Genesis #27: The Blessing - God's Love for the Unloved
Notes
Transcript
Miserable getting what I wanted… and that’s not at all what I wanted.
Getting what you want only to discover that you really didn’t want it… it was actually something else.
Satisfaction
The key to getting more out of life is admitting I can never quite reach what I really want.
Key to finding true satisfaction in life isn’t obtaining it… but surrendering to the one who can deliver it.
Starting out on the right track
Starting out on the right track
Genesis 29:1-14
1 Then Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east.
He had finnaly arrived. 500 miles from home, on the run from his brother who wanted to kill him after he had tricked his father into giveing him his brother’s blessing.
On the run, but also sent to get a wife from his mom’s family.
From all accounts, he is traveling on his own. 3 weeks traveling by himself.
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.
Flocks are gathering, but the shepherds are waiting for others to arrive to help with the stone that is on top of the well to keep dirt and animals out of the well.
3 It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing the stone and watering the animals. Afterward the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well.
The shepherds would all water their animals together.
4 Jacob went over to the shepherds and asked, “Where are you from, my friends?” “We are from Haran,” they answered.
5 “Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” he asked. “Yes, we do,” they replied.
6 “Is he doing well?” Jacob asked. “Yes, he’s well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock now.”
He’s here. You can almost hear the relief in his voice
7 “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”
Jacob knows the time to water is in the morning and the evening. Mid day is time to feed… besides, he’d like to talk to Rachel alone right...
9 Jacob was still talking with them when Rachel arrived with her father’s flock, for she was a shepherd.
10 And because Rachel was his cousin—the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother—and because the sheep and goats belonged to his uncle Laban, Jacob went over to the well and moved the stone from its mouth and watered his uncle’s flock.
11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and he wept aloud.
12 He explained to Rachel that he was her cousin on her father’s side—the son of her aunt Rebekah. So Rachel quickly ran and told her father, Laban.
Jacob being strong to impress Rachel.
They remembered the stories from when Isaac had come to visit. He came to get a wife and he brought all sorts of gifts.
What they don’t know is Jacob is all there is. There aren’t 10 camels loaded with stuff.
Rachel runs to get her dad Laban
13 As soon as Laban heard that his nephew Jacob had arrived, he ran out to meet him. He embraced and kissed him and brought him home. When Jacob had told him his story,
14 Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!” After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month,
It was strange for Jacob to kiss Rachel… but maybe she didn’t think much of it, given that her dad was a kisser as well.
But we see God at work in this.
Jacob had no GPS… it doesnt’ sound like he has any protection. It was just him.
You may think that’s not a big deal, but remember he was a man of the tents. We would expect that Esau would make this trip with no problem. But Jacob wasn’t the hunter. That makes helps us understand the prayer he prayed in the last chapter when he prayed… If God will clothe me, feed me, and keep me safe… someone else had always done that for him… And God did just as he peomised.
Jacob had a spiritual awakening back there at Bethel… and he’s aobout to get another awakening here in Haran.
The Price of Love
The Price of Love
Genesis 29:15-30
14 Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!” After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month,
15 Laban said to him, “You shouldn’t work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be.”
Sounds like Laban cares about the man. In reality, it’s like… why are you hanging around here? What is it you really want?
16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel.
17 There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face.
sparkle = not attractive
Rachel = beautiful
Which one did Jacob want?
18 Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”
19 “Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.”
20 So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.
Oh to be in love like that.... 7 years
Ladies… don’t underestimate what men are willing to do for you… don’t sell yourself short
Jacob had nothing for a dowry.
Dowry - show of respect, honor… also a reserve for the wife, should somethign happen
Working for Laban would be her dowry… would turn into great wealth
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?”
must of been quite the party… Jacob not to realize
She was veiled
The next morning when Jacob comes out like Fred Sanford
26 “It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied.
“I forgot to tell you...”
The deceiver gets deceived.
11 Because the sentence against evil deeds is so long in coming, people in general think they can get by with murder.
God is keeping score.
Jacob trying to upset the birth order, only this time it doesn’t work
27 “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.”
Look hoHe could have taken his wife and left… gone back to Momma Rebekah… and lived a good life.
But instead, he’s hooked.
Can’t really blame him… after all, it’s like Rachel = hot girl with a fishing boat
28 So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too.
29 (Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.)
30 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.
14 years of his life… and he winds up with 4 women in his house
That’s bad enough… but he’s sleeping with all of them and only loves one… you think that’s going to be a problem?
Of course.
Leah shares God's Heart
Leah shares God's Heart
Genesis 29:31-35
Up to this point, we see Jacob being a sort of Christ in the story. HE’s willing to pay any price for the bride he loves.
Scripture teaches us that the church is the bride of Christ, who he paid for with his life and continues to give himself to. He continues to serve the church even to this moment… Well beyond 14 years.
The Lord has no sympathy for Jacob… or for Laban.
But one person he does seem to notice is Leah.
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive.
Leah had been used by her father and now her husband… yet God noticed her.
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.”
See - Wanting her husbands love, but it was elsewhere.
I think God notices Leah because this is God’s experience.
Leah longs for her husband to love her… where God is wed to the church and he longs for our love
33 She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon, for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”
heard her misery
34 Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi, for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”
attached
35 Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah, for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children.
Realized that she can’t win his heart
Wives… husbands… don’t try to earn the love of a wayward spuose… pray… seek the Lord
See
Hear
Principles to Consider:
Lessons easily learned are often quickly forgotten
Lessons easily learned are often quickly forgotten
Jacob’s encounter with God was a foxhole conversion...
When he was no longer desperate, his focus shifted
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
A lack of truthfulness is fruitful in division.
A lack of truthfulness is fruitful in division.
Law of sowing and reeping....
17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
God's grace is entirely independent
God's grace is entirely independent
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Bottom Line: Our inadequacy releases God’s sufficiency.
Bottom Line: Our inadequacy releases God’s sufficiency.