THE GOD OF JACOB
– God disciplined Jacob –
Genesis 29:1-30:17
Good morning. Happy Sunday. In last week’s passage, God appeared to Jacob in his dream. God introduced himself saying, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac”. Jacob had heard about God before, but for the first time in his life, he had personal encounter with God. Like him, we all want to meet God personally. It will be awesome. But how does God appear to people today? Hebrew 1:1-2 says, In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. Today, God speaks to us through his son Jesus, in other words, through the words of God through Jesus. That is why we study the words of God sincerely.
Now, today’s passage is about how Jacob was deceived by his father-in-law, and how he lived in the middle of jealousy of his two wives. His life was not easy at all. But what we can learn from is that through all these things, God disciplined him to become a man of God. There is a book titled “disciples are made not born”. It means becoming a man of God or a disciple of Jesus is not natural. It needs godly training. Through this message, let us look up to our God who loves and disciplines his people.
Part 1. God disciplined Jacob by his uncle Laban. (1-30).
First, look at Jacob’ journey to Haran after he met his God at Bethel. In verse 1, he continued on his journey. The journey was 460 miles long. Though it was a long distance, the journey was not the same anymore. Before he had met God, he was afraid and scared for his uncertain future. But now, how happy he was! He had his own God. God promised that he was with him and watch over him wherever he went. He was excited and looking forward to seeing what God would do for him. Next month, Dre, Franco, and Yukai are graduating. Graduation and getting a good job are important. But like Jacob, before starting a new journey of life, encountering God is more important than anything else in their life. Please pray for them.
After a long trip, finally Jacob arrived at Haran where his uncle Laban lived. Though at that time, there was no GPS nor map, God led him safely to Laban’s home.
When Jacob stayed in one month, Laban asked Jacob “just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? tell me what wages should be?” Then, what did Jacob ask for his wages? At that time, Laban had two daughters: Leah and Rachel. Leah has weak eyes; the meaning of Leah is cow. But Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. If you have to choose one of them, who is going to choose? Jacob was in love with Rachel. So, he asked his uncle ‘let me marry Rachel, I will work for you seven years.’ Laban agreed.
At that time, tradition was that man works for 3 or 4 years to get a wife. But Jacob suggested double of years. He did not want to miss Rachel. He really loved her. Even verse 20 says, So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
It seemed everything was going smoothly. However, God’s discipline was ahead of him. Look at verse 21. Jacob asked his uncle, “Give me my wife, my time is completed. And I want to make my love to her”.
Then, Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. How happy Jacob would be! But the next morning, when he woke up, whom did he find on his bed? Not Rachel but Leah. How could he be cheated? Probably he might be very drunken. Anyway, he was very mad. angry. He went Laban, now his father-in-law, protested him, “why have you deceived me?” Then, Laban suggested him to work for another seven years to have Rachel.
What did Jacob do? Verse 28 says “Jacbo did so.” He did not protest Laban anymore. Why? Yes, he loved Rachel so much that he was willing to work 14 years. But also, this incident must have reminded him of what he did to his father and his brother seven years ago. In his home, he took advantage of Esau’s hunger that he took the birthright from him. He deceived his father to get his brother Esau’s blessing too. He is kind of person ‘the end justifies the means’. However, now, he was deceived by his father-in-law. His father-in-law knew Jacob’s situation very well (running away from Esau). He took advantage of his situation for him. Later, he changed Jacob’s wages 10 times too. He was like a bad employer (like a slave driver to Ph.D. students). Because of him, Jacob went through hard times. However, because of that, he was becoming humble. He became a faithful worker with a good attitude. He was seeking God.
Then, a question is why did God discipline Jacob? Because God wanted to accomplish his will through him. What is God’s will in him? It goes back to Abraham, his grandfather. God called and promised Abraham, in Genesis 12:3 says and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. In Genesis, God created first man Adam. God blessed him, “be fruitful, increase in number and rule over the world”. However, as he sinned against God, everything was messed up. God wanted to restore his creation once again. How? Through another man Jesus. To send Jesus into the world, God called Abraham. And then, God called his son Isaac. God promised to Isaac, in Genesis 26:4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring[a] all nations on earth will be blessed. And then, at Bethel, God appeared and promised Jacob in Genesis 28:14, Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Jacob must hold on God’s will. He must live as a man of God, handing down God’s inheritance to his next generation.
Our life is not much different. Like Jacob, we all plan our life (study, a good job, love, marriage, and so on). But remember Proverb 16:9. It says In their hearts people plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. God has a plan for you. He wants each of you to become his children, in other meaning, a man of God; seeking God first in your life, revealing Jesus in your life. For this purpose, God is disciplining us in our life by using people like Laban or circumstances around us. then, we become humble. We become spiritual. Sometimes, it may be painful, but when we endure and continue to seek God, he will bless you to find your Rachael, job, and many children as well.
Part 2. God disciplined Leah and Rachel (31-30:24)
Verse 17 says Leah had weak eyes. Also, the meaning of her name is cow. Probably she did not have a good appearance. It might not be easy for her to marry. But by her father’s help, she married to Jacob. How much she expected her husband’s love. But Jacob did not love her. He did not want her actually.
Then, look at verse 31. Let’s read verse 29:31. “When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.” God saw that Leah was not loved. God had compassion on her. He enabled her to conceive. Though Jacob barely slept with her, she became pregnant. She gave birth to a son. She named him, “Reuben”. It means “the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now”. She realized God saw her misery. She began to know about God. But though God cared about her, her main interest was still on her husband’s love. She said, surely my husband will love me now.
Then, she got her second son. She named him “Simeon” meaning “the Lord heard that I am not loved.” Here, The LORD heard means ‘Leah began to pray to God.’ in her prayer, she poured out her agony, sorrows. She thought Jacob would love her when she gave birth to a son. But he was not changed. He loved Rachel more. So, she began to pray to God. She was slowly becoming a woman of prayer. And then, she got another son, “Levi”, it means “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have born him three sons.” This time, she did not mention about God. It seems she was confident that Jacob would love her. All she wanted was still Jacob’s love.
Now let’s look at verse 35. She had her 4th son. Shall we read verse 35? She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
Judah means “praise the Lord.” What does this mean? She went back to God again. She relied on God again. In her 3rd son’s name, Levi, she did not look for God at all, but nevertheless, God was faithful to her. God granted her another son Judah. She must realize God’s unconditional love for her. She was thankful to him. Jacob was not moved at all no matter how well she treated him and bore him four sons. Yet, even if she was not faithful to God, God was still with her and gave her a new son. So this time, she praised God. Her thirsty soul was satisfied with God’s love. She did not beg for her husband’s love anymore. She became a woman of God. In the Bible, she lived long. She supported her husband Jacob to live as a man of God. Also, our Messiah Jesus came from the line of her fourth son Judah.
Now, let us look at how God disciplined Rachel too. Look at verse 30:1. What was her situation? When she saw that she was not able to have babies, she was jealous of her sister. You know, she was younger than Leah. She received Jacob’s full love. She was supposed to be pregnant earlier than Leah. However, until Leah had four sons, she got zero. So, she became impatient. She began to be jealous of her older sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die.”
Then, Jacob rebuked her saying, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” At this point, she must come to God. ‘God, please help me’. But she was still strong in her ability. She thought she could do it without God’s help.
Proverb 21:9 says Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
So, what did she do? She gave Jacob her servant, Bilhah. Jacob must have heard about his grandfather’s family feud: among Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. He also knew about family trouble between Isaac and Ishmael. He should have comforted and encouraged Rachel, ‘my grandmother waited for 25 years to get my father. My mom waited 20 years to be pregnant. So, be patient and keep praying to God’. However, instead, he slept with Bilha. Then, she had two sons: Dan and Naphtali.
Look at verse 14-21. In verse 14, one day, Rueben found some mandrake plants. The mandrake plants are known to help woman’s pregnancy. So, Rachel took and ate them. Then, what happened? Nothing happened to Rachel. But instead, Leah became pregnant. She bore two more sons to Jacob: Issachar and Zebulun.
The score is 6-0 or 8-2. How miserable Rachel is. But look at verses 22. There is hope. Let’s read verse 22. “ Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive.“ God remembered Rachel. He remembered her disgrace. He remembered her tears. Also, he listened to her. This means Rachel finally prayed to God. Finally, she surrendered to God. She did not come to her husband Jacob to beg him. Instead, she turned toward God.
She realized no matter how she tried; it did not work. Then, she humbled herself and prayed. Then, God heard her prayer and opened her womb to be pregnant.
In a sense, God waited for this moment. God would give her a son anytime. But God was patiently waiting until she came to him in her agony. In other words, God disciplined her through her barrenness. She named her son, “Joseph.”, the famous Joseph in the Bible. She raised him up as a servant of God. And, later, she became a big support of Jacob. When Jacob wanted to go back to Bethel, she encouraged him to obey God’s direction.
In this passage, I was wondering why God disciplined Jacob’s wives Leah and Rachel? Because since Jacob married them, they were one flesh, one mind, and one spirit. They had to support Jacob to continue to live for God. But what if they have different thoughts? Jacob could not be a man of God. God trained them that they would seek first God and become a suitable helper to Jacob. Also, God disciplined them because their twelve sons would become the twelve tribes of Israel later.
In today’s message, when we think about Laban, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel, his family was like a battlefield, full of deceiving, jealousy, and competition. But through all these things, God disciplined Jacob and his wives to grow as a man of God and as a woman of God. This reminds us of one bible verse: Romans 8:28 says we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
I pray that the God of Jaco may be the God of us. Instead of being worried about our future, let us be disciplined by God and let us seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, then, as God promised, we may experience how all these things, job, love, marriage, children will be given to us.