Jacob Gets Married (4X)

What happens in our lives when we do not trust God’s Plan, God’s Promises, our God’s Power to deliver?

In a word, strangeness.

What was God’s Promise to Jacob and His Plan for Jacob?

Genesis 28:13–15 NKJV

13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

29:1-20 The story starts out straightforward enough: Jacob goes to where he is supposed to meet his wife, sees a beautiful girl and falls in love (or at least in lust) with her. He demonstrates his affection, meets her family, and a marriage is arranged.

29:21-27 Jacob gets married and tricked. After an evening of festivities and libations, Jacob retired to his darkened tent and Laban brought in his veiled bride and you can figure out the rest. The real surprise came in the morning!

29:28-30 Jacob gets married again, a week later. This time to the right woman. There is immediate tension as Jacob now has two wives who are sisters and because he favors one, there is immediate competition for his affection. Competition in any relationship is bad for the relationship.

At this point, Leah starts having children, so Jacob is not totally ignoring her. But attention and affection are not the same thing. Rachel is not having children and so hatches a plan to use her maid as a surrogate mother.

30:1-8 Jacob gets married again. This time to Rachel’s maid, Bilhah. They have a couple kids.

30:9-14 Jacob gets married again. This time to Leah’s maid Zilpah. Not to be outdone, this was arranged by Leah. They have a couple kids.

30:14-21 Jacob gets traded as a commodity. His time and attention are worth some Mandrakes. Mandrakes were considered something of a fertility booster, so it is no surprise that Rachel wanted them, she was becoming desperate. Leah has a couple more children.

30:22-24 Rachel finally has a child and believes that God will give her another (which He eventually will).

In all, Jacob had, or would have, 12 sons and a daughter from his four wives. Interestingly, all of the important sons came from Leah.

Believer’s Bible Commentary 3. Jacob, His Wives, and His Offspring (29:1–30:24)

The sons born to Leah:

Reuben—(see, a son) (29:32)

Simeon—(hearing) (29:33)

Levi—(joined) (29:34)

Judah—(praise) (29:35)

Issachar—(hire) (30:18)

Zebulun—(dwelling) (30:20)

The sons born to Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel:

Dan—(judge) (30:6)

Naphtali—(wrestling) (30:8)

The sons born to Zilpah, handmaid of Leah:

Gad—(a troop or good fortune) (30:11)

Asher—(happy) (30:13)

The sons born to Rachel:

Joseph—(adding) (30:24)

Benjamin—(son of the right hand) (35:18)

There is probably a cultural element to wanting children. There is definitely an innate element to wanting children. But we constantly see Jacob looking out for Jacob and so there is a definite motivation on his part, transferred to them, to have children. Rather than trusting God he was helping God.

There are two big lessons in this, I think.

Competition in the context of relationships is unhealthy

Helping God, rather than trusting God, leads to strangeness