Genesis 29.1-12-Jacob Meets Rachel and It's Love at First Sight
Tuesday June 20, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 29:1-12-Jacob Meets Rachel and it’s Love at First Sight
Lesson # 165
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 29:1.
This evening we will study Genesis 29:1-12, which records Jacob finally arriving in Paddan Aram and meeting the shepherds from Haran and the daughter of his uncle Laban and future wife, Rachel.
Now, as we noted Sunday, we must remember when approaching Genesis 29 that initially Jacob was running from Esau, which was the real reason why his mother sent him to her brother Laban.
The reason Rebekah gave Isaac for sending away Jacob was to secure a wife for him but this was a lie since she did not give Jacob the bride price needed to secure a bride.
In fact, Genesis 28:44 records that Rebekah was planning on Jacob being a way for only a “few days.”
So initially when Jacob set out on his journey to see his uncle Laban, he was not intending to find a wife for himself.
But rather he was simply looking for a place to hide out, biding his time, far away from the wrath of his brother Esau who he just took advantage of.
But the purpose of his journey changed when the Lord appeared to him at Bethel and made promises to him of numerous descendants (See Genesis 28:10-15).
Therefore, Jacob is seeking a wife in order to fulfill the Lord’s promise of numerous progeny.
As we noted the excuse that Rebekah gave Isaac for sending away Jacob to her relatives to get a wife was used as a pretext to protect Jacob from Esau.
What originally was the false purpose for Jacob’s journey has become the real purpose of the trip as a result of Jacob encountering the Lord at Bethel.
Also, remember, we saw that in Genesis 28:2-4, Isaac stipulated to Jacob that he was to take a wife from among the daughters of Rebekah’s brother, Laban.
This has become the purpose of Jacob’s trip now that the Lord has appeared to him at Bethel and confirmed his father’s stipulation.
Genesis 29:1, “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east.”
The expression “Jacob went on his journey” in the Hebrew text literally means, “Jacob lifted up his feet” and is a unique expression, which means that “to put into action (his original journey).”
This expression indicates that Jacob had a life changing experience at Bethel where he encountered a vision of elect angels, the preincarnate Christ, receiving promises from Him that revealed the Father’s plan for his life, which was to inherit the promises, privileges, responsibilities and blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant and to carry on the line of Christ.
After his encounter with the Lord at Bethel, Jacob went from being a scared, lonely, isolated individual with doubts about his future to an individual who was courageous, confident about the future and God’s love for him, aware that he is not alone.
His doubts about his future have been replaced by confidence in the future because he has encountered the living God.
Genesis 29:2, “He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large.”
The expression “He looked and saw (hinneh, “behold”)” brings the reader alongside of Jacob, capturing the scene for us emphasizing the parallel between Jacob arriving seeking a wife for himself and Eliezer seeking a bride for Isaac who was of course, Rebekah.
Genesis 29:3, “When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.”
“Cisterns and sometimes wells were covered in by a broad and thick flat stone with a round hole cut in the middle, which in its turn is often covered with a heavy stone, which it requires tow or three men to roll away, and which is removed only a particular times” (S.R. Driver, The Book of Genesis, London: Methuen 1916, page 269, cited by Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis, A Commentary, Zondervan, page 400).
The large stone covering the well indicated that the well was private property.
The large stone would not only keep the well clean and to protect against anyone accidentally falling into it but it would also restrict the use of the well to a select group of shepherds who were authorized by the owner of the well to move it.
The fact that Genesis 29:2 describes the stone as being large emphasizes Jacob’s great strength since Genesis 29:10 records him moving it all by himself without any help from the shepherds after being told that Laban’s daughter Rachel was arriving with her flock.
Nahum Sarna, “The prominence given to ‘the stone” in this episode provides a link with the important stone of Bethel, a reminder that the God who there promised Jacob protection now endows the weary fugitive with superhuman strength” (The JPS Torah Commentary, The Jewish Publication Society, page 202).
The stone that Jacob used as a pillow became a part of his encounter with the Lord and this stone plays a role in his meeting his wife Rachel.
The former rock speaks of God’s presence in the life of Jacob whereas this stone speaks of the power of God who is able to direct him providentially to his wife and help him fulfill the Lord’s will for his life to be the progenitor of the nation of Israel and to carry on the Messianic line.
Genesis 29:4, “Jacob said to them, ‘My brothers, where are you from?’ And they said, ‘We are from Haran.’”
Jacob addresses these shepherds as “my brothers,” which is broad Hebrew term and is used by Jacob as a general greeting meaning, “my friends.”
His question “where are you from” indicates he does not know that he has arrived at his destination.
Genesis 29:5, “He said to them, ‘Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?’ And they said, ‘We know him.’”
Jacob describes his uncle Laban as the “son of Nahor” even though he was the grandson of Nahor because in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages there is no specific word for grandson so that the word “son” can refer to any descendant down the line.
Jacob asks the shepherds if they knew his uncle Laban even though they were from Haran since Laban lived in the city of Nahor, which was located near Haran.
Genesis 29:6, “And he said to them, ‘Is it well with him?’ And they said, ‘It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.’”
In typical oriental style, Jacob asked about Laban’s health.
Then, we see Rachel providentially arriving on the scene with a flock of sheep just like Jacob’s mother Rebekah arrived at the well to meet Abraham’s servant Eliezer who was commissioned by Abraham to secure a wife for Jacob’s father Isaac (See Genesis 24).
The providence of God is the divine outworking of the divine decree, the object being the final manifestation of God’s glory and expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God.
“Rachel” is the proper noun rachel (lj@r*) (raw-khale) and in the Hebrew means, “ewe” meaning the female of the sheep, especially of the mature.
Genesis 29:17 describes Rachel as being beautiful in both form and face.
Unlike Abraham’s servant Eliezer who tested the character of Rebekah, Jacob does not do so.
From what is related to us concerning her character there does not seem much to claim any high degree of admiration and esteem.
In a marked manner Rachel's character shows the traits of her family, cunning and covetousness, so evident in Laban, Rebekah and Jacob.
Though a believer in the true God (30:6, 8, 22), she was yet given to the superstitions of her country, the worshipping of the teraphim, etc. (31:19).
The futility of her efforts in resorting to self-help and superstitious expedients, the love and stronger faith of her husband (35:2-4), were the providential means of purifying her character.
Although Rachel was Jacob's favorite wife, the line of David and the Messianic line passed through Rachel’s sister, Leah and her son Judah and not Rachel.
Leah bore Jacob six sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon and one daughter Dinah (See Genesis 29:32-35; 30:17-21) whereas Rachel bore only two children, Joseph and Benjamin and she died giving in Bethlehem giving birth to the latter.
The Word of God indicates that Leah and not Rachel was Jacob’s right woman as indicating by the following.
First of all, when we take into consideration of the providence of God, which expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God, we must acknowledge that, in spite of the deceptiveness of Laban, Leah was Jacob’s wife.
Furthermore, it was Leah, not Rachel, who became the mother of Judah, who was to be the heir through whom the Messiah would come (cf. 49:8 12).
Also it was Levi, a son of Leah, who provided the priestly line in later years.
It seems noteworthy that both Leah and her handmaid had at least twice the number of children as compared to Rachel and her maid (cf. 29:31 30:24; 46:15, 18, 22, 25).
The firstborn was always to have a double portion and so it would seem Leah did, so far as children are concerned.
The fifth factor, which reveals the superiority of Leah to Rachel is that Rachel died at an early age, yet she was the younger sister.
When she died, she was buried on the way to Bethlehem (35:19) and yet when Leah died later, she was buried with Jacob in the cave at Machpelah (49:31).
Lastly, the Word of God reveals that Jacob chose Rachel based solely upon looks and did not take into consideration her character as Abraham’s servant Eliezer did when selecting Rebekah for Isaac.
The fact that Rachel is arriving with a flock of sheep indicates that she was a shepherdess.
Genesis 29:7, “He said, ‘Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.’”
The term “high day” refers to noon time.
Jacob knew the shepherding business since he was one himself and therefore knew that noon time was not the time to gather the livestock so he tells them to water the sheep and go pasture them.
Now on the surface, it appears that either the shepherds are lazy or young boys waiting for adults to move the stone but neither is the case.
It appears that Jacob thought they were lazy as well since it made little sense to him for these shepherds to be sitting around the well waiting until later to water their sheep when they could water them now and take them back to pasture for several hours.
The practical thing to do was to water the sheep now and not to wait until later.
Jacob’s question was foolish to the shepherds because he was ignorant of the fact that the owner of the well had established certain procedures for the use of the well.
Jacob was right that the procedure was impractical but he is ignorant that this procedure was set by the owner of the well, which he in the end disregards demonstrating his impatience and lack of respect for the property of others.
The shepherds knew that sheep grew faster grazing on the grass¬land rather than standing about the well where the grass had long before been con¬sumed.
However, the well, it seems, was not theirs to be used at their convenience.
In the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a well was a valuable resource, much as an oil well would be today.
As such, it had to belong to somebody, and that person would prescribe how and when the well was to be used, and probably at what price.
The agreement between the well owner and the shepherds seems to be that the well could be used once a day.
The shepherds must first be gathered at the well with their flocks.
Then the owner or his hired servants (“they,” verse 8) would roll the large stone away and the sheep could be watered, perhaps in the order that the flocks arrived.
This would explain why the shepherds and their flocks were there so early.
In this way, what was most profitable (this is what Jacob’s question was getting at) was not practical.
The owner’s stipulations must be adhered to.
Undoubtedly, the shepherds disliked Jacob since he is a stranger to them who has just insinuated that they were lazy and was telling them what to do.
They were saying to themselves, “who does this jerk think he is telling us what to do and insinuating that we are lazy?”
Genesis 29:8, “But they said, ‘We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.’”
The response of the shepherds to Jacob’s command indicates that there was a local regulation stipulated by the owners (“they”) of the well that the large stone could not be moved until a certain time in the evening at which time all the flocks of the area were to be watered in turn, in order of arrival.
Apparently, in order to be the first to water their flocks, shepherds would frequently come in rather early in the afternoon and there lie awaiting their turn, when they might yet have been out pasturing their flocks.
Those that arrived first would get to water their flocks first and so some would get in line early.
Genesis 29:9, “While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.”
Genesis 29:10, “When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.”
The expression “his mother’s brother” appears three times and links the incident with the instructions from Isaac (Genesis 27:43; 28:2) and implies that Rachel is to become Jacob’s wife.
Jacob’s reaction in moving the large stone by himself upon seeing Rachel for the first time not only indicates his great strength but that this encounter with Rachel was “love at first sight.”
He is so excited and overcome with emotion and filled with adrenaline knowing that the Lord has providentially led him to one of the daughters of his mother’s brother, Laban that he single handedly moves the large stone from the well.
Jacob knows that this is no coincidence but that the Lord has fulfilled His promise to him and has providentially directed him to come to the right place at the right time to meet his right woman.
Genesis 29:11, “Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept.”
A kiss was a customary greeting among relatives since in Genesis 29:13, Laban kisses Jacob upon meeting him.
In the Middle East, men are less reserved than men in the West so it was not unusual for a man to publicly display his emotions as Jacob does here.
The fact that Jacob kisses Rachel without first identifying himself and weeps audibly expresses the fact that Jacob is overcome with emotion as a result of seeing the providence of God at work in his life.
The fact that Jacob moves the large stone by himself upon seeing Rachel and his kissing her without first identifying himself to her not only indicates that the Lord is working in his life but also indicates “love at first sight.”
Further confirming this interpretation is that in his first interview with Laban recorded in Genesis 29:14-20, Jacob agrees to work seven years for Laban as the “bride-price” so that he can marry Rachel and which seven years were said to be “like a few days because of his love for her.”
We can be sure that Rachel must have been stunned by this strong, self-confident and bold stranger who kisses her without identifying himself first.
Genesis 29:12, “Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her father.”
Rachel’s reaction upon hearing Jacob explain that he was her cousin expresses her great emotion and excitement upon this first encounter with her future husband.
She would have also been excited for her father since Jacob was the son of her father’s mother or in other words, his nephew.
Undoubtedly, Rachel had heard the stories of his father’s sister, Rebekah, meeting Abraham’s servant Eliezer at a well and her marriage to Isaac and was thinking that maybe her marriage would come about in similar fashion.
