Turn back to Genesis 29, I'm
going to repeat what we said this morning. There's a list
in the foyer of some things that need to be done if people can
volunteer to do those. We used to have Brother McSherry
out here 40 hours a week for 20-some years doing those things.
He would actually be in the parking lot getting grass out of cracks. That's how thorough he was in
everything he did here. But it would be appreciated if
there's anything that you can do. Also, I need to ask everyone
to please keep an eye on your children. There have been some
issues of damage inside and out where kids have been doing whatever
it is they do. So keep an eye on your children. And I want them to have fun and
enjoy being here. Don't let them go unattended,
though. Okay. I've entitled this message Jacob,
Leah, and Rachel. Before I begin this message,
I want to remind you that the Lord said with regarding the
writings of Moses in John chapter 5, and Moses wrote Genesis, he
said, Moses wrote of me. And every story in the Old Testament
is given with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. never is anything
to be understood independently of Jesus Christ the Lord. He
said, you search the scriptures and in them you think you have
eternal life. And they are they which testify
of me. So whenever you read these stories
in the Old Testament and some of them seem somewhat bizarre,
remember, they're given to teach us the gospel, and such is the
story before us. This is one of those bizarre
stories in the Old Testament. And it's a story filled with
deceit, with covetousness, and with immorality. A good script
for Hollywood. But underneath this all, we're
given a very beautiful type of Christ's love for his church. And I trust we'll all benefit
from this story. Let's start in verse 1 of Genesis
29. One other comment before I start.
You know we learn truth better through stories than anything
else. That's the way we're geared.
That's the way the Lord made us. And I pray that the Lord
will take this story and teach us the gospel in a way that we
understand it more clearly than we have in the past. Verse one,
then Jacob went on his journey, and my marginal reading says
he lift up his feet. He had a, practically skipping,
he was so happy. And why was he so happy during
this journey? Because God promised in the previous
chapter, he was with him. If God's with you, do you have
anything to fear? Do you have any reason to be
afraid? God was with Jacob, Jacob knew it. And so he begins this
400 mile journey with a skip in his step. Now, why did he
make this journey in the first place? Well, let me remind you,
his mother said, get out of Dodge. Your brother Esau is going to
murder you. And his brother did indeed say, I'm going to kill
him as soon as dad dies. And he left. that land because
he would be murdered if he stayed. And his other reason for leaving
was he was going to find a wife in his mother's family's home. Her brother's name was Laban. And so he was excited about getting
away from Esau. And Esau had a reason to want
to kill him after the way he'd swindled him twice in a very
deceitful manner. and he's getting away from his
brother and he's going to find his bride. Now this man Laban
is first introduced in Genesis 24. Would you turn with me back
there to Genesis 24? This is when Abraham sent his
servant to find Isaac a bride. And we read in verse 29, And
Rebekah, she's going to end up being Isaac's bride. And Rebekah
had a brother and his name was Laban. And Laban ran out unto
the man into the well and came to pass when he saw the earring
and the bracelets upon his sister's hands. Now if you'll remember,
he brought 10 camels loads of riches to show off the wealth
of his son. And Laban saw these things and
Laban was impressed. Laban was impressed with money.
Nobody else like that? Quite a few. He was impressed
with money. And so he was very excited about
this man coming, and it came to pass when he saw the earrings
and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the
words of Rebecca, his sister saying, thus spake the man unto
me, that he came unto the man, and behold, he stood by the camels
at the well, and he said, come in, thou blessed of the Lord.
He was excited about seeing this man. Wherefore standest thou
without? For I have prepared the house
and room for the camels. He was going to take care of
this man because he saw how he could be advantaged by it. He'd
already been given a lot of stuff. from Abraham's servant. So, 40 years has passed, and
now Jacob comes up. And he remembers that encounter
40 years ago, and he was thinking, I'm going to get something out
of this. And this characterized this man. He was a deceitful
man, he was a swindler, and his own daughters say that later
on, how their father had taken everything from them. Now, Laban,
verse Two, and he looked when he got there, 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, this is chapter
29, and a great stone, a very heavy stone, was upon the well's
mouth, and thither were all the flocks gathered, and they, they,
it took numerous people to do this, they rolled the stone from
the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone
again upon the well's mouth in its place. And Jacob said unto
them, these people that he meets when he's finished with his 400-mile
journey, and Jacob said unto them, my brethren, whence be
ye? And they said, of Haran are we. Isn't that amazing? He came to the right place. The Lord directed him to this
place. And he said unto them, know ye
Laban, the son of Nahar? And they said, we know him. And
he said unto them, is he well? And they said, he's well. And
behold, Rachel, his daughter, cometh with the sheep. And he said, lo, it is yet high
noon. Neither is there time for the
sheep to 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 whale's
mouth. Then we water the sheep. We can't
get that stone off that whale. And while he had spake with him,
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. Did he have an adrenaline rush?
I don't know. Was he supernaturally enabled
to do this? I don't know, but he did something
miraculous when he rolled this great stone away. Maybe he's
just wanting to impress Rachel because this was love at first
sight. He was smitten with this woman,
Rachel. Verse 11, 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, and Jacob told
Rachel that he was her father's brother and that he was Rebecca's
son. And she ran and told her father. And it came to pass when
Laban heard the tidings of Jacob's sister's son, that he ran to
meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to
the 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. He was there for a month. And
Laban said unto Jacob, because thou art my brother, shouldest
thou therefore serve me 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,
blear-eyed. Evidently, this is the way of
describing her as not being very attractive at all. She was tender-eyed. Rachel was beautiful and well
favored. Now, which one would you say
Jacob fell in love with? Well, it says, and Jacob loved
Rachel. Love at first sight. And he said,
I'll serve thee seven years. For Rachel, thy younger daughter,
I'll work seven years if you give me her to be my wife. And Laban said, it's better that
I give her to thee than I should give her to another man. You
see, he was his kin. Abide with me. And Jacob served
seven years for Rachel. Now, seven years is a long time. And it seemed unto him but a
few days. for the love he had for her. It was easy. It was enjoyable
because of the love that he had for this beautiful woman. Seven years, just a few days. And Jacob said unto Laban, Give
me my wife, for my days are fulfilled that I may go in unto her. We
want to have our wedding night now. I've worked my seven years.
And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made
a feast. And this feast was supposedly for Jacob and Rachel. And it came to pass in the evening
that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him. And he
went in under her. Now. How'd that happen? He worked seven years for Rachel.
He's getting ready to consummate his marriage, his wedding night.
He's so excited. And all of a sudden, good old
Laban gives him Leah, the blear-eyed Leah, whatever that means. And it came to pass, verse 23,
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, and of a handmaid. And it came to pass
that in the morning, behold, it was Leah. Now, was it just
so dark he didn't know what was going on? I really kind of doubt
that. I just kind of doubt that. But they went through the wedding
night together. And in the morning, it came to
pass that in the morning, behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban,
what is this that thou hast done unto me? Did not I serve with
thee for Rachel? Wherefore hast thou beguiled
me? Now I think this is interesting, the deceiver's deceived. He deceived
his brother, he's now deceived. What goes around comes around,
that's what is happening at this juncture. Now this is a very
important verse for us to understand this story, verse 26. And Laban
said, it must not be so done in our country to give the younger
before the firstborn. This is law. The firstborn must
be the first married. This is the law and the law must
be upheld and must be honored. Therefore, I gave you Leah. Was
he right in doing this? Of course he wasn't right. Is
polygamy, in this time where you can have two wives and so
on. No, it's not okay. God said in
the very beginning that two shall be one flesh. That's always been
God's way, but in this society, which was wrong, somehow they
okayed it, and so he gives first Leah. Leah's name means weary,
the weariness of the law. And she's his wife. Verse 27, fulfill her week. That's another seven years. Fulfill her week and we will
give thee this also for the servers which thou shalt serve with me
yet seven other years. And Jacob did so. and fulfilled
his seven-year period once again in order to get Rachel. So he
had to work 14 years to get Rachel. And Laban gave to Rachel his
daughter, Billa, his handmaid, to be her maid. Now here we have
this scenario. One man married to two women,
and they each had a handmaid. One man, four women. Trouble. Big trouble. One woman's trouble enough. Verse 30, and he went in also
under Rachel, And he loved also Rachel more than Leah and served
with him yet seven other years. Now, how did Leah feel about
this all this time? She was not loved. How difficult
that must have been for her. She was not loved. He loved Rachel. And the scripture
says he hated her because it says in verse 31, and when the
Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb. He was merciful toward her and
he opened her womb and gave her life. But Rachel was buried and
Leah conceived. and bear a son, and she called
his name Reuben. For she said, surely the Lord
hath looked upon my affliction, now therefore my husband will
love me. Don't you feel sorry for her?
She did not feel love, she knew she wasn't loved, now he'll love
me. And she conceived again, and
bare a son, and said, because the Lord hath heard that I was
hated, he hath therefore given me this son also. And she called
his name Simeon. And she conceived again, and
bare a son, and said, now this time will my husband be joined
unto me, because I born him three sons. Therefore was his name
called Levi. And she conceived again and bear
a son. And she said, now will I praise
the Lord, therefore, and called his name Judah, and left bearing. She had four children and then
stopped bearing. Now, don't you think it is glorious
how the Lord brings good out of evil? Who came through Judah? The Lord
Jesus Christ. God always brings good out of
evil. We might not see it, but we believe
it. God always brings good out of
evil. And the greatest example of that
is the cross. What is the most evil thing to
take place? The cross. What is the most glorious thing
to ever take place? The cross. Through this wretched
thing that happened, the Christ comes. Chapter 30. And when Rachel saw that she
bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. You can see
that. Envious. And she said unto Jacob,
give me children or else I die. Jacob's anger was kindled against
Rachel. And he said, Am I in God's stead? Who hath held from
thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold, my maid,
Billa, go in unto her. That's the same thing that Sarah
said to do with Hagar. Behold, my maid, Billa, go in
unto her, and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also
have children by her. And she gave him Billa, her handmaid,
and a wife. And Jacob went unto her, and
Billa conceived, and bare Jacob his son. And Rachel said, God
hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given
me a son. Therefore called she his name Dan. And Bill, Rachel's
maid, conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. And Rachel
said, with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister. And
I prevailed, and she called his name Naphtali. Well, when Leah
saw that she'd left bearing, she took Dilpa. her maiden gave
her Jacob the wife. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bared
Jacob a son. And Leah said, a troop cometh.
And she called his name Gad. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bared
Jacob a second son. And Leah said, happy am I, for
the daughters will call me blessed. And she called his name Asher.
Now he has 10 children. Now you know that Rachel
would go on to have Joseph and Benjamin, 12 children. Now, where's the gospel
in this story? You know it's there. You
know it's there. Where is the gospel in this story? Well, the first thing I love
seeing is God's adorable providence. How He takes His 400-mile journey,
and lo and behold, He ends up right at Rachel's doorstep. You
see, God directs everything by His providence. And whenever
we say, that was providential, We might as well say that was
good luck because we're denying what providence is when we make
a statement like that because everything is providential. God
controls every event all the time and it's not difficult for
Him. He is in absolute control because
He's God. So we dishonor talking about
him being, that was really providential. If it's something good, it was
really providential. And we just deny what providence is in the
first place. So let's try to avoid doing that. We adore God's
providence. Now, when I see how beautiful
Rachel is, I see how beautiful Christ's bride is. That's what
this represents. Every believer, without exception,
is absolutely beautiful to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't
get any more pretty, you can't get any more pleasing, you can't
get any more accepted. Now, how is that? Because of
what Christ accomplished on Calvary's tree. He was delivered for our offenses,
our ugliness, and He put it away, and He was raised again for our
justification. And understand this, justification
means when Christ looks at me, He looks at someone who's never
sinned, who has nothing to feel guilty about, who is absolutely
righteous, who is absolutely beautiful, that He is totally
and completely pleased with, Jacob saw Rachel and he was stunned
with her beauty. That's why he could work seven
years. You know, Christ is stunned with the beauty of his people. That's how glorious Christ's
work is. He makes me to where I am completely beautiful to
him. He says, Behold, thou art fair,
my love. There is no spot in thee. You've ravished me with one of
your eyes. That's how Christ sees every
single one of his people. Now, we don't much feel that
way, but understand this. When Christ looks at you, he
looks at someone without sin, altogether lovely and perfect
in him. Now that, I think of Jacob, when
he took this trip, he, when Christ left, took his trip, for lack
of a better word, I don't know how to put it, to come down here
to heaven, from heaven to earth, he came looking for his bride,
and he knew he was going to make her absolutely perfect and beautiful. That was his purpose in coming. Now, when Jacob gets there, he
sees this big stone over the well. And it took many people
to move the stone, didn't it? They said, we can't move this.
We gotta wait for the people to get here and move it in order
for us to water our flocks. But Jacob by himself removed
the obstacle for their watering. He did this by Himself. How many
obstacles did the Lord Jesus Christ have to remove for you
to be beautiful, for you to be His perfect bride? And He did
this all by Himself. It wasn't you and Him working
together. Hebrews 1.3 says, He by Himself
purged our sins. Boy, that's a big obstacle removed,
isn't it? Every obstacle that would keep Christ from seeing
me as perfectly beautiful, just like he did Rachel, where he
would work for the seven years and it would seem like him for
just a few days. The Lord was all together happy to do that
for his people because he sees what they are in eternity and
what he's coming to make them in time. Perfectly beautiful. Jeremiah 31 three, behold, I
have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness, have I drawn thee. And time when he left eternity
and came in time, I love that passage of scripture in Ephesians
chapter five, verse 25, husbands, love your wives as Christ also
loved the church and gave himself for it. that he might present
it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish before
him. In this great covenant of grace,
this bride was given to Christ and he agreed to be his bride's
surety. Now, every believer, I wish you
and I could get a hold of this. I know we only know it by faith,
and it's so hard to get a hold of this. But right now, when
Christ sees me, he sees somebody he's altogether pleased with.
No spot, no wrinkle, no blemish. Perfect in Christ Jesus. That is how God in Christ views
you. Now look in verse. 18 and Jacob loved Rachel Genesis
29 verse 18 and Jacob loved Rachel and said I'll serve these seven
years for Rachel thy younger daughter and Laban said it's
better that I give her to thee and 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 that
he had to her now when I think of the Lord coming down and walking
this earth as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief for
those 33 years. Yes, those were difficult, difficult. I don't even know how, I can't
even comment on it. I couldn't even begin to know
what the Lord went through. But I also knew because of the
love that he bore his bride, it seemed to him as a few days.
He knew what he would get at the end, his perfect bride. I think of that scripture, Hebrews
12 too, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before him. That joy is twofold. First, he had the joy of perfectly
obeying and glorifying his father. He said, my meat and my drink
is to do the will of him that sent me. And oh, what joy he
got out of obeying his father perfectly. But the other part
of the joy is saving his people. The joy he got, like Jacob, it
seemed like a few days, the joy he received in saving his people,
from their sins. Now, this is when he wakes up
with Leah. I believe that Laban intended
to do this all along and just didn't tell him. It was an act
of deceit. I believe perhaps Rachel was
complicit in it because of this was supposed to be for both of
them, and she didn't show up. And her sister did. Maybe her
father said this is the way we're going to do it, and she was obedient
to her father. But here is the reason. You can imagine. He loved
Rachel, and then he gets Leah and look what it says and Laban
said it must not be here's why it came to pass that in the morning
behold verse 25 It was Leah and he said to Laban. What is this
that thou has done unto me? Did not I serve with thee for
Rachel wherefore then is thou beguiled being deceived me? And
Laban said it must not be so done in our country to give the
younger before the firstborn You see in that country. This
is the law and Christ had to deal with the law
before he could be married to me or you. He had to honor and
fulfill God's holy law before he could accept me or you. And
what I love so much about this, this shows the justice of God's
salvation. I'm saved in a way that not only
magnifies His mercy and not only magnifies His grace, but this
is an absolutely just and righteous salvation where the law is honored. The Lord had to honor the law
before he could save me, and oh, how he honored God's holy
law in keeping it. And we see this with Jacob. He had to work about seven years
with her whose name is Weary, and Christ completely fulfilled
and honored the law for him to have me. You know, I love what
Isaiah calls Him, a just God and a Savior. There's nothing
unclean, there's nothing sinful about just sweeping our sin under
the carpet. Every sin's paid for. The law's
demands are honored. The punishment of the law is
honored. Everything about God's law is
honored. And He kept God's law completely. And that is what had to be done
for him to have his bride. Turn with me for a moment to
second Corinthians chapter three. Now Leah represents the law and
Leah was not very attractive. Rachel represents the church. and how beautiful she is. Now, how can you call something
like God's Law unattractive when it's God's Law? I want to be
careful about that. I remember one time hearing somebody
say, we might as well throw the Ten Commandments in the trash
can. No! No! So how is it that you
can call God's Law unattractive? And that's what the writer of
the Hebrews calls it. Weak, unprofitable, ready to Vanish away, ready to
decay. Look here, let me, I haven't
got there yet. 2 Corinthians chapter three. Verse seven. He calls God's law the ministration
of death. Written and engraved in stones. If the ministration of death
written in engraving stones was glorious, so that the children
of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for
the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away,
how shall not the ministration of the Spirit, the gospel, be
rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation
be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness
exceed. in glory. For even that which
was made glorious, the ministration of death, God's law, had what? No glory. No glory. In this respect, by reason of
the glory that exceleth. Oh, the gospel is so beautiful. It's more glorious than the law.
Now, the law is honored. We would never discount it in
any way. God's holy law. And the law was
honored in the gospel. And the Lord had to honor it.
But that's how we get beautiful Rachel he loved Rachel and how
beautiful she was to him how Christ loved his bride How Christ
loves his bride every believer is perfectly Beautiful through
what he did for them. Now. Here's here's where my beauty
consists My beauty consists in I don't have any sin. I And not
only do I not have any sin, I am perfectly righteous in God's
sight. That's what Christ accomplished for his people on Calvary Street. His death wasn't an offer. I'm
offering it to you, you can accept it or reject it. That's blasphemous,
that's not what his, his death accomplished something. I love
in Luke chapter 9, 31, when Moses and Elijah were speaking of the
death which he should accomplish. What did he accomplish? the complete
salvation of his beautiful bride. Now, I've heard said that when
Adam took the fruit, he loved Eve so much that he
was going to go ahead and go down with her. I don't know that that's so.
I've heard it said, and I can see where it's a good time, but
I don't know if it's so for this reason. That kind of glorifies
what he did. And to choose Eve over obedience
to God, that's wrong. That's sin, you can't call it
anything but that. Was that involved? I don't know,
maybe, but it wasn't good, because there wasn't anything good about
what Adam did. It was disobedience and rebellion
to God. But listen to this scripture. The Lord Jesus did choose to
go down with his bride in order to save them. You know, Paul
said, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes, he became poor. What all that means, there's
no way we can ever know. The poverty of Christ on the
cross when he was forsaken by his father, when he was made
sin, oh, how poor he became. But listen to the way this is
written. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for what? Your sake, your sake. When he was on the cross, my
name was on his heart. He did this for me. He did this
for all of his people. But think of this. This wasn't
a generic death, hoping someone would end up believing. Hoping
somehow it would do something to help somebody be saved, where
they'd let him, nothing like that. He had the names of his
elect, every single one of them engraven on his breast. You know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet
for your sakes, he became poor. That you, through his poverty,
might be rich. Rachel became a very wealthy
woman. Now you all know that's not saying if you serve God you'll
be financially wealthy. I hate that kind of stuff. You
might serve God and be poor as a church mouse and sick every
day of your life. If you have Christ, so what? She became wealthy through his
wealth, and every believer is wealthy in Christ Jesus. Okay, let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How amazed we are that you would
give your son for such as we, How amazed we are that he would
come willingly with a hop in his step from glory in order
to save us and to glorify you. Lord, we ask in his high and
holy name that you would create faith, the gift of your grace
in each heart here. and enable us to look to thy
son only. In his blessed name we pray,
amen.