Genesis chapter 29 and verse
1. Then Jacob went on his journey
and came into the land of the people of the east. And he looked,
and behold, a well in the field. And lo, there were three flocks
of sheep lying by it. For out of that well they watered
the flocks. And a great stone was upon the
well's mouth. And thither were all the flocks
gathered, and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth,
and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's
mouth in his place. And Jacob said unto them, My
brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye
Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he
well? And they said, He is well. And behold, Rachel his daughter
cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high
day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered
together. Water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they
said, We cannot until all the flocks be gathered together,
until they roll the stone from the well's mouth. Then we water
the sheep. And while he yet spake with them,
Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she kept them. And
it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban,
his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's
brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the
well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's
brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted
up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he
was her father's brother and that he was Rebekah's son. And
she ran and told her father. And it came to pass, when Laban
heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to
meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to
his house. And he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, Surely
thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space
of a month. Amen, may God bless to us this
reading from his word. Jacob's dream of the ladder that
reached from heaven to earth was the means by which the Lord
spoke to Jacob and reconfirmed to Jacob his covenant blessing. God loved Jacob. and God promised
that he would take care of him, provide for him and bring him
safely back to his own country. Furthermore, in accordance with
the promises that had been given to Abraham and Isaac, Jacob would
be the father of a great nation and he would be the forebearer
of the anointed one or the promised one in whom all the world would
be blessed. Jacob was told this as part of
this revelation in the dream. And all of this Jacob believed,
calling God his God, his personal God, his God that he personally
put his faith in. And he went on in faith. And that is what we discover
here in this opening verse, that Jacob continued his journey in
faith, leaning upon the promises of God. And I think there's a very lovely
application here for us. And what we learn from this is
that there is peace and contentment and confidence that flows from
trusting God. Jacob knew that, and it is a
lesson for us to learn also. If God promises to take care
of Jacob, then what did Jacob have to fear? Who or what could
hurt him? Do you see that? Do you see what
that says? If we take God at his word, then
there is peace in believing. Perhaps we can say, thinking
about Jacob, that here, in this moment, Jacob entered into a
new stage in his life, in his relationship with God. Having
had that vision, having had that personal confirmation of this
covenant promise, and having personally declared his faith
in the Lord his God, Jacob moved into a new experience of peace
and contentment and confidence at God's direction. You know,
faith is more than believing. It is trusting. And We may not
be very old. This is perhaps intended particularly
for the boys and girls that are listening to here. But we know
that there is a difference between believing and trusting. What might that difference be? I can believe that someone can
catch me. But do I believe that someone
will catch me? There's a difference between
believing and trusting. I believe he can catch me. I
trust he will catch me. Do you see the difference? There
is all the difference in the world if you are falling. Jacob would have his ups and
downs, there would be times of trial, there would be times of
trouble, there would be times of fear, there would be times
when Jacob was hurt and fearful, but he had this promise before
him and he had this hope that in the midst of all his difficulties,
that the Lord would bless him and the Lord would help him.
And he would see all his troubles in the context of God's declared
plan to be his God and to bless him and to bless his inheritance. If we could take God at his word,
this God who says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,
whether we're older or whether we're younger, would not our
lives have more peace in them? Would not our contentment be
greater, our confidence run higher, if we could take God at his word
who says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. God's
salvation in Christ is our inheritance. It is God's great promise to
us. Do we believe it? Is it? I believe God can save me from
my sin. Or is it, I believe, I trust
he will. The Lord at once in our story
helps Jacob in his journey. And he encounters this group
of shepherds by a well. These are people who have come
from Haran, the very place Jacob is going to. And they knew his
relative, and they were able to point out Jacob's cousin,
Sarah, not Sarah, Rachel, who was on her way to the well to
water her flock, the sheep that she took care of. God led Jacob
straight to his destination and straight to the family that he
was looking for. It's a very interesting little
glimpse into the lives of these shepherds that we have in these
verses before us. It seems that they had an agreement,
they had a shareholding in this well. and they were able to bring
their sheep probably from different directions and all share together
in the water of this well. And they had a stone that covered
up the well, probably to keep the water clean. Perhaps it was
an agreement because there wasn't so very much water in the well
that they would all have their flocks there together so that
their flocks could all get the same amount of water. It's a
beautiful little glimpse into this this deal, this agreement
that had been made by these shepherds. But the coming forth of Rachel
and this meeting and introduction of the two of them, Jacob and
Rachel, and Jacob then assisting in the watering of the flock
and sharing the workload with those who gathered, seems to
have commended him to those who were present. He greets Rachel
and he kisses her, which is a mark of a greeting. And Rachel at
once goes and tells her father Laban that Jacob has come. And
Jacob is welcomed into Laban's home. Verse 13 tells us that
Jacob explained everything that had happened to Laban. The phrase
is, he told Laban all these things. He told them about Isaac and
Rebekah. Rebekah, of course, being Laban's
sister, he would have been very interested to hear how it went
with Rebekah. He told Laban about Esau's anger. He told him about the birthright
and the blessing. He told him about his purpose
in travelling. And maybe he even told him of
his desire for a wife. And I can imagine Laban saying,
whoa, that's a lot to take in. Slow down, Jacob. There's time. There's time. And verse 14 says
that Laban said unto him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him about the
space of a month. Laban says to Jacob, Your family,
we are one, and you must stay here with me. I'm sure the Apostle
Paul was very familiar with this passage. I dare say more familiar
with it than I was when he wrote many years later concerning our
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells us in Ephesians
chapter five that the Lord loves us and the Lord cherishes and
the Lord nourishes his church and his people with whom he has
entered into a close family union that can never be broken. And
you know how Paul describes the closeness of that family union
that can never be broken? He says in Ephesians 5 verse
30, we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Exactly the phrase that Laban
used with Jacob all those years ago. So here's our lesson for
today. The Lord promises. to save his
people, to protect them and to guide them. Who are his people? They are those for whom the Lord
Jesus Christ came and suffered and bled and died because that
is the way that he saves us from our sins. That is the way that
he protects us for all time and eternity. And it is by his example
and his guidance and his headship that he guides us through our
lives. These individuals, whom the Lord
Jesus Christ calls his own, are given peace and comfort when
the gospel is preached to us and we believe it. Not only that
he can save us, but that He does save us, and He will save us,
and we trust that He has saved us. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ
endure so much suffering for His church and people? Because
He loves us as His own body. He loves us as a husband loves
his wife, as one who has been united, and as his own body,
his own flesh, his own bone. He is in union with his people. Do you believe this? Do you trust
the Lord Jesus Christ's promise of salvation? Do you desire his
love and his mercy and his grace? It's yours by faith. And by faith,
you are blessed by the very one in whom Jacob placed his trust
and in whom he placed his hope. There
is no one better for us to trust than the Lord Jesus Christ. May
we do so today. Amen.