Genesis. Here Come the Brides 29:1-35

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1 Genesis Here Come the Brides 29:1-35 I want to start by taking a moment to give you a little cultural background on shepherding and shepherdesses. This material was drawn from Bush s commentary on Genesis. This is presented in light of how Jacob finds Rachel. After this we will review where we are up to this point. Next we will look at Jacob s first encounter with Uncle Laban. Finally we will consider God s view of family, and family responsibility. We will look at this in light of both Isaac and Jacob s preferential treatments as well as God s dealing with Leah. The pastoral poetry of classical antiquity, which has been imitated more or less in all nations, has rendered us familiar with the idea of females of birth and attractions acting as shepherdesses long after the practice itself has been discontinued, and the employment has sunk into contempt. When nations originally pastoral, settled in towns, and adopted the refinements of life, the care of the sheep ceased to be a principal consideration, and gradually devolved upon servants or slaves, coming to be considered a mean employment, to which the proprietor or his household only gave a general superintending attention. 1 As an aside, I d like to note that it was this contemptuous view of shepherds that was in place at the time of the birth of Christ. This is why it is so interesting that God sent His angels to announce the birth of the Messiah to shepherds, not exactly the elite of society. The respectability of the employment in these patriarchal times is not evinced by finding the daughter of so considerable a person as Laban engaged in tending the flocks, for in the East all drudgery devolves upon the females; but by our finding the sons of such persons similarly engaged in pastoral duties, which in Homer also appears to have been considered a fitting employment for the sons of kings and powerful chiefs. We are not aware that at present, in the East, the actual care of a flock or herd is considered a dignified employment. Fobres, in his Oriental Memoirs, mentions that in the Brahmin villages of the Concan, women of the first distinction draw the water from wells, and tend the cattle to pasture, like Rebecca and Rachel. But in this instance it cannot be because such employments have any dignity in them, but because the women are obliged to perform every servile office. So, among the Bedouin Arabs, and other nomadic nations, the immediate care of the flocks devolves either upon the women or the servants; but most generally the latter, as the women have enough to occupy them in their multifarious domestic duties. However, among some tribes, it is the exclusive business of the young unmarried women to drive the cattle to pasture. Among the Sinai Arabs, says Burckhardt, a boy would feel himself insulted were any one to say, Go and drive your father s sheep to pasture; these words, in his opinion, would signify, You are no better than a girl. These young women set out before sunrise, three of four together, carrying some water and victuals with the, and they do not return until late in the evening. Throughout the day they continue exposed to the sun, watching the sheep with great care, for they are sure of being severely beaten by their father should any be lost. 1 Bush, George, Notes on Genesis, Klock & Klock Christian Publishers, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1981, p. 117.

2 These young women are in general civil to persons who pass by, and ready enough to share with them their victuals and milk. They are fully able to protect their flocks against any ordinary depredation or danger, for their way of lime makes them as hardy and vigorous as the men. (Pict Bible.) 2 VI. The Patriarchs Chapter 11:11-Chapter 50 D. Jacob Chapters What Goes Around, Comes Around Chapter 29 a. Looking for Family Verses 1-12 b. Meeting Laban Verses c. Sharp Dealing Verses d. Truth and Consequences Verses Introduction: Now, having considered shepherding, let s go back for a moment, to recap the problems we ve seen on Isaac s family and the results up to this point. 1. Problem parents Each parent had their favorite child. 2. Isaac originally demonstrated a lack of faith in God, preparing to give God s blessing to Esau instead of Jacob, though he did come around. 3. Esau had no desire for the things of God. He only wanted what Jacob had and he couldn t. 4. Rebekah and Jacob desired the things of God, but both went about getting them in the wrong way. 5. God s judgment of Rebekah was that she was never to see her beloved son again. 6. God s judgment on Jacob was: a. not seeing his mother again, b. what he was about to go through with Laban, and c. what he would later go through with his own sons. 7. Finally, Jacob s tendency to try to bargain with God may have been a product of the relationship between he and Isaac. We frequently find that the way individuals relate to God, as Father, parallels the relationship the individual has with his or her own father. So, Jacob, having had his first direct confrontation with God and received the family blessing directly from Him. Now he got moving again towards Paddam Aram. a. Looking for Family: Moses now records the meeting of Jacob and Rachel. Jacob had arrived at the suburbs of Haran. Over there he saw a number of shepherds and their flocks. The well, where they water their flocks is described as a hole in the ground covered by a flat rock. It would be removed to water the sheep. But, because of the effort required to move the rock, the people would wait until everyone that intended to water their flocks had arrived. Then they would move the stone. 2 Ibid, p ) 306 (

3 As with Abraham s servant, Jacob finds that the Lord has brought him to the right place at the right time. The shepherds were from Haran and knew Laban. In fact, they pointed Rachel out to Jacob as she arrived on the scene. Jacob didn t care for the way these individuals were doing business. He wondered why they were hanging around the well instead of taking their flocks out to graze. The problem may have been a lack of trust on their parts. To make sure each received an equal share of the water, they waited until everyone is gathered. JFB presents an alternate explanation of the waiting by noting: In order to prevent the consequences of too frequent exposure in places where water is scarce, the well is not only covered, but it is customary to have all the flocks collected round it before the covering is removed in presence of the owner or one of his representatives; and it was for this reason that those who were reposing at the well of Haran with the three flocks were waiting the arrival of Rachel. 3 Anyway, in order to make a good impression, and possibly to help everyone on their way, Jacob uncovered the well and watered Rachel s sheep first. He was obviously pleased to see her; love at first sight. And after taking caring of her watering needs, he got around to telling her he s family and she ran off to tell Laban. Laban the son of Nahor. That is, the grandson or descendant of Nahor; for he was the son of Bethuel. But this is the well-known usage of the Hebrew. 4 The consensus regarding Jacob s reaction is, having left home for the first time, and being homesick for his family, he burst into tears when he met his mother s family. c. Meeting Laban: So Jacob was about to meet his match: Uncle Laban. Laban appeared pleased to see Him. He accepted Jacob as a member of the family. And even though we know what s coming there isn t any reason not to accept Laban s reactions at face value. On the other hand one Jewish commentary is even more cynical than I am because it speculates that Laban was actually feeling Jacob up to see if he had any hidden funds, considering he showed up like a pauper. d. Sharp Dealing: Well Jacob lived with Laban for about a month. Apparently he d been helping around the place because Laban stated he doesn t want to take advantage of Jacob just because he s family. Jacob shouldn t be working for nothing. Laban asked Jacob for his salary requirements. Moses next makes an aside comment to his readers about the daughters of Laban. Leah, whose name means wild cow, is described as having delicate or weak eyes. This is generally assumed to mean that she wasn t going to win any beauty contests. On the other hand Rachel is a ten. So it isn t surprising that Jacob had fallen for Rachel. Consequently, he told Uncle Laban that he was willing to put in seven years of labor as a dowry for Rachel. This does appear to be excessive in that: 3 Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, public domain, n.p. 4 Ibid., p ) 307 (

4 a. Jacob could have provided a traditional dowry. He didn t have it but could have sent for it. b. Based on what we know of the culture, one year s service would have been adequate. So Esau wanted porridge and sold his birthright. Now Jacob wants Rachel and therefore sells seven years of his life. Laban found this to be a great idea, or at least that s the impression he gave to Jacob. So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. Remember he was a senior citizen already before going to work for his uncle. He really loved Rachel, so the time just seemed to fly and the seven years were up. Jacob went to Laban and said: Okay, I ve done the work, now I want my bride. No beating around the bush for Jacob. Well there can t be a wedding without a big party and a good time was had by all. Jacob probably had a little too much Champagne and so Laban disguised Leah and sent her into Jacob s tent. In the dark, Jacob didn t realize he had been had, that is until By the way, one issue that is missing for all of this is what? We have no idea how either Leah or Rachel felt about all of this, Jacob s feelings, their own, Dad s behavior, etc. But then again, Dad was in control. Moses makes another aside. Daddy gives Zilpah, his servant, to Leah as a wedding present. The reason that this woman is mentioned of course is that she became mother to some of the sons of Jacob and therefore some of the tribes of Israel. Meanwhile, what about Jacob? It s the next morning. He turned to look at his long anticipated bride, and what do you know. It isn t Rachel, it s Leah. What s happened? He is seriously bent out of shape, which I m sure did wonders for Leah s self-esteem. But he d put in 7 years for Rachel. He had a right to be angry. But at the same time Jacob had slept with his new wife Leah and so he s stuck, married to the wrong woman. Now Jacob gets to see Laban at his best. He acts like nothing is wrong. I mean, what could Jacob expect? The younger daughter certainly couldn t get married before the older. Of course Jacob married Leah. So, now if he still wants Rachel, he just has to work another 7 years for him. Jacob has met his match. Since he loved Rachel and it was she he wanted to marry, he was stuck. He had to agree to Laban s terms. If he didn t then the last seven years were for nothing, just a wife he didn t want. Laban knew how to make losing to him not seem quite as bad as it was. He told Jacob that once the honeymoon was over, a week, then he could have Rachel on credit. Oh, he has to work another seven years, but he gets paid in advance. See, Laban wasn t such a bad guy. ) 308 (

5 What a honeymoon for Leah. Basically sold to a man who did want her. And now realizing that he s just waiting for the end of the week so he can have another woman. Moses notes that Laban gave another maid, this one to Rachel, named Bilhah, another mother of the tribes of Israel. We find some family traits going on here. Jacob grew up in a family where each parent preferred one child over another. Now Jacob prefers one wife over another. Though under the circumstances, that is certainly hard to argue with. But since both he and Leah were stuck in the situation, it would have been nice if he had been a bit more considerate. Some have to some extent blamed Leah for the situation. After all she could have let Jacob know what was going on before he slept with her. But considering the culture, this probably wouldn t have even occurred to her. We cannot judge these situations by today s standards, biblical or not. Later, under Mosaic Law, it would become illegal for a man to marry two sisters. But here God s program is fulfilled through these marriages. This doesn t mean that God couldn t have worked out his program without a polygamous relationship, but He chose, for His own reasons, to let things move they way they did. e. Truth and Consequences: The Lord did show compassion and understanding for Leah s pain, being second best. Therefore she started having children immediately while Rachael remained barren. By the way this shows that no matter how Jacob felt about Leah, he at least met his responsibility of having sexual relationships with her. Leah had four children: 1. Ruben, whose name means see, a son, in Hebrew. I wonder what she meant by that. The word in Hebrew is also very similar to He has seen my misery. It is clear that Leah believed that since she had a son Jacob would learn to love her. 2. Simeon, whose name means, one who hears. Leah recognized God s involvement with her fertility and Simeon s name was intended to convey that awareness. 3. Levi whose name possibly means, attached. And again Leah was hoping for an improved relationship with Jacob. 4. Judah, whose name sounds like the Hebrew word for praise. Leah gave God the credit for this son and with this son Leah s pregnancies came to an end. Leah is the unwanted wife, but it is through her that the most important of the tribes arose, Judah and Levy. First note Levi. Levi s descendants were to eventually become the priestly tribe. They basically constituted the government of Israel until the coming of the kings. Even then they were responsible for the religious life of the Hebrew peoples. They served first in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. ) 309 (

6 Judah of course was the tribe though whom came the Messiah. So it was through Leah, through Judah, that the entire world is blessed. Jacob may have loved Rachel best, but God honored Leah most. Finally we will see that the only recorded daughter of Jacob also came from Leah. Conclusion: Many of the problems that have arisen in these families were grounded in two basic areas. The first, which we have already discussed is: running ahead of God. Abraham ran ahead of God and ended up losing his son Ishmael. Jacob and Rebekah ran ahead of God and ended up losing each other. In all these cases the individuals wanted want God wanted for them. But in each case they were not willing to trust God for His timing. The other problem is these were all dysfunctional families. They set up preferences about spouses, children, priorities. Jacob got the short end of the stick in that he was tricked into marrying Leah. But that wasn t Leah s fault. She was his wife. Jacob had a responsibility towards here regardless of the fact that he had a second wife, Rachel. And I suppose that one could argue that he did fulfill his responsibility at least five times, but the problem was that both Leah and Rachel know who was his favorite wife and who was essentially despised. Or as Tommy Smothers used to say: [Jacob] always loved you best. One of the most difficult aspects of the Christian walk is the fact that when we find ourselves in difficult situations we are to walk as the Lord desires, regardless of the difficulties. This means that when we are in a difficult marriage we don t simply bail. When we are having great difficulties with our children, we don t bail. When we are in a hard job we don t just up and quit. When there are things in a local church that we don t like we don t immediately go church hopping. In all these cases the bottom line is this. Where does the Lord want us? In the case of the marriage, with a rare exception, He wants us there. In dealing with the children He wants us to remain consistent, regardless of the apparent outcome. With our job, our church, other circumstances, we may be allowed out of the circumstances, but the criteria for leaving them should be clear direction from the Lord to do so. We must not run ahead of God. We must not fall into the trap of confusing discomfort, or even pain, with permission to get out. I remember when Janette and I were struggling with the decision to go into ministry. I was so stressed out at the hospital, that I had lost some thirty pounds over a three month period. I was on the verge of losing it. But even then I realized that I couldn t go into ministry to leave a bad situation, but because God was calling me there. Though I do suspect that He was making it so difficult at the hospital because I don t want to move unless it is too hot to stay. Anyway, if God had wanted me to stay where I was I would have had to. Can you give any similar examples in your lives? But in order to stay until God calls us to move or not to do so because we know God wants us to remain, even in a difficult marriage for example, we must walk closely in dependency on Him. His Spirit must provide us the strength to be obedient because we can never be so out of our own strength. On the other hand when we are dependent on Him ALL things are possible. We can walk with the Lord if we remember just how big He really is. ) 310 (

7 And looking upon them Jesus said to them, with God all things are possible. Then Peter answered and said to Him, Behold, we have left everything and followed you; what then will there be for us. Isn t this the question that we sometimes ask? We have been obedient. We have suffered because of our obedience. Therefore, shouldn t God cut us some slack to reward us for being obedient? slack for doing what we should be doing? And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children of farms for My name s shake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life. but many who are first will be last; and the last, first (Matthew 19:26-30). The key is that our promises of blessing are not directly tied to this world. Yes, we will be blessed for our obedience. Yes, we will be rewarded for our service, but that is promised to occur in eternity not now. And, if we truly desire reward in this life for what we do now, then that is all we will receive, because our motivation should be to please God not be have our circumstances improved. This is why the Lord taught, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:19-21). Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, at their best, let us look towards that future kingdom as the basis for living as its ambassador now. Then we will be blessed then and find true peace now. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Then we will not run ahead of God, but will look to Him to show us our paths. Amen. ) 311 (

8 Genesis Here Come the Brides 29:1-35 VI. The Patriarchs Chapter 11:11-Chapter 50 D. Jacob Chapters What Goes Around, Comes Around Chapter 29 a. Looking for Family Verses 1-12 b. Meeting Laban Verses c. Sharp Dealing Verses d. Truth and Consequences Verses Introduction: a. Looking for Family: b. Meeting Laban: c. Sharp Dealing: 1. Dowry 2. Service Period

9 d. Truth and Consequences: 1. Ruben 2. Simeon 3. Levi 4. Judah Conclusion: (Matthew 19:26-30, 6:19-21; Philippians 4:6-7) Personal Application: Have you ever run ahead of God? How did that work out? How do we avoid falling into that trap? Prayer for the Week: Lord, help me to always look to You as the one to set my path, not trusting to my own understanding. In Jesus name, Amen.