Genesis 30:1-43
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Genesis 30:1-43
Genesis 30:1-43
Genesis 29 is a strange story. Jacob is sent away from home by Rebekah and Isaac to Haran to find a wife, AND to flee his brother Esau’s rath. Jacob comes to a well, not knowing exactly where he is that is covered by a very large stone, and shepherds waiting for all the sheepherders to be there before they move the stone off the well.
Jacob asks the men where he is, and they tell him Haran. He asks them if they know who Laban is, and they say yes. Jacob asks if he’s well, knowing he’s a really old man, and they say he is, and in fact, here comes his daughter, who manages his sheep. Jacob looks at her and the slow motion and “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling” starts playing in his head, flexes his muscles and removes the stone and waters the sheep, introduces himself to this woman Rachel, saying he’s Rebekah’s son and she runs to tell her dad.
Laban, Jacob’s uncle invites him into his house, and after a month and Rebekah not sending him home, he realizes that Jacob has the hots for his daughter Rachel. Now, what do we know about Jacob? He bartered with his brother for his family birthright, THEN, flat out deceived his father for his brother’s blessing. We find out, though, that Laban was much better at lying than Jacob was. He had many more years of getting his way.
So, Laban lets Jacob know he can’t be a 77 year old freeloader, he’s got to work. Gen 29:15
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”
So, Jacob says he’ll serve 7 years for the younger of Laban’s 2 daughters Rachel. Leah was older, and had pretty eyes, but Rachel was the brick house. And 7 years is a HUGE dowry payment. A years wage is 300 Denari.
Jacob was going to give 2,100 Denair for Rachel. So, Laban makes the deal, but doesn’t make a covenant, doesn’t acknowledge that this agreement is for Rachel, knowing that in his country you don’t give the younger daughter before the older is married.
The years fly by, the wedding night comes, and because of the veil covering her face, and the night being dark…Laban swaps his daughters, knowing he’ll get more work out of Jacob if he really wants to marry Rachel.
So, Jacob gets angry, but still wants to marry Rachel so Laban gives her to him after he fulfills the marriage week of Leah, and Laban sets the fee for Rachel at 7 years, so he’ll have to work 14 years for his 2 wives.
Now, when it comes to Leah and Rachel, Jacob loved one, but not the other, so the Lord had mercy on Leah and she bore Jacob 4 sons. The sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
Leah, the unloved wife, is the one who gave birth to Judah, and her 4th son would give us the line of King David, and thru him, Jesus.
If you thought the last chapter was crazy, and you haven’t read ahead, buckle your seat belts for another crazy Bible story.
1 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” 2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
So, between Leah and Rachel, what do we know about their desirability? We heard last chapter that Leah had beautiful eyes, but nothing remarkable was said about her. However, Rachel was beautiful in every physical way. This must have been a shock for Rachel, because she would have always been the favored of the sisters.
We don’t have any idea how old the sisters are, just that neither were married…I would assume probably because of Laban’s behavior. People knew him…and I’m sure they didn’t want to get duped into working for years for such a trickster.
Even though Jacob shows no love to Leah, but performs his husbandly duty to her, much to Rachel’s chagrin. God sees this, though, and He looks at people’s worth a little differently than we do. We remember Samuel, when he went to Jesse’s house to find a king.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
The Lord sees Jacob’s selfish attitude and sets the scales right. It burns up Rachel, though. She’s clearly upset and throws down an ultimatum for Jacob…What is implied here is that Jacob must stop sleeping with Leah.
Jacob gets indignant in his response, knowing he’s not the problem, clearly the problem was with Rachel, and in that time, not being able to bear children was a sign of doom from God.
But, there was a way out in that culture…here’s where you need to take the Tylenol, it’s going to get bumpy.
3 So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.” 4 Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7 And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.
I hate this. Half of this chapter is just like this. I want to encourage you though, don’t get distracted by the lascivious acts or be appalled by them. Listen to the music that plays on our radios today. It glorifies behavior like this. I hate it when my heroes sin. It disgusts me, but this is why our Bibles are reliable. They tell the truth, even when that truth is ugly and sinful.
In this day, it was not uncommon to adopt children from a surrogate. That is what Rebekah is doing here. They didn’t have fertility clinics back then, so they would do this to have children. The wives would wait and catch the child as it was born and then adopt it as their own.
Sarah did this with Hagar, and that ended poorly, didn’t it? That just creates more tension in the relationship. Ladies, you should NEVER have to struggle for your husband’s affection. If he’s drawn to something else more than you, then the two of you need to seek out what could be wrong there. Be honest with each other…and be prepared to hear some heard truth. The question you need to ask then, is, is this relationship worth it. More importantly, is the change that’s needed in this person worth waiting and fighting for. Fight for your marriages.
Now, the name of first child is Dan which is translated “to vindicate.” She feels validated before God for what she’s done. The 2nd child is Naphtali which means to struggle, representative of her fight with Leah for her husband.
And Jacob is not protesting any of this. He’s not a victim here. My level of respect for Jacob continues to fall. At least we’ve got Leah living uprightly in the wings, don’t we?
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. 10 And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “A troop comes!” So she called his name Gad. 12 And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher.
NO, Leah! Don’t get caught up in this!
First off, these other “wives” were not wives. They were concubines. A concubine is a woman who is not in a legal marriage with. In Bible times, there was a bride price or a dowry payment paid for a bride. In this case, it was 7 years of free labor for each woman. Imagine working for free for 7 years to pay off your father in law? If you made $30,000 a year working a job today, that’d be $210,000. Then he had to do it again! Laban knew what he was doing getting Jacob to work for him.
What does she name these kids? Gad, which means troop, like an army. My old school rap mind comes alive here, with the rap battles. I know, I just killed this whole moment for some of you. I’ve got to try to keep some of this light with the sickness that’s happening, though.
Then Asher was the next son, which means Happy. She’s so happy now that this family is an embarrassment. Isn’t this an embarrassment to Christians? Oh, your God allows this kind of behavior, and even celebrates it!
NO, He doesn’t. This is why this book is true, because it tells you the failures of these people, so you can see how low they become. It gives people hope to see, if God can use someone like Jacob and bring something good from him, could He do something with me? He can…but let’s continue on, this isn’t going to get any better, but we need to get thru it:
14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest 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?” And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.
Reuben is just a boy here, and he found mandrakes. Mandrakes are called “love apples” and are considered aphrodisiac's and rumored to help with fertility. Something that Rachel so desperately desired.
Clearly Leah and Rachel have a contentious relationship, I mean, look at the names of these kids now! Look at this conversation! “Please can I have some?” “What? Are you going to steal from my kid? What’s your price?”
Then she goes and tells Jacob he’s been bought for the night. This is so sickening, especially to be teaching it with kids in the room, but you get what I’m saying here! Jacob has no real say in the matter, he just got bought with a vegetable. Does this transaction bear fruit?
17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. 19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
Did God bless Leah because she entered into this deviant relationship? All she wanted was to be loved, and the fact that she was running up the score on Rachel made things all the sweeter for her. So with Issachar, the name means “wages.” Zebulun means “dwelling” which is all she wants from her husband. It’s clear that Rachel holds the reigns on Jacob. Then there was a daughter named Dinah which means “Judgement.”
Brothers, ladies want security. They are drawn to power…but security is what makes them comfortable. Hollie and I have arguments all the time, and there are times when we need to tell each other, “We are ok. I’m not OK with this, but you and I, we are OK.” The money you bring home is not as important to your role in the home. Maybe something needs to come off of your plate to make more time. Consider it.
How do you destroy a prideful person? Like this. Leah, the rejected wife just stomps on Rachel’s barrenness with almost every child. This competition is just so terrible. Now, maybe God can do something special with Rachel.
22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”
We spoke a few months ago, when Noah was in the ark with his family
1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
After a year of being on the boat, they may have thought God forgot about them. But, God hadn’t. He just had to bring them to a place where they were ready to be used by the Lord. God remembered Rachel, and she bore a son. Joseph’s life is so amazing, but to know that he came from this broken and twisted relationship. His name means He will add, Rachel wanted one more son, we won’t hear about him for a while, though. This twisted story isn’t over yet. Now, Jacob wants to move on:
25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.” 27 And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” 28 Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
His 14 years of labor for Laban are now up. 11 sons and a daughter in 7 years. Don’t let the math jumble your head. I’m not going to do it for you. That’s a mess. Just take a breath and shake off that whole half of the chapter.
Thru this mess, Laban is impressed with this man Jacob. Jacob has become his cash cow. He doesn’t want to give that up. He’ll do whatever he can to keep Jacob under his thumb. Especially with 11 sons now, that’s an impressive workforce that would be getting raised up too. Jacob sees his chance here, though. He’s learned the game that Laban was playing with him and would now exercise what he’s learned.
29 So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. 30 For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?”
Jacob wants to be the provider for his family, not be dependent upon Laban to take care of them anymore. Jacob is becoming a man, finally, at 91 years old. Some of us have some growing up to do, we’ve got some time. Laban persists:
31 So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: 32 Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. 33 So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”
Being a sheep shearer, I know you can’t do much with colored wool. It is made into rugs and carpets. You want the white wooled sheep because you can dye them into anything. Jacob wants the “unwanted” sheep. There is a breed named “Jacob’s sheep” They usually have 2-4 horns, they’re multi colored. You look at them and say “Clearly, Jacob’s sheep.”
He says I’ll take the ones you don’t want, and if you find any white ones amongst mine, then consider them stolen. Laban thinks this is a great idea and hatched a plan:
34 And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” 35 So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36 Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Laban tried to stack the deck against Jacob, by going ahead and removing the sheep Jacob would be looking for. When Jacob saw this, he came up with a plan himself:
37 Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. 38 And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40 Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
41 And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. 42 But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Jacob looked at the flock and said: “Curses, foiled again!” How do I con my way out of this one.
Nope, Laban opened Jacob’s eyes. Genesis 30:27 “27 And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.””
Jacob now remembered that the Lord had made him a promise:
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.”
This isn’t because of anything Jacob had done, this was because of the promise made to Abraham. Thru chapter 29 and 30, the only time that Jacob used the name of the Lord was to blaspheme His name. It’s 2 times in this chapter, in Genesis 30:2 “2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”” Genesis 30:30 “30 For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?””
All thruout the past 2 chapters, it’s been the women who have acknowledged God. If we remember in Genesis 28:20
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,
Jacob hears Laban say it, then he repeats it back…and now, he gets it. The blessings that were coming weren’t because he was special, or a hard worker, it was because God willed it. These children that Jacob fathered out of these despicable circumstances, would they all be honorable? No, only one of them would be. They would all bicker and quarrel with each other. The question that the Bible glorifies this kind of immoral behavior is terribly misguided, because you have to know the rest of the book to understand why the future behavior is happening.
Like we talked about last week, God allows things to happen in our lives for a reason. He wants to break us of habits. Where were you when it just clicked that it was a miracle you were still here, on this earth? When did it hit you that you’ve been searching for something more? It’s usually when you’re furthest away from the Lord that it sinks in. Is it today? For anyone in this room, for anyone watching, is it today? Are you hearing this story and saying “This is how God’s people act?”
I’ll tell you no, this is where God’s people begin.
We’ll start to see it in the next chapter, that Jacob is starting to open his eyes to the fact that none of this has been his doing. In fact, in the face of all he’s done, the Lord has still blessed him! Does that happen to you? Anyone have that feeling, where you are like “God must approve, I’m gaining financially or socially from this behavior.” I have been there.
What makes what Jesus did for us on the Cross seem cheap is because we can’t comprehend what we’re being saved to, since we can’t see it, we get fixated on what we’ve been saved from instead. It’s that “Don’t look down” moment. What happens when you look down? You get scared, right?? You remember what was on those screens. You remember what went on in those clubs. You know you’re drawn to that, and you know you’re not strong enough to up to it.
Famous moment, everyone knows it. Jesus is walking on the water, Peter wants to come to him, Jesus calls him and Peter begins to walk on the water. What happens the moment Peter takes his eyes off Jesus? He starts to sink. Is it a splash? No, it’s a slow sink. There’s a great song by Casting Crowns called “Slow Fade” that hits the words on the head. If you take your eyes off the prize for a second, the next thing you realize is we are so weak we are ankle deep before we even notice we’re sinking. Then we don’t know what to do…we’re Christians, we are invincible, we shouldn’t fall into these traps, we know better. What do we do? We can’t let people know we have fallen, can we?
That’s where the church comes into play, where your brothers and sisters come into play. This is where you kids come into play. My kids stop me from dumb things when I’m driving. Dad, your turn signal isn’t on…Dad, you touched your phone. DAD, THAT LIGHT JUST TURNED RED. God bless MY KIDS! They have the audacity to call out my faults. Thank you. It miffs me when you do it, but I need it. I need to live a life where they say “I find no fault in him, he’s not perfect, but he sure tried hard to be.”
That’s hard for your kids to notice. I’ve been a pastor for a year, and they have all told me, probably because they wanted candy, that they’re glad I’m their pastor. Without them, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.
Most people say your spouse should not be the spiritual accountability you need in your life. They have a vested interest in keeping your secrets, secret. I can attest, without my wife and her brazen attitude to challenge me. I would not be the man I am. I wouldn’t have the marriage I have if it wasn’t for her.
It also falls to you guys too. Without some of you to say “C’mon man!” I want you all to know me. A good shepherd knows his flock, and they know the shepherd’s voice. I’m not the good shepherd, but I want to be a good shepherd to you.
Jacob and these 4 women, and their 13 children were as far away from God as you can get. Even evoking God as they’re in the middle of their sin. Can you relate? Does that concern you? If it does, then it’s time to make a change. It’s time to stop compromising. It’s time to stop giving in to that guy or that girl who’s pressuring us into making bad decisions. It’s time to turn down the anger and start turning up the grace and mercy. Especially when it’s a a part of your family that brings the heat.
Worship team:
This chapter is gross. But it reveals something in all of us…our sin always looks worse on someone else, doesn’t it? Jesus looks at this behavior, thru out history, and says “Yes, they are worth it. I’m going to Earth and I’m going to show them how to truly live, truly love, and truly sacrifice. They’re worth it to me.”
The question we need to ask is, is He worth it to US? All he says is “Don’t look down, don’t look back, keep your eyes on me. You’re going to stumble, I’ve got you, just get your eyes back on Me.” He saw you were worth it, thru everything you’ve been thru.
As far as you are away, he has His eyes on you, wanting you to choose Him like He has chosen you. Don’t let today get away from you. Jacob’s enemy, Laban was who opened his eyes, and the Lord took 14 years, on purpose, to reveal that truth to him. Don’t miss it when He reveals Himself to you. Don’t be shocked, be thankful.
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