So we're going to be reading
in Genesis chapter 29 and we're going to verse 15. We're still
in the history of Jacob and here he is in the in that part of
the country that we now call Syria. So although we read about
lots and hear about lots of trouble in the land of Syria, this is
where Jacob currently is at the moment. And he's at the home
of his uncle Laban, and we're going to hear about Laban and
Leah and Rachel today. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because
thou art my brother, shouldst thou therefore serve me for naught,
for nothing? Tell me, what shall thy wages
be? And Laban had two daughters.
The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was
Rachel. Leah was tender-eyed, but Rachel
was beautiful and well-favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel, and said,
I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better
that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another
man. Abide with me. And Jacob served
seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days
for the love he had to her. And Jacob said unto Laban, Give
me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. And Laban gathered together all
the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass
in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought
her to him, and he went in unto her. And Laban gave unto his
daughter Leah Zilpah, his maid, for an handmaid. And it came
to pass that in the morning, behold, it was Leah. And he said
unto Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? Did not I
serve with thee for Rachel? Wherefore then hast thou beguiled
me? And Laban said, It must not be
so done in our country to give thee younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will
give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me
yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled
her week, and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And
Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her
maid. And he went in also unto Rachel,
and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him
yet seven other years. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Jacob began, after he arrived
with Laban and his household, Jacob began tending sheep for
Laban. And Laban was interested to know
what wages Jacob should be given. And I think that's very interesting
right at the very beginning because we are reminded here that as
far as material goods were concerned, Jacob had nothing. All he had
with him was what he had travelled with from his home when he had
left so quickly because of his concern about Esau's anger. And so he had gone in this journey
to Syria, to Laban's house, with nothing. But what he did have
was much more precious. Because although he had no material
goods, He had God's promise. He had the promise that the Lord
was looking after him and that he was the bearer and possessor
of God's blessing. The blessing of the promise of
the land, the promise of nations, and the promise of the seed that
would come, the Lord Jesus Christ. in whom all the nations of the
earth would be blessed. And Jacob carried that promise
with him. And that reminds us that in this
life, we may not, just like Jacob, have very much of this world's
goods. But if we have the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we have God's covenant promise of grace in this life,
and glory in the world hereafter. We have riches greater than anything
that this world can experience. And that is why the Lord Jesus
Christ tells us, tells his people, seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. and all these things shall be
added unto you. The first thing, the most important
thing, is to seek righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ, the
righteousness that comes by faith, and then all these other things
will fall into their proper place. Laban offered wages to Jacob,
but Jacob knew that what he really needed was a wife, and he loved
Rachel, Laban's younger daughter. So Jacob offered to work seven
years for the hand of Rachel in marriage. And perhaps he was
thinking seven years was a suitable time because it was in place
of a dowry or a gift that Laban might otherwise expect at Jacob's
hand for the privilege of marrying his daughter. and Laban agrees. But we see in the way that Laban
speaks and the words that he uses that he is unclear and imprecise
in what he actually agrees to. There's a lying and there's a
deception at work here. Now, let me just say something
about that. Lying is when we say something
that we know to be false. And some people might say, well,
Laban didn't actually lie. But deception is when you encourage
someone to believe what you know to be false. And even if Laban
didn't lie, he did deceive. And there's an irony there, isn't
there? Because we have learned about Jacob that he deceived
his father, Isaac, in order to obtain Isaac's blessing. And so here we find that the
deceiver is himself deceived. But the years pass quickly for
the love that Jacob had for Rachel. And when these seven years are
over, Jacob expects to have his bride. But here we see Laban's
plan, Laban's scheming coming into effect because Laban cheats
Jacob. And instead of marrying Rachel,
whom he loved, Jacob is married to Leah. Now we might wonder,
how is that possible? How is it possible that the events
of that day and the celebrations and all of these things that
must go on in a marriage were so designed that Jacob ended
up marrying the wrong girl? But I guess if a trick is going
to work, It has to be well planned, and this certainly was. In the morning, after Leah had
been taken to Jacob's bed, we discover that Jacob has been
deceived. He did not have the wife that
he wanted. But what was he to do? Was he
to get angry? Was he to walk out? He was now
married to Leah. and he still loved Rachel. So surprise, surprise, Laban
has a solution to the problem. He says to Jacob, honour the
marriage with Leah and you can marry Leah, marry Rachel as well. And you get to work seven more
years for me. Let me say, something about this. The people of the world might
imagine that they can take advantage of the Lord's people just in
the way that Laban took advantage of Jacob. Laban thought he was
being very clever in the way in which he dealt with Jacob. But let us not forget that God's
provision and God's help and God's looking after of Jacob
was going forward exactly as God designed, because God's purpose
and God's covenant stands sure. Even our disappointments, and
Jacob had real disappointments at this time, but even our disappointments
in life, are part of God's process for our good. There are two memorable
little points that I want us to take away from this passage
today. And here's the first one. Although
all these events seem like a long time ago and maybe far, far away,
personal to Jacob and to his family and to her circumstances
and perhaps very little to do with us right now where we live
in our lives. God has left us with this account
in scripture to remind us that the whole plan of salvation and
the redemption of his church and people by the Lord Jesus
Christ was planned even longer ago. than Jacob and Leah and
Rachel. All the people in this story
that we have before us today had their own ideas and their
motives, but nevertheless, through it all, God was securing his
line by which the Lord Jesus Christ, his son, the God-man,
would come into the world, would be born and would save his people
from their sins. We might know disappointment,
Jacob did. We might know frustration, that
too. But I think that always, somewhere
inside Jacob, a little voice would say, it's all right, Jacob,
I know. I'm in control and you're going
to be fine. And Jacob was learning to trust
God through the hard times and the difficult times. And we shall
learn to do that too. And here's the second lesson.
We might wonder that Jacob should spend 14 years working to obtain
Rachel as his wife. So long. But that's the nature
of love. That's the nature of true love.
It's what true love does. True love makes sacrifices. And when we love someone, we're
ready to take a hit for them. Love is a very powerful emotion. And Jacob's love for Rachel is
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ's love for his bride, for his church,
and for his people. We might think that Jacob endured
a lot in order to possess Rachel. but in fact it is little in comparison
to what the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and endured to win his
dearly beloved people. The Apostle Paul tells us in
Ephesians chapter 2, God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. May the Lord bless us as we reflect
upon these accounts of the old patriarchs and remind us that
that same love which the Lord Jesus Christ has for his people
is the love that he has for you and I today who trust in him
and believe in him. Amen.