1 00:00:01,199 --> 00:00:04,500 And the Psalms express all human 2 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:05,533 emotions. 3 00:00:06,466 --> 00:00:11,233 And desiring justice, 4 00:00:11,233 --> 00:00:15,633 Against the injust is human 5 00:00:15,633 --> 00:00:18,866 emotion, and 6 00:00:18,899 --> 00:00:22,066 we can often feel that emotion nowadays. 7 00:00:23,699 --> 00:00:25,433 We can definitely relate with that psalm. 8 00:00:26,266 --> 00:00:30,600 If you open your Bibles with me to the book of Genesis, we're 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:31,733 in chapter number 29. 10 00:00:36,766 --> 00:00:38,700 Genesis chapter number 29. 11 00:00:41,033 --> 00:00:44,100 We're going to look at the whole book today, but we're just going to read the 12 00:00:44,100 --> 00:00:46,633 first 20 verses to start out with. 13 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:51,100 God's word says, then Jacob went on his journey 14 00:00:52,033 --> 00:00:54,366 and came to the land of the sons of the east. 15 00:00:54,933 --> 00:00:58,233 He looked, and saw a well in the field, and, 16 00:00:58,233 --> 00:01:01,066 behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it. 17 00:01:01,733 --> 00:01:03,966 For from that well, they watered the flocks. 18 00:01:04,666 --> 00:01:07,200 Now, the stone on the mouth of the well was large. 19 00:01:08,333 --> 00:01:11,500 When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the 20 00:01:11,500 --> 00:01:14,666 stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, 21 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:18,233 and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well. 22 00:01:19,066 --> 00:01:21,299 Jacob said to them, My brothers, where are you from? 23 00:01:21,533 --> 00:01:23,333 And they said, we are from Haran. 24 00:01:24,133 --> 00:01:27,533 He said to them, Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? 25 00:01:27,833 --> 00:01:29,099 And they said, We know him. 26 00:01:29,799 --> 00:01:31,599 And he said to them, Is it well with him? 27 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,900 And they said, It is well, and here is Rachel. 28 00:01:35,433 --> 00:01:37,099 His daughter coming with the sheep. 29 00:01:37,833 --> 00:01:41,066 He said, Behold, it is still high day, it 30 00:01:41,099 --> 00:01:44,099 is not time for the livestock to be gathered, water 31 00:01:44,099 --> 00:01:45,900 the sheep, and go pasture them. 32 00:01:46,500 --> 00:01:47,566 But they said, we cannot. 33 00:01:48,233 --> 00:01:51,599 until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone 34 00:01:51,599 --> 00:01:54,166 for the mouth of the well, then we water the sheep. 35 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,366 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's 36 00:01:58,366 --> 00:02:00,333 sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 37 00:02:00,933 --> 00:02:04,000 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's 38 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,066 brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob 39 00:02:07,066 --> 00:02:10,199 went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, 40 00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:12,900 and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. 41 00:02:13,666 --> 00:02:17,433 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice, and wept. 42 00:02:18,333 --> 00:02:21,766 Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father, and 43 00:02:21,766 --> 00:02:24,599 that he was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her father. 44 00:02:25,433 --> 00:02:28,666 So when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, he 45 00:02:28,666 --> 00:02:31,800 ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house, 46 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,266 then he related to Laban all these things. 47 00:02:34,966 --> 00:02:38,099 Laban said to him, Surely, you are my bone in my flesh, 48 00:02:38,099 --> 00:02:39,733 and he stayed with him a month. 49 00:02:40,533 --> 00:02:43,533 Then LeBon said to Jacob, Because you are my relative, 50 00:02:43,533 --> 00:02:47,366 should you therefore serve me for nothing, tell me, what shall your wages be? 51 00:02:48,166 --> 00:02:49,599 Now, Laban had two daughters. 52 00:02:50,333 --> 00:02:53,433 The name of the older was Leo, and the name of the younger 53 00:02:53,433 --> 00:02:54,466 was Rachel. 54 00:02:55,500 --> 00:02:59,099 And Leia's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face. 55 00:02:59,933 --> 00:03:03,033 Now, Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, I will serve 56 00:03:03,033 --> 00:03:05,266 you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel. 57 00:03:06,033 --> 00:03:09,266 LeBon said, It is better that I give her to you than 58 00:03:09,300 --> 00:03:10,866 to give her to another man stay with me. 59 00:03:11,333 --> 00:03:14,400 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and 60 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,933 they seemed to him, but a few days, because of his love, for her. 61 00:03:18,166 --> 00:03:18,833 Let's pray. 62 00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:22,733 May, Father, we love you this morning, and thank you for the opportunity to come together 63 00:03:22,733 --> 00:03:23,866 and worship you. 64 00:03:24,099 --> 00:03:27,233 I pray that you bless your word, to our minds, to our hearts, and 65 00:03:27,233 --> 00:03:30,300 our lives, and your message, in spite of the messenger, 66 00:03:30,300 --> 00:03:31,666 in Christ's name, amen. 67 00:03:32,166 --> 00:03:32,566 Amen. 68 00:03:32,566 --> 00:03:35,266 One of the things that make good stories. 69 00:03:35,866 --> 00:03:39,466 And what makes them great is that you can experience 70 00:03:39,466 --> 00:03:43,366 and see the characters in that story as 71 00:03:43,366 --> 00:03:46,833 they grow and mature, as they face more and more things. 72 00:03:47,500 --> 00:03:50,933 And that's certainly the case here with 73 00:03:50,933 --> 00:03:54,066 Jacob, that the story that Moses 74 00:03:54,066 --> 00:03:57,266 tells about Jacob is a good illustration 75 00:03:57,300 --> 00:04:00,300 of that, that Jacob grows, 76 00:04:00,300 --> 00:04:03,300 and we get to see him as we read on in 77 00:04:03,300 --> 00:04:06,000 his story, him grow and mature. 78 00:04:06,033 --> 00:04:09,500 We have looked, from the beginning of his life, when he was born, 79 00:04:09,533 --> 00:04:12,699 to the time where he was kind of a teenager, 80 00:04:12,699 --> 00:04:15,866 and learned about his deceit and 81 00:04:15,900 --> 00:04:18,433 his scheming and his shysterliness. 82 00:04:18,899 --> 00:04:21,966 And now, in this fourth sermon, we're 83 00:04:21,966 --> 00:04:25,233 going to learn that now he's growing up and coming into his manhood, 84 00:04:25,233 --> 00:04:28,666 and out there trying to find a 85 00:04:28,666 --> 00:04:30,233 wife to start his own family. 86 00:04:31,500 --> 00:04:34,733 In the past, when he was under his father's roof, 87 00:04:34,733 --> 00:04:37,733 it seemed like every decision and every 88 00:04:37,733 --> 00:04:39,966 action he took was at his mother's direction. 89 00:04:40,966 --> 00:04:44,399 His mother is the one that made the plan to steal the blessing 90 00:04:44,399 --> 00:04:46,266 from his brother, Esau. 91 00:04:46,666 --> 00:04:49,666 And his mother was the one who gave 92 00:04:49,666 --> 00:04:52,733 him this idea and planned for him to be sent away 93 00:04:52,733 --> 00:04:56,033 from his home to her land, original land, 94 00:04:56,033 --> 00:04:57,366 to find a wife. 95 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,600 And generally, listening to your mother is 96 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:02,966 a good idea. 97 00:05:04,300 --> 00:05:07,533 But as we have seen, Jacob's family is 98 00:05:07,533 --> 00:05:10,966 full of dysfunction, maybe like our families, and 99 00:05:10,966 --> 00:05:14,566 listening to your mother may not always be the 100 00:05:14,566 --> 00:05:18,033 best idea when she is telling you to sin. 101 00:05:18,766 --> 00:05:22,800 But now, Jacob's no longer under Isaac's roof. 102 00:05:22,833 --> 00:05:25,966 Jacob's on his own, and he's making his own position. 103 00:05:26,399 --> 00:05:29,433 He was sent to find a wife in his 104 00:05:29,433 --> 00:05:31,366 mother's home country. 105 00:05:31,733 --> 00:05:35,399 That's where her family and his family was, and 106 00:05:35,399 --> 00:05:38,699 not to find a wife from the people of Canaan, 107 00:05:38,699 --> 00:05:41,800 the ones that weren't his relatives, the pagans that were 108 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,800 worshipping the false gods of Canaan. 109 00:05:45,699 --> 00:05:48,933 And I wanted to bring something out here about Genesis, 110 00:05:48,933 --> 00:05:51,933 and in fact, a lot of scripture, Genesis was 111 00:05:51,933 --> 00:05:53,800 written a very long time ago. 112 00:05:53,866 --> 00:05:55,533 It's not the oldest book that was written. 113 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,366 That was by Job, but Genesis was written by Moses, 114 00:05:59,399 --> 00:06:02,633 and it was written in Hebrew under Hebrew 115 00:06:02,633 --> 00:06:06,066 literary guidelines and methods. 116 00:06:06,333 --> 00:06:09,633 We write things a certain way now, or chat GPT 117 00:06:09,633 --> 00:06:12,800 does, and different than what they did back then. 118 00:06:13,066 --> 00:06:17,133 And one of the things that they used as 119 00:06:17,133 --> 00:06:20,566 a tool, a literary device, is the 120 00:06:20,566 --> 00:06:24,000 repetition of themes of phrases of 121 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,233 words, and they would repeat words. 122 00:06:26,233 --> 00:06:29,266 They would repeat phrases, and they would repeat stories, 123 00:06:29,266 --> 00:06:32,433 even narratives, for a purpose, 124 00:06:32,433 --> 00:06:35,800 to emphasize those stories. 125 00:06:36,333 --> 00:06:39,500 Now, there have been some scholars that try to 126 00:06:39,533 --> 00:06:42,533 make this out, like it's evidence that these repeated narratives 127 00:06:42,533 --> 00:06:46,600 are evidence that the Bible was written, 128 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,066 especially Genesis, was written by many different people, and 129 00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:53,166 that a group of editors came together and 130 00:06:53,166 --> 00:06:56,199 compiled all these different haphazard stories 131 00:06:56,199 --> 00:06:59,333 together and messed with them and massaged them to 132 00:06:59,333 --> 00:07:03,300 make one different story, and that's why there's repetition. 133 00:07:03,466 --> 00:07:06,600 But that actually doesn't look like the case. 134 00:07:06,633 --> 00:07:08,366 If you look at the Hebrew literature. 135 00:07:09,033 --> 00:07:12,333 This repetition is something that they use all the time, and 136 00:07:12,333 --> 00:07:13,966 you can find several examples 137 00:07:14,033 --> 00:07:18,033 of it, one of them, and just the word, we 138 00:07:18,033 --> 00:07:19,366 have a good, better, best, right? 139 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,966 A superlative, a way of showing that something is the greatest. 140 00:07:23,566 --> 00:07:28,233 And we use those suffixes, err, and s to do that. 141 00:07:28,899 --> 00:07:32,333 But what the Hebrew would do would just repeat the word. 142 00:07:33,399 --> 00:07:37,166 The more they would repeat the word, the higher, the greater it was. 143 00:07:37,300 --> 00:07:40,666 But, for example, when Isaiah was talking about how 144 00:07:40,666 --> 00:07:45,633 holy God was, he said, the angels called God, holy, holy, holy. 145 00:07:46,233 --> 00:07:49,533 God isn't just holy, he's not even just holy, holy, 146 00:07:49,533 --> 00:07:53,266 he is holy, holy, and 147 00:07:53,266 --> 00:07:56,433 that is the most holy, that someone can be. 148 00:07:56,933 --> 00:08:00,300 And this was used in stories as well when the 149 00:08:00,300 --> 00:08:03,433 author would want to really get you to understand a point. 150 00:08:03,433 --> 00:08:06,533 They would repeat stories, and then 151 00:08:06,533 --> 00:08:09,600 you could look at the stories and see the similarities, and 152 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,766 you could look at the differences, and see what the author wanted you 153 00:08:12,766 --> 00:08:15,600 to understand about those stories. 154 00:08:15,633 --> 00:08:19,699 We'll be learning more about that in Sunday school as we learn on how to interpret scripture. 155 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:20,933 I recommend it to you. 156 00:08:21,766 --> 00:08:25,233 So, Abraham, the grandfather 157 00:08:25,233 --> 00:08:28,466 of Jacob, was traveling, 158 00:08:28,500 --> 00:08:31,933 he was told by God to move from where he grew up, and 159 00:08:31,933 --> 00:08:35,366 moved to a new land, and then he was no manic even after that. 160 00:08:35,866 --> 00:08:40,000 One time he went to Egypt, and his wife, Sarah, was very beautiful. 161 00:08:40,666 --> 00:08:43,966 And so it was in the time where if your 162 00:08:43,966 --> 00:08:47,200 wife was beautiful, and the king, or some great man, 163 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,500 wanted your wife, you would just get killed, and 164 00:08:50,500 --> 00:08:51,766 then he would take your wife, right? 165 00:08:52,299 --> 00:08:55,899 So he told Sarah, he said, Don't tell the king of Egypt that 166 00:08:55,899 --> 00:08:57,166 you're my wife. 167 00:08:57,533 --> 00:08:58,500 Tell him that you're my sister. 168 00:08:59,399 --> 00:09:01,933 And he actually did this twice, with two different kings. 169 00:09:02,799 --> 00:09:05,799 Well, Isaac, Abraham's son, did 170 00:09:05,799 --> 00:09:07,233 the exact same thing. 171 00:09:08,133 --> 00:09:11,133 And so these scholars would say, look, this is just several 172 00:09:11,133 --> 00:09:13,666 different stories, they're just put together, repeating themselves. 173 00:09:13,733 --> 00:09:16,733 Well, no, it kind of makes sense that if you saw 174 00:09:16,733 --> 00:09:19,966 your father do something, that you would probably do the 175 00:09:19,966 --> 00:09:23,200 same thing as well, and you can look at the differences 176 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,266 in between the two accounts of Abraham and 177 00:09:26,266 --> 00:09:29,433 the account of Isaac, and try to see what 178 00:09:29,433 --> 00:09:32,799 the author was intending for you to understand about them, because they are different. 179 00:09:33,299 --> 00:09:34,433 And this is the same thing. 180 00:09:34,433 --> 00:09:37,433 Isaac had the same experience of 181 00:09:37,433 --> 00:09:40,799 going back east to his family's original 182 00:09:40,799 --> 00:09:43,833 nation and original family, his extended family, to 183 00:09:43,833 --> 00:09:45,266 find a bride. 184 00:09:45,333 --> 00:09:47,299 Well, actually Abraham's servant did for him. 185 00:09:47,933 --> 00:09:51,933 And now Jacob is doing the same thing, and it makes sense that 186 00:09:51,933 --> 00:09:55,399 the son would do the same thing as the father, 187 00:09:55,433 --> 00:09:58,500 but there's big differences between those stories, 188 00:09:58,500 --> 00:10:01,600 and I want to commend, but you go back and read the story 189 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,600 of how Isaac got his wife and compare it 190 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,899 to the story about how Jacob gets his wives, 191 00:10:07,899 --> 00:10:09,700 as we shall see. 192 00:10:11,866 --> 00:10:15,700 It's not uncommon for the same thing to 193 00:10:15,700 --> 00:10:17,033 happen to different people. 194 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,433 It happens to us all the times. 195 00:10:21,633 --> 00:10:24,766 So here, if you remember, Jacob isn't just being 196 00:10:24,766 --> 00:10:27,899 sent to get a wife, the main reason 197 00:10:27,899 --> 00:10:31,533 why Jacob has made this trip at all is 198 00:10:31,533 --> 00:10:34,700 because he had tricked his brother out 199 00:10:34,733 --> 00:10:37,833 of his blessing, and his brother was breathing 200 00:10:37,833 --> 00:10:40,833 threats about taking his life because of it, 201 00:10:40,833 --> 00:10:44,066 and it came to Rebecca, Jacob's mother's 202 00:10:44,100 --> 00:10:47,100 ears that Esau wanted to kill Jacob. 203 00:10:47,566 --> 00:10:49,233 So she sent him away. 204 00:10:49,366 --> 00:10:52,500 He was running for his life to the east, 205 00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:54,299 and finding a wife was the excuse. 206 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,766 Genesis 2743, Rebecca says, Now, therefore, 207 00:10:57,766 --> 00:11:01,000 my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee 208 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,033 to Haran, to my brother Laban. 209 00:11:03,466 --> 00:11:06,600 So he sets off this journey on this journey, and 210 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,833 there's hundreds of miles that he has to go from 211 00:11:09,833 --> 00:11:13,200 where they were, and to her family's land, 212 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,333 and we really don't get too much about the journey, 213 00:11:16,333 --> 00:11:19,466 except last time the story, where God's 214 00:11:19,500 --> 00:11:22,500 grace, through a dream that he had, about 215 00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:25,500 a ladder, came to Jacob, and really 216 00:11:25,500 --> 00:11:28,966 became the pivotal change point in his life. 217 00:11:29,500 --> 00:11:31,733 Jacob started to follow Yahweh. 218 00:11:31,833 --> 00:11:35,266 And because Jacob started following Yahweh, 219 00:11:35,266 --> 00:11:37,799 all the bad stuff was behind him, right? 220 00:11:38,500 --> 00:11:41,566 And there was no more drama, and no more pain in his 221 00:11:41,566 --> 00:11:43,533 life, because he was following Christ now. 222 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,333 He would walk the straight and narrow until God called him 223 00:11:47,333 --> 00:11:50,766 up Jacob's ladder forever, and he would go to heaven. 224 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:54,033 That's not how it goes, even for Christians, right? 225 00:11:54,299 --> 00:11:57,299 You don't just go and get no more drama, 226 00:11:57,299 --> 00:12:01,566 and no more pain, and all kinds of prosperity because you become a Christian. 227 00:12:01,733 --> 00:12:05,266 In fact, some things may become even harder, and 228 00:12:05,266 --> 00:12:06,600 they usually do. 229 00:12:07,433 --> 00:12:11,633 But we see that the road that Jacob was 230 00:12:11,633 --> 00:12:14,633 on wasn't necessarily made straight and 231 00:12:14,633 --> 00:12:17,633 smooth for him, but that's the beauty 232 00:12:17,633 --> 00:12:19,066 of how these narratives are told. 233 00:12:19,299 --> 00:12:22,366 We are to look at Jacob's life, and see 234 00:12:22,366 --> 00:12:25,600 that not only is this the ultimate 235 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:29,033 narrative, that God is riding from creation, 236 00:12:29,033 --> 00:12:32,866 to consummation and glory forever and eternity, 237 00:12:32,866 --> 00:12:37,600 but it's also the stories that we can look at to see reflections 238 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,833 and mirrors of our own lives, 239 00:12:40,833 --> 00:12:43,899 even as people who live a couple thousand years 240 00:12:43,899 --> 00:12:46,966 after these 241 00:12:46,966 --> 00:12:48,299 things actually happened. 242 00:12:48,633 --> 00:12:52,166 So it's important for us to see both things in this story, 243 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,533 the big point, the big picture, pointing 244 00:12:55,533 --> 00:12:58,666 to Christ, our savior, and then also pointing 245 00:12:58,666 --> 00:13:02,133 through Christ to eternity with him, but 246 00:13:02,133 --> 00:13:05,200 also the little things that it's trying to teach 247 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:08,333 us about who we are, and how we're 248 00:13:08,333 --> 00:13:11,500 to live our lives, and how we're to trust in God, as Jacob would 249 00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:14,333 end up learning to trust in God. 250 00:13:15,633 --> 00:13:18,799 Jacob, even though he lived in a completely different time, 251 00:13:18,833 --> 00:13:22,066 and in a completely different culture, as we've seen, and as we'll see today, 252 00:13:22,066 --> 00:13:25,666 there's things that they did differently, way differently than we do, but 253 00:13:25,666 --> 00:13:29,133 even in those cases, we can look at Jacob's 254 00:13:29,133 --> 00:13:32,200 life and compare it to our life and the things that happen to us 255 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,533 and learn from him. 256 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:38,200 And that is what we're getting at today as the rogue. 257 00:13:38,266 --> 00:13:42,000 God's rogue finds two wives. 258 00:13:42,033 --> 00:13:45,799 So just like us, Jacob is directed by Providence. 259 00:13:45,899 --> 00:13:49,666 That's the first thing I want to show from this passage, versus 1 through 14, 260 00:13:49,733 --> 00:13:51,233 We'll just read verses 4 through 11. 261 00:13:52,066 --> 00:13:54,933 Jacob said to them, My brothers, where are you from? 262 00:13:55,799 --> 00:13:57,666 And they said, We are from Haran. 263 00:13:57,700 --> 00:14:00,333 He's talking to the shepherds that he happened to walk up on. 264 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,633 He said to them, Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? 265 00:14:03,833 --> 00:14:05,166 And they said, We know him. 266 00:14:05,566 --> 00:14:07,433 And he said to them, Is it well with him? 267 00:14:07,733 --> 00:14:10,899 And they said, it is well, and here is Rachel, 268 00:14:10,899 --> 00:14:12,833 his daughter, coming with the sheep. 269 00:14:13,133 --> 00:14:15,066 He said, Behold, it is still high day. 270 00:14:15,633 --> 00:14:18,166 It is not time for the livestock to be gathered. 271 00:14:18,633 --> 00:14:20,433 Water the sheep and go pasture them. 272 00:14:20,866 --> 00:14:24,299 But they said, we cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, 273 00:14:24,299 --> 00:14:28,066 and they roll the stone for the mouth of the will, then we water the sheep. 274 00:14:28,799 --> 00:14:31,899 While he was still speaking with him, Rachel came with her 275 00:14:31,899 --> 00:14:33,700 father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 276 00:14:34,233 --> 00:14:37,466 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, 277 00:14:37,500 --> 00:14:40,566 and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob went up 278 00:14:40,566 --> 00:14:43,666 and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered 279 00:14:43,666 --> 00:14:45,766 the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. 280 00:14:46,133 --> 00:14:50,333 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. 281 00:14:51,533 --> 00:14:55,066 And as we read through this passage, I 282 00:14:55,066 --> 00:14:57,899 want you to notice something that wasn't mentioned. 283 00:14:59,266 --> 00:15:03,466 Something is missing from normal biblical narratives. 284 00:15:04,433 --> 00:15:07,666 There is not one mention of God's name, 285 00:15:07,666 --> 00:15:11,500 either Adonai as Lord or Yahweh, 286 00:15:11,500 --> 00:15:14,633 as his name, until you get to the end of the chapter, 287 00:15:14,633 --> 00:15:18,100 when it's talking about Leia herself, and Jacob is not mentioned. 288 00:15:18,633 --> 00:15:22,966 So all the time, that we're going through the 289 00:15:22,966 --> 00:15:24,600 story of Jacob here, 290 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,233 There's no burning bush, there's no cloud on 291 00:15:28,233 --> 00:15:30,866 a mountain telling him where to go and what to do. 292 00:15:31,799 --> 00:15:34,799 And there's no dream of a ladder again 293 00:15:34,799 --> 00:15:36,166 for him in this passage. 294 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:38,833 God has not mentioned whatsoever. 295 00:15:39,466 --> 00:15:41,700 And this is similar to the book of Esther. 296 00:15:41,733 --> 00:15:44,066 If anybody read the book of Esther, you'll notice the same thing. 297 00:15:44,866 --> 00:15:48,899 God's name is never mentioned once in the book of Esther. 298 00:15:49,799 --> 00:15:52,799 But, just like in this passage, the book of Esther, 299 00:15:52,799 --> 00:15:56,399 you can see God's hand, working 300 00:15:56,399 --> 00:15:58,566 through the entire story. 301 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,366 And that is the same with this account. 302 00:16:01,666 --> 00:16:04,966 And we start this part of our account, with 303 00:16:04,966 --> 00:16:09,000 Jacob coming on some kind of civilization at the end of the journey. 304 00:16:09,033 --> 00:16:12,033 He's been traveling through the wilderness, and he comes 305 00:16:12,033 --> 00:16:15,100 upon this place with a well and trees, and he 306 00:16:15,100 --> 00:16:17,033 finds these shepherds there. 307 00:16:17,333 --> 00:16:20,633 And then he says, in verse 2, I'm reading this again on purpose. 308 00:16:20,633 --> 00:16:23,866 He looked and saw a well in the field, 309 00:16:23,866 --> 00:16:27,299 and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it. 310 00:16:27,933 --> 00:16:30,933 For from that well, they watered the flocks. 311 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,166 Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. 312 00:16:34,299 --> 00:16:37,299 When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll 313 00:16:37,299 --> 00:16:40,366 the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the 314 00:16:40,366 --> 00:16:43,433 sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the 315 00:16:43,433 --> 00:16:44,466 mouth of the well. 316 00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:48,466 Moses here, the author of Genesis, is telling 317 00:16:48,466 --> 00:16:50,433 us their customs. 318 00:16:51,299 --> 00:16:54,399 And it seems like it's kind of a random thing 319 00:16:54,399 --> 00:16:57,399 to kind of insert here, how they took care of the sheep, that that well 320 00:16:57,399 --> 00:17:00,466 had a large stone on it, and what they would do, gather all 321 00:17:00,466 --> 00:17:03,533 the sheep together, roll it away once, let 322 00:17:03,533 --> 00:17:05,566 all the sheep water, and then roll it back. 323 00:17:06,533 --> 00:17:09,766 So Jacob then comes to these shepherds, 324 00:17:09,766 --> 00:17:11,200 and he strikes up a conversation. 325 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,333 So remember, he is traveling east. 326 00:17:14,799 --> 00:17:18,233 He doesn't have longitude and latitude, or 327 00:17:18,233 --> 00:17:21,900 GPS directions, to his uncle LeBon's house, right? 328 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,933 And ETA and all that stuff. 329 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,966 He doesn't even have a Rand McNally atlas to follow. 330 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,433 He is going through the wilderness, and he happens to 331 00:17:31,433 --> 00:17:33,166 come upon these shepherds. 332 00:17:34,733 --> 00:17:38,200 And so he asked them, of course, you have to ask for directions, 333 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,200 and if you're in the right spot, in verse four, he says, Jacob said 334 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,833 to them, my brothers, where are you from? 335 00:17:43,599 --> 00:17:46,733 And they said, We are from Haran, which is where he's going. 336 00:17:47,333 --> 00:17:51,099 And he said to them, Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? 337 00:17:51,299 --> 00:17:52,633 And they said, We know him. 338 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:54,633 It's a small world, isn't it? 339 00:17:55,299 --> 00:17:55,966 At that time. 340 00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:59,666 So here, we see God's hand of providence and 341 00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:03,099 directing him to the exact right place. 342 00:18:03,099 --> 00:18:06,099 Even though God's name isn't mentioned, we 343 00:18:06,099 --> 00:18:09,633 can see just the complete minuscule 344 00:18:09,633 --> 00:18:12,700 chance that he would happen to walk up to these shepherds 345 00:18:12,700 --> 00:18:15,766 who know who are from where he's going and know exactly 346 00:18:15,766 --> 00:18:17,700 who he's going to see. 347 00:18:18,666 --> 00:18:20,799 He needs to find his uncle. 348 00:18:21,633 --> 00:18:24,700 And he finds shepherds that know his uncle from 349 00:18:24,700 --> 00:18:27,766 the place where his uncle is, and on top of that, 350 00:18:27,766 --> 00:18:31,200 as he was speaking with his shepherds, his 351 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,533 future wife happens to walk 352 00:18:33,933 --> 00:18:36,700 Just by coincidence, walks up. 353 00:18:37,133 --> 00:18:40,299 It's like the Psalms say in Psalm 37,23, 354 00:18:40,299 --> 00:18:43,366 the steps of a man are established by 355 00:18:43,366 --> 00:18:45,933 the Lord, and he delights in his way. 356 00:18:47,033 --> 00:18:50,799 Now, many times, a woman's heart has been wooed 357 00:18:50,799 --> 00:18:53,866 by sweet words from her 358 00:18:53,866 --> 00:18:56,866 wooer, beautiful poetry, 359 00:18:56,866 --> 00:19:00,766 gifts of flowers, and jewelry, right? 360 00:19:01,366 --> 00:19:03,400 But Jacob has none of those things. 361 00:19:03,833 --> 00:19:05,933 He is probably just ragged from the trip. 362 00:19:06,233 --> 00:19:08,633 He probably smells worse than the sheep smell. 363 00:19:09,166 --> 00:19:12,599 But what Jacob does have is machismo, 364 00:19:12,599 --> 00:19:14,099 and bravado. 365 00:19:14,866 --> 00:19:18,466 As she is walking up with the sheep because she was a shepherdess, 366 00:19:18,466 --> 00:19:21,599 as the text tells us, he puffs out his chest 367 00:19:21,599 --> 00:19:24,700 to those shepherds, and he's trying to show his 368 00:19:24,700 --> 00:19:27,700 leadership skills, and how much he knows about 369 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:29,266 the shepherding business. 370 00:19:29,500 --> 00:19:32,666 Verse 7 says he said, Behold, it is still high day. 371 00:19:33,299 --> 00:19:35,766 It is not time for the livestock to be gathered. 372 00:19:36,233 --> 00:19:38,033 Water the sheep and go pasture them. 373 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:38,866 OK? 374 00:19:40,066 --> 00:19:43,133 He begins to bark orders to them to show 375 00:19:43,133 --> 00:19:46,866 Rachel that he was the man. 376 00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:50,033 In Jacob's eyes, these shepherds were 377 00:19:50,033 --> 00:19:51,166 doing the wrong thing. 378 00:19:51,533 --> 00:19:54,666 That's why Moses told us, their custom 379 00:19:54,666 --> 00:19:58,766 beforehand, to show how out of place Jacob would have sounded. 380 00:19:59,033 --> 00:20:02,166 He's kind of tripping over his own words here. 381 00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:05,566 But he wanted to show Rachel that he wasn't a lazy bum, 382 00:20:05,566 --> 00:20:09,933 like these other shepherds are waiting for her to get there, to water all the sheep. 383 00:20:10,299 --> 00:20:13,733 And they responded and tell him, look, you 384 00:20:13,733 --> 00:20:15,066 don't know how things are done around. 385 00:20:15,099 --> 00:20:17,666 That's not the way things happen around here. 386 00:20:17,933 --> 00:20:19,599 We do it all together here. 387 00:20:21,633 --> 00:20:24,700 One of the reasons why this interaction, I think, 388 00:20:24,700 --> 00:20:27,766 is shown, is because later, as we see 389 00:20:27,766 --> 00:20:30,900 him interact with Laban, there's another cultural mistake 390 00:20:30,900 --> 00:20:33,900 that he makes that ends up being a much bigger deal, 391 00:20:33,900 --> 00:20:35,099 but we'll get there. 392 00:20:35,333 --> 00:20:36,966 Just remember that when we do. 393 00:20:37,533 --> 00:20:39,033 So Rachel walks up. 394 00:20:39,633 --> 00:20:41,900 And so he's like, what else can I do to impress her? 395 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,266 I need to show her a feat of my strength. 396 00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:48,266 So he goes over there, and single handedly, moves 397 00:20:48,299 --> 00:20:51,466 the large stone from the well, and waters her sheep, 398 00:20:51,466 --> 00:20:54,533 verse 10, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Oban, 399 00:20:54,533 --> 00:20:57,633 his mother's brother, and the sheep of Aban, his mother's brother, we just say, 400 00:20:57,633 --> 00:21:00,700 uncle, Jacob went up, and rolled the 401 00:21:00,700 --> 00:21:05,133 stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of Oban, his mother's brother. 402 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:06,599 What a man. 403 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:07,633 Right? 404 00:21:07,900 --> 00:21:11,433 And you think Rachel was impressed with his strength? 405 00:21:12,033 --> 00:21:13,466 He waters the sheep for her. 406 00:21:13,833 --> 00:21:17,066 And then, after he does that, he goes up to her, and 407 00:21:17,099 --> 00:21:19,366 he greeted her, this is what it says, he kissed her. 408 00:21:19,433 --> 00:21:22,833 It wasn't a passionate kiss, it was a kiss of greedy, 409 00:21:22,833 --> 00:21:24,333 like he'll kiss his uncle soon. 410 00:21:25,066 --> 00:21:29,033 And then he lifts up his voice and weeps, right? 411 00:21:29,099 --> 00:21:30,733 He lifts up his voice and wept. 412 00:21:31,233 --> 00:21:32,500 Why does he cry? 413 00:21:33,599 --> 00:21:35,866 Just imagine how exhausted he must be. 414 00:21:36,933 --> 00:21:39,933 And as he's walking up to these shepherds, in 415 00:21:39,933 --> 00:21:43,000 his mind, oh, I got here, but now I'm going to 416 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,066 have to search, and I'm going to have to find this journey is not over. 417 00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:51,133 And he not only finds the place that he's going, he 418 00:21:51,133 --> 00:21:55,000 not only finds people that know the person he's going to see, he 419 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,299 now sees his cousin, who 420 00:21:58,299 --> 00:22:01,366 he will end up bearing, and who he 421 00:22:01,366 --> 00:22:03,400 is falling in love for. 422 00:22:03,533 --> 00:22:07,366 He just happened to come to the right place at the right time. 423 00:22:08,133 --> 00:22:09,799 And he met the right person. 424 00:22:11,633 --> 00:22:12,533 What else? 425 00:22:12,766 --> 00:22:16,000 in his life, to this point, has 426 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,166 gone right for him, right? 427 00:22:18,766 --> 00:22:21,599 But now everything seems to be going right. 428 00:22:22,066 --> 00:22:23,566 Not much has. 429 00:22:23,633 --> 00:22:27,033 He's actually, at this moment, running for his 430 00:22:27,033 --> 00:22:28,166 very life. 431 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,266 God used a broken road to bring 432 00:22:32,266 --> 00:22:35,733 him straight to her, to borrow a phrase. 433 00:22:36,833 --> 00:22:40,066 And that isn't just a cheap, throwaway, lovey 434 00:22:40,066 --> 00:22:43,433 dovey, feel good, cliche, not in this instance, 435 00:22:43,433 --> 00:22:46,866 the song is kind of that way, but it is the truth. 436 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,633 Every step he took on this journey was 437 00:22:50,633 --> 00:22:53,766 directed by the hands of God on 438 00:22:53,766 --> 00:22:57,466 purpose, even though his name wasn't mentioned yet. 439 00:22:59,033 --> 00:23:02,333 Everything was directed by the providence 440 00:23:02,333 --> 00:23:06,466 and sovereignty of God for his purposes, and his glory. 441 00:23:06,533 --> 00:23:09,666 And you realize how often we take 442 00:23:09,666 --> 00:23:13,700 that fact in our lives for granted, every 443 00:23:13,733 --> 00:23:16,000 single day, we don't even think about it. 444 00:23:16,599 --> 00:23:19,599 A quick run to the grocery store, and you have 445 00:23:19,599 --> 00:23:22,666 tons of steel, heading directly at 446 00:23:22,666 --> 00:23:26,133 you at speed, but 447 00:23:26,133 --> 00:23:28,233 only protected by a couple feet. 448 00:23:28,799 --> 00:23:31,900 The hand of God and his providence is protecting 449 00:23:31,900 --> 00:23:33,333 us every day. 450 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,466 How quickly a simple illness can turn 451 00:23:36,466 --> 00:23:38,500 very serious. 452 00:23:39,633 --> 00:23:43,833 James tells a story about 453 00:23:43,833 --> 00:23:46,966 exactly how we should feel about God's providence 454 00:23:46,966 --> 00:23:49,666 and what we should say and think and do about it. 455 00:23:49,833 --> 00:23:52,900 James 4:13, Come now, you say, Today or 456 00:23:52,900 --> 00:23:55,966 tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city, and spend a 457 00:23:55,966 --> 00:23:58,599 year there, and engage in business, and make a profit. 458 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,333 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. 459 00:24:03,033 --> 00:24:06,033 You are just a vapor that appears for a little while, 460 00:24:06,033 --> 00:24:08,133 and then vanishes away. 461 00:24:09,233 --> 00:24:12,400 Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, 462 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,633 we will live, and also do this, or that. 463 00:24:15,766 --> 00:24:17,200 God directs every step. 464 00:24:18,333 --> 00:24:21,833 But that doesn't mean that every step in Jacob's life was easy. 465 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:23,633 This part became easy. 466 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,266 God gave him a break. 467 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:27,133 He could rest. 468 00:24:27,166 --> 00:24:31,000 But the next part, not so very much. 469 00:24:31,666 --> 00:24:35,033 The next part shows Jacob and 470 00:24:35,033 --> 00:24:37,900 his discipline, versus 13 of 20. 471 00:24:38,733 --> 00:24:41,866 So when LeBon heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, 472 00:24:41,866 --> 00:24:45,000 he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, 473 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:46,333 and brought him to his house. 474 00:24:46,366 --> 00:24:48,166 Then he related to Laban all these things. 475 00:24:48,833 --> 00:24:52,299 The bond said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh, and 476 00:24:52,299 --> 00:24:53,333 he stayed with him a month. 477 00:24:54,099 --> 00:24:57,833 Then the bond said to Jacob, Because you are my relative, 478 00:24:57,833 --> 00:24:59,333 should you therefore serve me for nothing? 479 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,033 Tell me, what shall your wages be? 480 00:25:02,500 --> 00:25:04,000 Now, Laban had two daughters. 481 00:25:04,433 --> 00:25:07,433 The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the 482 00:25:07,433 --> 00:25:08,566 younger was Rachel. 483 00:25:09,299 --> 00:25:12,599 And Lea's eyes were weak, but Rachel was 484 00:25:12,599 --> 00:25:14,233 beautiful of form and face. 485 00:25:15,099 --> 00:25:18,166 Now, Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, I will serve 486 00:25:18,166 --> 00:25:21,099 you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel. 487 00:25:21,599 --> 00:25:24,599 But Bon said, It is better that I give her to you than to give her to 488 00:25:24,599 --> 00:25:25,633 another man, Stay with me. 489 00:25:26,500 --> 00:25:29,566 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and 490 00:25:29,566 --> 00:25:33,599 they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. 491 00:25:34,533 --> 00:25:37,700 Jacob meets his uncle Laban, his mother's 492 00:25:37,733 --> 00:25:40,799 brother, and is welcomed into his 493 00:25:40,799 --> 00:25:42,533 home with open arms. 494 00:25:43,599 --> 00:25:46,666 Laban lets him stay there for a month 495 00:25:46,666 --> 00:25:50,033 and eat from his table and takes care of him, provides shelter. 496 00:25:50,433 --> 00:25:53,433 And then at the end of the month, Laban offers him employment, 497 00:25:53,433 --> 00:25:56,733 he offers him work, and so they're negotiating his 498 00:25:56,733 --> 00:25:59,799 wages for his job. 499 00:26:00,599 --> 00:26:04,000 And at this point, the author introduces both 500 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,133 of the daughters, Rachel and Leia. 501 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:08,400 We've already met Rachel. 502 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,066 But now we get to meet her older sister, Leia. 503 00:26:13,133 --> 00:26:16,133 And the Bible says that she had weak 504 00:26:16,133 --> 00:26:19,833 eyes, and there's been controversy 505 00:26:19,833 --> 00:26:23,000 over what this means by weak 506 00:26:23,033 --> 00:26:27,000 eyes, the word can also mean tender, 507 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,000 or soft, and people don't quite understand 508 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,799 what they're going after. 509 00:26:32,266 --> 00:26:35,266 Some people think that weak or soft or tenderized 510 00:26:35,266 --> 00:26:37,433 means that she had poor eyesight. 511 00:26:37,433 --> 00:26:41,266 Some people think that it was about the 512 00:26:41,433 --> 00:26:43,000 color of her eyes. 513 00:26:44,500 --> 00:26:47,799 But I think it has to do with Jacob's attraction 514 00:26:47,799 --> 00:26:50,799 to Rachel, and not to Leia. 515 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,466 Jacob said, Rachel was beautiful of 516 00:26:54,466 --> 00:26:57,633 form and face, but he wasn't attracted 517 00:26:57,633 --> 00:27:00,933 to Leia, so there was no spark when 518 00:27:00,933 --> 00:27:02,200 he looked into her eyes. 519 00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:05,566 The spark was when he looked into Rachel's eyes. 520 00:27:05,700 --> 00:27:09,233 And the Bible is setting up his love for Rachel, 521 00:27:09,233 --> 00:27:12,833 and his not love for Leia 522 00:27:12,833 --> 00:27:16,733 to make the story even hit harder when we get to it. 523 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,733 Either way, whatever it means, again, 524 00:27:22,733 --> 00:27:25,733 Jacob was clearly, and it was clear 525 00:27:25,733 --> 00:27:28,733 to everyone, who he was attracted to, which sister 526 00:27:28,733 --> 00:27:31,433 that he wanted. 527 00:27:31,500 --> 00:27:34,799 And so here, we're given a completely fresh start with LeBon. 528 00:27:34,833 --> 00:27:37,900 If you've read the story or heard the story already, you know 529 00:27:37,900 --> 00:27:40,833 the end of it and you've got a preconceived notion about this man. 530 00:27:41,566 --> 00:27:44,700 But now, as I just read the passage to 531 00:27:44,700 --> 00:27:47,333 you, that you have the same eyes as Jacob. 532 00:27:48,533 --> 00:27:50,033 Labon as let Jacob stay. 533 00:27:50,266 --> 00:27:51,833 He's fed him and taken care of him. 534 00:27:51,900 --> 00:27:54,900 He's offered him a job, and he's about to agree 535 00:27:54,900 --> 00:27:58,366 to his proposal for one 536 00:27:58,366 --> 00:28:00,900 of his daughters, his younger daughter, for seven years. 537 00:28:01,666 --> 00:28:03,033 And so we think everything's good. 538 00:28:03,099 --> 00:28:04,366 This is a great guy, right? 539 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,166 But those are the eyes that we have now. 540 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,533 But we'll see later that they may change. 541 00:28:10,599 --> 00:28:12,833 That's called foreshadowing, right? 542 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:16,066 LeBont acts. 543 00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:19,533 Like, he will take on Jacob as one of his workers 544 00:28:19,533 --> 00:28:22,066 and pay wages for his service. 545 00:28:22,799 --> 00:28:25,966 So, the negotiation here, Jacob makes, is, look, 546 00:28:25,966 --> 00:28:29,099 I work for you seven years for, 547 00:28:29,099 --> 00:28:32,166 and he specifically said, Rachel, your younger 548 00:28:32,166 --> 00:28:35,599 daughter, for her hand in marriage, 549 00:28:35,633 --> 00:28:38,733 because there was a bribe price to 550 00:28:38,733 --> 00:28:41,799 pay, and Jacob had nothing to offer for 551 00:28:41,799 --> 00:28:44,500 Rachel, except for his service. 552 00:28:45,166 --> 00:28:48,333 So, we're not used to bride prices 553 00:28:48,333 --> 00:28:52,066 anymore, although they could be very expensive in the long run. 554 00:28:52,599 --> 00:28:55,666 They had to pay for them up front, because the daughter 555 00:28:55,666 --> 00:28:59,266 in the household had a lot of responsibilities, and 556 00:28:59,266 --> 00:29:01,799 it offered a lot of production for the household. 557 00:29:01,966 --> 00:29:05,133 So that production had to be replaced with the 558 00:29:05,133 --> 00:29:07,466 bride price. 559 00:29:07,599 --> 00:29:11,266 And so it was customary for there to be an exchange for 560 00:29:11,266 --> 00:29:15,099 a daughter to be married, not super romantic 561 00:29:15,099 --> 00:29:16,366 by our standards today. 562 00:29:16,366 --> 00:29:19,900 But you got to remember, we are the anomaly. 563 00:29:20,333 --> 00:29:24,099 For most of history, before our time period, life 564 00:29:24,099 --> 00:29:27,466 was grueling, and all about suffering, and 565 00:29:27,466 --> 00:29:30,466 hardship, and nature was out to kill you, 566 00:29:30,466 --> 00:29:33,833 and if the whole household didn't produce, then 567 00:29:33,833 --> 00:29:36,066 the whole household suffered. 568 00:29:37,066 --> 00:29:40,500 This was a long time ago, but that 569 00:29:40,500 --> 00:29:44,033 was the way of things until very recent in our history. 570 00:29:45,099 --> 00:29:48,333 Jacob, by himself for the first time in 571 00:29:48,333 --> 00:29:51,700 his life, no mother there to guide him, he 572 00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:54,700 puts his nose to the grindstone for seven 573 00:29:54,700 --> 00:29:57,566 years for Rachel. 574 00:29:58,366 --> 00:30:01,233 And this seems like a long time to us. 575 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,400 But verse 20 says, Jacob served seven 576 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:09,000 years for Rachel, and they seem to him but 577 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:13,266 a few days because of his love for her. 578 00:30:14,099 --> 00:30:16,633 So, to get what the Bible's doing. 579 00:30:16,666 --> 00:30:18,000 They're really setting up how much. 580 00:30:18,533 --> 00:30:19,666 He loves Rachel. 581 00:30:20,133 --> 00:30:23,200 and how big his disappointment is about to be. 582 00:30:24,599 --> 00:30:27,599 Jacob, as we'll find out in the next part of our 583 00:30:27,599 --> 00:30:30,900 passage, isn't the only trickster in 584 00:30:30,900 --> 00:30:31,966 the family. 585 00:30:32,633 --> 00:30:35,799 LeBond turned out to be a pretty big heel 586 00:30:35,799 --> 00:30:36,833 grabber as well. 587 00:30:37,066 --> 00:30:40,366 And so Jacob will get a little comeuppance in 588 00:30:40,366 --> 00:30:42,166 the next part of our passage. 589 00:30:42,166 --> 00:30:46,233 Jacob is deceived from 590 00:30:46,233 --> 00:30:48,466 verse 21 to the end of the chapter. 591 00:30:48,533 --> 00:30:51,099 We'll just read verses 21 to 30 right now. 592 00:30:51,166 --> 00:30:54,166 Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my 593 00:30:54,166 --> 00:30:56,200 time is completed that I may go into her. 594 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,166 Laban gathered all the men of the place, and made a feast. 595 00:31:00,933 --> 00:31:03,933 Now, in the evening, he took his daughter, Leia, 596 00:31:03,933 --> 00:31:06,500 and brought her to him, and Jacob went in to her. 597 00:31:07,066 --> 00:31:10,666 Laban also gave his maid, Zilpah, to his daughter, Leia as a maid. 598 00:31:11,133 --> 00:31:14,666 So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leia. 599 00:31:15,333 --> 00:31:18,166 And he said to Laban, what is this you have done to me? 600 00:31:18,533 --> 00:31:20,633 Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? 601 00:31:21,166 --> 00:31:22,666 Why, then, have you deceived me? 602 00:31:23,333 --> 00:31:25,799 But Leban said, It is not the practice. 603 00:31:25,833 --> 00:31:28,966 It's not our culture in our place to marry off the younger 604 00:31:28,966 --> 00:31:30,000 before the firstborn. 605 00:31:30,099 --> 00:31:30,933 I thought you would have knew that. 606 00:31:31,599 --> 00:31:34,599 Complete this week of this one, and we will give you the other 607 00:31:34,599 --> 00:31:37,599 also for the service which you shall serve with me for 608 00:31:37,599 --> 00:31:39,533 another seven years. 609 00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:43,500 Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him 610 00:31:43,500 --> 00:31:45,733 his daughter, Rachel, as his wife. 611 00:31:46,433 --> 00:31:49,799 LeBon also gave his maid, Bilhah, to his daughter, Rachel, as her maid. 612 00:31:50,099 --> 00:31:53,400 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed, 613 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,433 he loved Rachel more than Leia, and 614 00:31:56,433 --> 00:31:59,133 he served with Laban for another seven years. 615 00:32:00,099 --> 00:32:02,366 Jacob does what he says he was going to do. 616 00:32:02,866 --> 00:32:04,733 He didn't try to deceive anybody this time. 617 00:32:05,566 --> 00:32:08,733 He was straight up, I'm going to work seven years and I'm 618 00:32:08,733 --> 00:32:12,466 going to get your younger daughter, Rachel, as a wife. 619 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:14,700 And LeBon shook hands on it. 620 00:32:14,866 --> 00:32:16,299 He agreed to that proposal. 621 00:32:16,533 --> 00:32:19,533 He knew exactly what he was doing from the start. 622 00:32:20,333 --> 00:32:23,400 But to Jacob, the seven years lasted, 623 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:24,533 it seemed, like a couple days. 624 00:32:24,833 --> 00:32:27,833 So he gets to the big night, 625 00:32:27,833 --> 00:32:29,766 and everything seemed to be going, great. 626 00:32:30,700 --> 00:32:33,766 Laban is throwing this huge wedding feast. 627 00:32:34,233 --> 00:32:37,599 Now, if you've been married before, you remember that engagement 628 00:32:37,599 --> 00:32:41,799 period, it wasn't seven years long, I hope, but especially 629 00:32:41,799 --> 00:32:44,933 when you get close to that big day, and maybe even in the 630 00:32:44,933 --> 00:32:48,099 night before, how excited you were, and just remember 631 00:32:48,099 --> 00:32:52,000 the excitement of it, and in Jacob's mind, that excitement is there. 632 00:32:52,133 --> 00:32:53,099 He's met this woman. 633 00:32:53,433 --> 00:32:55,466 He fell in love with her at first sight. 634 00:32:55,799 --> 00:32:58,799 He's worked hard for her for seven years, and it's 635 00:32:58,799 --> 00:33:02,033 finally going to be the time where he's going to get married to her. 636 00:33:03,900 --> 00:33:07,000 But he had 637 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,566 a big surprise coming. 638 00:33:10,133 --> 00:33:13,200 Verse 23, now, in the evening, 639 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,299 he took his daughter, Leia, and brought her to him, and 640 00:33:16,299 --> 00:33:17,366 Jacob went in to her. 641 00:33:18,033 --> 00:33:21,333 So, Labon turned out to be a shyster, too. 642 00:33:21,700 --> 00:33:25,133 But this was much more than just stealing a blessing. 643 00:33:25,299 --> 00:33:28,966 Say, Jacob, he switched a blessing with the brother. 644 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:32,633 Labon switched his sister, herself, 645 00:33:32,633 --> 00:33:34,133 on Jacob. 646 00:33:34,666 --> 00:33:35,866 Listen to verse 25. 647 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:40,466 So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leia. 648 00:33:41,033 --> 00:33:43,666 And he said to Laban, What does this you have done to me? 649 00:33:43,733 --> 00:33:45,466 Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? 650 00:33:46,066 --> 00:33:48,033 Why, then, have you deceived me? 651 00:33:48,099 --> 00:33:51,566 Can you imagine waking up on your honeymoon night, 652 00:33:51,599 --> 00:33:54,633 and yawning and stretching and opening your eyes, getting to 653 00:33:54,633 --> 00:33:56,733 sleep out of them, and it's the wrong sister? 654 00:33:59,700 --> 00:34:01,366 How could this even have happened? 655 00:34:01,533 --> 00:34:03,633 How could Jacob have been so confused? 656 00:34:03,933 --> 00:34:07,066 Well, you have to know a little bit about their culture. 657 00:34:07,733 --> 00:34:11,099 The veil comes from this culture, and Leo 658 00:34:11,099 --> 00:34:14,633 would have been veiled the entire time, until it was very dark, 659 00:34:14,633 --> 00:34:15,900 they didn't have LED lighting. 660 00:34:16,433 --> 00:34:20,033 And also, Laban threw a great feast, 661 00:34:20,666 --> 00:34:22,533 and it was a big celebration. 662 00:34:22,900 --> 00:34:26,433 So everybody at the feast would have been completely 663 00:34:26,433 --> 00:34:27,566 inebriated. 664 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,233 So it's not really a surprise that Jacob 665 00:34:31,233 --> 00:34:32,733 didn't realize what was going on. 666 00:34:32,933 --> 00:34:35,800 He trusted Le Bon to keep his word. 667 00:34:36,933 --> 00:34:40,699 So he goes and complains about Laban's 668 00:34:40,733 --> 00:34:42,300 deception to Luban. 669 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,766 But this, really, is rich, coming 670 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,266 from Jacob, the supplanter, the deceiver, 671 00:34:50,266 --> 00:34:51,900 the heel grabber himself. 672 00:34:51,900 --> 00:34:55,199 There was a man named Sir Robert 673 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:56,566 Watson Watt. 674 00:34:56,566 --> 00:35:00,166 He was the man who invented radar, and 675 00:35:00,166 --> 00:35:03,333 radar was extremely useful 676 00:35:03,333 --> 00:35:05,066 in war, right? 677 00:35:05,199 --> 00:35:08,500 You could see the planes coming, even land 678 00:35:08,500 --> 00:35:09,566 things, as it got better. 679 00:35:10,433 --> 00:35:14,466 But that wasn't the only place where his invention was used. 680 00:35:14,500 --> 00:35:17,966 It's used in detecting the speed of a baseball, right? 681 00:35:18,533 --> 00:35:21,766 But it's also used by officers to make sure that 682 00:35:21,766 --> 00:35:24,933 you are obeying the speed laws of the land. 683 00:35:25,666 --> 00:35:29,566 So one day in Canada, Sir Robert 684 00:35:29,566 --> 00:35:32,633 Watson Watt was speeding, and he got 685 00:35:32,633 --> 00:35:35,633 arrested for speeding, and the officer was 686 00:35:35,633 --> 00:35:38,566 using a radar gun to check his speed. 687 00:35:38,566 --> 00:35:42,300 He was using his own invention against him, and he wrote this poem. 688 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,699 He says, pity, Sir Robert Watson Watt, strange 689 00:35:45,699 --> 00:35:47,800 target of his radar plot. 690 00:35:48,333 --> 00:35:51,333 And this, with others, I could mention a victim 691 00:35:51,333 --> 00:35:53,266 of his own invention. 692 00:35:54,699 --> 00:35:58,000 LeBon deceived Jacob for 693 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,766 14 years of labor. 694 00:36:02,133 --> 00:36:05,300 And in the Bible, the 695 00:36:05,333 --> 00:36:08,633 first seven, he said, the Bible says they went by quickly, 696 00:36:08,633 --> 00:36:11,933 like it were a couple days, but it doesn't say, how 697 00:36:11,933 --> 00:36:16,433 slow the last seven went, but 698 00:36:16,433 --> 00:36:19,433 he also learned not to trust his uncle. 699 00:36:19,833 --> 00:36:23,433 And that'll come in handy in the chapters to follow. 700 00:36:24,233 --> 00:36:27,400 And in fact, even his daughters knew that they couldn't 701 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,033 trust their own father. 702 00:36:29,133 --> 00:36:32,966 In Genesis 31, 15, it says, Are we not reckoned by him? 703 00:36:33,033 --> 00:36:36,166 This is the daughter speaking about Laban, for he 704 00:36:36,166 --> 00:36:39,233 has sold us, and has also entirely 705 00:36:39,233 --> 00:36:41,866 consumed our purchase price. 706 00:36:43,300 --> 00:36:46,766 It isn't this how all of us can 707 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:51,233 be, sometimes, not to this degree, necessarily, 708 00:36:51,233 --> 00:36:54,599 but we're all can 709 00:36:54,599 --> 00:36:57,833 be a little crooked, because of our sin nature, but 710 00:36:57,833 --> 00:37:00,066 the bigger deal is, look at how Jacob responded. 711 00:37:00,166 --> 00:37:03,633 He was just aghast that he was deceived. 712 00:37:03,900 --> 00:37:06,466 He just couldn't believe that LeBon would deceive him. 713 00:37:07,533 --> 00:37:10,400 But he was also a deceiver. 714 00:37:11,699 --> 00:37:15,833 We're completely clueless about our own sins sometimes, aren't we? 715 00:37:16,366 --> 00:37:19,500 We're quick to stand up for our rights, though, and 716 00:37:19,500 --> 00:37:22,966 for those who do the same thing that we do against us. 717 00:37:24,099 --> 00:37:27,099 But aren't you glad that Jacob found, or 718 00:37:27,099 --> 00:37:30,466 grace, found Jacob at his ladder, 719 00:37:30,466 --> 00:37:33,900 and aren't you glad that grace found us at 720 00:37:33,900 --> 00:37:35,699 a cross and an empty tomb? 721 00:37:36,166 --> 00:37:39,466 And we're all, this is us, 722 00:37:39,466 --> 00:37:42,599 to a T, if you can be honest enough to hold 723 00:37:42,599 --> 00:37:46,666 this mirror up to yourself and your life. 724 00:37:47,933 --> 00:37:51,633 Both the mess, and 725 00:37:51,633 --> 00:37:55,166 God's work with the mess, or ordained, 726 00:37:55,199 --> 00:37:58,966 for our good, and his glory, for our growth in Christ. 727 00:38:00,166 --> 00:38:03,166 Now, as we get to the end 728 00:38:03,166 --> 00:38:06,466 of the chapter, the last four verses is 729 00:38:06,466 --> 00:38:09,466 kind of the rest of the story, the beginning of 730 00:38:09,466 --> 00:38:12,766 the rest of the story, and to this point, 731 00:38:12,766 --> 00:38:15,766 as I said, God's name hasn't been mentioned, no 732 00:38:15,766 --> 00:38:19,133 Yahweh, no Adonai, but now God's 733 00:38:19,133 --> 00:38:21,900 name will be mentioned, dealing with Leia. 734 00:38:22,300 --> 00:38:24,833 So verse 31 35. 735 00:38:26,033 --> 00:38:30,400 God's word says, now the Lord saw that Leia was unloved. 736 00:38:31,233 --> 00:38:34,300 And he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 737 00:38:35,033 --> 00:38:39,599 Leia conceived, and bore a son, and named him Reuben, 738 00:38:39,599 --> 00:38:43,066 for she said, Because the Lord has seen my affliction, surely 739 00:38:43,066 --> 00:38:44,266 now my husband will love me. 740 00:38:45,300 --> 00:38:48,433 Then she conceived again, and bore a son, and 741 00:38:48,433 --> 00:38:51,699 said, Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has therefore 742 00:38:51,699 --> 00:38:52,766 given me this son also. 743 00:38:53,633 --> 00:38:55,266 So she named him Simeon. 744 00:38:55,599 --> 00:38:58,833 She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, 745 00:38:58,833 --> 00:39:02,199 Now this time, my husband will become attached to me, because 746 00:39:02,199 --> 00:39:03,566 I have borne him three sons. 747 00:39:04,233 --> 00:39:06,400 Therefore, he was named Levi. 748 00:39:06,900 --> 00:39:10,433 And she conceived again, and bore a son, and said, This 749 00:39:10,433 --> 00:39:12,000 time I will praise the Lord. 750 00:39:12,466 --> 00:39:16,233 Therefore, she named him Judah, then she stopped bearing. 751 00:39:17,033 --> 00:39:20,099 Oh, the hidden hand of God's providence. 752 00:39:20,733 --> 00:39:24,033 And sometimes the direct hand of his sovereignty 753 00:39:24,033 --> 00:39:25,466 in our life. 754 00:39:25,666 --> 00:39:27,933 even though we may not even know it. 755 00:39:28,300 --> 00:39:31,366 Jacob didn't treat Leia like 756 00:39:31,366 --> 00:39:33,400 a husband to treat a wife. 757 00:39:33,900 --> 00:39:34,800 He didn't love her. 758 00:39:35,333 --> 00:39:38,500 And it showed, she knew that he didn't love her, 759 00:39:38,500 --> 00:39:41,633 that he preferred Rachel, that he loved Rachel. 760 00:39:42,333 --> 00:39:44,866 So God blessed her with children. 761 00:39:45,333 --> 00:39:49,066 And maybe you recognize some of her the 762 00:39:49,066 --> 00:39:50,800 names of her four sons here. 763 00:39:51,466 --> 00:39:54,533 They are the first of Jacob's sons that would 764 00:39:54,533 --> 00:39:58,199 go on to be the fathers of the tribes of Israel. 765 00:39:59,033 --> 00:40:02,699 I'm not trying to just keep sounding like a broken record about 766 00:40:02,699 --> 00:40:06,666 and repeating myself, but the Bible is repeating itself. 767 00:40:06,766 --> 00:40:10,199 And so as we get 768 00:40:10,199 --> 00:40:13,366 this through our thick skulls, that God is in control, that 769 00:40:13,366 --> 00:40:17,199 God is working, his plan out in all of our lives. 770 00:40:18,033 --> 00:40:21,400 A deceiver here gets deceived into 771 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:23,266 marrying the wrong sister. 772 00:40:23,833 --> 00:40:27,466 The hated bride, bears the first children that 773 00:40:27,466 --> 00:40:30,533 we become the heads of the great nation of 774 00:40:30,533 --> 00:40:33,699 Israel, everything, although it's 775 00:40:33,699 --> 00:40:35,633 hard for them to go through it at the time. 776 00:40:36,533 --> 00:40:40,133 Everything that's happening in their lives, whether it seemed good or 777 00:40:40,133 --> 00:40:43,433 seemed bad, was working out in exactly the 778 00:40:43,433 --> 00:40:46,433 way that God was intending for the end 779 00:40:46,433 --> 00:40:48,833 that God wanted to happen. 780 00:40:49,833 --> 00:40:53,199 It started out as a getaway from a brother who 781 00:40:53,199 --> 00:40:56,933 would murder him if he had the chance, but 782 00:40:56,933 --> 00:40:59,933 ended up with a family that would be remembered for 783 00:40:59,933 --> 00:41:03,166 thousands of years, and would be the four 784 00:41:03,166 --> 00:41:07,300 fathers to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 785 00:41:08,199 --> 00:41:11,966 So don't get discouraged by your suffering, 786 00:41:11,966 --> 00:41:15,099 or that the sin that is done against you, because it 787 00:41:15,099 --> 00:41:17,033 most certainly will. 788 00:41:17,099 --> 00:41:19,933 We're all dealing with sinners all around us. 789 00:41:21,099 --> 00:41:24,166 But look at the hand of God's grace in the 790 00:41:24,166 --> 00:41:27,300 story of Jacob's life, in the life of Leia, 791 00:41:27,300 --> 00:41:30,400 the unloved wife, and use that 792 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:33,466 as a mirror to look at your life, and the things that 793 00:41:33,466 --> 00:41:36,533 you're going through, and the things that God is teaching you 794 00:41:36,533 --> 00:41:39,599 through the process of sanctification, and 795 00:41:39,599 --> 00:41:43,199 look to Christ, as Jacob should look to Christ. 796 00:41:43,366 --> 00:41:47,933 Don't take one day of your life for granted. 797 00:41:48,433 --> 00:41:51,633 But remember that he cares for you as 798 00:41:51,633 --> 00:41:53,366 he cares for the swallow. 799 00:41:54,699 --> 00:41:56,366 And he blesses you in ways. 800 00:41:56,566 --> 00:41:59,633 Leia had no idea that the reason her womb was 801 00:41:59,633 --> 00:42:02,699 opened four times for four sons was because 802 00:42:02,699 --> 00:42:05,466 God sovereignly intervened into her lie. 803 00:42:06,833 --> 00:42:10,300 And remember, God does that with all of us all the time. 804 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,833 and give him the praise and the glory that 805 00:42:13,833 --> 00:42:15,166 he deserves for. 806 00:42:15,233 --> 00:42:15,833 Let's pray. 807 00:42:16,733 --> 00:42:17,800 Say, Father, we love you. 808 00:42:17,866 --> 00:42:21,633 We thank you, Lord, for this wonderful story of Jacob's life. 809 00:42:21,766 --> 00:42:23,099 I pray that it blesses us. 810 00:42:23,733 --> 00:42:26,800 pray that you'd keep us and always remind us 811 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,800 that you are in control, that you love us, that you sent 812 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:32,866 your son for us, when we don't deserve him, Lord. 813 00:42:32,933 --> 00:42:34,366 We need to praise you for that. 814 00:42:34,433 --> 00:42:36,533 Bless us as we leave for your glory in Christ's name. 815 00:42:36,599 --> 00:42:37,066 Amen.