The Folly of Finding Worth in the World

Introduction

Last week we saw the love story of Jacob that ended with a twist. Jacob was living differently than before and then he was tricked and ended up marrying both daughters of Laban his uncle. Jacob only wanted to marry Rachel and because of this he only loved her.

This leads to our passage tonight where there is obviously a conflict between these two sisters. Through it all it is clear that both of these women have idols and are trying to find their worth in the things of this world. This never works out for any of them. Through all of the strife Jacob is the cause and it is clear that this family is broken. Here is the interesting thing though, through this strife Israel goes from a single line to a nation. It is hard to not see God at work despite all of the human failure.

This is one of the biggest themes that we have seen in the book of Genesis lately, God can accomplish his plans with or without the help of man but he will always accomplish his plans. Tonight we will see this theme continue through favoritism and idolatry.

Lets pray this evening and then we will begin to dive into the story.

God Sees the Unloved

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.

From the very beginning we are told of the issue. One wife was hated and she was allowed by the Lord to have children and the loved wife was barren. Leah has several sons here saying with each that now her husband will love here but it never happens. Finally with the fourth she eventually says that now she will just praise the Lord for her sons. She has given up for the time being with seeking the love of her husband.

Thus far she has had Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. It is through Judah that Jesus will come and we will see him progress as the story goes on. Interestingly enough he does not become the main character of the book like we are used to though.

God looks down on her and sees the difficult position that she is in so he chooses to bless her with children and withhold children from her sister. God sees the unloved. For the majority of the time though notice what she is after, she is not seeing the blessing that she has. All that she sees is that her husband does not love her.

She has idolized the her husbands love. She would ignore everything in the pursuit of it and she does. The reformers said that our heart is a idol factory and that is what is a play here in this story. Even if she had his love it is sure that she would have found some other idol, for a clear picture of that we turn to her sister in the next section.

The Folly of Human Striving

Genesis 30:1–13 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. 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.

Rachel has all of the love of their husband but she cries our, if I do not have children I will die. She cries this out to her husband who does not have a kind gentle response. She then gives him her servant that we were told about in the section from last week and the servant has two children that she calls hers. This servant has Dan and Naphtali. Leah has quit having kids so she decides to do the same thing right back and her servant has Gad and Asher.

We just talked about how Leah has all of the children but not the love and she has idolized the love of her husband. Well look at Rachel here, she has all of the love but no kids. She now starts to idolize kids and could care less that she has the love of her husband.

I just want to take a moment to think about Jacobs life through all of this, two wives would be difficult enough but always fighting back and forth would be insanity. Also look at the wording here, he is up to 4 wives which is looked down upon everywhere in the Bible. Genesis is interesting because it does not tell us what is right and wrong it just describes to us what happened. Because of this we have to understand their actions in light of the rest of the Bible and in this we know that multiple wives is bad news.

See they are both striving for different things seeking what they see as their worth. For both of them though it is folly. We need to ask ourselves where we find our worth. Many seek their worth in relationships, especially at yalls age. I think that is the biggest thing I see and they don’t think anyone sees it but everyone does. Maybe you find your worth in sports or some other activity. Maybe it is a friend group. Here is the thing, what happens when that relationship is over, or injury comes, or friends move. Where is your worth now?

There is only one place that we should seek our worth and that is in Jesus Christ. The one who never changes. I am nothing more or nothing less than what he says I am and that is my worth. Do not be deceived by the world on this, do not fall into the folly of seeking your worth in the world but seek it in God and him alone. He is a God that sees you and desires you and as we will look at now he is a God that remembers you.

The God Who Remembers

Genesis 30:14–24 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. 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!”

These ladies now begin to barter for their husband. He has gone from the husband to an object that can be traded around. Mandrakes were often regarded as promoting fertility and Rachel still longed to have a son of her own. The children of her slave did not satisfy her. This leads to Leah having two more sons, possibly pointing out that the stopping of children from her earlier might be from a lack of being with Jacob and that is why she is ready to barter. These two sons are Issachar and Zebulun. There is also the mention of a daughter here and that is because she comes into play in the story later.

We then see that God remembered Rachel and opened her womb. We know that God does not forget but what this is pointing towards is that he is about to act on her behalf. She then has a son and his name is Joseph. Joseph will be the next main character in the book of Genesis.

God is the God who acts for us. When all hope seems lost he can still move in mighty ways. This is something that these two ladies forgot. They were so consumed with their personal idols and their worth and their conflict that they never stopped to see the God of Abraham, Isaac, and their husband Jacob.

This is a picture of the world, a picture of those who do not have Christ. It is broken and it is sad.

Conclusion

Through all of this brokenness though we can know that it does not have to be this way. Jesus came through this family line to bring salvation to people just like his family. Jesus came to give us new hearts and fundamentally change who we are. He calls us to himself and we put our faith in him and we can then begin to see where our true worth lies. We can then begin to see where our idols are destroying us and we can then begin to truly follow Christ. If you are here tonight and you have never put your faith in Jesus then come talk to me or one of the other adults. If you have then I ask you this, are you living like you are saved or are you living like the ladies in this story.