How many of you would consider yourselves a role model?
I’ve got an interesting role model for you tonight. Turns out he was married ...
twice...
at the same time...
to sisters!
To top it off – at the suggestion of his wives he had a couple more ladies on the side (and his wives were OK with that – in fact they suggested it!) Did I mention his two wives were sisters? Gentlemen do you have any advice for that guy? Or perhaps the better question is would He have any advice for us? Could we learn anything positive from a man like that?
What if I told you that He’s one of the most famous people in history? His name is Jacob – the man God would rename “Israel”. Turn back to Genesis 29:1-30.
As we read this section we’re confronted right off with an issue which will in the next few years become the next step in the battle linked tangentially with the “gay-marriage” debate. If gay marriage becomes mainstream we’re going to be dealing with polygamy next; and I can already hear the argument that “the Bible condones polygamy!”
We need to be ready for that. I need you to keep in mind that throughout the Bible Monogamy is the Biblical ideal for marriage. Genesis 2 contains as it were the first wedding, in it God created one woman for one man. And Ephesians 5-6 detail the ideal family which includes one man and one woman. The requirement for church leadership is for the man to be married to one woman (1 Tim. 3:2, 12; Tit. 1:6)
Contrast that with the patriarchs having multiple wives all the way to King Solomon having 1000 wives (who ultimately led him away from the Lord.) In many places the scriptures report what DID happen without implying that this is what SHOULD have happened.
Jacob, no less than any other instance of Polygamy in the Bible doesn’t emphasize the goodness of polygamy but does illustrate the problems. We’re not told specifically but you can imagine the deep hurt Leah felt – being married to a man who never loved her. So deep was her hurt that she flaunted her ability to have children in front of her sister Rachel who was herself suffering silently because she couldn’t bear children.1
For all of it’s simplicity the passage is another example of how God can take the broken lives we bring to him to bring about his purposes. In the last chapter God told Jacob that he would multiply his descendants. Now God is able to “make all things work together for good...” (Rom 8:28) even with less than perfect circumstances. It’s here that Jacob the new man begins the transformation as God begins to fulfill that promise first through the wives he obtains and ultimately through the children born to him.
Even though Jacob is the visible lead Character; this story is all about God and His work in our lives. The same pattern develops here that we saw in Abraham and Isaac – God makes a promise; then He keeps it. It’s interesting that God is rarely mentioned throughout all of this. But this story is intentionally sandwiched between the promises of Chapter 28 and Jacob’s recognition of God’s guidance in the 31st chapter in which He affirms that God has indeed taken care of him.
It’s in Jacob’s story and struggle that we find a parable of our own lives.
The drama of this patriarch’s transformation from deceitful schemer to humbled servant of God was just as painful for him as our own transformation is for us. For a man who was used to doing things his way disregarding it’s moral suitability; learning to trust in God wasn’t automatic. It isn’t automatic for us either. But through the struggles recorded here for our encouragement2 we can learn that God’s way is not only best, but that it also works.
God’s leading is always on Target
(Gen. 29:1-2)
Now we all know this, but don’t we worry as well that God might be leading and we might not be following? I think Jacob just naturally understood something we have problems with. Back in 28:15;20, First God and then Jacob makes part of the covenant between them that God will “keep” Jacob on the journey he’s taking. Then the first verse of chapter 29 literally says, “Jacob lifted up his feet...” it’s an intentional word picture informing us that Jacob moved with a specific purpose and I think a specific trust that God would be faithful to lead him as he said.
Even though Jacob did the walking, God did the leading and Jacob ended up precisely at the right spot. He finds a field with a well in it and pulls in for directions only to find out that he’s where he needed to be. Someone else might call that a coincidence – I would call it providence.
We sing the song, “Where you lead me I will follow” but do we believe that God will actually lead us? The Bible says he will.
Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.
If we will ask for God to lead us, He will. And his leading is always on target.
Moreover...
God’s timing is always Perfect (Gen. 29:9)
Keep in mind that at 40 miles a day (per the first day’s journey in 28:10) it would have taken at least ten days of hard travel for Jacob to get to that well. But look at how perfect God’s timing was there in the ninth verse: “While he was still speaking...” Out came Rachel.
Again one could say it was a coincidence – and I would counter that it’s providence. Jacob had agreed to let God run his life and now He was doing it. It shouldn’t surprise us. God’s timing and direction were perfect for Abraham’s servant back in chapter 24 of Genesis and it’s perfect when Ruth shows up in Boaz’s field, and his timing is perfect in his plans for our lives even when we don’t know it.
Unfortunately the results aren’t always so blatant but we can take the example and rest in it, especially when timing is important. God will not be late, but he will not be early either. The arrival of Jesus came at the perfect time in history (Galatians 4:4 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,”) He died at the perfect time as well (Romans 5:6 “...while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”)
God’s provision is always sufficient
(Gen. 29:13)
I’ll just share this briefly if you’ll look at the 13th verse where Laban took Jacob into his house. Again we look back to 28:20 where Jacob trusted in God for “...Food to eat and garments to wear...” and it was in Laban’s somewhat dubious care that Jacob was clothed and fed for the next twenty years. (cref Gen. 31:38)
It’s obvious from Jacob’s side of the story in Genesis 31:38-40-41 that Jacob didn’t think too highly of his situation, but he certainly acknowledges that through it all God took care of him (31:42).
So, God’s leading is always on target, his timing is always perfect and his provision is sufficient. But the problem is he’s leading, guiding and providing for people who aren’t perfect! Max Lucado’s book from a few years ago titled “Just like Jesus” had a great tag line: “God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way.” That means God is going to have to teach and correct you.
God’s correction is always gracious:
(Gen. 29:21-25)
Jacob serves his seven years, demands his bride, goes to the wedding and goes home in the dark to await his bride. She comes in either covered from head to toe or it’s too dark to tell. At any rate he has one word on his mind: HONEYMOON! Apparently Leah never made a sound, because it’s not until they’ve consummated the marriage and the sun has risen that Jacob turns to look on his beloved Rachel... and sees to his horror that he’s just slept with LEAH!
The deceiver has been deceived. As he argued with Laban I imagine a “knowing” knot formed in his stomach when the deception was explained away based on birth order. God is not the author of sin, but He is able to take the the trickery of evil men and use it to his favor. That’s exactly what God did with Laban’s dishonest tactics, using them to teach Jacob a lesson. The deceiver’s own treachery is turned back on his head and now it’s his turn to suffer from someone else’s dishonesty.
From time to time we need to be corrected don’t we? Sometimes The Lord uses the difficulties we face to carve away the sin in our lives. In short God punishes those he loves.
Hebrews 12:11 fits with our experience perfectly – and with Jacob’s:
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
The lesson wasn’t over with the wife swap, it continued as God wore away at Jacob’s pride for the next 13 years in everything Jacob did, as Laban continually deceived him.
Through it all, however, God’s sustaining grace on Jacob combined with Jacob’s focus on the prize (Rachel) he learned that ...
God’s Reward is worth working for (Genesis 29:18, 20)
It was Jacob’s love for Rachel that fueled 14 years of uncomfortable servitude. All the years “seemed to him but a few days because of his love for Rachel.”
Do you grow tired of working for God? May I suggest that we all grow tired of serving Him when we take our eyes off of the reward. Isn’t that the cause of so much of our discontent? First we take our eyes off the goal of eternity, then we change our work into some kind of Volunteer service – and begin to feel as if we’re doing the church a favor by doing anything. The next thing you know, the work is slip-shod and then it’s abandoned. The rewards are lost and the opportunity is squandered.
Have you lost sight of the rewards of eternity? It’s time to readjust your vision. Can you say you’re working for Christ? What then are you working for? We need a goal worth working for. Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
NLT 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 “Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”
Don’t forget what you’re working for.
Our service to God is to be A Labor of Love. The only way to ensure that is to labor for a prize worth having. You’re service to the king won’t be unreasonable if you labor for a crown which will not pass away.
Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
As God has called you to serve him, he will lead you to the right place at the right time, and will supply your every need. When you wander – he will correct you with the gracious goal of renewal. And when the journey is hard, when it seems like you’re work is unappreciated, turn your eyes on Jesus. Look to the lamb of God! He is the goal for which we labor. He is the master we serve. We have to learn to let God lead.
