Our Bible to the book of Genesis.
Chapter 29. Read the first 11 verses. Then Jacob went on his journey
and came to 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 laying by it. For out of that well they watered
the flocks, and a great stone was upon the well's mouth. And
there were all the flocks gathered, and they rolled the stone from
the well's mouth watered the sheep, and put the stone again
upon the whale's mouth in its place. And Jacob said unto them,
My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are ye.
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, for the cattle should be gathered
together. Water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. They said,
We cannot, until all the flock be gathered together. And until
they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, then we watered
the sheep. And while we 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, Jacob went near and
rolled the stone from the whale's mouth and watered the flock of
Laban his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted
up his voice and wept." I want to try to look at these verses
in two different ways this morning, just for a few minutes. Look
at it as a picture of a believer and a sinner as we walk through
this world. Jacob many times in the scriptures
pictures us. He's the one God set his love
on. He's that old surplanner. It
reminds us that we're just sons of Jacob. But it said here that
Jacob, as Jacob went on his journey, you remember he had to leave
his father's house because Esau told him, said, buddy, I'm going
to kill you. You stole the birthright from me. And then he left the
father's house and he winds up at Bethel. And he said, I didn't
know that God was in this place. And God revealed himself to Jacob.
Remember the story of the ladder that reached from heaven to earth,
a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, and God met him. And then I've
read from different writers, and I don't know how far it was
from Bethel to where he came to this place, but it said he
went on his journey. And this morning we're on a journey.
Our life is a journey. Let me give you a couple of scriptures.
Our Lord, when he sent out his twelve apostles to go preach,
and he said unto them, take nothing for your journey, neither stave
nor script, nor bread, neither money, neither have two coats
apiece. And you remember what it said about the prodigal son?
He gathered all together and he took his journey into a far
country. That's us. We are on the journey. a journey. But I want you to
see there in verse two. You just imagine Jacob. He's
on this journey. We don't know how far he's traveled.
And he looked and behold, a whale in a field. You know what is delightful for
somebody that's on a journey? A whale. And behold, A well. How did he come to this place?
Well, you go back and read the previous chapter, his mother,
Rebecca, told him about a well. You remember that when Abraham
in Genesis 24 sent his servant to get a bride, do you know where
that servant found Rebecca? At a well. And if you've been
at that well, and if you've drank from that well, you can tell
somebody else about the well. And he winds up and behold, he
says, there it is. Behold, that's the one my mama
told me about. She had been there. And you know what? God met Rebecca
at the well, and God meets his people at his well on this journey. Isn't it? You know how it is.
Our lives are just like roller coasters. Ain't they? It's a
journey. A journey. If you're thirsty, if your soul
is thirsty, you long for a well. And our Lord is pictured in the
scriptures as a well. Isaiah 12, 3, Therefore with
joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. Let
me tell you, God has dug and provided some wells for some
weary journeyers going through this world. He provided a well
back in the fifties in Fairmont, West Virginia. This is a well. He provided a well in Kingsport,
Tennessee, where there didn't used to be a well. To have a
well, somebody's got to dig the well. Isn't that right? Somebody. Go back and look at the life
of Isaac. You know what he was? He was somebody that dug wells.
He'd dig a well and they'd come throw dirt in it. He'd go dig
another well. And they came one day and they
said, Isaac, we found water. A well ain't nothing without
water. And I can tell you, I am thankful
that God provided a well in Cottageville, West Virginia. Those are God's
wells. Wells. If your soul has ever
been thirsty and longed, longed for water, you'll be grateful. You will be grateful when God
provides you with a well. They're not everywhere. They're
not. But in this text, I want you
to notice how many times it talks about sheep, flocks of sheep. You know what them sheep were
doing? You know what they were doing? They were gathered around
this well. Because they said somebody would come and take
the well off the mouth of that well. They'd take that stone
off and then they would water the sheep. Look in verse 8. And they said, we cannot until
all the flock be gathered. to gather. Gabe mentioned it
last night. Where two or three are gathered
to gather in his name, there is he in the midst. You didn't
gather yourself. Our Lord said, as a hen doth
gather her little biddies under her wings. That's how God gathers
his little sheep. He gathers them. You didn't gather
yourself. He brings his sheep to the well. He gathers them. He brings them. You didn't realize it, but he
gathered you. We're gathered here this morning. Isn't that
amazing? We're just little wandering sheep. You leave the sheep alone, you'll
see what it'll do. It won't find water. I can tell you that. That's
us. And it says that these sheep
gathered around this well were lying down. You know what they're
doing? They're resting. Is this not
picturesque? God leads us on our journey to
the well. And we just lie down and rest. Because everything I need is
in the well. David said, Lord is my shepherd,
I shall no more. He leadeth me beside distilled
waters and he restores my soul. Oh, for a cool drink of water.
David said, as the heart pangs after the water, my soul pangs
after thee. Our Lord stood up one day, that
great day of the feast, he stood up and he cried, is any man thirsty? Is anybody thirsty? Let him come
to me and drink. Let him come to me and drink.
Are you thirsty? Come and drink. But the main thing I want us
to look at is not how much it applies to us. But all these
stories in the Old Testament have an underlying theme, an
underlying message, and it is our responsibility to look for
that message. It's about somebody greater than
us. It's about somebody greater than Jacob. All these are pictures. All of them, some way, somewhere.
Somebody said, if you don't see Jesus or Christ in that text,
you keep looking and you wait for God to open up that scripture
to your heart until you do see him. He's there. He's there. It says here that he came on
his journey. You know why Jacob was on this
journey? His father sent him on this journey. He told him
to go to to this place and get him a bride. That's why he came. It wasn't no accident that Jacob
wound up here. He came on purpose. You know why? He's on the trail
of his sheep. He came to this world to find
his bride. It's what it says in John chapter
4, verse 3. You know the story. If you want
to know, you can. John chapter 4. It says, Our Lord, he left
Judea and departed into Galilee, verse three, and he must, needs
go through Samaria. He's got to go through Samaria.
Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near
to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
And Jacob dwells with it, was there. Now listen to these words,
listen to these words. Jesus therefore being weary. with his journey. What's that saying? He's a man
subject to like passions as well. He was weary with his journey. And his journey took him through
Samaria. And he sat thus on the well,
and it was about the sixth hour, and there cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. And Jesus said unto her, Give
me to drink. For his disciples were gone away into the city
to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it
that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman
of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. Jesus said unto her, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,
Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would
have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence
then hast thou that living water? Are thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whoso drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whoso
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up unto everlasting life." This is our Jacob. This is our Lord. Back to our
text. Here we see Jacob at this well,
and all these sheep are around this well. And you know what
they're waiting for? They're waiting for somebody
to take away the stone from the well's mouth and water the sheep. Listen to me. Our Lord, the great
shepherd of his sheep, is the one and the only one who can
open his well and give you water. This book is a closed book, isn't
it? This is the well, the water of
life. It tells us about our Lord and
our master, but he's the only one that can open it up. Remember those walking on the
road to the Met that day? They knew the scriptures. Our
Lord had taught them the scriptures, but their heart was heavy and
they could not comprehend it. And he actually walks along with
them and they don't even recognize him. And he tells them, shows
them from Moses and the prophets, all those scriptures, how they
spoke of him. And they still don't understand.
They still don't see. They go to the house and he goes
in there and sits down. Now, who do you think that this
man is? They still don't know. And it
says, and it came to pass, now listen, as he said it meet with
them, he took bread and break it and blessed it and he gave
it to them and their eyes were opened and they knew him. And he vanished
out of their sight. And they said one to another,
did not our hearts burn within us? as he talked with us by the
way and while he opened unto us the scripture. We come like
little sheep. We come to the well. We lay down
and we sit and wait for somebody to open it up to our understanding. I don't care how gifted a man
is, he's just a man. It takes God Almighty speaking
to your And needs what? He opens the well. And when he
opens the well, you know what sheep do? They drink. Isn't that so funny? And you can't make him open the
well. Because Jacob said, what are y'all doing here? He said,
we're waiting for somebody to take the stone away and open
the well. Many times our Lord is in our
midst and we don't even know it. There was another time at
a well in Genesis 21 verse 14. When Abraham sent out Hagar and
says Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took bread
and a bottle of water and he gave it into Hagar putting it
on her shoulders and the child and he sent him away and she
departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba and the
water was spent in the bottle and she cast the child Ishmael
under a bush and she went and sat down over against him a good
ways off as it was a bow shot for she said, let me not see
the death of this child. You just picture that. And she
said over against him and she lifted up her voice and went
up and God heard the voice of the lad. They don't list anything
that he said, but he said, I heard the voice of the lad and the
angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven. And said unto
her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard
the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and
hold him in thy hand, for I will make him a great nation. And
listen to this, And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well
of water." I think it was there all the time. She couldn't see
it until God opened her eyes. And when God ever opens your
eyes, and reveals himself to you, you'll see the well. And she went and took water and
drank. Till God opens your eyes, you
cannot see it comes by divine revelation. My advice to you is if you're
spiritually thirsty, sit by the well and wait for God's shepherd
to open that well for you to drink. Let me tell you, it was at this
well where Jacob met Rachel. That's where he met his bride. Like I said, that's where he
met, the servant met, Rebecca, the bride. That's where Moses
met Jethro's daughter. Where? At the well. Where did
you meet the woman that's to marry you? At the well. Where
does God meet sinners? I'll tell you, it's at the well.
You know how the word describes false prophets, they are wells
without water. It is useless. It is a false
refuge of lies. But God's creatures point you
to the well, and they say, just sit down and just wait. Maybe
he'll open the well. He's the only one that can. But
man, if he ever opens that well, you'll drink. You'll get so thirsty. Your mouth will come so dry. One time David, sitting in the
cave of Dolem, an outcast, he's the anointed chosen king. He's
from Bethlehem. That's where David was born.
And that's where the true king was born, in the house of bread. And he longed and said, oh, that
one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem. He drank from that well as a
boy. And now the Philistines are in that place, and he can't
go, but he longed for a drink of water from that well. You know what his mighty men
did? They got up and went and got him some water. You know why? Because they loved
their king. And when they brought the water
back, he wouldn't even drink it. He said, I'm not worthy, and
he poured out his drink offering to the Lord. God enable us to be thankful
and grateful for the wells that our Lord has provided. May God enable us in this journey
to behold a well in a field.