Gen #19
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Northside Church
Gen #19 Gen 29-30
Jamey Mills
2\25\24
My name is Jamey, Lead pastor here at Northside.
It’s great to see you all this morning… Hope you had a great week.
We are in our 19th week of our sermon series on Genesis, Bringing Chaos to Order…
Genesis is an incredibly important book to your theology… your understanding of God, who He is, and how He works. I’m not sure you can accurately understand God, how we are to relate to Him, His design for sex, marriage, and family… or even yourself as one who is created in His very image.
There are several things that I really enjoy about Genesis…
The way that God communicates… is incredible. This study has really helped deepen my faith.
I think God shows us not just what His will and desire for us is… but what happens if we decide to move away from it… rebel against God… do our own thing.
The bible is brutally honest. We’ll see it again today. It shows us at times the very unflattering truth about humanity… even those we’d consider heroes of the bible.
Within those examples God wants us to understand…
The power of sin your life… its not benign… once sin entered the picture humanity was banned from the Garden, this place they were intended to be with God… experience His favor, his beauty, his presence, and blessing…
Sin caused chaos… it moves us further from experiencing those things in our life and blurs our identity in Him… His design, plan, purpose… and eventually it even leads to a hard heart.
The power sin has in family…
Those we love most are impacted by it. If you think that your sin only affects your life, we aren’t paying attention or… we have been fooled to think as long as we don’t get caught it doesn’t matter…
Genesis sort of gives this broad view of creation and the world and then in ch 12 it really zooms in on one family…
It's one of the pivotal moments in the Bible where God promises to bless, miraculously provide countless descendants that will become a great nation, land, and that somehow… God would bless all people through what He is doing in and through them. The rest of the Old Testament is really aimed at how God is going to make this happen…. The condition of humanity alongside the way that God communicates and how much God communicates, gives us a picture of just how important this is. what it points to is the big idea of the bible, it's the centerpiece of scripture and it deserves our fullest attention.
Today we realize it’s Jesus… that Through the line of Abraham, Isaac and now Jacob, God will eventually bring Jesus, the one who came to take the sin of the world… to make reconciliation possible between an incredibly sinful people and a perfectly holy God.
Two weeks ago we talked about how Issac and Rebekah had 2 sons… and God told Rebekah that the older would serve the younger, culturally, not what you’d expect.
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Esau (Older) was an outdoorsman… who liked to hunt … liked meat… dads favorite…
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Jacob was an indoorsman … mom’s favorite… His name means… Deceiver
And this favoritism is causing significant issues in…
Their relationship with God
Before kids, we see Isaac and Rebekah both seeking God and God’s leadership in their family… not really after
Their kids were idols in their life… they are ones that set the pace and drove the family car…
In their marriage.
Lots of issues arrive… and we see both I and R acting away from the other… in really unhealthy ways.
In their children.
We realize that both Esau and Jacob are messy and unprepared for life.
Two weeks ago I mentioned how in Ch 28, Rebekah on several occasions in essence told “her son” Jacob… Don’t think for yourself, forget what God says, forget what dad says… DO WHAT I SAY…
And I think that reveals a lot about the way Jacob was probably raised. Mom took care of it…
One author said it like this…
Outside the Church parents tend to under parent…
I’ll never forget a conversation I had with the officer who deals with internet issues that involve kids right here in Albany who said… a lot of times parents' attitude toward what their kids are doing online and on social media is… “I don’t want to know”… they don’t want to deal with it.
Inside the church parents often over parent…
Genesis teaches this priority structure…
God, spouse, children… and overparenting is elevating our kids to the second or third level… but it ends up with us creating kids that have no idea how to navigate in the world.
Not only to I believe that’s what we see in Jacob, we are about to see how often looks. Jacob is likely 45-50 years old in our passage today.
He was the son of a rich man, sounds like he really never left home, held a job, pursued a woman, never had to fight or work for much… Jacob was not prepared at all…
That same author talked about the difference between…
Innocence = I know the way the world works, I can navigate it without getting sucked into it.
Ignorance = I have no real idea how the world works outside the 4 walls of my home.
His point was… Jacob seems to be in that camp.
And kids that leave the home in that shape… is catastrophic to watch. They aren’t prepared to navigate life… relationships… work… bills… priorities
And he encourages us to step back and ask the question…
What are the priorities we are setting alongside our parenting preparing our kids for?
Is it God honoring?
Am I content with it? What might we need to think through?
Far too many of us come to the conclusion too late.
… There is a ton of wisdom in prayerfully walking that out.
If you feel yourself getting defensive, pay attention to that.
Esau was so mad he was going to kill Jacob so mom and dad sent jacob away… the very place that Isaac’s own father Abraham forbade Isaac to go.
Jacob’s now on the run after he and his mother lied to and deceived both Isaac and Esau… taking Esau’s birthright and blessing…
Esau was not innocent… he’s also incredibly dysfunctional.
Ch 28 tells us something happened along the way… God came to Jacob in a dream and affirmed the covenant that God had originally made to Abraham, passed on to Isaac and now… God is passing on to Jacob.
And it seems like the first time we really see Jacob interacting with God…
It feels connected to how hyper focuses his parents were on other things… one author goes so far to say this is likely when Jacob stepped into a personal relationship with the Lord.
At the very least his eyes are opened in a new way…
Genesis 28:16 (NLT)
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”
He called the place
Bethel which means “house of God”
and there he told God he’d give back a 10th of everything God blessed him with…
In Ch 29 Jacob arrives at Paddan-Aram, sees a well in the distance…
Water is a hub for life… becomes a gathering spot… Several important couples in the bible actually met at a well…
Genesis 29:1–2 (NLT)
Then Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east. He saw a well in the distance. Three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field beside it, waiting to be watered. But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.
Then Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east. 2 He saw a well in the distance. Three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field beside it, waiting to be watered. But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.
Jacob engages with some young shepherds… asking if they know his uncle Laban…
And they pointed to a young lady in the distance, bringing in their herd for water and said… that is Rachel, Laban’s daughter.
Literally just reminded about God’s promises… and descendants… he wasn’t just sent to flea, but to find a wife and Jacob was smitten from the very beginning.
Genesis 29:9–11 (ESV)
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.
This is so awkward…
Jacob seems to flex… look what i can do… and moves this huge stone away, waters the herd, then kisses Rachel and starts bawling…
Ladies… if that is your first experience with a dude… that's not normal.
Jacob tells her who he is…
and she runs home and tells her father, Laban… who runs out to greet him…
And it says that Jacob stayed with him a month…
Genesis 29:15–18 (ESV)
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Laban had two daughters…
Leah… was older and had weak eyes.
Rachel… was younger and beautiful in appearance and form.
Both single.
After a month of free labor, Laban sat down with Jacob and said… just because your family, doesn't mean you shouldn't be getting paid. Tell me what your wage should be…
Jacob doesn’t pray, he doesn’t seek God’s guidance or even wise counsel
…
His response was… Rachel.
He has no money to pay a “bride price”…
Possibly because he ran for his life from Esau
Or… because he took advantage of dad… dad didn’t trust him…
So his solution was to work 7 years for the opportunity to marry Rachel.
Several scholars suggest this was a foolish deal… evidence of him not knowing how business is done or how to survive…
There are 3 kinds of people…
Wise
Foolish
Evil.
Here Jacob is being foolish and Laban is evil… taking advantage…
What’s this scenario missing… any wise person
Anyone here wise? Not really
It says that seven years felt like only a few days because he loved Rachel so much.
Genesis 29:21–30 (NLT)
Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”
So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)
But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”
“It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. “But wait until the bridal week is over; then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.”
So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. (Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.) So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.
21 Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”
22 So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. 23 But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.) 25 But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”
Can you even imagine? Who the heck are you?
All kinds of thoughts on how this happened… including Jacob being drunk… the language emphasizes it was dark… that literally… he just couldn’t see.
Culturally there was a lot of pressure for a father to marry off his daughters.
To make sure they were cared for… and it sounds like Leah’s prospects weren’t great. This could have been a move of desperation by Laban…
There's just incredible irony here…
Just a few chapters ago it was Jacob that was plotting, planning and prying these incredibly important things away… in deceptive ways…
And we see it runs in the family. Jacob met his match with his uncle who's been doing it for years…Jacob was being taken to school.
And Jacob shouldn’t have been surprised…
Galatians 6:7–9 (ESV)
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Whatever you sow… you’ll reap.
If you live a scheming, manipulative, plowing over people, gossip filled, selfish or pride filled life… Don’t be surprised when it comes back on you.
And if you at this place of saying… “I don’t care”... that’s a problem.
Jacob had it come back on him, and you’ll see that Laban does too.
Our bad habits rarely end with us.
Genesis teaches early that sin is largely relational. It’s a breach of a relationship…
When we first met Laban, I mentioned that his father was either dead, injured or this family was dysfunctional because Laban seems to be playing about every role you’d expect his father to play… This passage is a strong vote for dysfunction.
This seems to be a learned behavior…
Rebekah… learned it from her family who passed it on to her children… and we’ll see it doesn’t stop there.
Laban told Jacob it’s not customary for the younger daughter to marry before the older… THAT conversation would have been awesome… 7 YEARS AGO…
Laban wasn’t done, he said work another 7 years and I will give you Rachel as well.
Right then and there, Jacob could have said… You people are crazy… I’m out
But he agreed…
And he eventually married Rachel and it says that
Jacob loved Rachel much more than Leah…
How hurtful… on both ends.
For 7 years, Rachel had to watch Jacob and Leah…
And now… Leah had to live in this reality of Jacob loving her sister more…
Leviticus 18:18 (NLT)
“While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.
18 “While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.
It saddens me that God had to send that memo… had to write that down for us.
But that's exactly what happened… and who would have thought it would have crazy results…
Genesis 29:31–32 (NLT)
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”
31 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. 32 So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”
Leah ended up having 4 sons before Rachel had one.
Ruben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah
… Now… I will praise the Lord.
You hear this exasperation… never good enough…
You can hear the hurt and dysfunction and pain this is creating…
Eventually Rachel confronts Jacob…
When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”
(NLT)
When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”
Who would have thought this is impacting their marriage…
Jacob fought back and said… your issue isn’t with me… Leah is having plenty of kids, I am not the problem.
Rachel givers her servant Bilhah to Jacob as a wife so she can have kids through her.
… as your wife and have a kid for me through here… WHAT IS GOING ON! This is crazy, but we are only getting started.
Bilhah bore two sons…
Dan, Naphtali
Leah saw that and said oh yea; take my servant Zilpah as your wife…
Zilpah bore
Gad, Asher
It says that one day Reuben was out harvesting in the field and found mandrakes
Gen 30:14- 15
14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
Mandrakes… crazy root… looks like a person…
my understanding is that it's a narcotic… a sedative… that was also considered an
Aphrodisiac… it’s also toxic and can lead to death.
What fairly current movie do we see Mandrakes in? Henry Porter
But Rachel was willing to trade her night with her husband for them and through that… Leah ended up conceiving again…
Issachar, Zebulon
… God has given me a good endowment, now my husband will honor me…
Leah also bore a daughter… Dina…
Then God remembered Rachel…
Rachel bore Joseph
this isn’t saying God forgot about her…
This idea of remember carries with it purpose… asserting a truth… This is foreshadowing something significant about Rachel, but mostly…
Joseph… God has taken away my shame…
So…
Here is what we have…
2 jealous/feuding sisters
A total of 4 women
1 dude that just seems to go along with it
11 sons
1 daughter
These sons become the 12 tribes of Israel.
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Gad,
Asher, Dan, Naphtali
End up becoming the 12 tribes of Israel…
Yep… only 11… but 12 is coming.
But in this passage we see a picture of what happens when we fight and flail for our own way… when we stop seeking God and force our own way.
Seeing our own restitution, our own fame, own honor, own blessing away from God.
It never ends well.
We see that in Isaac and Rebekah… and what it did to their marriage.
We see it in what it did to their kids
We see it in Jacob not being prepared for life
We see it in Leah and Rachel’s fight for significance
We see it in the way they gave something sacred away for attention
We see it in Jacobs passivity…
There is an incredibly important lesson here…
God is going to do what He said He’d do… we’ve seen that clearly in Genesis.
But when we begin to fight Him… there are consequences… things get heavy and difficult… I think it causes us to miss out on some of the blessings…
Meaning… had they clawed and fought… God still would have done it… but I think their experience would have been incredibly different.
God’s providence
- God is sovereign… uses everyday things to shape and lead us
- God is working… even in the mess of it… to accomplish His purpose and plan.
Sometimes… I think we need to worry less about results… and more about practicing the presence of God. Resting in His plan and providence.
Are there areas in you’re
Pray