The Sons of Jacob Genesis 29:31-30:24

-God’s blessings are given and held according to His wisdom to fulfill His purposes.

There are some songs that are truly timeless. In 1960, a songwriter named Gerry Goffin received a request to write a song for a girl group from New Jersey called the Shirelles. He jotted down the lyrics and left a note for his wife, his cowriter to come up with music to go alongside his words. Initially, the group rejected the song as being “too country” but eventually they relented and the rest is history! The Shirelles became the first African-American, all female group to go to the top of the charts. The song has been covered by Linda Ronstadt, Roberta Flack, Smoky Robinson, Amy Winehouse, Taylor Swift, and sampled by Kanye West. Whatever generation you fall into, you’ve probably heard this song. For my money, the best edition of the song was when its author included it in her own solo album. You see, Carole King was shy about performing publicly, but over a decade after the song was first released, she listened to her friends and began to release her own material. However, when she released this song, she did something really powerful: she slowed it down. Taking our time and listening to the author of the song changed everything. Instead of a fun upbeat ode to teen love, we heard the heart cry of a broken-hearted woman wondering if there would be love left for her after the night was over:

“Tonight you’re mine completely,

You give your love so sweetly.

Tonight the light of love is in your eyes,

But will you love me tomorrow?”

In God’s Wisdom He...

I. Shows Love to the Unloved vv. 31-35

As we hear the story of Jacob’s family, we begin with a look at Leah and her story is a sad one

She was deceived by her father

She was discarded by her husband

She was despised by her sister

In response to her heartbroken situation, lost in a loveless marriage, God made her exceptionally fruitful

The names of her sons tell a story:

She recognizes that they are a gift from God

However, she views them as a way to gain the affection of her husband

Over time, however, her perspective begins to change. Eventually, she begins to “praise the Lord”

This seems a little strange, because she has had the Lord at the forefront of her attention, but it is appropriate, because she is finally recognizing the sufficiency of His love.

Even if Jacob never loves her the way that she ought, she will know the love of God

I believe that this is a powerful illustration of the wisdom of God.

He knows that she is in a painful place, unloved by her husband

He responds to this hurtful situation by balancing a hurt with a blessing!

We can trust in His wisdom to grant this kind of mercy towards us.

750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 408: Love of God

A factory employee named Kenneth worked for the largest manufacturer in Illinois for twenty-four years. The wages and benefits paid at his factory were double what the average factory job paid in America. He had steady work. He was forty-four years old, yet he had never attended a union meeting. He was a contented, middle-class worker—until 1992.

From 1992 until 1994 you could find Kenneth at the end of the day shift parading through the factory, holding an American flag along with two other workers, chanting, “No contract. No peace. No contract. No peace.” Kenneth called out the cadences for about one hundred middle-age marchers.

What turned a contented worker into a thorn in this manufacturer’s side? The turning point came in 1992, after the union had been on strike for nearly six months, when the company threatened to replace its striking workers.

That did something to Kenneth. It turned him bitterly against his company. Kenneth angrily explains, “I finally realized two years ago, when they threatened to replace us, that as far as they are concerned, I am nothing to them.”

I am nothing to them—Kenneth’s whole attitude changed when he concluded, whether rightly or wrongly, that he had no worth to the company, that he was replaceable, that they didn’t care about him as a person. Even the toughest, manliest laborer in America craves loyalty, craves to have others care.

There is only one place where we are assured of that. God values us and cares for us so much that even when we “went on strike”—rejecting his will for our lives—instead of rejecting us in return, he sent his Son to die for our sins.

II. Withholds a Blessing from the Blessed vv. 1-21

On the other hand, Rachel is coming from a very different place

She is well-loved by her husband, but she has not been able to have children; she gives a master class on how not to respond!

On the front end of her story, we do not see her pursue God at all; in fact we see things that call her character into question

She is envious of her sister rather than being happy for her

She grows angry at Jacob for a situation that he has no control over

She acts in manipulative ways

If she cannot get pregnant on her own, she will introduce another woman into the equation

She follows in the footsteps of Sarah and gives her handmaiden to her husband as another wife

She will give God credit for the births, but introducing a third woman into the family equation is certain to complicate matters even more than they already are!

All of this behavior has an effect!

The rivalry with her sister increases: Leah will introduce her own servant into the equation, adding another wife and more children

The behavior becomes more shameful as time goes on:

At one point, Reuben found some mandrakes, a popular herb thought to promote fertility to his mother

Rachel recognizes the value of the mandrakes and bargains with her sister for them

She sells out her husband for the night and we see the great patriarch Jacob reduced to a pawn in a game between two sisters, hired out for the sake of fathering children

The fruitlessness continues

Nothing Rachel does will cause her to conceive a son

Nothing she does makes Leah any less fruitful

Whenever we feel the emptiness of a missed blessing, there is an opportunity to seek the Lord

We may not always understand why God withholds something good from us, but we can be sure that He has a good reason for it

It is critical that we not spin out of control when we face this kind of loss, but trust the Lord instead!

Job 1:20–22

[20] Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. [21] And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

[22] In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (ESV)

III. Grows a Family into a Nation vv. 22-24

The time finally comes and Rachel has a son, Joseph

We are not sure exactly when it happened, but Rachel began to seek the Lord

He remembered her and answered her and blessed her with a son

All of this is very much in keeping with His wisdom

It takes the Lord’s blessing to bring Leah into a place of deeper relationship with Him where she understood His sufficiency

It take the Lord withholding blessing from Rachel to bring her to the point that she begins to pursue Him

He knows what we need and gives it according to His wisdom

By His wisdom, God takes a shockingly broken situation and does something beautiful with it:

Nothing about Laban’s schemes, Rachel’s envy, Jacob’s favoritism, or Leah’s sorrow is good, yet God works through it

He turns a family into a nation and continues to fulfill His promise to Abraham through a family that will become much more than just another family

Do you believe that God can do something with the things that seem senseless? Do you trust that He has a purpose? Do you think that He can restore what was broken?

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Faith Is: Hearing with the Heart

An American missionary in Africa wanted to translate the English word faith into the local dialect. He could not find its equivalent. So he went to an old sage, who was himself a fine Christian, for help in rendering the needed word into understandable language. The guru studied it, and finally said, “Does it not mean to hear with the heart?”