Jesus 343 00:18:17,366 --> 00:18:19,599 Christ himself would come from. 344 00:18:20,166 --> 00:18:22,266 She didn't see all that. 345 00:18:22,333 --> 00:18:26,166 She didn't know that this was how God was loving her, but 346 00:18:26,166 --> 00:18:27,599 God was loving her. 347 00:18:27,866 --> 00:18:31,833 God was listening to her, and God was seeing her. 348 00:18:32,466 --> 00:18:35,599 And Jesus, himself, exemplifies 349 00:18:35,599 --> 00:18:39,200 the same pattern of hearing the needy, 350 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,433 of hearing and looking out for the 351 00:18:42,433 --> 00:18:45,500 unloved and the downtrodden as we see as we 352 00:18:45,500 --> 00:18:46,533 read the gospels. 353 00:18:47,299 --> 00:18:50,299 Those who were under the feet of the wicked of the 354 00:18:50,299 --> 00:18:53,366 world, those who were missing the point, as 355 00:18:53,366 --> 00:18:56,366 Lazarus was about to be resurrected, he 356 00:18:56,366 --> 00:18:59,533 wept for the same God, 357 00:18:59,533 --> 00:19:02,833 who heard the prayers of this unloved 358 00:19:02,833 --> 00:19:06,200 bride, hears the prayers of 359 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:08,733 persecuted and suffering saints. 360 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:10,000 Keep heart. 361 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,333 If you were given of 362 00:19:13,333 --> 00:19:16,700 the ability to see far enough in the future, you, 363 00:19:16,700 --> 00:19:20,000 too, would see how God is using your trials, 364 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,133 your suffering, and your pain to work out his 365 00:19:23,133 --> 00:19:26,533 will, and to paint the picture of his world in 366 00:19:26,533 --> 00:19:28,266 a way that brings him glory. 367 00:19:28,633 --> 00:19:32,066 And although we can't see it now, ultimately are 368 00:19:32,066 --> 00:19:33,400 good in him. 369 00:19:35,766 --> 00:19:39,066 We cannot see that, as Hebrew says, with our eyes, 370 00:19:39,066 --> 00:19:42,500 yet, we have to see that by faith, at 371 00:19:42,500 --> 00:19:46,233 the moment, but eventually, faith will become sight. 372 00:19:46,633 --> 00:19:50,666 And we'll be able to see that in perfect HD quality. 373 00:19:51,666 --> 00:19:56,000 So Leia, unloved Leia. 374 00:19:56,833 --> 00:19:57,599 God heard her. 375 00:19:58,466 --> 00:19:59,833 God listened to her. 376 00:20:00,366 --> 00:20:03,599 Now, the next part of our story, where 377 00:20:03,599 --> 00:20:07,333 Rachel and Leia, take things into their own hands. 378 00:20:08,599 --> 00:20:11,533 Chapter 30, verses one through 21, 379 00:20:11,599 --> 00:20:13,400 We'll read verses 1 through 13. 380 00:20:13,766 --> 00:20:16,299 Now, when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children. 381 00:20:16,933 --> 00:20:18,566 She became jealous of her sister. 382 00:20:19,099 --> 00:20:22,099 And she said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 383 00:20:22,933 --> 00:20:25,333 And Jacob's anger burned against Rachel. 384 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,500 And he said, am I in the place of God, who has withheld 385 00:20:28,500 --> 00:20:29,833 from you the fruit of the womb? 386 00:20:30,599 --> 00:20:31,466 She said, Here. 387 00:20:32,133 --> 00:20:35,233 Here's my maid, Bilhah, go in to her, that she may 388 00:20:35,233 --> 00:20:39,000 bear on my knees, that through her, I, too, may have children. 389 00:20:39,733 --> 00:20:43,266 So she gave him her maid, Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 390 00:20:43,799 --> 00:20:46,366 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 391 00:20:46,466 --> 00:20:49,566 Then Rachel said, God has vindicated me, and has indeed 392 00:20:49,566 --> 00:20:52,033 heard my voice, and has given me a son. 393 00:20:52,266 --> 00:20:53,900 Therefore, she named him Dan. 394 00:20:54,666 --> 00:20:58,733 Rachel's maid, Bill Hawk, conceived again, and bore Jacob a 2nd son. 395 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,466 So Rachel said, with mighty wrestlings, I have wrestled 396 00:21:02,466 --> 00:21:05,933 with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed, and 397 00:21:05,966 --> 00:21:07,900 she named him Naphpali. 398 00:21:08,666 --> 00:21:11,666 When Leia saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her 399 00:21:11,666 --> 00:21:14,366 maid Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 400 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,333 Leia's maid, Zilpah, bore Jacob a son. 401 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,033 Then Leia said, how fortunate. 402 00:21:19,266 --> 00:21:20,533 So she named him Gad. 403 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,700 Leia's made Zilpah bore Jacob a 2nd son. 404 00:21:23,900 --> 00:21:27,366 Then Leia said, happy am I, for women will call me happy. 405 00:21:28,033 --> 00:21:29,599 So she named him Asher. 406 00:21:30,299 --> 00:21:33,433 So now, Leia was distraught in 407 00:21:33,433 --> 00:21:36,966 the previous passage, and God heard her, but now, Leia 408 00:21:36,966 --> 00:21:39,733 is looking at her sister with the eyes of jealousy. 409 00:21:39,799 --> 00:21:42,866 She's got Jacob's love, but her sister is 410 00:21:42,866 --> 00:21:46,233 having all the babies, and she is barren. 411 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,099 Leia had four sons, and Rachel hasn't 412 00:21:50,099 --> 00:21:52,033 been able to conceive the first child. 413 00:21:53,233 --> 00:21:56,900 So she complains to Jacob at her wits 414 00:21:56,900 --> 00:22:00,133 end, Give me children, or 415 00:22:00,133 --> 00:22:01,266 else I die. 416 00:22:01,933 --> 00:22:05,299 Now, I can imagine Jacob looking over at 417 00:22:05,299 --> 00:22:08,599 the four children, sons that he just had with 418 00:22:08,599 --> 00:22:10,533 Leia, and say, Look, it ain't me. 419 00:22:11,133 --> 00:22:15,266 It ain't my fault, but he 420 00:22:15,266 --> 00:22:18,666 doesn't do a very good job of talking gently 421 00:22:18,666 --> 00:22:20,900 with his distraught and irrational wife. 422 00:22:21,433 --> 00:22:23,166 He says, Look, who do you think I am? 423 00:22:23,533 --> 00:22:24,733 Why are you blaming me? 424 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,200 Is God is the one who gives children 425 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,366 and stops from having children? 426 00:22:30,900 --> 00:22:33,966 And here, in this passage, we have another one of 427 00:22:33,966 --> 00:22:38,099 those, especially Old Testament, but biblical repetitions of stories. 428 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,000 And if you remember, there was 429 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,066 someone else in this family that was having problems 430 00:22:45,066 --> 00:22:48,133 conceiving children, and God had 431 00:22:48,133 --> 00:22:51,366 promised them, Abraham and Sarah, that 432 00:22:51,366 --> 00:22:53,466 they would have a son in their old age. 433 00:22:54,299 --> 00:22:55,733 But Sarah didn't believe God. 434 00:22:56,366 --> 00:22:59,200 She laughed when she heard what he said. 435 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,466 So she took matters into her own hands, 436 00:23:02,466 --> 00:23:05,933 and gave her servant, Hagar, to 437 00:23:05,966 --> 00:23:09,066 Abram, in order that they would have 438 00:23:09,066 --> 00:23:10,266 a child. 439 00:23:10,333 --> 00:23:13,400 And so this, again, is a different culture, a different 440 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,166 time, a very ancient culture, and this was a standard practice, 441 00:23:17,166 --> 00:23:20,299 whenever the 442 00:23:20,299 --> 00:23:23,299 children weren't coming, and there 443 00:23:23,299 --> 00:23:27,033 was their need for an heir to pass the inheritance 444 00:23:27,033 --> 00:23:31,266 of all of your possessions to, the 445 00:23:31,266 --> 00:23:34,733 wife would give a servant to the husband, 446 00:23:34,766 --> 00:23:37,533 to Mary, and have a child. 447 00:23:37,799 --> 00:23:41,166 But that child wouldn't be the child of that 448 00:23:41,166 --> 00:23:44,000 woman in the eyes of the world, that bond servant. 449 00:23:44,299 --> 00:23:48,133 She would be like the adopted child of the masters. 450 00:23:48,866 --> 00:23:52,000 And that child would get the inheritance and would be 451 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,700 raised as one of their own children. 452 00:23:56,700 --> 00:23:58,933 So the Bible tells us the same thing happens here. 453 00:23:59,599 --> 00:24:02,766 Rachel is barren, she wants children, so she gives 454 00:24:02,766 --> 00:24:06,066 Jacob, her servant, Dihah, 455 00:24:06,066 --> 00:24:09,500 as a wife, and Bilhah has a son that 456 00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:12,366 would be raised as Jacob, and Rachel's son. 457 00:24:13,266 --> 00:24:16,700 So, now, I can imagine my 458 00:24:16,700 --> 00:24:20,533 response to this happening in our times, but 459 00:24:20,533 --> 00:24:24,299 Rachel's response is completely different from what 460 00:24:24,299 --> 00:24:27,366 my response would be, and Genesis 30 verse 6, she says, 461 00:24:27,366 --> 00:24:29,833 then Rachel said, God has vindicated me. 462 00:24:30,266 --> 00:24:33,400 And has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son. 463 00:24:33,666 --> 00:24:35,466 Therefore, she named him Dan. 464 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,966 So I can't imagine that I would have looked at this as 465 00:24:39,966 --> 00:24:43,799 a victory, or a triumph, that 466 00:24:43,799 --> 00:24:46,933 my servant had a child with my husband, 467 00:24:46,933 --> 00:24:50,533 but it's a different time, and a different culture. 468 00:24:51,133 --> 00:24:54,000 The Bible is simply telling us what happened. 469 00:24:54,366 --> 00:24:57,433 This is not the Bible's plan for how to deal 470 00:24:57,433 --> 00:24:58,799 with infertility, right? 471 00:24:59,366 --> 00:25:02,366 This is not a prescription for how we are to deal 472 00:25:02,366 --> 00:25:03,500 with barrenness. 473 00:25:04,333 --> 00:25:07,933 It is just stating the facts of what happened in the story. 474 00:25:08,766 --> 00:25:12,133 And the fact that it's repeating the facts 475 00:25:12,133 --> 00:25:15,133 that happened in two separate stories, Abram 476 00:25:15,133 --> 00:25:18,133 and with Jacob and Rachel, 477 00:25:18,133 --> 00:25:19,933 is telling us something. 478 00:25:21,299 --> 00:25:24,666 But Rachel is excited at the news 479 00:25:24,666 --> 00:25:28,500 that her servant, Bilhah, is having a son. 480 00:25:28,766 --> 00:25:32,366 And so she names her son through Bilhad, 481 00:25:32,366 --> 00:25:34,599 Dan, which sounds like he judged. 482 00:25:35,666 --> 00:25:38,833 You can hear the emotions and the spirits 483 00:25:38,833 --> 00:25:40,466 of these two different women. 484 00:25:40,866 --> 00:25:43,933 Laius names were just cries 485 00:25:43,933 --> 00:25:48,433 and calling out for help and pain. 486 00:25:49,166 --> 00:25:52,266 But Rachel's, the names that she names 487 00:25:52,266 --> 00:25:55,333 her children through her servant, 488 00:25:55,333 --> 00:25:57,733 are, I'm getting back at you, Leah. 489 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,000 So listen, the name Dan sounds like 490 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,799 the word for he judged. 491 00:26:04,466 --> 00:26:07,466 She feels that God has been the judge between 492 00:26:07,466 --> 00:26:10,466 them two, and found that Rachel must 493 00:26:10,466 --> 00:26:14,133 be okay, because he gave her a son too. 494 00:26:14,833 --> 00:26:15,599 Does that make sense? 495 00:26:16,799 --> 00:26:19,866 Just imagine that your names were back and 496 00:26:19,866 --> 00:26:22,933 forth between your family and her whole life, you'd have to remember 497 00:26:22,933 --> 00:26:26,299 all the squabbles, dysfunction and mess, for sure. 498 00:26:27,133 --> 00:26:30,299 So this is mighty presumptuous on her part, right? 499 00:26:30,366 --> 00:26:33,799 That God has judged my situation, and I'm doing okay. 500 00:26:33,866 --> 00:26:35,299 And we've all been there before. 501 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,333 But then Bilha has another son, and she names 502 00:26:39,333 --> 00:26:42,433 the second son, Naphtali, 503 00:26:42,433 --> 00:26:44,833 and his name means to wrestle. 504 00:26:45,666 --> 00:26:49,133 Rachel thought that she was in a match with her sister, 505 00:26:49,166 --> 00:26:53,066 and a fight with her sister, and that she had won. 506 00:26:53,166 --> 00:26:56,099 So she names her second son, Naftali. 507 00:26:56,833 --> 00:27:00,666 Now, I enjoy all kinds of different music and 508 00:27:00,666 --> 00:27:03,666 one of them is a genre called 509 00:27:03,666 --> 00:27:04,733 funk, right? 510 00:27:04,933 --> 00:27:08,133 I love that driving baseline and a tempo. 511 00:27:08,533 --> 00:27:10,400 There's a band called Wolfpeck. 512 00:27:11,900 --> 00:27:14,966 They post stuff on YouTube, and they have this 15 minute long 513 00:27:14,966 --> 00:27:18,200 video, and the name of the video is, 514 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,266 it gets funkier, but every time it gets 515 00:27:21,266 --> 00:27:23,000 funkier, it gets funkier. 516 00:27:23,766 --> 00:27:26,766 So every 30 seconds to a minute, that the 517 00:27:26,766 --> 00:27:30,133 song just starts getting faster and funkier, 518 00:27:30,133 --> 00:27:31,799 as it goes on. 519 00:27:32,299 --> 00:27:35,766 It escalates throughout the 15 minutes, right? 520 00:27:36,733 --> 00:27:39,799 And that's what these sisters are doing, with 521 00:27:39,799 --> 00:27:42,966 each batch of children that they're having, the 522 00:27:42,966 --> 00:27:46,733 stuff is escalating, and the fights are escalating. 523 00:27:46,866 --> 00:27:50,766 See, Leia had four sons, and then she stopped bearing. 524 00:27:51,133 --> 00:27:54,666 And now Rachel was having children through her servant. 525 00:27:55,099 --> 00:27:57,066 She does the next logical thing to do. 526 00:27:57,266 --> 00:27:58,633 She wants to take it up a notch. 527 00:27:58,933 --> 00:28:00,299 She wants it to get funkier. 528 00:28:00,866 --> 00:28:03,900 So she gives her servant to Jacob to 529 00:28:03,900 --> 00:28:05,700 have children through, right? 530 00:28:06,366 --> 00:28:09,433 So, Leia had four, and Rachel gives 531 00:28:09,433 --> 00:28:11,000 her servant to Jacob. 532 00:28:11,533 --> 00:28:14,533 And now Leia's like, well, if she's doing it, I'm going 533 00:28:14,533 --> 00:28:15,799 to give my servant to him too. 534 00:28:15,866 --> 00:28:19,099 This is an all out spat between the two sisters 535 00:28:19,099 --> 00:28:21,066 and Jacobs in the middle of it all. 536 00:28:21,500 --> 00:28:25,166 So, so, so Leia gives Zilpah, her servant, 537 00:28:25,166 --> 00:28:28,466 to Jacob, to have sons with, and the 538 00:28:28,466 --> 00:28:31,566 1st son she has is named Gad, which 539 00:28:31,566 --> 00:28:32,900 means fortune. 540 00:28:33,066 --> 00:28:36,133 And then she has another son, and Leia 541 00:28:36,133 --> 00:28:38,700 names him, Asher, or Happy. 542 00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:42,633 And now this is a strange story to our ears. 543 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,766 But it's about to get even stranger. 544 00:28:47,900 --> 00:28:50,900 in what Ralph Davies, a commentator called Mandrake 545 00:28:50,900 --> 00:28:52,000 Madness. 546 00:28:54,299 --> 00:28:57,533 The next part of our passage, verse 14, says, Now, 547 00:28:57,566 --> 00:29:00,933 in the days of wheat harvest, Reuben went and 548 00:29:00,933 --> 00:29:04,566 found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leia. 549 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,533 Then Rachel said to Leia, Please give me some of your son's mandrikes, 550 00:29:08,533 --> 00:29:12,599 but she said to her, Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? 551 00:29:13,466 --> 00:29:16,233 And would you take my son's mandrakes also? 552 00:29:16,933 --> 00:29:20,066 So Rachel said, therefore, he may lay with you tonight 553 00:29:20,066 --> 00:29:22,400 in return for your son's mandrix. 554 00:29:22,933 --> 00:29:26,599 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then 555 00:29:26,599 --> 00:29:29,599 Leia went out to meet him and said, You must come in to me, 556 00:29:29,599 --> 00:29:33,433 for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrix. 557 00:29:33,433 --> 00:29:35,099 So he lay with her that night. 558 00:29:36,066 --> 00:29:40,033 God gave heed to Leia, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 559 00:29:40,933 --> 00:29:44,066 Then Leia said, God has given me my wages, because 560 00:29:44,066 --> 00:29:45,933 I gave my maid to my husband. 561 00:29:46,333 --> 00:29:48,000 So she named him Issachar. 562 00:29:48,866 --> 00:29:52,166 Le conceived again, and bore a sick son to Jacob. 563 00:29:52,633 --> 00:29:55,200 Then Leia said, God has endowed me with a good gift. 564 00:29:55,333 --> 00:29:58,400 Now my husband will dwell with me, because I have 565 00:29:58,400 --> 00:29:59,466 borne him six sons. 566 00:29:59,966 --> 00:30:01,633 So she named him Zebulun. 567 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,433 Afterward, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah. 568 00:30:06,299 --> 00:30:09,366 So, this is a very telling it like it 569 00:30:09,366 --> 00:30:13,033 is, earthy story that we're going through here. 570 00:30:14,166 --> 00:30:17,766 Leia's oldest, Reuben, find some mandrakes 571 00:30:17,766 --> 00:30:20,700 in the field, while they're at the wheat harvest. 572 00:30:21,733 --> 00:30:24,433 And he brings them to Leia. 573 00:30:24,500 --> 00:30:27,133 So now the kids are involved in the spat as well. 574 00:30:28,166 --> 00:30:32,000 So mandrakes, if you didn't know, are 575 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,066 a plant that flowers are very beautiful blue 576 00:30:35,066 --> 00:30:36,200 flower in the winter. 577 00:30:36,733 --> 00:30:39,799 But towards the end of the summer, they give fruit. 578 00:30:40,866 --> 00:30:44,033 And at the time, they were thought to be a natural 579 00:30:44,066 --> 00:30:45,700 remedy that did two things. 580 00:30:45,966 --> 00:30:49,133 One was an aphrodisiac, and 581 00:30:49,166 --> 00:30:52,500 the second thing was a natural remedy 582 00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:54,766 for infertility. 583 00:30:55,099 --> 00:30:59,133 So Rachel hasn't been able to have her own children yet. 584 00:30:59,700 --> 00:31:02,700 So she really wants these mandrakes to be 585 00:31:02,700 --> 00:31:04,200 able to have her own. 586 00:31:05,466 --> 00:31:08,599 So we may laugh at the idea 587 00:31:08,599 --> 00:31:12,066 of these ancient, you know, these crazy people, all these natural remedies 588 00:31:12,066 --> 00:31:14,466 and myths and stuff that they believe. 589 00:31:14,766 --> 00:31:17,933 Well, let me tell you, we have our own myths about food 590 00:31:17,966 --> 00:31:19,900 and natural remedies ourselves. 591 00:31:20,066 --> 00:31:23,066 I mean, have you ever been accosted by a church lady 592 00:31:23,066 --> 00:31:24,333 that sells essential oils? 593 00:31:24,599 --> 00:31:27,666 If you sell essential oils, I'm sorry, but it's 594 00:31:27,666 --> 00:31:29,000 the same thing in my mind. 595 00:31:29,299 --> 00:31:29,766 Okay? 596 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,333 So, here we are, and we see 597 00:31:33,333 --> 00:31:36,833 the crux of the issue in Leia's 598 00:31:36,866 --> 00:31:40,266 mind, when this battle over Jacob, 599 00:31:40,266 --> 00:31:43,500 is she believes that Rachel has 600 00:31:43,500 --> 00:31:45,000 taken her husband. 601 00:31:45,866 --> 00:31:48,933 He was Leia's first, no matter that it was 602 00:31:48,933 --> 00:31:52,500 done against Jacob's will and by deception. 603 00:31:53,233 --> 00:31:56,533 So Rachel negotiates a trade to lay it. 604 00:31:56,599 --> 00:31:59,833 Look, if you give me those 605 00:31:59,833 --> 00:32:03,133 mandrakes, I'll let you 606 00:32:03,133 --> 00:32:04,400 guys get together tonight. 607 00:32:05,066 --> 00:32:08,200 So she traded a night with her husband for 608 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,700 these mandrix, because she was so desperate, 609 00:32:11,700 --> 00:32:14,700 that even though she said that it was good, 610 00:32:14,700 --> 00:32:17,700 and it was great, it was a gift, that she had 611 00:32:17,700 --> 00:32:20,766 kids through her servant, she really wanted them 612 00:32:20,766 --> 00:32:22,200 herself. 613 00:32:23,700 --> 00:32:27,066 But the problem is, it backfired. 614 00:32:27,666 --> 00:32:31,099 It does go to Jacob that night, but she conceives 615 00:32:31,099 --> 00:32:33,266 and has more sons. 616 00:32:34,033 --> 00:32:37,466 She has two more sons and a daughter in Dinah. 617 00:32:37,866 --> 00:32:41,033 She has Issachar, which means to hire. 618 00:32:41,766 --> 00:32:46,133 She sees that this fifth son is 619 00:32:46,166 --> 00:32:49,400 a wages for her giving her servant 620 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,233 to Jacob to have another son. 621 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,233 Then she has Zebulun, the sixth, which means residence. 622 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:58,833 And this may be the saddest of all. 623 00:32:59,533 --> 00:33:03,266 She's still longing for her husband to love her. 624 00:33:04,166 --> 00:33:07,500 She thinks now that she's had six sons for him, that 625 00:33:07,500 --> 00:33:08,833 he'll take up residence. 626 00:33:09,299 --> 00:33:12,766 They'll be joined together, that he'll endure and 627 00:33:12,799 --> 00:33:17,066 dwell with her, that he'll finally accept her as his wife. 628 00:33:17,966 --> 00:33:20,233 Now, in Dinah, a daughter. 629 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,799 whose name means to plead, or to fight. 630 00:33:25,866 --> 00:33:29,299 All of this back and forth, all of this drama, 631 00:33:29,299 --> 00:33:32,366 that is taking things into their own hands. 632 00:33:33,666 --> 00:33:37,133 All this stuff that went back and forth between Leia and Rachel, 633 00:33:37,166 --> 00:33:41,133 and mandrix, and crying, and servants, having babies in my place. 634 00:33:42,366 --> 00:33:45,500 But all the time that they were doing all of these things in 635 00:33:45,500 --> 00:33:47,966 their own power, in their own ways. 636 00:33:48,299 --> 00:33:49,666 God was still listening. 637 00:33:50,833 --> 00:33:53,900 Rachel complained about her life for 638 00:33:53,900 --> 00:33:55,533 the lack of having children. 639 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,233 And she was desperate when she gave her maid to Jacob 640 00:33:59,233 --> 00:34:00,366 to have children with. 641 00:34:00,733 --> 00:34:04,799 She was desperate when she sold a knight with Jacob for 642 00:34:04,799 --> 00:34:07,433 this natural remedy for infertility. 643 00:34:08,233 --> 00:34:11,400 Leia gave her servant to Jacob to despite Rachel. 644 00:34:12,566 --> 00:34:15,566 Can you imagine the position that she was in, and the pain in 645 00:34:15,566 --> 00:34:18,433 that family that they were in? 646 00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:21,066 She bought a knight with her own husband. 647 00:34:21,599 --> 00:34:25,133 All of these things, these machinations, and plans, 648 00:34:25,166 --> 00:34:28,300 and stuff, if they were doing in the background, to fulfill their 649 00:34:28,300 --> 00:34:32,933 desires by their own wills, their own ways, uh, 650 00:34:32,966 --> 00:34:36,266 were also, at the same time, praying, 651 00:34:36,266 --> 00:34:39,366 and asking God to intervene, 652 00:34:39,366 --> 00:34:41,633 so that Rachel could have children. 653 00:34:41,766 --> 00:34:44,333 And so Leia would be loved by her husband. 654 00:34:45,066 --> 00:34:48,133 It was a mixture of unbelief. 655 00:34:48,500 --> 00:34:51,866 We know Leia was looking to Yahweh because of 656 00:34:51,866 --> 00:34:55,099 the names of her children, and 657 00:34:55,099 --> 00:34:58,166 all of us, as we pray, and 658 00:34:58,166 --> 00:35:01,400 as we live our lives, mix, trust, 659 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,533 and unbelief, mix, 660 00:35:04,533 --> 00:35:08,333 doing things correctly, understanding things correctly, 661 00:35:08,366 --> 00:35:12,266 believing correctly, and a 662 00:35:12,266 --> 00:35:15,400 mixed bags of cultural influences that we 663 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,800 have, and we think that influence our mind, and what we believe 664 00:35:18,966 --> 00:35:22,333 and what we see, and what we understand, 665 00:35:22,333 --> 00:35:25,400 all of us are a mixture of 666 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,599 things in the same way. 667 00:35:27,500 --> 00:35:29,133 as Leia and Rachel. 668 00:35:29,300 --> 00:35:31,533 We take things into our own hands. 669 00:35:32,699 --> 00:35:35,833 How many times, have we seen God answer 670 00:35:35,833 --> 00:35:38,166 in spite of this? 671 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,199 in our own lives. 672 00:35:41,300 --> 00:35:44,533 How many times, have we been just an absolute complete 673 00:35:44,533 --> 00:35:47,766 disaster of a person and a sinner, 674 00:35:47,766 --> 00:35:51,000 but God still listens to us and 675 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,433 answers our prayers in ways that we can't even understand 676 00:35:54,433 --> 00:35:55,566 or imagine? 677 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,866 Aren't you glad that our perfection, and that 678 00:35:58,866 --> 00:36:02,099 our perfect obedience is not to require, 679 00:36:02,099 --> 00:36:05,099 to God being able to hear us, to 680 00:36:05,099 --> 00:36:08,099 that we're able to go before the 681 00:36:08,099 --> 00:36:11,400 throne of God based on Christ's perfection, and 682 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:13,933 Christ's righteousness in our place? 683 00:36:14,599 --> 00:36:16,166 What a blessing that is. 684 00:36:16,933 --> 00:36:20,699 And Rachel really finds out that this is true in 685 00:36:20,699 --> 00:36:22,366 the very last part of our passage. 686 00:36:23,699 --> 00:36:27,066 Rachel finds God's timing, verses 22 687 00:36:27,066 --> 00:36:30,233 through 24, then God remembered Rachel, and 688 00:36:30,266 --> 00:36:33,433 God gave heed to her and opened her womb. 689 00:36:34,166 --> 00:36:37,166 So she conceived and bore a son, and said, God has 690 00:36:37,166 --> 00:36:39,400 taken away my reproach. 691 00:36:40,099 --> 00:36:43,099 She named him Joseph, saying, May the Lord 692 00:36:43,099 --> 00:36:44,599 give me another son. 693 00:36:45,900 --> 00:36:48,166 Behind the scenes of all of this. 694 00:36:48,599 --> 00:36:52,800 There's something much bigger and greater than the drama that was happening. 695 00:36:53,766 --> 00:36:57,500 I read this illustration, as I was studying, that 696 00:36:57,500 --> 00:37:00,500 the actor, Marlon Brando, was filming 697 00:37:00,500 --> 00:37:03,666 his very first film that he acted with in 1950 698 00:37:03,666 --> 00:37:05,400 called The Men. 699 00:37:06,199 --> 00:37:09,433 And in that film, he played a World War II veteran 700 00:37:09,433 --> 00:37:12,966 that had lost a use of his legs in the war and 701 00:37:12,966 --> 00:37:16,033 became a paraplegic, so as he prepared and 702 00:37:16,033 --> 00:37:19,400 studied for the role, he lived several 703 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,466 weeks himself in a wheelchair, and he hung 704 00:37:22,466 --> 00:37:25,599 around other World War II veterans that 705 00:37:25,599 --> 00:37:30,433 became paraplegic, so he could properly act in the role. 706 00:37:30,500 --> 00:37:33,599 So one day, him and a couple of his new friends 707 00:37:33,599 --> 00:37:35,033 in their wheelchairs. 708 00:37:35,766 --> 00:37:38,300 him in his wheelchair, went to a bar. 709 00:37:39,266 --> 00:37:42,266 And there was a lady that worked with 710 00:37:42,266 --> 00:37:45,400 the Salvation Army that came to the bar to get waste paper for 711 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,833 whatever reason, and she saw all 712 00:37:48,866 --> 00:37:52,699 the people in wheelchairs there, and she 713 00:37:52,699 --> 00:37:56,066 raised her hands and prayed, oh, Lord, grant 714 00:37:56,066 --> 00:37:58,233 that these men may be able to walk again. 715 00:37:59,900 --> 00:38:03,266 So when Brando heard her praying this prayer, he 716 00:38:03,266 --> 00:38:06,433 got up and walked around and she 717 00:38:06,433 --> 00:38:09,599 nearly fainted, seeing her prayer actually worked. 718 00:38:10,699 --> 00:38:14,000 She didn't know what was happening behind the scenes, but 719 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,933 she also didn't completely trust that her prayer was real, right? 720 00:38:17,466 --> 00:38:18,533 Because she got surprised. 721 00:38:18,666 --> 00:38:21,666 There's always a bunch happening behind the 722 00:38:21,666 --> 00:38:24,133 scenes that we are not aware of. 723 00:38:24,433 --> 00:38:28,099 And we're always, always a 724 00:38:28,099 --> 00:38:29,599 part of God's bigger plan. 725 00:38:29,900 --> 00:38:33,500 God promised Abraham that his seed would 726 00:38:33,500 --> 00:38:36,500 be multiplied throughout the earth, that they would be greater than 727 00:38:36,500 --> 00:38:39,733 the number of the grains of sand and the sea and 728 00:38:39,733 --> 00:38:41,766 the stars in the heavens. 729 00:38:42,433 --> 00:38:46,199 And then Abraham had Isaac, one son. 730 00:38:46,833 --> 00:38:49,866 Well, maybe that one son would have a bunch of sons. 731 00:38:50,233 --> 00:38:52,333 And it would be the fulfillment to God's promise. 732 00:38:52,466 --> 00:38:52,900 No? 733 00:38:53,533 --> 00:38:55,933 Isaac had Esau and Jacob. 734 00:38:56,833 --> 00:38:59,966 And the lion went through one son, Jacob, 735 00:39:00,500 --> 00:39:01,699 as we have seen. 736 00:39:02,599 --> 00:39:05,166 These aren't big families, especially at the time. 737 00:39:06,433 --> 00:39:10,199 that you would think, in our mind, 738 00:39:10,199 --> 00:39:13,066 that it would take for this promise to be fulfilled. 739 00:39:13,833 --> 00:39:17,066 But now, Jacob has 11 740 00:39:17,066 --> 00:39:19,766 sons and one more to come later. 741 00:39:21,066 --> 00:39:22,699 But was this the way? 742 00:39:22,933 --> 00:39:26,733 If you were God, that you would plan 743 00:39:26,733 --> 00:39:30,000 to have this all go down, or wives, 744 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,000 two of them, servants of two sisters, one of the 745 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,166 sisters, unwanted, and unloved. 746 00:39:36,033 --> 00:39:39,433 Not at all, all behind the scenes. 747 00:39:39,966 --> 00:39:43,400 God was working to where he is now. 748 00:39:45,500 --> 00:39:48,733 All the ups and downs, all the backwards 749 00:39:48,733 --> 00:39:51,800 and forwards, and the strife and the fighting, and then the 750 00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:55,033 end of this chapter, after all that, God 751 00:39:55,033 --> 00:39:57,366 remembers Rachel. 752 00:39:58,033 --> 00:40:00,666 One of the best phrases in scripture. 753 00:40:00,866 --> 00:40:04,766 One of the most beautiful phrases is God remembered. 754 00:40:05,833 --> 00:40:09,199 10 sons and a daughter, have been born, and 755 00:40:09,199 --> 00:40:11,133 none of them were hers directly. 756 00:40:12,133 --> 00:40:15,266 But finally, she conceived, and God 757 00:40:15,266 --> 00:40:16,633 gave her a sign. 758 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:20,533 All of the heartache that she had been through, all 759 00:40:20,533 --> 00:40:23,599 the contrivances, and the planning, and the scheming, 760 00:40:23,599 --> 00:40:26,666 that she suffered over, and 761 00:40:26,666 --> 00:40:30,333 it happened in God's time anyway, right? 762 00:40:31,233 --> 00:40:34,400 There's a lesson in that somewhere for us. 763 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:39,433 And so here, Joseph has a name that means something, too. 764 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:44,133 Joseph's name means to let him add more. 765 00:40:45,599 --> 00:40:49,199 And Joseph would become a great man and 766 00:40:49,199 --> 00:40:52,633 be a significant part of the Bible story in 767 00:40:52,633 --> 00:40:53,966 himself. 768 00:40:54,066 --> 00:40:57,433 But it looks that through this name that Leia 769 00:40:57,433 --> 00:41:00,433 is learning herself, when she 770 00:41:00,433 --> 00:41:03,800 named Joseph, let him add more, it 771 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:06,866 is a prayer that said, Hey, God, can I have another one, please? 772 00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:07,933 Right? 773 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:09,266 Can I have another son? 774 00:41:09,500 --> 00:41:11,900 And she eventually would in Benjamin. 775 00:41:12,500 --> 00:41:16,333 No more contrivances are said to take place after this. 776 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:18,666 about them conceiving children. 777 00:41:18,966 --> 00:41:22,199 It looks like that Rachel had finally learned 778 00:41:22,199 --> 00:41:25,266 the lesson here, to wait on God and wait 779 00:41:25,266 --> 00:41:26,699 on his timing. 780 00:41:26,966 --> 00:41:28,599 And that is wisdom. 781 00:41:29,066 --> 00:41:30,433 As God remembered her. 782 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,366 Remember, that he remembers you as, 783 00:41:34,366 --> 00:41:38,599 well, we've seen everything here. 784 00:41:39,133 --> 00:41:42,133 All the soap opera ups and downs that the fighting 785 00:41:42,133 --> 00:41:45,900 between husbands and wives, the bedroom, rivalry, 786 00:41:45,900 --> 00:41:49,133 the covenant family, and all of its dysfunctional 787 00:41:49,166 --> 00:41:53,666 glory, especially as we started in the beginning of Jacob's life. 788 00:41:53,699 --> 00:41:55,733 There's a whole lot of dysfunction. 789 00:41:56,466 --> 00:41:59,833 But in spite of all the bickering and the striving, the 790 00:41:59,833 --> 00:42:03,066 grief and anguish, attention, Yahweh, 791 00:42:03,066 --> 00:42:07,033 has never once been unfaithful to keep his promises. 792 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:11,099 Through all of it, and in all of the story, and the rest of Jacob's 793 00:42:11,099 --> 00:42:14,166 life, and into his children's life, and into the life of 794 00:42:14,166 --> 00:42:17,300 the children of Israel, and into the church, and into 795 00:42:17,300 --> 00:42:18,433 the future, 796 00:42:18,500 --> 00:42:21,599 God is maintaining his plan, and 797 00:42:21,599 --> 00:42:24,666 his purposes, and our job is 798 00:42:24,666 --> 00:42:28,099 to look at these passages, and the absolute craziness 799 00:42:28,099 --> 00:42:31,233 that's going on, and look through that, and see 800 00:42:31,233 --> 00:42:34,333 that God always keeps his 801 00:42:34,333 --> 00:42:37,633 promises, that God has a plan, 802 00:42:37,633 --> 00:42:41,000 and is working it out, and that this soap 803 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,233 opera of Jacob's lives, 804 00:42:45,199 --> 00:42:48,666 it actually shouts the faithfulness of God to 805 00:42:48,666 --> 00:42:51,966 keep his promise in spite of dysfunction 806 00:42:51,966 --> 00:42:55,566 and mess, and sin, and physical 807 00:42:55,566 --> 00:42:57,733 problems, and any problem. 808 00:42:58,199 --> 00:43:00,900 God will always keep his promises. 809 00:43:01,199 --> 00:43:03,766 We cannot mess it up. 810 00:43:04,766 --> 00:43:08,900 No matter how hard we, or someone else tries, to mess it up. 811 00:43:09,199 --> 00:43:12,199 God will always keep his promises, 812 00:43:12,199 --> 00:43:15,433 God remembers us, and that things work 813 00:43:15,433 --> 00:43:18,800 out in his timing for his glory and for our good. 814 00:43:18,900 --> 00:43:19,433 Let's pray. 815 00:43:20,300 --> 00:43:22,400 Pray Father, we love you and thank you. 816 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,599 Now, we can rest in the fact that you will always keep 817 00:43:26,599 --> 00:43:30,066 your promises, that you've showed us over and over in 818 00:43:30,066 --> 00:43:33,233 just the life of this first couple of families of your people, 819 00:43:33,266 --> 00:43:34,933 that you are faithful 820 00:43:35,166 --> 00:43:38,300 to your word every single day and every single time. 821 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,400 May we rest and keep our hearts in that, Lord, 822 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:42,900 not take that for granted. 823 00:43:42,966 --> 00:43:44,633 Bless us for your glory in Christ's name. 824 00:43:44,699 --> 00:43:45,133 Amen. 825 00:43:45,733 --> 00:43:46,199 Amen.