Tonight I want to deal with a beautiful passage of scripture
that gloriously sets forth the redemption and salvation of God's
elect. I've never preached out of this
passage. pray that the Lord enable me
to do so. That which honors him, glorifies the son while giving
comfort to God's people. Now, Jacob loves Rachel. And Jacob has now fulfilled seven
years of labor. for the hand of Rachel. Seven years, the scripture says,
that seemed unto him but a few days for the love that he had
for her. I'm sure those seven days were
trying physically, but he beheld her as his wife at the end. Seven years. That is a picture
and type. Remember all these scriptures
magnify the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob is a picture here of Christ. Rachel is a picture of the bride
of Christ. The bride that the Lord has everlastingly
loved. And these seven years setting
forth the labor of our Lord for his bride is what's being pictured. Now he worked seven years for
Rachel. Verse 21 is where we'll pick
up this evening. It says, and Jacob said unto
Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may
go in unto her. There's nothing now in the mind
of Jacob which would hinder him and Rachel from becoming husband
and wife. He's done that which he agreed
to do. And Laban said, Good that I should
give her to you, not to another, so you stay. Verse 22 says, and
Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. There was going to be a wedding.
Laban obviously did that which was customary. There's going
to be a wedding feast. And he's going to invite all
the kindred neighbors for the celebration. And this marriage
is going to take place is going to be honorable, solemn. It's going to be public. Our Lord attended a wedding feast. He gave his approval upon the
feast Cana of Galilee, the wedding where he turned water into wine. So all the preparations of this
wedding is taking place. And the scriptures say in verses
23-25, And it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah,
his daughter, and brought her to him, to Jacob. I read where in that time the
wife-to-be would wear a veil, so it was very understandable
that she would come in with a veil on. Brought her in, 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. He said to Laban, what is this
thou hast done unto me? Did not I serve with thee for
Rachel? Wherefore then hast thou beguiled
me? Now, here we behold something
that obviously would seem to be, humanly speaking, totally
unfair. The question is this, did not
Jacob do exactly what he said he was going to do? Yes. Worked
seven years. He did that which he promised
he was going to do. And did he not tell Laban the
daughter that he preferred up front? that he preferred the
daughter of Jacob's affection. He wanted Rachel. And was Rachel's not name, her
name that means you, a lamb, a sheep, a beautiful picture
type of the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that The
Lord Jesus is everlastingly loved. The bride that was chosen by
the Father in Christ. This bride whose names have been
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
Those for whom Christ has stood eternally as the surety. Those, the bride that the Spirit
will surely call, lead, seal, teach, comfort. Weren't these
truths, truths concerning Jacob telling
Laban, I want Rachel. Rachel is who I'm working for,
Rachel. It was very clear. And all of
these divine truths that I was just talking about, the eternal
love of God Almighty for the bride, The agreement, in covenant
agreement, the Father chose, the Son redeemed, the Spirit
will absolutely call out, regenerate. Weren't all this, this was, David
said, this is all my salvation. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Now listen to this, ordered in
all things and sure. There was no mistaking. who Jacob
desired. He wanted Rachel. But he woke up the next morning
and it was Leah. Leah was there. Tender-eyed Leah. Weak-eyed Leah. The one that
didn't possess the beauty in the eyes of Jacob as Rachel did. There was something, though,
that needed to be addressed, something that was set forth
in type and picture by Laban's answer to Jacob's inquiry as
to why he didn't have Rachel first. He woke up the next morning
and it was Leah, the firstborn. And the scripture says in verse
26, Whenever Jacob had asked him in verse 25, wherefore then
hast thou beguiled me? In verse 26, and Laban said,
it must not be so done in our country, in our place, to give
the younger before the firstborn. Now that may have been in that
country. Spirit of God didn't say anything
concerning that being accustomed didn't refute it. But I want
to look past whatever the custom was. I want us to look concerning
the gospel of God's grace. What is set forth here? It must
not be so done in our country to give the younger before the
firstborn. There was something that stood
in the way of Jacob having Rachel. the second daughter before the
firstborn Leah. Leah, according to Laban, was
the one who had to be married first, joined to first before
the second daughter, Rachel, could freely be married. And
what was the issue? What was the issue? Leah was
a type and picture of mankind which fell in Adam's transgression. She was, according to verse 17,
tender-eyed sister. Went back to look and see what
that was again, tender-eyed. Between Blue Letter Bible and
Strong's Concordance, weak of heart, tender-eyed of mental
or spiritual qualities, faint-hearted, an eye by analogy of affliction,
outward appearance. That's what it meant, tender-eyed.
She wasn't beautiful as Rachel was in the sight of Jacob. Her visage seemed to describe
man's spiritual condition from the fall. Leah was the first
sister, a type of the first man, Adam. And what was the first
man Adam's problem? What happened? The problem was
that he was spiritually weak to obey God, to keep the law. God Almighty gave Adam a law
that he was to adhere to in the garden that he might live. And
here's the law. You can eat of all the fruit
of all the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. you shall not eat of it,
for the day you eat of it, you will surely die. And when Adam ate of that fruit,
he died spiritually, and everybody that would ever come from him,
which is everybody that would ever come from him, died spiritually
too. And they come forth from their
mother's womb, spiritually dead sinners. God sent his law through Moses,
told your place to turn to Leviticus 18. Leviticus 18. Leviticus 18,
verses 4-5. Leviticus 18, 4-5, here's the
law. Leviticus 18, 4-5, you shall do my judgments. keep mine ordinances to walk
therein. I am the Lord your God. You shall
therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man
do, he shall live in them. I am the Lord. But while life
is promised for obedience to God, man from the garden, man
from the beginning is hindered by sin He's dead. He can't keep the law. He can't keep the law. Sin has
ruined mankind. There's no problem. Turn with
me to Romans 8. Romans 8. There's no problem
with the law. The law is not the problem. The law is good. The law is holy. The law is just. It's right. It's right. I said
before, what's wrong with thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart? What's wrong with thou shalt
not envy, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not, what's wrong
with that? Nothing, nothing. You know what the problem is?
Me and you, we're the problem. Scripture says in Romans 8, three
and four, for what the law could not do in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but after the spirit. So man couldn't keep God's law
because men are, born in Adam, sinners against God. So here's
the problem. Jacob is a type of Christ and
he loves Rachel. He loves Rachel as the Lord Jesus
Christ loves his bride. But Rachel can't be married to
Jacob until an obligation has been taken care of. We got a
problem. Leah is a type of man's inability
to keep the law. Leah is a type of all of the
Lord's beloved bride bruised in the fall. Those who are born,
the whole head's sick, the whole heart is faint. Isaiah 1, 6. And the issue is going to have
to be addressed first. I want Leah, but there's a problem. Leah was born spiritually dead. That's the picture. She came
from the same blood before she could be married to Jacob. It must not be so. It can't be
so that the second is married before the first one's satisfied.
God's law is gonna have to be honored first. The Lord loves
his bride. He's always loved her. She's
always been chosen to him. She's always been the apple of
his affection. She's always been ravished by
one of her eyes. But she's a sinner. He can't have her and bring her
to glory in that condition. He can't do it. No. Flesh and
blood are not going to inherit the kingdom of God. Sin's going
to have to be taken care of. Here's Rachel, which is a picture
of the bride. It's a picture of the bride of
Christ. All in the mass of humanity,
there's a bride in there. Rachel's found in it. But she's
like them all. We were all born rebels against
God. We were all children of wrath,
even as others. We're just like them all. There's
no difference in us. It's gonna have to be settling. He said it must not be done in
our country to give the younger before the firstborn. Jacob is
going to have Rachel. Jacob is gonna have Rachel for
his wife. But not before he joins himself to Leah. Not before he
marries Leah. Not before he comes one with
Leah. Christ came in the form, in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He knew no sin, but
he was made sin. He joined himself. Leah, picture
of that, fall in Adam's transgression, the law, not being honored, the
law broken, she's gonna have to be satisfied. God's just,
he's a just God. Leah pictures our inability to
keep the law of death that we incurred by that disobedience.
And look what it says in verse 24. He woke up, before he woke
up, the scripture says in verse 24, Laban gave unto his daughter
Leah Zilpah, his maid for a handmaid. Now here's our, Here's an amazing
thing, Zilpa. Her name means trickling or dropping
as myrrh. Myrrh in the scriptures, I found
out, had two main usages. Myrrh, it was a fragrant, perfumed,
sap-like resin used as an ingredient in the anointing oil for consecrating
the priest, the tabernacle, and kings. It was one of the gifts
brought by the three wise men when the Lord, our great high
priest, our tabernacle of safety and
peace, and our king, he who is the king of kings and Lord of
lords, when he was born, of a virgin in this world, the three wise
men came and they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Myrrh. A perfumed resin. But it was something else that
that myrrh was used for, I found out. Turn with me to John, the
gospel according to John chapter 19. John 19. It was also an ointment that was used to
anoint a body, one that had died. The scripture says in John chapter
19 in verse 38 to 40, Nicodemus did something that was amazingly
revealing. John 19 Verse 38, and after this,
Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear
of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. He therefore, he came
therefore and took the body of Jesus, and there came also Nicodemus,
which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture
of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight, whenever the Lord
laid down his life for the sheep. Joseph of Arimathea came and
asked leave of the body. But a man named Nicodemus, the
one that came and talked to the Lord, John chapter 3, he came
and anointed the body of the Lord Jesus Christ with myrrh
and aloes. That myrrh now, it was a sweet
had the fragrance, it had a sweet smell to it. And it was an ointment
that would anoint the bodies of those that had passed. But
here's shown as the Lord when he laid down his life. The scripture
declares that when he laid down his life for the satisfaction
of God's law, the paying of the bride's debt before the law,
his death was a sweet savor. His death was a sweet savor unto
the Father. When he united himself in picture
and type, when Jacob united himself to Leah, he had to marry her
first. He had to be united to her first.
He had to be joined to her first and satisfy that custom We have
a custom. We've got a law. You can't do
that like that. You can't have a second without
the first being satisfied. Hold your place there in Genesis.
Turn back to Genesis 8. Genesis 8. Genesis chapter 8. God had looked upon all mankind. He saw that every thought of
man was evil continually. And he repented him that he had
made mankind. I'm going to destroy man. But Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. God told Noah, build an ark.
That ark, you know, was a picture of Christ. That ark set forth
safety and deliverance and rescue from damnation, condemnation. At the outpouring of that rain
that was coming, God told Noah, you and your wife and your boys
and their wives and the animals, you get in the boat, you get
in the ark. And God closed the door. They were in that ark.
A picture of being in Christ. And the wrath of God fell upon
the earth. And everybody and everything
that was not in that ark perished. Perished. Why? Because man is
a sinner and God's just and He's going to pour out wrath where
sin is found. God's going to deal with it.
He's going to deal with it. The scripture says Genesis chapter
8, verse 15 to 22. Okay, the waters began to sway. God spake unto Moses, saying,
Go forth from the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons, thy sons'
wives, with thee. Bring forth with thee every living
thing that's with thee of all flesh, both fowl and of cattle,
and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, that
they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful and
multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his
sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him. Every beast,
every creeping thing, every fowl that whatsoever creepeth upon
the earth after their kinds went forth out of the ark. And Noah
built in an altar unto the Lord, and took every clean beast of
every clean fowl, offered burnt offerings on the altar, and the
Lord smelled a sweet savor. And the Lord said in his heart,
I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the
imagination of man's heart's evil. from his youth, neither
will I again smite any more everything living as I have done. That sacrifice,
that burnt offering, that was a sweet-smelling savor unto God. It pictured the satisfaction
of God's law by the sacrifice of his son, the Ark. The ark
bore the wrath. The ark bore under the wrath. And all in him, when Christ was
crucified, Paul said, I was crucified with him. Just as Noah was in
that ark, Paul said, I was in him when he died. I was in him. I was there at the cross with
him. And every believer was too. But old brother Scott used to
say, where God puts a man, that's where he keeps a man. Aren't
you glad? Aren't you glad there was never
a time we weren't in him? Oh, raise his name. Jacob served
seven years. Which pictured Christ finishing
the work of redemption. He did it for the love that he
had for his bride. Knowing Jacob's love for Rachel.
Having actually served the first seven years. He did it to satisfy
the requirement that the first, the first be married first. The Lord Jesus Christ, he came
into this world and made himself answerable. He made himself answerable. He was made of a woman, made
under the law. I will bear all the responsibility
You know what my responsibility, you know who my responsibility
is as a husband, is in this room. There's somebody in this room
that I have the responsibility to be a husband. Her. Only her. Only her. No one else. No one else. It's her. He was
made of a woman. He was made under the law for
his bride. He was made a curse that we might
be delivered from the curse of the law. He was made a curse
for us. So he came and he married Leah. That's who he married. He married
Leah. He was married to her. And the
scripture says, after Laban told him in 26, it must not be so
done in our country to give the 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. What he said to her, we've got
a feast here. There's a feast, a prayer and
a feast. It was a week. It was a week's feast in honor
of that marriage that was to be. A week for a feast. A feast that celebrated the truthfulness
and the honor and the dignity of the wedding that was taking
place. And Laban brought him Leah. And the wedding was right. And it was honorable. It honored
God Almighty. It honored Him. It was a picture
of what it took for Jacob to have Rachel. What it took for
the Lord Jesus Christ to have His bride. and to have his bride
clean and without spot. She was born into this world,
polluted. But that's not the way she's
going to be. He's going to take her pollution. What was pictured
when he took Leah, the weak-eyed one, the tender-eyed one, married
himself to her, honored the law, and fulfilled her week. The law
was truly satisfied by the Lord Jesus for his bride. because
he was united to our nature. That week, which was fulfilled
for Leah, it was just a short time. It was a short time. It was just a week, but oh, it
pictured the days of his humiliation upon this earth. Three and a
half years, three and a half years on this earth and satisfied
the law that he would eternally be with his bride. And she's
having no spot, no wrinkle, or any such thing. One week, that's
what Laban asked him. You fulfill her one week. Show
that this is honorable. This is not an old, we're not
calling this thing off. This is an honorable marriage.
Jacob said, I'll do it. I'll do it. 28, Jacob did so. and fulfilled
her week. And Laban 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 he loved. He loved also Rachel more than
Leah, served with him yet seven other years. Laban gave Jacob
Rachel, his daughter, also. Also. Also. He married two women there, you
know. Christ, he honored the law. That he might marry his
bride. No record of him ever complaining. He didn't complain. He said,
Laban said to him, he said, can't be so. Not in our country. You can't have a second before
First, you fulfill, verse 27, fulfill her wheat, I'll give
it. And Jacob did so, verse 28, Jacob did so. Oh, I think about
the Lord Jesus Christ, when it was coming to that time for him
to fulfill the purchasing of his bride. That's what he was
doing, that's what Jacob was doing. Scripture says, who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross. Jacob gonna
have to serve seven more years now. Seven years for the right
to marry Leah, though he thought it was gonna be Rachel. Of course,
but you know the Lord, the Lord knows all things. This is a picture,
but look what it's picturing. What it took to fulfill the law
is what it takes to save his people from their sins and have
them with him eternally. It takes the power of God. Seven
years, seven years, same price. Christ's obedience, Christ's
sovereignty, God's power and love. Oh, scripture says forth,
he was made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law that we might receive the adoption of his sons. According
to the command, the requirement of that place, the scripture
says Jacob did that which was required. And Laban gave Rachel
his own handmaid, her bondservant. Bilhah was her name. You know
what her name means? Troubled. Troubled. I said, troubled? Yeah. As a fit type and promise given
to all God's people. And in this life, in this world,
we're gonna have trials and tribulations They're going to be sent from
the hand of him who loves his own, who's married to her. Christ
who is married to his people. The scripture says that these
trials and chastisements that are sent from him are sent from
the one who loves us to draw us back to himself. He knows
how to draw us. He knows how to prove to us his
love for us. He said, I'm not going to leave
you. I'm not going to forsake you. And he knows exactly how
to prove it. I pray that the Lord bless these
words to our heart and to show us what it took for God Almighty
to have his bride redeemed and brought back himself. He was
going to have to come into this world and unite himself. to his people in the form of
sinful flesh and honor the law that the bride couldn't honor,
that he might have her establish her righteousness and impute
his righteousness to her. May the Lord bless it to our
hearts for Christ's sake.