What Goes Around Comes Around
(Genesis 29:14b-30)
1. My son, Scott, an insurance broker in Florida, loves ocean fishing and takes his cell phone along on the boat. One morning we were drifting about ten miles offshore as Scott discussed business on the phone. Suddenly his rod bent double, and the reel screamed as line poured off the spool.
Scott was master of the situation. "Pardon me," he told his customer calmly. "I have a call on another line." [source: Reader’s Digest]
2. Women are better at multi-tasking because the spheres of their brain are more interconnected. Men, on the other hand, are better at focusing their attention.
3. But men often experience situations in which they must divide their attention. For us, such times can be an almost painful experience.
4. Jacob would find himself in this situation for years to come, as he ends up with two wives.
5. The Bible never glamorizes sin, nor does it cover it up.
6. Today’s text involves a lot of sin. The sin of deception is obvious. Polygamy was not God’s original intent: when He created the woman, God removed one rib from Adam, not a whole rack! And we see a man, Laban, who is bent on control and manipulation.
7. God’s Word not only directs us in the way we should go, but it demonstrates the consequences of going the wrong way!
Main Idea: Jacob thought lightly about taking advantage of others, but he didn’t take it so lightly when others took advantage of him.
I. Jacob is On the RECEIVING End of a Manipulative Scheme (29:14b - 30)
A. Jacob and Laban strike up a DEAL (14b-19)
B. Jacob had paid his DOWRY and expected Rachael (20-22)
1. This was all protocol
2. Jacob’s service a dowry -- and time danced by
• Most men want their daughters to marry a responsible man, and the dowry was one way to demonstrate that a man could work, save, and provide for his wife…
3. A cousin -- the prime person to marry
4. A wedding feast and then the consummation of the marriage
C. Laban substituted LEAH for Rachael (23-25a)
D. Jacob doesn’t like the TASTE of his own medicine (25b)
1. Jacob had deceived his father, Isaac, when he pretended to be Easu, and then stold Esau’s blessing
2. "What goes around comes around." Not always, not exactly, but often.
3. What Laban does is to exploit Jacob’s deepest feelings for Rachel
4. Laban had as demonstrated more nerve and was more insidious than Jacob
5. He had invited the whole town to celebrate a fraudulent wedding
6. If what Laban did was right, he would not have needed to be sneaky
E. Jacob Confronts Laban and Laban RATIONALIZES (26-27)
• He explains supposed customs
• Why didn’t he tell Jacob beforehand about this custom?
1. He marries off BOTH daughters
• He gives Jacob responsibility for thier handmaids, Zilpah and Bilhah
• According to Jewish tradition, these women were Laban’s daughters by a concubine
2. He gets 14 years FREE labor
3. He keeps his family TOGETHER
4. In Genesis, we are told, when a man marries, he is to leave his parents; but Laban wanted to control this family…
F. Jacob Has TWO Wives, Whom He Treats Unequally (28-30)
We think that blended families or other complex families are new to our age; confusing families go back some time, as we see here!
1. Everyone is miserable!
2. A competitive relationship develops between Rachel and Leah
3. Rachael would be Jacob’s favorite wife, but the tribe of Judah, the line of David, and thus Jesus descended from Leah, not Rachel!
4. Although Leah was not favored by Jacob, she was by God; she lived longer and had more children.
5. Jacob wanted things simple; he wanted a wife, which is natural.
6. Because of Laban’s sin, Jacob has a mess on his hands
Jacob thought lightly about taking advantage of others, but he didn’t take it so lightly when others took advantage of him
II. The GOLDEN Rule is the Antidote for Shady Behavior
Both Jacob and Laban violated the Golden Rule. Jesus may have stated the Golden Rule 2,000 years later, but Jacob and Laban knew the concept. They knew their manipulative and dishonest behavior was wrong and took advantage of others.
As followers of Jesus Christ, do we take the Golden Rule seriously?
Luke 6:31 presents the Golden Rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
The great Rabbi Hillel, who died when Jesus was a young teen, said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Law; the rest is the explanation; go and learn"
A. EMPATHY: Trying to understand another’s feelings
Jacob had not been concerned with how his deception devastated his brother Esau; Laban was not concerned about how his deception took advantage of Jacob. Sometimes it is not until we taste our own medicine that we realize how bad it is. Even then, many folks do not learn.
B. God often uses IRONY to chastise us
Irnoy is, "a combination of circumstances or a result that is the opposite of what is or might be expected…"
Psalm 7:15-16 states a principle: "He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head."
Both Laban and Jacob paid a price for their schemes.
C. INTEGRITY is part of loving others
The Old Testament Law contains a total of 613 commandments. Many of them deal with sacrifices, rituals, or God’s special governance of Israel. But many of them are moral commands. Jesus summarizes them by 2 of the 613: Love God with all you have, and your neighbor as yourself.
If we love our neighbor, we are going to act with integrity, honesty -- being above board.
Parents need to teach their children lessons of integrity and empathy. A simple peanut butter commercial offers an example.
Two boys are going to share a slice of a peanut butter sandwich. She lets one boy cut, but when she’s done, she allows the other boy to choose the half he wants.
This teaches the boys to try to cut evenly and fairly, and shows that trying to cheat others comes back upon our own heads.
D. MANIPULATING others can sever relationships
"A means of gaining control or social influence over others by methods which might be considered unfair."
Some people earn positions of influence through service, hard work, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice. Others are weasely and dishonest, as in the cases of both Jacob and Laban.
The Weasel (ferret) has a long, sleek, thin body enabling it to squeeze into narrow spaces. The idea is that it is a sneaky and harmful creature.
E. USING others turns friends into enemies
People do not take well to being taken advantage of. Yes, Laban would get 7 more years service out of Jacob, but think about what a great relationship they could have had.
But Laban was not manipulative in just this instance; the evidence of this and coming texts shows that being manipulative was a way of life for Laban.
F. God GIVES to us disproportionately and wants us to do the same
He is not as concerned about what we do for Him as He is about our hearts. He rescues us from sin because He is generous and doesn’t keep score.
Jacob thought lightly about taking advantage of others, but he didn’t take it so lightly when others took advantage of him
CONCLUSION
1. How can you tell if you are manipulative? Believe others!
2. How can you prevent yourself from taking advantage of others? Take a moment to try to feel things from their perspective.
3. And believe that God’s way is the best way. Integrity is more important than results. Pleasing God is more important than getting ahead. God gave us thing to use and people to love -- let’s not reverse that.
