The Building of a Nation…

Good morning everyone, it is so good to be here this morning with you all. Right now we get to send out the kiddos to their class where you have the opportunity to learn about God in a way that makes sense to you. Then, remember, you gotta pay attention real good so that you can come find me after service and tell me something you learned today. Then of course we also want to welcome those of you joining us online, etc.

So what are we talking about today? Last week we talked about Jacob’s brand new life and all that entailed. We talked about the deception of Laban and how Jacob ended up being married to both Leah and Rachel and how this will cause trouble for him. of course one of the big ideas that we saw last week is that In the life of the trusting Christian, there are no accidents, only appointments. We discussed how God is sovereign over all of our lives and there is no “luck” or “coincidence”, there is only the “omnipresent” or always present God working in the life of the Christian to bring about the good and perfect will of the Father in Heaven.

Now frequently after someone gets married kids will come…we learned that in grade school…you know,

“Merle and Sherrie sitting in a tree…K.I.S.S.I.N.G… first comes love, then come marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.”

Actually, I think that song needs to be reintroduced to the playground so that kids will learn the proper order of operation there. Anyway, that is what’s going on here, and so Jacob has gotten married and now it is time to really open up the family and that means having kids . Now, today we are going to be a more informative kind of story, but this is one of those stories that you have to see the background of in order to have a more full appreciation of the rest of Scripture. You have to truly understand God’s sovereignty over all of the events of human history if you are to accept God’s sovereignty over the events in your life. So with that said, this morning we are going to look at 4 different women because Jacob is going to have children with four different women. Now, let’s be clear…this is not a “how to” guide here ok. Just becuase Jacob did something doesn’t mean that is the thing we are supposed to do, so don’t go thinking that we are supposed to start looking into multiple wives, thats a Mormon thing, not a Christian thing, ok…Actually, this is kind of part of the problem that Jacob is going to have in his life. He is not fulfilling the God ordained design for marriage, and he is not fulling the role of spiritual leadership within his family, and we are going to see at least a part of the consequences of that. What is interesting is that there really is so much going on in this story that we are about to read, and so I think it is best to take it piece by piece together…so it’ll take us a moment, but it’s pretty important. Now there is something that I want to ask you all…I want you all to just think about this and to quietly, no cheating, answer this question. What line did Jesus come through? We are going to look today at the 12 tribes of Israel, and we are going to see where those tribes come from (spoiler alert) 4 different mothers, so which mother did Jesus come through? Ok, Let’s start off with

Leah Part 1 (Ch. 29:31-35)

Now, I said part one, becuase Leah is going to have a part two when everyone else will only have one shot. Something is special about Leah, but it actually has nothing to do with Leah and everything to do with God and God’s divine choice here. Let’s go ahead and read here.

Genesis 29:31–35 ESV

When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

Right at the top here, the word “hated” in verse 31 doesn’t imply active abuse on Jacob’s part; it actually means he loved Rachel more than he loved Leah and gave Rachel more attention and affection. He is already sewing bitter seeds within his family relationships here. Then we have Rachel, who like Sarah and Rebekah before her was barren. Jacob’s first four sons were born rapidly of course in clear contrast with the earlier father who had long waits. Through this we can see that is it God who is recognized as the One who gives life in spite of all human efforts.

Leah named her firstborn Reuben, which means “Behold! A Son” indicating that the Lord had seen her misery. Now at last my husband will become attached to me. In Hebrew these words are very very close to each other. This naming shows her hope but also her consolation and faith. Jacob never saw her affliction, but God did.

Next is Simeon, which means “One who hears” who was so named because the Lord heard that Leah was not loved. “God heard” was her testimony in faith to His provision.

Levi, which means “attached” was named for her hope that her husband would become attached to her, but it was not to be.

Finally Judah, which means “Praise” was her consolation; she would be satisfied to praise the Lord. Leah exhibited genuine faith during great affliction.

What is encouraging here, and maybe what we can learn from here is that instead of complaining to the Lord about her unresponsive husband, she was now praising the Lord for His blessings. “This time I will praise the Lord”.

Well, Rachel is getting kind of jealous now and so we are about to see something that we have seen before and we wish that Jacob would’ve just talked to grandpa about this or with his own dad about how this was gonna work out here. Anyway, let’s take a look at

Billah (Ch. 30:1-8)

You, you will notice that I did not say Rachel here even through I very clearly just said that Rachel is the one that just got jealous…Well, do you guys remember last year when Sarah was supposed to be having a child of the promise for Abraham, but Sarah was barren…Remember how Sarah got a bit impatient and decided to give her servant to Abraham to have a child with her…Yeah…thats what’s about to happen here. Let’s go ahead and read it for ourselves.

Genesis 30:1–8 ESV

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

So off the top here we have talked about sinful responses before haven’t we. I mean, is it Jacob’s fault that Rachel has not had a child? I mean, maybe…if he is doing deceitful things that is causing that, but that does not seem to be the issue here. However, Rachel is mad at God, and she is misplacing her anger at God and placing it at the feet of her husband…now, ladies, I know you would NEVER do that would you????So that’s number one in this issue here right…But then, instead of responding as a peacemaker to his spouse what does Jacob do? Well, he responds from a place of hurt and anger himself doesn’t he? Husbands…I know you would NEVER do that to your spouse would you????just me, ok…well, thats good. Yeah, you do that, and you shouldn’t. Wives, you do that, and you shouldn’t…Do you know what the response is to that type of behavior? Well, we just read it…it seems that the response to that type of evil is more evil. No, it might not look like polygamy, but it will be some type of deeper sinfulness, won’t it…Do you know why…because neither husband nor wife wants to admit that they were, or are, wrong. That was just a little side reminder of what happens when we live with a desire to please self instead of a desire to please God. So let’s take a look at these kids together.

First of all we have Dan, which means “vindication” and indicated that God has vindicated me or corrected Rachels barrenness.

Next we have Naphtali, which means “my struggle” and reflected her great struggle which she said “I fought” with her sister.

Now, once you start being petty and fighting you of course must continue, and that is what we will see with the addition of

Zilpah (Ch. 30:9-13)

You know…who needs Days of our Lives when you have Genesis, right…and we’re only a little more than halfway through at this point…there’s a whole lot more real life going on in this book right here folks. This book would totally be banned if it were written today for all of the “adult content”…but you know folks…don’t you live your life in the middle of a bunch of adult content. I mean, hopefully not this type of adult content, if so I do offer free Biblical counseling and it sounds like you might need it.. But in all seriousness, I mean we joke and all that, but we do live in a messed up world and we have sanitized the Bible, but folks the Bible was not filled with any perfect people that had anything figured out…But what we do keep seeing is that there is a Holy God who continually chose to work in the life of messed up people to fulfill his perfect plan. Let’s take a look at the Scriptures here

Genesis 30:9–13 ESV

When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad. Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

Alright, let’s look at the kids…

First we have Gad, which means “luck has come” or fortune.

Second we have Asher, which means “blessed” or blessing.

Not alot of fame on poor Zilpah, but this does lead us to a second round of Leah due to Rachel attempting to take matters into her own hands and basically selling off time with Jacob as a hooker to Leah for the price of Mandrakes as she hoped that she would be able to create some some of homemade remedy that would allow her to become pregnant. As a result to her attempting to manipulate God, God opened Leah’s womb again…so, let’s take a look at

Leah Part 2 (Ch. 30:14-21)

So it’s important to note here that God does not typically reward a persons effort to do things their own way. Thats what we have going on here. Rachel is trying to do things her own way and is trying to concoct a way to become pregnant outside of trusting God. For her troubles, God allows Leah to become pregnant again.

Take a look

Genesis 30:14–21 ESV

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.” 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.” When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

So we have 2 more kids here…

Issachar, which means “wages”, in other words…my hire. This is the son that she bore with the price of her sons mandrakes.

Zebulon, which means “honor”, Leah said that God gave her Zebulon so that finally her husband would treat her with honor.

Leah also bore to Jacob a daughter named Dinah. After all of these children Leah was still attempting to find a way Jacob to pay attention to her in the same way that he pays attention to Rachel. This isn’t all though…There are supposed to be twelve tribes of Israel and so far there are only ten sons, so that means there is something else going on…let’s keep going and take a look at the woman who started this whole thing off…

Rachel (Ch. 30:22-24)

So after all of that, Rachel only has a small portion in the tribes of Israel it seems. There are already 10 children, and we know that there will be twelve, so that means that Rachel must only be going to have two children… Let’s read and find out.

Genesis 30:22–24 ESV

Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

Seems like a pretty small section compared to all of the other sections…but what do we learn from here? We learn that there is a pretty important young man that was born.

Joseph, which means “to add”. This is really interesting though. You see, Joseph was not born through the mandrakes and the concoction that Rachel made as she attempted to fulfill her own desires…This shows that births are given by God, not manipulated by people. Joseph’s name, like Zebulun’s, had a double meaning. She said, God has taken away (’āsap̱) my disgrace; and she prayed that He would add (yōsēp̱) another son. Finally Rachel was jubilant, looking in faith for a second child from God. She would, or better yet, will receive a second child, but that will be later, and unfortunately that will cost her life, but from her death we will have the twelfth tribe of Israel named Benjamin.

This passage shows how God prospered Jacob and started to make from him a great nation. All Israelites could thus look back and see their ancestry in Jacob and in the conflict of the women. As brothers the sons of Jacob, who became “Israel,” were not to become envious like their mothers.

To Israel these narratives were more than interesting little stories. The rivalry that appears here explains much of the tribal rivalry that followed. But Genesis is clear: God chose the despised mother, Leah, and exalted her to be the first mother. The kingly tribe of Judah and the priestly tribe of Levi trace back to her, in spite of Jacob’s love for Rachel and her son Joseph. So in the beginning when I asked you which mother Jesus would come through…the answer is Leah, through the Tribe of Judah. Make no mistake Rachel and Jospeh are incredibly important to this story, but Jesus will appear from the lineage of Leah.

This morning, you need to know that God does not care what your plans are…God is happy to bring you along on his plans, but make no mistake they are his plans, and not yours. Will you join him on his plans this morning? Jacob, Rachel, Leah were brought along…at times kicking and screaming I think, but God in his goodness brought them along. Maybe this morning it would be easier for you to simply submit to his will rather than to continue to fight God’s will in your life.

Let’s pray…