WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:03.940 Great, well thank you very much for reading that Gary and I'll just add my 00:00:03.940 --> 00:00:07.620 welcome to everyone this morning. It's a privilege to be here and to be able to 00:00:07.620 --> 00:00:13.140 open up God's Word to us this morning. Let me just pray as we begin. Father as 00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:17.940 we have sung this morning, speak O Lord and give us listening ears and open 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:26.300 hearts to be receptive to your Word. Amen. So we're in Genesis. We've been 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:29.699 going through from chapter 25 and we find ourselves this morning in chapter 00:00:29.699 --> 00:00:35.240 29. So a bit of a catch-up. Maybe you've not been here or maybe you just, catch-up 00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:39.539 is always good, isn't it? Remind us of where we've been. So Genesis, we're in the 00:00:39.539 --> 00:00:45.780 first book of the Bible. We have creation. The world is made. We have the fall. Sin 00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:52.179 comes in and then sin develops and then we end up with the flood. The flood wipes 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:56.700 God's judgment. Noah restarts the population and then we end up with the 00:00:56.700 --> 00:01:03.620 Tower of Babel and then God disperses the nations into the world. Then a wee while 00:01:03.620 --> 00:01:09.359 later, God chooses Abraham. Abraham is going to be the father of the nations. 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:14.780 I've got a little graphic. You might be able to see that if you've got good eyes. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:18.280 But if not, it basically just shows a little bit of a family tree. Might be 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:24.480 helpful. We basically have Abraham. He has his son Isaac. And then we find 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:31.900 ourselves this morning with Jacob. So Jacob is Abraham's grandson. Okay. And our 00:01:31.900 --> 00:01:37.620 series heading, as we had on our first slide, is when God's grace meets our mess. 00:01:38.380 --> 00:01:45.359 When God's grace meets our mess. And Jacob is in a mess. He is in a real mess. In 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:51.400 chapter 27, he's too weak to challenge his mum's plan to steal the blessing from his 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:57.340 older brother Esau. He goes along with the plan. And because of the deception, Esau wants 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:03.780 revenge. Esau, he comes across as an angry man. And so because of this, Jacob is sent 00:02:03.780 --> 00:02:10.599 away, partly to escape his brother's wrath, but also to find a wife back in his mother's 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:16.120 home country, rather than marrying someone from the people they are living with. And then 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:22.460 last week, Kenny took us through chapter 28. And this is where we see God's grace. In 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:30.039 chapter 28, Jacob, a real failing man, but got you as promised a future place to live. He's 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:35.140 promised that he will have descendants and that God will watch over him and will be with 00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:42.200 him all of his days. And also that his people will bless the whole world. So we go into this 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:47.459 morning's passage and Jacob goes into the events of these things with that ringing in his head. 00:02:48.119 --> 00:02:54.979 God's promised that I will be with you no matter what. And Jacob, at the end of 28, just before 00:02:54.979 --> 00:03:02.399 this, he vows, I will serve you, Lord. But then he puts a few conditions on whether he will 00:03:02.399 --> 00:03:11.819 serve God or not. So now we hit chapter 29 this morning. Now this is an unusual passage. It doesn't 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:17.560 mention God at all by name. It doesn't say God, it doesn't say the Lord. God isn't mentioned. 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:21.120 But what we will see is that God works in the background. 00:03:23.959 --> 00:03:28.199 His sovereignty shines out through this passage without even being mentioned. 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:36.219 Don't know if anyone's a fan of classical music. A few nods. Fiona, that doesn't surprise me. 00:03:36.219 --> 00:03:42.740 Very musical. Well, basically there's a guy at the front and he's got two sticks. You know 00:03:42.740 --> 00:03:49.300 what I mean? The conductor. He stands right at the front, but he faces this way. Everyone 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:54.620 in the orchestra looks at him. They're all facing him. Now you've got some talented people in 00:03:54.620 --> 00:04:01.180 this orchestra. You've got violinists that could amaze you. You've got trombonists. But everyone 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:07.500 looks at this guy at the front with the two sticks. And you know why? It's because he controls 00:04:07.500 --> 00:04:14.120 every single one of them. They follow his timing. He makes sure that they all come together to sound 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:21.240 amazing. And that's a wee bit like God in this passage. God isn't front and center, but he is 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:30.300 controlling the events. So this morning we're going to look at three headings. We're going to see God's 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:38.460 direction in verse 1 to 14. God's direction. We're going to see Jacob's devotion in 15 to 21. 00:04:38.840 --> 00:04:43.920 And we're going to see Laban's deception in verse 22 and 23. 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:52.639 So first of all, God's direction. Kenny talked about last week, Jacob goes on this journey from 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:59.560 his family to find a wife back at his mom's home country. Now this, you can see the red line up there. 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:04.439 You don't really need to see the detail, but this was a huge journey. This was about 450 miles, 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:11.160 something like that. And you know, there was no sat-nav. There was no cars. There was no planes, 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:21.240 trains, automobiles. This was a big old journey. But we see in verse 1 that he came to the land of the 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:32.460 Eastern peoples. He finds himself in exactly the right place. Verse 2, he saw a well in the open 00:05:32.460 --> 00:05:40.259 country. God's guidance here. He's done this massive journey. This would be a big land and he comes across 00:05:40.259 --> 00:05:46.480 the very well where he needs to be. And he finds that there's these flocks of sheep lying around. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:53.620 There's these shepherds. And God's guidance, these shepherds, they know Laban. They know Laban. 00:05:56.040 --> 00:06:00.840 Not only is he in the right place, but he's at exactly the right time as well. 00:06:03.020 --> 00:06:11.379 Verse 6 says, is he well? Yes, he is. And here we see God's timing. Oh, and here comes his daughter, 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:19.459 Rachel, with the sheep. Just to the exact right moment, Rachel appears on cue from stage left. 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:25.699 In she comes with the sheep. Now, Rachel was a shepherdess, a female shepherd. Quite unusual for 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:32.019 that day. We don't really hear many other female shepherds. Now, we've got to remember that a shepherd 00:06:32.019 --> 00:06:38.339 in that day, that was a tough gig. I think we maybe see the cartoon figure of the person standing there 00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:43.899 with the staff and it's a nice day and just watching the sheep eat some grass. But we know from David that 00:06:43.899 --> 00:06:50.359 he had to fight wolves. He fought off bears to protect the sheep. They'd have been out all day 00:06:50.359 --> 00:06:57.159 long in the blistering heat, making sure that the sheep were fed. This was a tough gig. And you know, 00:06:57.219 --> 00:07:05.359 Rachel's name actually means you, as in E-W-E, sheep. So Rachel comes along with God's timing, 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.020 just as Jacob gets there. 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:16.139 Next, in 7 to 10, we have a... In this passage, it's slightly odd to us because it's just so out 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:21.020 with our context. I'm pretty sure no one here is a shepherd. And even if they were, it wouldn't look 00:07:21.020 --> 00:07:27.620 like what it looked like in this day. But in 7 to 10, we have this kind of strange discussion about 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:34.319 being able to water the sheep and when they can do it. You know, Jacob, in verse 7, he says to the 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:41.339 shepherds, he says, look, the sun is still high. It is not time for the flocks to be gathered. That 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:46.920 would be at night, you know, to keep them safe. He says, water the sheep and take them back to pasture 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:53.279 to keep feeding. You know, Jacob's not speaking here out of turn. He was a man of the land. He knew 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:58.240 sheep. That was what he did as well. He was experienced. So he knew what he was talking about. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:05.579 They say, we can't. We have to wait till everyone comes. Then we roll the stone off the mouth of the 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:12.740 well. Then we will water the sheep. You know, this mouth of the well, this would have been the well 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:18.920 for miles around. This was a desert place. It would have been dry. It wasn't the soggy hills of Scotland. 00:08:19.100 --> 00:08:25.259 This was a desert land. But this well, this gave life to the sheep. They came, they gathered. Once 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:30.819 everyone got there, they rolled the stone off the mouth of the well. The stone would have been to 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:38.740 protect the well, protect it from getting dust in it, from animals dying in it. It was a protecting 00:08:38.740 --> 00:08:45.179 stone. And this would have been a big old stone as well. And part of me reckons, and I don't know 00:08:45.179 --> 00:08:48.600 this for sure, but part of me reckons that the reason they had to wait for everyone to get there 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:54.360 was that it probably would have taken all of them to push it to the side. This would have been a big, 00:08:54.360 --> 00:09:01.220 heavy stone to protect the well. But what do we see? Well, Jacob gets given exactly the right 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:09.139 strength. God's help comes. While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father's 00:09:09.139 --> 00:09:15.039 sheep, for she was a shepherd. And verse 10, when Jacob saw Rachel, daughter of his uncle Laban, 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:20.379 and Laban's sheep, he went over, rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well, 00:09:20.379 --> 00:09:28.379 and watered his uncle's sheep. Jacob was given strength and help here to be able to do it on his 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:35.679 own, to roll this stone away to water, to do this serving thing towards his uncle's sheep. 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:43.039 You know, we read passages like this, and we sometimes think, you know, what's going on here? 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:49.139 You know, I was reading this this week, and I thought, roll the stone away. You can't help but 00:09:49.139 --> 00:09:55.219 think of the tomb, can we? We've not long had Easter. The tomb, the stone was rolled away. 00:09:57.439 --> 00:10:01.519 And you know, here, the stone was rolled away from the mouth of the well. This was a one, 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:08.319 this happened every day, and it gave life to the sheep. Water means life. They were fed on the 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:14.120 pastures, but they had to come once a day so that they could drink the water, and it kept the sheep 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:21.100 alive. And you know, this tomb, when the stone was rolled away from the tomb, there was nothing special 00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:29.340 in that of itself, but it showed that Christ was risen. You know, the Lord Jesus, he came, he died. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:36.620 He suffered the punishment that we deserved. But that wasn't the end of the story. The stone was rolled 00:10:36.620 --> 00:10:44.299 away, signifying that Christ was risen. We have a living Savior, and at his resurrection, that rolling 00:10:44.299 --> 00:10:52.440 of that stone away from the tomb, that gave life. Christ had defeated death, and if we accept him as 00:10:52.440 --> 00:11:03.360 our Savior, then we have that life-giving water that Christ talks about. So that was God's help. And then 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:11.220 in 11 to 14, exactly the right response is given. And here we really see God's goodness towards Jacob. 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:18.180 Jacob kissed Rachel in verse 11, and he began to weep. It would have been relief. What a journey. I've 00:11:18.180 --> 00:11:25.539 made it. I've met who I was meant to meet. This, just a side note, this kissing here was just a greeting. 00:11:25.779 --> 00:11:30.460 We see Laban do it a few verses later. This was just a greeting to what would have been his cousin. 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:39.320 And you know, Rachel tells, so Jacob tells Rachel who he is. Rachel runs and tells Laban who he's met. 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:47.060 We've got to remember as well, this is a long time since Rebecca had left the land to go and marry Isaac. 00:11:49.420 --> 00:11:56.960 This actually, this whole passage is a mirror of chapter 24. In chapter 24, Abraham wants a wife for his 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:03.060 son, Isaac. He gets his most trusted servant and he makes him promise to go back to the land that he 00:12:03.060 --> 00:12:11.360 came from, which would be this land here, and find a wife for Isaac. The servant goes. He goes with 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:18.040 prayer in his heart. He prays to God that he will find the right person. He prays for God for a sign 00:12:18.040 --> 00:12:24.440 that they will be able to, to find the exact person that God wants Isaac to marry. And once again, 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:31.180 they end up at the well and Rebecca waters his sheep and she is given by Laban to go and marry Isaac. 00:12:31.980 --> 00:12:43.100 And it's a mirror of this event, except here we don't hear God at all. Abraham's servant trusted God, 00:12:43.420 --> 00:12:47.700 let God lead him where he wanted to go. It was a God-orientated event. 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:51.300 But here we don't see that. 00:12:55.940 --> 00:13:03.220 We don't hear from God, but God still guides these events for his own purposes, despite Jacob's lack 00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:11.520 of trust, lack of dependence on him. I think the lesson for us from this is, are we trusting in 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:20.199 God in our daily life? Do we fully commit to him, let him lead us through life? Not just take things 00:13:20.199 --> 00:13:28.059 into our own hands, not just strive on, do what we think is best. Do we fully trust in God's sovereignty? 00:13:28.059 --> 00:13:42.659 This takes us to our second heading, which is Jacob's devotion in 15 to 21. So Jacob stays with Laban for a month. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:50.559 Laban will have seen that Jacob is a good shepherd. He was a good businessman, that he knew what he was 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:57.239 doing with sheep and how to grow them, how to manage them. And Laban, being a clever man, he offers 00:13:57.239 --> 00:14:03.539 some wages. He says, look, just because you're a relative, should you work for nothing? What do you want? 00:14:05.719 --> 00:14:10.679 We also don't hear of Laban having sons at this point, so potentially he thought, you know what, 00:14:11.719 --> 00:14:16.139 having a man about would be great. So he says, look, what do you want? 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:23.159 Now we have a slight aside where we meet the family. We meet the family in verse 16 and 17. 00:14:23.939 --> 00:14:30.799 So we have the sisters who are compared. Laban had two daughters, verse 16. The name of the older 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:38.159 was Leah. The name of the younger was Rachel. We hear that Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:45.039 figure and was beautiful. We don't entirely know what weak eyes means. We don't know the exact, 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:49.319 but she either had some sort of sight problem or she had something wrong with her eyes. 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:56.240 But long story short, the younger one was more attractive and Jacob loved Rachel. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:04.740 You know, once again, God has never consulted here. Jacob doesn't pray to God and say, look, 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:10.860 God, you made all these promises. Who should I marry? What should I do? Jacob just goes with his heart. 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:21.980 So in 18 to 20, we see that Jacob makes an offer that Laban can't refuse. And here we have Jacob's 00:15:21.980 --> 00:15:28.879 service. So he's in love with Rachel. He says, I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:40.840 daughter, Rachel. Seven years. Whoa. That's a lot, isn't it? You know, once again, this is just foreign to us. 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:46.860 But back in the ancient Near East, there would have been massive dowries to marry someone. This was 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:52.860 just part of the culture. We've got to remember here that Jacob turned up and he was essentially a 00:15:52.860 --> 00:16:00.280 fugitive. He fleed his brother's wrath. He traveled all this way and he came with nothing. He had nothing 00:16:00.280 --> 00:16:06.320 to offer Laban apart from his time. So that's what he offers. He says, I'll work for you seven years. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:12.340 I don't have money to give for your daughter, but I can work it off. So that's what he does. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:19.240 And it says, Laban says, it's better that I give her to you than to some other man. 00:16:19.640 --> 00:16:25.360 Stay here with me. Now, I think Laban's playing it cool because I think this was a prized asset. 00:16:25.540 --> 00:16:29.260 Seven years of work. Great. I think Laban was chuffed. 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:39.179 So verse 20, Jacob served seven years to get Rachel. He did that. But they seem like only a few days to him 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:41.299 because of his love for her. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:48.919 Now, I'll be married seven years in August and I can't say it's been like a few days. 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:53.059 And I'm not just saying that because my wife's not here. I think she's probably had it 00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:57.119 worse with me than me with her. You know, seven years is a long time. 00:16:57.819 --> 00:17:02.439 But such was Jacob's love for Rachel that it just seemed to go so quick. 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:10.359 You know, just as the stone reminded us of the tomb in the first section, 00:17:10.919 --> 00:17:15.759 Jacob's devotion to his bride really reminds us of Christ's love for his bride. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:22.740 The work that Jacob did here for his bride, seven years of work. What a lot of work. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:31.200 And yet Christ's work for his bride, which is the church, which is you and I, if we are followers of him, 00:17:31.879 --> 00:17:32.940 was so much more. 00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:42.879 Christ made his bride ready for him, making us pure and righteous because of the work of the cross. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:48.700 Such a beautiful image that if you want to look at that further, look at John 3. 00:17:49.300 --> 00:17:52.760 Look at Ephesians 5. Look at Revelation 19 to 22. 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:54.760 It's a really great thing to study. 00:17:55.100 --> 00:17:56.540 Let me just read Ephesians 5. 00:17:56.700 --> 00:18:01.860 Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 00:18:02.780 --> 00:18:08.340 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 00:18:08.339 --> 00:18:12.319 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, 00:18:12.659 --> 00:18:15.240 without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, 00:18:15.859 --> 00:18:18.799 that she might be holy and without blemish. 00:18:20.179 --> 00:18:23.220 Christ did that massive work of the cross 00:18:23.220 --> 00:18:28.439 so that he could present his bride, the church, to himself. 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:34.900 You know, I like to think that Rachel, she's living, 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:38.940 she's watching Jacob work these seven years just to marry her. 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.539 Now, you have to think that that would impress her, 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:47.620 that she thinks, wow, what devotion, what commitment Jacob has to me. 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:53.460 You know, Christ has done so much more for us than Jacob did for Rachel. 00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:58.100 The challenge for us then is, what is our loving response? 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:04.299 Do we serve Christ willingly because of the work that he has done? 00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:06.180 Not out of some sense of trying to pay it off. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.420 We can never pay it off. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:09.640 Not out of some sense of duty. 00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:12.319 Well, Christ did that for me, so I better, you know, 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.259 come and clean the church on a Saturday morning just to make up for it. 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:17.279 But it's a loving response. 00:19:17.500 --> 00:19:20.900 And our love for Christ, do we serve in the tea and coffee rota? 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.019 Do we welcome people in? 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:28.440 Do we just in our daily lives display Christ to those who don't know him? 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:31.240 That's the challenge. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.900 So then in 21, we have Jacob's demand. 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:39.380 He says, my time has come. 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:40.920 Give me my wife. 00:19:42.100 --> 00:19:42.720 And you know what? 00:19:42.740 --> 00:19:43.880 He's done seven years. 00:19:45.019 --> 00:19:47.500 I think by this point, he's ready. 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:52.220 So finally, this leads us to Laban's deception. 00:19:53.180 --> 00:19:54.160 Our final heading. 00:19:55.660 --> 00:20:00.140 21 to 24, the deceiver, the great deceiver Jacob is deceived. 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:03.600 So we have Laban's deception. 00:20:04.860 --> 00:20:05.880 Jacob is tricked. 00:20:08.560 --> 00:20:09.800 They have a big feast. 00:20:09.860 --> 00:20:10.940 They have a big wedding day. 00:20:11.040 --> 00:20:12.360 This would have been a massive event. 00:20:12.620 --> 00:20:13.740 Invite everyone around. 00:20:14.120 --> 00:20:15.240 Kill the fatted calves. 00:20:15.840 --> 00:20:16.660 Let's have a party. 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:22.900 But we see when evening came, he took his daughter Leia, brought her to Jacob. 00:20:23.320 --> 00:20:24.680 And Jacob made love to her. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.080 And Laban gave his servant to be the attendant. 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:30.120 Laban deceives Jacob. 00:20:30.259 --> 00:20:32.600 He gives the other daughter. 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:36.559 We can kind of read this and we go, how? 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:37.179 Come on. 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:38.079 Surely. 00:20:38.779 --> 00:20:39.480 Surely you'd know. 00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:42.159 But it does say that it's evening time. 00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:43.379 This would have been in the desert. 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:44.699 This would have been pitch black. 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:49.119 Also, the bride in that day would have been heavily veiled. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:50.000 You wouldn't have seen. 00:20:50.959 --> 00:20:53.439 We don't see it, but, you know, perhaps there was drink involved. 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:54.079 We don't know. 00:20:54.459 --> 00:20:55.199 That's speculation. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:58.779 But what we do know is that Jacob reaped what he sowed. 00:20:59.819 --> 00:21:00.219 Didn't he? 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:06.620 Jacob, the ultimate deceiver, what he did to his brother Esau back with his family. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.140 He really reaped what he sowed here. 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:11.819 Don't know if you've been tricked before. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:17.019 Maybe just an office prank or maybe something more serious than that. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:18.600 But it doesn't feel great. 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:19.660 It doesn't feel good. 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:25.140 You know, my namesake JT, not John Terry, but Justin Timberlake. 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:27.220 He sings a song and the chorus says, 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:29.600 What goes around comes back around. 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:34.720 Now, I probably wouldn't read the rest of those lyrics for moral guidance. 00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:37.360 But it's true. 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:39.019 It's true, isn't it? 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:45.259 Not in a kind of karma sense that, you know, if I punch someday, I'll get punched tomorrow. 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:47.279 Not in that kind of karma sense of things. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:52.460 But we cannot believe that our consequences don't have repercussions. 00:21:52.460 --> 00:21:56.180 That our actions can't have repercussions, sorry. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.680 We can't believe that God will not be fooled. 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:02.259 We know that from the Bible. 00:22:02.380 --> 00:22:09.299 We know that from reading that what we do has consequences and that we can't just get away scot-free. 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:13.879 And that is certainly true for Jacob. 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:18.180 So then we see in verse 25, the big reveal. 00:22:19.260 --> 00:22:20.260 Morning comes. 00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:24.240 And there's Leah, the wrong daughter. 00:22:27.520 --> 00:22:30.180 Jacob is incredulous, isn't he? 00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:32.560 What is this you've done to me? 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:34.840 I served you for Rachel, didn't I? 00:22:35.700 --> 00:22:37.620 And then he's got the hypocrisy to say, 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:39.500 Why have you deceived me? 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:45.200 You know, after all Jacob's done, the hypocrisy of those words. 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:47.100 You can hear him saying, 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:48.340 You called me flesh and blood. 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:49.039 We're family. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:50.960 I'm your nephew. 00:22:51.120 --> 00:22:52.400 How could you do this to me? 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.200 Your own flesh and blood. 00:22:57.660 --> 00:22:59.259 You know, he just doesn't get it, does he? 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:00.319 He just doesn't get it. 00:23:00.360 --> 00:23:01.019 He doesn't see it. 00:23:04.420 --> 00:23:05.579 Because of this, Laban, 00:23:05.940 --> 00:23:07.900 and you know, I think Laban was a clever guy. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:09.779 Laban's guile here. 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:10.960 A deal is made. 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:13.799 Laban says in verse 26, 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:17.279 It's not our custom to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:22.319 Finish the daughter's bride a week. 00:23:22.399 --> 00:23:24.240 Then we'll give you the younger one as well. 00:23:26.379 --> 00:23:29.539 You know, here, Jacob, he must have heard these words. 00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:33.139 Laban laying out to Jacob saying, 00:23:33.379 --> 00:23:33.700 You know what? 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.940 In this country, we actually honor the firstborn. 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:39.299 The firstborn must come first. 00:23:40.399 --> 00:23:42.440 That must have stuck in Jacob's heart. 00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:47.039 Surely at that point, he thought he'd been in the wrong. 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:49.920 But we don't see any repentance. 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:53.660 And once again, Laban adds on at the end, 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:56.079 in return for another seven years of work. 00:23:57.259 --> 00:23:58.879 I think this was the plan all along. 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:01.619 This prized asset of Jacob, 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.000 a man of the land that knew sheep. 00:24:05.639 --> 00:24:07.420 Laban got Leah married off. 00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:11.000 And he knew that Jacob would still work for Rachel. 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:13.639 He knew how much he was devoted to her. 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:18.800 You know, I think Jacob got this thrown in his face here. 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:21.960 About the respected firstborn. 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:25.540 And just what he had done to his brother. 00:24:25.539 --> 00:24:29.500 So he does the seven years of work. 00:24:29.659 --> 00:24:30.159 He does it. 00:24:30.399 --> 00:24:31.200 He commits to it. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.879 He eventually has his prize, Rachel, 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:37.019 which he was working for all along. 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:41.480 So then finally we have Jacob's compromise. 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:46.059 So he has Rachel, his wife. 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:51.579 He works another seven years to work that off. 00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:53.740 But we read in verse 30, 00:24:53.740 --> 00:24:57.680 his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.420 Rachel was the favorite. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:07.099 He took Rachel to be his second wife. 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:09.740 Now just a wee aside here that the Bible, 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:11.240 it doesn't comment on polygamy. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:14.279 It doesn't comment directly here about that. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:16.240 But we know from elsewhere in the Bible 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:17.920 and it's explicit that this is wrong. 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:22.880 It was not God's plan for Jacob to have two wives. 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.020 But this is what happened. 00:25:26.100 --> 00:25:28.600 But just to be clear on that, it is not correct. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:30.140 But this is what happens. 00:25:30.600 --> 00:25:33.240 He has two, but we see that he has a favorite. 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:37.160 And what we will see later on in Genesis 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:39.540 is that it causes him all ends of bother. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:41.120 These two wives. 00:25:41.340 --> 00:25:41.880 They fight. 00:25:42.860 --> 00:25:44.000 They clash. 00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:45.980 It causes him a real headache. 00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:49.020 But Jacob here, he has a favorite. 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:51.480 Just like his parents did. 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:54.380 Isaac loved Esau, the hunter. 00:25:56.539 --> 00:25:58.319 But Rebecca loved Isaac. 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:01.240 And that didn't end well, did it? 00:26:01.579 --> 00:26:02.480 And neither will this. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:05.779 Neither will this Leah and Rachel situation 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:06.980 end well for Jacob. 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:10.120 Leah, she is forever the forgotten one. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.559 She's, in worldly terms, she's less attractive. 00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:18.019 She is forgotten about most of the time by Jacob. 00:26:18.019 --> 00:26:22.759 And yet what we will see is that she'll carry the ancestral line to Jesus. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:27.559 She was the chosen one through whom Jesus will eventually come. 00:26:27.639 --> 00:26:30.339 You can read that in Matthew, the ancestral line. 00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:32.339 That comes through Judah. 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:37.039 And also Leah has Levi, who is the priestly line as well. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:41.500 And we'll go on to see that Rachel, she'll toil all her life. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:42.619 She can't have children. 00:26:43.159 --> 00:26:46.379 She eventually has Joseph, who is Jacob's favorite child. 00:26:46.859 --> 00:26:50.059 And then she has Benjamin, but she dies giving birth to Benjamin. 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:53.039 So what can we see from this? 00:26:53.159 --> 00:26:54.859 Well, God often uses the weak. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:59.299 Leah is the unnatural choice. 00:26:59.299 --> 00:27:02.599 If you are choosing a line to be descended from, well, go with Rachel. 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:03.680 She's better looking. 00:27:03.919 --> 00:27:06.240 She's, you know, she's great. 00:27:06.379 --> 00:27:07.000 She's beautiful. 00:27:07.139 --> 00:27:07.799 We'll go with her. 00:27:08.779 --> 00:27:11.240 But you know, God uses whoever he wishes. 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:16.539 It doesn't matter about our worldly standing for God to use us. 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:17.599 Why? 00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:19.240 Because it is God that matters. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:20.079 It is not us. 00:27:20.619 --> 00:27:22.139 We can't do anything of ourselves. 00:27:22.339 --> 00:27:24.819 We just have to be willing to let God use us. 00:27:24.819 --> 00:27:31.559 That's our passage this morning. 00:27:32.220 --> 00:27:35.799 We've seen that Jacob, he didn't trust God's promises that he'd had. 00:27:35.899 --> 00:27:36.879 He went on his own. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:39.299 He took things into his own hands. 00:27:40.259 --> 00:27:42.099 And quite frankly, it goes pear-shaped. 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:47.639 But God, who is sovereign over all, despite the mess, 00:27:47.939 --> 00:27:52.480 he guides and he keeps Jacob through these situations, despite his failings. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:56.299 Jacob fails in his promises to serve God. 00:27:57.259 --> 00:27:59.180 And yet God does not fail in his promises. 00:28:00.980 --> 00:28:06.259 We saw God's direction and care over Jacob and getting there, the right place, the right time. 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:10.360 So are we letting God lead us? 00:28:11.620 --> 00:28:14.160 We saw Jacob's devotion to his bride. 00:28:14.299 --> 00:28:15.779 He loved Rachel so much. 00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:18.420 A reminder of Christ's love for us. 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:23.019 A challenge that have we put our trust in him. 00:28:24.100 --> 00:28:29.080 And we saw Laban's deception at the end, where Jacob really reaps what he sowed, didn't he? 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:31.860 Our actions, they have consequences. 00:28:32.320 --> 00:28:33.519 We can't pretend otherwise. 00:28:35.560 --> 00:28:38.120 And God, he'll go on to fulfill his promise through Jacob. 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:40.680 He will have descendants that will fill the earth. 00:28:41.300 --> 00:28:43.600 But it will be through the unnatural choice of Leah. 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:47.939 God uses who he wishes, because he is powerful. 00:28:49.079 --> 00:28:50.259 And it is up to him. 00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:53.240 We just have to be willing to be used by God. 00:28:54.839 --> 00:28:59.679 Let me just pray for us as we close and let the band come up for our final couple of hymns. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:09.519 God and Father, I just thank you for your word. 00:29:11.100 --> 00:29:13.600 We thank you that we can glean so much from it. 00:29:14.840 --> 00:29:19.340 We thank you that from each and every passage we can learn from it. 00:29:19.380 --> 00:29:20.440 You can speak to us. 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:22.580 And we thank you that we can see Jesus, 00:29:24.560 --> 00:29:28.640 especially through these Old Testament passages that just point to him. 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:35.840 We pray that we will consider these things over the course of today and this week, 00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:38.060 and that you will just continue to speak to us. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:41.140 That we will trust our lives to you. 00:29:42.320 --> 00:29:45.860 That we will let you lead us, no matter where that ends up. 00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:47.840 And that we will just have that faith to do that. 00:29:48.660 --> 00:29:50.019 We thank you for your promises, 00:29:50.360 --> 00:29:54.340 and that it came true that Jesus was born through the line of Jacob, 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:56.820 and for his work of the cross. 00:29:56.819 --> 00:29:59.439 And that that wasn't the end, 00:29:59.500 --> 00:30:01.399 but that he was risen again, 00:30:01.639 --> 00:30:02.599 resurrected Savior, 00:30:02.700 --> 00:30:05.599 and that we have that great high priest on whom we can rely. 00:30:07.379 --> 00:30:09.139 So Father, we just thank you so much for that. 00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:11.639 Help us. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:13.759 Give us strength, we pray. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:18.200 We just thank you for your goodness and for the Lord Jesus. 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:20.119 And it's in his name we pray. 00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:21.059 Amen.