I LOVE MY SPOUSE! (can be changed to family for Aryn's class)

TELL THE JACOB AND RACHEL LOVE STORY

King James Version (Chapter 24)

67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac twas comforted after his mother’s udeath.Genesis 25:2828 And Isaac loved Esau, because †he did geat of his venison: hbut Rebekah loved Jacob.Genesis 27:44 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul cmay bless thee before I die.Genesis 27:1414 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother kmade savoury meat, such as his father loved.Genesis 29:1818 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, mI will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.Genesis 29:2020 And Jacob nserved seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.Genesis 29:30

Man who twisted lips to kiss his wife:

I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon had followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had to cut the little nerve. Her young husband is in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the bed and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks. “Will my mouth always be like this?” she asks.

“Yes,” I say, “it will. It is because the nerve was cut.”

She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. “I like it,” he says, “It is kind of cute.” All at once I know who he is. I understand and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works.

Richard Selzer, M.D., Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery, 1978, pp. 45-6

4 types of love:

philadelphos- brotherly love

storgos- familial love

eros- sexual love (not a term used in the Bible; which means that sexual expression does not equal love. Erotic emotion may be devoid of love. Yet, sexual expression may be the result of sacrificial love- the fruit but never the goal of such selfless action)

agape- sacrificial love

Agape love is the love God requires of Jacob, and the love God requires from us. Let’s notice three things about Jacob’s life and learn the lessons from God’s Word.

Love was Willing to Work

Jacob’s love was an active love. The text says: Genesis 29:16-19: “And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.”

Jacob proved his love by working!

The work may be many things, but in all of them it is active. It is action, not just words.

I John 3:18: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

I Corinthians 13:4-7: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Love did not lean over the bannisters of Heaven and say to mankind, “I love you!” Rather, love stood from the throne of the Almighty, became flesh, dwelt among men, lived a sinless life, chose 12 disciples, overcame the pain of resentment, disapproval, betrayal, denial, and, ultimately, crucifixion. God’s love came to work!

Ephesians 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

Luke 6:35: “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”

Love was Willing to Wait

The Bible says in Genesis 29:20: “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”

Jacob offered to work to earn Rachel’s hand in marriage, but he was going to be swindled by Laban.

Now, we must remember that the very reason Jacob is at Laban’s house is because he himself had just swindled his brother, Esau. Jacob from birth had been a swindler and a shyster, and as a patriarch of Israel, God loved Jacob too much to allow him to remain as he was.

The Lord was going to use the most-intimate of places in Jacob’s personal life to address the most-intimate needs in Jacob’s soul.

That which Jacob seemed to love most is the area which God addressed first. He really loved Rachel. Yet, on the night of consummation, he was given Leah, Rachel’s older sister, to marry. And the only solution to rectify this situation was to work seven more years for Rachel.

Genesis 29:25-30: “And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.”

Albert Barnes says of this, “The pleasure of her society both in the business and leisure of life makes the hours pass unnoticed”

His love was willing to wait.

This may be applied differently, depending on the audience.

Love must be willing to Work and Wait thru Problems (30:1-2)

Rachel and Jacob have been married for some time now, and she has gone childless. To her, nothing could be more bitter. Jacob, on the other hand, has been very fruitful. Leah has conceived Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, but Rachel has borne no children. Chapter 30 opens by her saying, Give me children, or else I die!

Now, the man who was willing to WORK for his bride and to WAIT on his bride makes a strategic error: he says the wrong thing to her in the wrong spirit and at the wrong time. Haven’t we all!? This is not just a Rachel problem. This is not just a Jacob problem. This is a Rachel/Jacob problem.

the WRONG THING!!! Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

the WRONG TIME!!! When Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

the WRONG SPIRIT!!! And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel.

There is a problem…a big one. It’s emotional. It’s permanent. It’s personal. Think before you speak!

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Life is full of problems— marriage are, too. Marriage and family life is hard. It’s challenging. It’s complicated. It’s stressful. Yet, we are called of God to rely upon Him together.

Love....real love…God’s love…determines to work it out. Real love remains faithful. Real love sticks it out. Real love remembers the covenant we made. Real love digs deeper. It prays harder. It puts itself on the back burner. It humbles itself. It goes to work and waits for brighter days.

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