Jacob and Esau Week 3

INTRODUCTION

Good morning and welcome again to First Christian Church. I am Pastor Shane, and I am so glad you decided to join us today. It is week 3 of looking at the lives of Jacob and Esau.

We have seen the promise given to their grandparents, Abraham and Sarah, that they would have as many descendants as the stars. We saw that as Isaac and Rebekah were praying for a child, God promised Rebekah that she was pregnant with two nations. The older would serve the younger, and they would be divided.

Jacob, the youngest, tricks his brother into giving him his birthright for a bowl of stew. Later, Jacob and Rebekah overhear Isaac preparing to give Esau the blessing and deceive him into giving that blessing to Jacob. When this information comes to the attention of both Isaac and Esau, Esau vows to kill his brother as soon as their father has died. We end the story with Jacob fleeing to the land of his mother’s family to get a wife, but also hiding from Esau’s wrath.

Today, we will look at the aftereffects of all the dysfunction in the Isaac household. We will also look and see how we can and should treat our families, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the world around us.

PRAY

I am going to say a name, and I want to see if you recognize it. Frank Abagnale Jr. Anyone recognize it? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t know his name, but maybe you have heard what he is famous for. Frank was a career Con Man. Born in the Bronx in New York, his life of swindling began at 15 as he conned his own dad out of roughly $3,400.

He would continue on a life of deception. Pretending to be a pilot, doctor, and numerous others. But each time he moved to a new town and pretended to be a new person, eventually his lies would catch up to him. He was so proficient at lying that even today, there is a serious question about what is true and what is false in his life. You may have seen this story play out in the movie “Catch Me If You Can.”

The story of Frank Abagnale reminds me a lot of the story of Jacob. He was deceptive and manipulative, even to those that are the closest to him, to get things that he wanted. He took advantage of people to get ahead in life, but no matter how well he deceived someone, his work eventually caught up to him.

In the passages we will look at today, Jacob’s lies have caught up to him. And Jacob will go from being the deceiver to the one that is being deceived by his uncle/father-in-law. Look with me at Genesis 29:1-30

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. 2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well. 4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” 6 He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.” 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. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father. 13 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month. 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.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

Genesis 29:1–30.

Jacob travels and finds the land of his mother, Rebekah. He meets some shepherds and asks where they are from. They find Laban’s daughter coming to water the sheep, and Jacob does it for her. Women were not typically the shepherds of the family. So, this tells us that either Laban had no sons to do the work, or he did not have a way to hire or keep any male servants/workers. He is excited that not only is his nephew here, but he could get some work out of it.

Jacob does something I am always surprised about when I read it. He works hard. After a month, Laban wanted to know how he could pay him. Jacob wants one thing: to be able to marry Rachel, the younger daughter of Laban. Laban agrees, but for a small fee. 7 years of work and you can marry Rachel. Jacob must be enamored by Rachel because he agrees. The Bible tells us that Jacob didn’t even really notice the length of time; his love for Rachel was so much that 7 years felt like nothing to him.

The time has passed and the night of the wedding has come. Laban tricks Jacob into marrying the older sister, Leah. Laban tries to pass this off by blaming their culture. He says they don’t marry the younger daughter first, but if Jacob really wants to marry Rachel, he can work for him another 7 years. Now, Jacob has come to find a wife and gets tricked into marrying 2 women.

Quick side note: this is a descriptive passage of scripture, not a prescriptive. This passage is describing the incidents but is not saying that multiple wives are the norm for a marriage.

Verse 30 gives us a clue to the relationship in Jacob’s home. It says that Jacob is married to both Rachel and Leah, but Jacob loved Rachel more. We see physical descriptions of both women. Leah is described as having weak eyes, which bible scholars have debated the meaning of for a long time. Whether she had poor vision or was not as beautiful, either way, Jacob did not love her in the way that he loved Rachel. I can only speculate, but I would imagine this would create some major tension in the household.

We pick back up in Genesis 29:31:

When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 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.” 33 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. 34 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. 35 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.

Genesis 29:31–35.

Leah is blessed by the opening of her womb in response to the hatred from Jacob. She bore four sons rather quickly. The first three are named in a way that points to her hope that Jacob would love her. Remember, sons were the way that the family carried on so to have 4 sons seems like it would have brought her into the good graces of her husband. It appears, though, that it doesn’t work. In fact, in chapter 30, we read that Rachel is envious, and repeats a similar pattern to Abraham and Sara and gives her servant to be a wife to Jacob to have children.

Leah sees this and does the same. So now Jacob, his two wives, and their respective servants are all mixed in together in this tense competition around having children as a way of gaining praise. Finally, Rachel can conceive:

Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

Genesis 30:22–24.

As soon as Rachel bore a son, Jacob was ready to leave and go back to the home of his family. Remember, he left to get away from Esau’s wrath and to find a wife. It is now roughly 20 years later. He may have expected to only be gone long enough to get married and then come back home. But 2 decades have now passed, and his family is a small army ready to return to the promised land.

He runs into an issue, though; his father-in-law is aware that his herds and family have prospered because Jacob is there. Jacob proposes an idea: let him pass through the herds and take all of the spotted, striped, and ugly animals. Laban can have the beautiful ones with the solid coats, and Jacob will take the ones that are less than perfect. Laban agrees with Jacob but has another idea.

Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

Genesis 30:34–36.

Jacob, the one who normally does the deceiving, is tricked by his father-in-law yet again. His deception worked to get both of his daughters married, and now has worked again to try and keep Jacob and his family there. Jacob recognizes the trick that has occurred and manipulates some breeding practices to get flocks for himself and will leave, actually flee, Laban.

Jacob and his family are far from perfect. Not one story that we have read so far would be used as an example of what a loving Christian home should be. It all is a great case study in dysfunction. Laban and Rebekah were raised by parents who taught them to scheme and deceive. Jacob has picked up these traits honestly. And in these passages of scripture, we see 2 great con men face off. It is like watching the Olympic games for people who like to manipulate and deceive. So, while they are not positive examples, they give us some great examples of how not to act.

How Should We Treat Each Other:

I think the constant theme of dysfunction so far in this story should give us a clear picture of how we should be treating our families, our fellow believers in Jesus, and our world. So far, we have seen a lot of characters acting out in a self-seeking way. Each person was doing things so that they would be lifted up, honored, or personally benefit. When we read the words of Jesus, as he describes how believers should act and live, we see the opposite.

John the Baptist kicks it off with clear, simple words: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30. In our lives, it must be less about me and more about God. I must be decreasing while Christ is increasing in me. As this is happening ,I am becoming more and more like Jesus.

We should not be taking advantage of others for personal gain.

Throughout this story, we see people taking advantage of others. Laban takes advantage of Jacob for years of free labor. Jacob has taken advantage of Esau and Isaac in the events that lead up to this story. We see that this does nothing but cause harm. This does not drive the family to love each other or the Lord more. All this does is build up sinful pride and ego in people.

Jesus gives us the ultimate example of this: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45. We should be more worried about how we can serve others than how we can take advantage of others. Jesus is the example of this for us to follow. He comes to earth not to get people to serve Him. He doesn’t want people to simply come and pay homage to him, to get served by people around him, but to come as a servant. He came to lay down his life as a ransom for ours. To pay our debt in our place. That is the attitude we should have when we look to others.

We reap what we sow.

Jacob had sown so much deception in his life. He was at the hands of Laban because of his actions with his own family, and now, he reaps those same rewards.

Galatians 6:7-8 tells us this: “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.” Galatians 6:7–8.

When we seek only our selves, hoping and trying to do and get things that only profit or benefit myself, I am sowing seeds in my own flesh. When I do things that allow sin to rule and reign in my life, I am sowing seeds in my own flesh, and the best fruit that those seeds bring is corruption. Nothing good comes from the seeds of selfishness and sin that I sow in my life. But when I am sowing seeds in the Spirit, when I am doing the work that God has called me to, when I am following Him, when I am obedient to the will of God in my life, then those seeds grow spiritual fruit.

Why should I want to grow spiritual fruit? Ultimately, my hope is found not in what I can do or what I can manipulate people to do for me. I cannot make my own truth, and I cannot engineer my own world with my own schemes. When it comes down to it all, our only hope is found in Jesus.

Leah lives that out in the naming of her children. Her first son, Reuben, means ‘see a son’ or ‘he has seen my misery.’ Her hope was initially set in the fact that she was giving birth to boys. She hoped that Jacob would love her for this. That having a son would make Jacob come around on his feelings for her. But by the time her fourth son, Judah, is born, we see her attitude change. Judah means “I will praise the Lord.” And it is from this line, from the lineage of Judah, that our savior Jesus is born. Our hope is not found in what I can get people to do for me. Our hope for salvation, for peace, for joy in our life is not in what gain we can get for ourselves. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone.

If you know Christ as your savior, you should be living your lives in a way that exemplifies the fruit of being in a relationship with Him. We should be people that serve, that love our neighbor, that don’t seek to take advantage of others just to prop ourselves up. We can also be reminded that even when we are foolish, sinful, or worldly, God has grace for us and takes us crooked sticks and can draw a straight line.

If you don’t know Jesus as your savior, I invite you to know Him today. I invite you to stop trying to reach him on your own through your works. I invite you to see and understand that the only way to God is through His son Jesus. That He died for you, for your sin, while you were still a sinner. He is not waiting for you to get it all together or be perfect. He is inviting you to lay down your life, to know Him as your savior. To admit you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died for you, and confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord, believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead.