Sermons from Lone Rock Bible Church
Stevensville, MT
Index of LRBC Sermons: www.sermonlinks.com/Sermons/LoneRock/Sermons
June 19, 2005

Jacob’s New Family
Or, Beware Who Meets You at the Train
Genesis 29:1-30

Jacob finally reached his relatives in distant Haran. School is just beginning for him; however, He really needs to learn to trust God more than he trusts other people. Let us join the patriarch as:

1. Jacob starts fresh (29:1-20)
2. Jacob gets fleeced (29:21-26)
3. Jacob settles in (29:27-30) 

We are naturally people who want to trust others. I always get concerned every time there is an election year because God’s people often give the impression that we are trusting in what the legislators can do, the president can do, or even what the Supreme Court can do. If our man or our woman is not in office it’s like a hit to the faith. I ask myself in whom do we trust then? We have to come back to that from time to time. That is where Jacob is going.

1. Jacob starts fresh (29:1-20)

We spent a lot of time in Jacob’s dysfunctional home with Isaac, Rebekah, and his brother Esau. Nobody trusted anybody there and the lesson that we were supposed to come away with is that we need to trust God more than we trust ourselves. In spite of all that Rebekah did, in spite of all that she tried to pull off, she lost. God still had His way. So Jacob ought to learn he needs to trust God more than he trusts himself.

Now Jacob is moving across country into a whole new situation where he needs to learn lesson two -- that is that he needs to trust God more than he trusts other people. Sometimes that is not easy to do.

Jacob has been on the road for at least three weeks. He has traveled several hundred miles. This is a new thing to him. Remember that Jacob is not a man of the outdoors. He is a man of the kitchen. He likes being around the house.. He is taxed beyond the norm. He is outside his comfort zone. He has had opportunity for a number of days to appreciate distance and desolation and the unknown. That will change a person over time -- being put in circumstances he cannot control and that are not familiar. We know that he has reflected a lot. He is that kind of an individual. He knows he cannot turn back. The memory of Esau is fresh.

His brother is out to kill him. His family is in disarray. I would suspect that Jacob, having left his home, having met God at Bethel, having made a decision there, he can not go back but now must succeed. “Is God with me?”

He is in the land of the east -- that would be Syria today, probably east central Syria.

¹Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east.
²He 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.

Three separate flocks belonging to three separate owners watered their flocks from that well.

³When 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.

Why a stone on top of the well? In that country, wells are very deep and they are bored straight into the ground. If you do not cover the well, you have evaporation in the hot dry climate and also, animals will fall in, which would poison the well. Water in am arid country like this is premium so they do what they can to protect it. The custom was that when the flocks were together, they would move the stone, water the flocks and move them out to pasture.

Jacob is traveling along. He knows the direction he needs to go. He happens upon this bunch of shepherds with their flocks and he questions them.

⁴Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where are you from?" And they said, "We are from Haran."
5He said to them, "Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?" And they said, "We know him."

Knowing what we know about Laban, I wonder about the way they said that.

⁶And 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."

What we have here introducing the next episode in the life of Jacob is a situation having to do with sheep and water and things. Even Rachel means “little ewe lamb.” The thought crosses my mind what the Bible has to say about sheep. My friend in the Snowy Mountains says about sheep: “Sheep are born looking for a place to die.” I think in light of that does not the Bible say “All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned each one to his own way.” Doesn’t the Bible say sheep really need a shepherd?   We are thinking along these lines as Jacob begins his adventures with his new family.

⁷He said, "Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them."

He is anticipating meeting Rachel and does not want distraction.

⁸But they said, "We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; and then we water the sheep."
⁹While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

That theme keeps coming over and over again. Jacob wants and needs a good first impression here. He is far from home. He cannot turn back. He has resolved to succeed. He needs to make a good first impression.

¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up, rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept.
¹²Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her father.

A good first impression is where he wanted to go. He is excited. He has arrived. He is emotional and he makes a repeated connection with his mother. Notice this. It is not accidental. In verse 10, three separate times he refers to his mother’s brother. We have learned already watching Jacob and observing his family, that Jacob is not only favored by his mother, he is like his mother. Jacob is the supplanter. The word means “he who grabs by the heel and trips up”. Could it be that Jacob has not really left -- as we shall see. 

Rachel runs off and tells her father and we have our introduction made. Verse 13 is huge for what it tells us. They have never met. This is new to everybody, almost. It could be sort of a deja vu thing for Laban. This is Rebekah’s brother, Rachel’s father.

¹³So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things.

Everything is looking pretty good! Jacob has come through socially. He has come through physically. He got the stone rolled off and the flocks watered. He has introduced himself to Rachel. Everything so far is looking good. Laban shows up and he is determined to keep it that way. He brings him to his house and Jacob tells Laban everything. After all, Laban is his mother’s brother. He is thinking: “Shouldn’t I be able to trust my mother’s brother?” He opens up to him.

Think of what he is telling him. He is talking to him about family history. They are related to Abraham. Laban lives where Abraham used to live. Jacob is talking about the family history. Jacob is telling him “I have the blessing of Abraham.” My father, Isaac, bestowed it on me just before I left home. On my first night out, Uncle Laban, I camped at a place I named the house of God because there I had a dream. I was lying on the ground and heaven was opened before my very eyes, a ladder was reaching to its heights, I saw a vision of the Lord and angels going up and down the ladder. I knew this was God’s house. God spoke to me, Uncle Laban, and He assured me that He would be with me, that He would bless me and those who bless me, God would bless.

Laban is going,”Oh yeah. This my nephew. Perhaps my son-in-law?” Laban was crafty and Laban had a good memory. Let me read about Laban’s memory.

In Genesis 24 Laban was a young man minding his own business there at Haran when a visitor came from the west whose name probably was Eliazer. He was the number one servant of the patriarch Abraham. Abraham had gone west as God had directed him and Abraham had become powerful and wealthy,. It was time for Abraham’s son to have a bride. Abraham told his servant “Go get my son a bride but don’t get her from around here. Go back to my home. We have to have a Shemite.

Eliazer, probably, traveled the same route that Jacob would travel in later years, and arrived in Haran and was greeted by Rebekah who would later be the mother of Jacob. He told her what he was there for -- to find a bride for Isaac. She was all excited.

²⁸Then the girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.

“Guess what? This guy came for the west and he is looking for a bride and it looks like it could be me.”

²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.
³⁰When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, "This is what the man said to me," he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.
³¹And he said, "Come in, blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"

Laban begins to think, “I remember. I can be connected once again with Abraham now that it is my daughter’s turn to have a husband. Jacob told him everything -- and who is Laban’s first thought? Laban.

¹⁴Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh." And he stayed with him a month.

In that month’s time what more could have been established than that Jacob knew his way around. Jacob surely reminded Laban of his sister Rebekah. All Jacob had to say about the wealth of Isaac (much of which he had inherited from Abraham) was all true and the blessing part was true. Laban says to Jacob in verse 15, “I want you around.”

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"

Laban is thinking, “I really like that part about ‘He who blesses you I will bless.’ So, nephew, how can I bless you.” They strike an interesting deal, a deal on dubious grounds. Jacob has been there a month. One of the reasons he went to this country was that he had to go find a wife.

¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
¹⁷And Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.

Weak eyes is an expression to an easterner, to a Hebrew that would mean something. For a woman to be attractive in this culture meant that she had beautiful eyes. Her eyes sparkled. Her eyes shined. Leah’s didn’t, but Rachel’s did. Jacob set his cap for Rachel, the younger and better looking of the two.

¹⁸Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, "⁽I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."

Seven years -- that would later become terms of slavery and basically he is offering to be Laban’s slave in exchange for the hand of his daughter Rachel. Laban is thinking this should work out well. I’ll get him for seven years at least and during that seven years Laban has time to plot still further, and he does.

¹⁹Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me."
²⁰So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

Let’s come up with several lessons that might have helped Jacob. We’re just going to interject these. First of all, when you travel you always take your baggage along. We always take our baggage. We always take ourselves everywhere we go. I can remember a time in my life when I thought things aren’t the way they should be. I should probably relocate. A wise friend said you need to understand -- when you go to where you are going, you will be there. You can’t leave yourself. If you have problems in Beersheba, Jacob, you will carry them with you to Haran because you will be there. The baggage is yours. Changing scenery doesn’t change the heart. Sometimes it is good to leave one place for another if influences are bad. Most of the time, however, if we are the problem relocating ourselves only moves the problem. Jacob will learn this. Heart issues need to be fixed. He will have to face them, but simply moving doesn’t fix them.

That is lesson one. Lesson two -- don’t be quick to assume the best in others. Jacob told Laban everything. He’s among family. After all, this is his mother’s brother and they welcomed him. He has made a wonderful first impression, so why not assume the best? He does that and he ends up disillusioned and disappointed.

A reality check for our friend Jacob. A friend of mine and I were fresh out of how to be a preacher school. He was given a job as a preacher. I remember visiting with him and he told me the first dilemma he was facing. He had a church board of 7 or 8 men. He learned within a matter of months that none of them had a quiet time. This is how naïve I am.   I thought all Christians had a quiet time. I thought at least all Christian elders or deacons would know to meet with God every day and read the Bible and have the mind transformed and commune with the Almighty at His invitation. Sadly, that is not always the case.

I come back to what I said earlier -- we need to trust God first before we trust any other. Don’t be quick to assume the best in others. It could lead to disillusionment and disappointment.

Third, character is much more important than appearance. Later on Samuel would learn this lesson when choosing Saul’s successor. David had all these brothers and they were mighty and tough and strong and accomplished and competent. None of them qualified in God’s eyes to be king, but David did. He wasn’t a whole lot to look at. He was out tending the sheep. God has his choices; people have theirs. We always make our automatically based on appearance. Jacob bypassed Leah, the one who was weak-eyed for the sake of the one beautiful of form and face. He’ll find out he kind of married his mother. Young men tend to marry women who remind them of their mothers.

As we continue to explore the saga of Jacob and his family, we are going to see Rachel is the devious one. Rachel is the idolatrous one. Rachel is the one who lies. It is Leah, who when she gives birth to children, searches for meaning in the Lord for their names. Leah had the character. Rachel had the looks. Jacob will learn that.

Not only would Leah be more sensitive than her sister to the things of the Lord, but through Leah would come a son named Judah  and through that son would one day be Messiah, the anointed deliverer. 

2. Jacob gets fleeced (29:21-26)

The story fairly well speaks for itself. We can well imagine seven years of anticipation. Seven years go by.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her."
²²Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.

In their culture the feast and celebration would be an entire week.

²³Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her.

There are a couple considerations here. One is that it was dark and the other is that she would be veiled. There is a parenthetical sidelight here:

²⁴Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.

The Bible is preparing us for 12 sons who will yet be born. The Bible is just fascinating to me. It is a book of euphemism and understatement. I think we find both here. I’ll bet Jacob came out of that tent every bit as quickly as he went in.

²⁵So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?"

There is a lot happening here. Laban provides a lame answer:

²⁶But Laban said, "It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn.
²⁷"Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years."

So Jacob gets two daughters and their maids. This is called out of the frying pan and into the fire. Jacob had pulled a switch-a-roo like this on Isaac having to do with siblings. Isaac thought he was talking to Esau but he was talking to Jacob. Now here is Jacob thinking he is married to Rachel but he is married to Leah. He puts his finger on precisely on who he was because he had participated in deception. “You have deceived me, Laban.”

We have expressions we apply to these situations. Isn’t it something that Jacob is getting it. He had it coming. We would say, “What goes around comes around. Jacob, you now have a taste of your own medicine.”

How do you like it, Jacob, to be deceived and disappointed and crushed and in a measure, brokenhearted. We see circumstances like this in our lives too as though the person who is now being victimized is getting what they deserve. There is a sense of us inside that kind of likes it.

We say things like,  “You are getting what you deserve as parents now that you have children.” That’s right and as it should be. We have an innate sense of justice in our hearts, a sense of right and wrong and that is fine. We have this sense of right and wrong, but we also have this fallen nature. So when we see these circumstances about what goes around or now you know what you put your parents through and you got what you deserved. When we see that we kind of think retribution. God is doing this to you because you deserve it. By implication we say, “I’m clear,” and we are wrong. We say that is God’s judgment. Is it really? God’s judgment means we ultimately get what we deserve.

I don’t think this is God’s judgment. I don’t think we get what we deserve until the next life by way of judgment. I think as long as we are drawing breath we are not getting what we deserve. This may be consequence. This may be cause and effect. It may be genetics. But it is not judgment. We, in our own sanctimonious way, would just like to make it so. Then we don’t want it to be judgment because it hurts us.

Here we have Leah knowing she is not wanted. Rachel is now in a fight with her sister. They probably have fought for years. Her maid is more property. Jacob does not know what to do with any of it. When we see “what goes around comes around” we should view it rather than in some sense ok, you are finally getting what is coming to you not as some sort of retribution, but rather, “I know how you feel. It hurts, doesn’t it?” This is not a time for condemnation. It is a time for empathy and support and encouragement and help. Not judgment. It’s time to show grace, concern.

What is Jacob supposed to learn? I think he is getting the idea -- don’t trust people more than you trust God. Jacob gets fleeced. He doesn’t need people throwing rocks at him. He needs the Lord to lean on.

 3. Jacob settles in (29:27-30)

 ²⁸Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.
²⁹Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.
³⁰So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah,

 He ought to be used to that. That was the way his home was with him and his brother.

 and he served with Laban for another seven years.

 Jacob is simply playing the hand he is now dealt and it isn’t a very good one. It isn’t a very promising one but he is playing it for the time. He has much to learn. Learning of this nature takes time and he has another seven years of school.

Life’s lessons for Jacob are just beginning. This is lesson number two. Trust God more than others.

 I have heard there are many people who say they don’t want much to do with the church or Christian people because Christian people are hypocrites or Christian people ripped them off or Christian people lied to them or Christian people let them down. So they want nothing to do with Christianity or Christ. I heard a guy say once, “So those Christian people behaving that way -- were they acting like Jesus?” The honest answer is, “No, Jesus would never act that way.” “So why let people who don’t act like Jesus keep you from Jesus.”

 Don’t use people as an excuse to ignore God in any capacity, in any circumstance. We love to trust people, and we should, People cannot save us. People cannot convict us of our sins. People cannot change our hearts. People cannot direct the steps of our lives. People cannot give us deep comfort. People cannot give us peace. People cannot build a house for us in heaven and pay the way for us to get there. Trust God first.

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995
by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Jim Carlson 2005, Lone Rock Bible Church, Stevensville Montana, USA