Turn to Genesis, Genesis chapter
30. Genesis chapter 30. I titled this lesson, and there could have been a lot
of titles. I could have titled it Days of Our Lives, a paid
place. You're talking about a soap opera.
You're going to get one this morning. But I titled it, The
Grace of God and the Lives of His People. And we will see this
in Genesis 30 and the latter part of Genesis 29 and Genesis
30. Believers are sinners saved by grace. That's what they are. They're
sinners saved by grace. We never rise above being sinners
in need of mercy. If we ever start to rise above
that, the Lord lets us know that no, you're still just a sinner
in need of my mercy, in need of my grace. Believers have been
born of God. They have a new heart. A new
spirit, yet they're still sinners. Still sinners. And we see this
all through the word of God. We see it in Abraham, Noah. He gets off the ark. God saves
him from this flood. What's the first thing he does?
He gets off the ark, grows a vineyard, and gets drunk. That's not written so you and
I would be encouraged in doing anything. The Bible never encourages
us in sin, but it does encourage us in the grace of God. David,
what the Lord allowed David to do, Abraham, Jacob here. We see it all through the Word
of God. And all through this, all through
the failings of God's people, God's purpose is being accomplished. God's purpose is never stopped.
It's never stopped. It's being accomplished. God
rules and He overrules our sinfulness for His glory, to accomplish
His purpose, and for our good. are good. God tried Job and put him through
what he put him through. At the end of that, Job said,
By the hearing of the ear, I have heard of thee, but now mine eyes
seeth thee, and I abhor myself, and sackcloth and ashes. Now we're gonna look at this
chapter, a good portion of the chapter anyway. And I tell you,
Hollywood could not have written a better soap opera than what
we have here. This is a mess. This is a mess. But I thank God for the scripture
that says where sin abounded, Grace doth much more abound."
We can appreciate that scripture as we grow older, can't we? All
of you who have grown older in the Lord, you appreciate those
scriptures. We're sin abounded. It seems
to abound in me. I'm telling you, it just seems
to abound in me. But we're sin abounded. Grace
doth much more abound. Now, we know back in the previous
chapters, Jacob deceived his father, trying to make him think he's
Esau, so he would get the birthright. And here, Jacob gets a taste
of his own medicine. He gets a taste of his own medicine. He's working seven years for
Rachel, and he wakes up on his wedding morning, his honeymoon
night, and there's Leah. There's Leah. The deceiver got
deceived. What's that old adage, what goes
around comes around? He got it, he got it. But there's
a lesson in this, and it's not, I'm not saying it's, just to
be humorous. But the lesson is turn the light
on. If the light had been on, he wouldn't have been deceived,
would he? We cannot be deceived in the
light. If we walk in the light, as children of light, we can't
be deceived. You see, what Jacob did to his
father was darkness. Now that was a dark deception
he did. And Isaac, being blind, couldn't
see Jacob. And that was darkness to him. Look over in John chapter 11. John chapter 11. In John chapter 11, look at verse 9. Jesus answered, Are there not
twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he
stumbles not, because he seeth the light of this world. But
if a man walk in the night, he stumbles, because there's no
light in him. You and I are children of light.
We're children of light. We don't walk in darkness. Jacob
and what he was doing was darkness. And now he got a taste of his
own medicine. He got a taste of his own medicine. Now what we end up with here
in chapter 30, and I'm going to look back in chapter 29, but
what we end up with here is a messed up household. a messed up household. But it was God's household. It
was God's household. Now the Lord is saying back in
chapter 29, I just want to make some observations here. And when the Lord saw that Leah
was hated, you know back in the previous verse, let me see here. It says in verse 30, and he went
in also unto Rachel, that is Jacob did, and he loved also
Rachel more than he loved Leah. But now, when Moses writes this,
and he talks about it from where the Lord sees it, you see, God
sees the heart. He says, and when the Lord saw
that Leah was hated, that ought not to be. When I read that,
I thought, how sad. How sad to live in a household
where you're hated, unloved. That to me, I don't know, I just
can't even conceive of having to live like that. And it says,
she was hated, and the Lord saw that. He sees our affliction.
He sees the affliction of His people. And He sees this affliction,
and He opened her womb. Now there may be various reasons
why a woman cannot bear children. You know, fertility problems,
one reason or another. But now the word of God puts
it very clear to us. Life is of God. Children are
not just born. God either opens the womb or
he closes it. Now that's why it's written in
the scriptures, he either opens the womb or he closes it. No
one comes into this world by accident. No one. But the Lord sees that she's
hated and he says, open her womb. But Rachel was barren. The Lord closed hers. He's closed
hers. And he blesses Leah here. And
I want you to notice something. I want to see if something jumps
out at you here. Let me read these few verses. And Leah conceived
and bare a son. She called his name Reuben. That
is, see, a son. I have a son. You know, the Hebrew
women back in that day, they were well aware of the seed of
the woman. They were well aware that the
Messiah was going to come through. through them. And they wanted
a son. This might be the Messiah. Remember
when Eve had her first one or she said, I have gotten the man
from the Lord. And she thought, I believe she
thought that was it. He was the seed and it wasn't.
The Lord Jesus Christ is deceived, we know that. But she says here,
I've gotten earlier conceived a bare son, and she called his
name Reuben. For she says, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my
affliction. Now therefore my husband will
love me. And she conceived again a bare
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 bear
a son, and said, Now this time will my husband be joined to
me, because I have borne 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
she called his name Judah, and left bearing." There's two names
there that just jump out at me. Levi. That's the priestly tribe. That's the tribe where the priesthood
came from. Judah. That's the tribe the Lord Jesus
Christ came from. He came from the one that was
hated. He's called the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. And Judah was a son of Leah. And she's the one that was loveless. No, she's the one that was hated.
God's ways are far above our ways, isn't it? It's far above
our ways. Now it's really gonna get fired
up here. And when Rachel saw that she
bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. How evil,
I'm telling you, how evil it is for you and I to envy one
another because God has blessed you or God has blessed me. You and I should rejoice if God
blesses anyone in this congregation, any brother or sister, we ought
to rejoice and not be envious and upset that I didn't get it. I should rejoice that God blesses
you. You should rejoice if God blesses
me." But here she envied her sister. She envied her and said to Jacob,
give me children or else I die. She, instead of turning to the
Lord, here's a lesson, instead of turning to the Lord with this
problem of being barren, not being able to have children,
instead of turning to the Lord, she turned to Jacob. She turned
to Jacob, she turned on Jacob. She turned on him. Well, Mrs. Beautiful became ugly. You know,
when Jacob saw her, she was beautiful. Now she's not. Now she's not. She's being really ugly now. And she says to give me children. Or else I die. And Jacob, well
listen, and Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel. I wouldn't
want to be in the house that day. You wouldn't want to be
in the house that day. There's a fight going on, feud
going on here. And Jacob's anger was kindled
against Rachel and he said, am I in God's, am I God? You're talking about life. I
can't give life. Your problem, you need to take
it up with the Lord. That's what he said. You need
to take it up with God. I'm not God. I cannot give life. Life comes from God. And he was
angry with me. He said, am I in God's stead
who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? God's done
this. God's done that. He's turning
her attention in the right direction. He's turning her to the Lord.
You need to turn to Him and talk to Him about this matter. He's
saying, it's not my problem. The Lord has closed your womb
up. They recognize that life and
birth came from the Lord. Now, does she do that? Does she
apologize? Does she say, Jacob, I know,
I lost it here. You know what she does? She said,
behold my maid, Billa, go into her and she shall bear upon my
knees that I may also have children. This thing just keeps getting
worse. It just keeps getting worse. What she does, and what
they both end up doing, is they start throwing their handmaids
at Jacob. And old Jacob, he don't stop
it either. He just says, okay. And they have more children.
And she gave him Billa, and Jacob went into her, and Billa conceded
and bared Jacob a son, and Rachel said, God hath judged me and
hath also heard my voice. Now, she thinks God has judged
her in a good way, but, I mean, this thing's a mess. And he's
given me a son. Therefore calls she his name
Dan." Well, not really. That son is Billa's son. That's
Billa's son, the handmaid. And Rachel's Mae conceived again. Jacob went into her again and
bared Jacob a second son. This scheme just keeps right
on going. It just keeps going. And Rachel said, with great wrestlings
have I wrestled with my sister and I prevailed. No, you haven't.
No, you haven't. We never prevail in sin. We never
take sinful matters and sinful ways, sinful methods, and prevail. We don't do it. Now she called
his name Naphtali. And when Leah saw that she had
left barren, she took Zilphah, her maid, and gave her to Jacob,
the wife. She said, Oh, you think I can't match that? I mean, this is a mess. She says,
Zilpha, come here a minute. I'll show him. Go into Jacob. And Zilpha, Leah's maid, bared
Jacob a son. See, Jacob doesn't stop, he doesn't
stop any of this. He doesn't say, look, you two
ladies get in here. You two, get in here. Let's stop
this right now. I mean, there's a war going on
here. a war of the flesh, and yet God is accomplishing his
purpose. He's accomplishing his purpose.
And Leah said, a troop cometh, and she called his name Gad.
Now we could go through just these names and what they mean
and have a message. And Zilph and Leah's made bare
Jacob a second son, and Leah said, happy am I, for the daughters
will call me blessed. And she called his name Asher. And then Reuben, he went in to
the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field
and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah,
give me, I pray thee, of thy mandrakes. And she said unto
her, is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? Polygamy,
let me say, polygamy never works. God Almighty never instituted
polygamy. It was always a husband and a
wife. Now, God allowed it. He overruled. And He accomplished His purpose.
But it was never right. It was always a mess. Why did
Solomon live? What, 700 wives? How wise is
that? And he was the wisest man except
for the Lord Jesus Christ. And he had 700 wives. Listen,
he built shrines and let them worship their other gods. What
a mess that turned out to be. Well, anyway, here, and she said
unto her, is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband,
and wouldst thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel
said, therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's
mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field
in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, thou
must come to me tonight, I hired you. Good night. Like a prostitute. I paid for you tonight, you come
to me. and he lay with her that night.
Now, Rachel goes out and she says, you can have my husband
tonight for the mandrakes. A mandrake was a flower. It was
an aphrodisiac. It was thought to be. And it
was thought to be a fertility drug. It was a flower and they
would turn it into like some kind of potion and it had supposedly
made the women fertile. And it's supposed to be like
a love drug. And she traded her that night.
She said, look, Ruben went out and found these in the field.
And she said, I'll tell you what, you can have Jacob tonight if
you'll just let me have some of those. Because she was figuring
on later on down the road, Jacob would come back to her and she's
going to get pregnant. And it's a mess. It's just a mess. But I'm going somewhere with
this mess. I'm going somewhere with it. Well, Jacob, he hearkened unto
Leah and he went into her. He hearkened unto Leah. She conceived
and she bared the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given
me my heir because I have given my maiden to my husband. And
she called his name Issachar. That means a heir. And Leah conceived
again and bared Jacob the sixth son. She had six sons. And Leah
said, God hath endued me with a good dowry. Now will my husband
dwell with me because I have borne him six sons. And she called
his name Zebulun. And afterwards she bared a daughter
and called her name Dinah. And we'll see later that she
was raped. And then we'll see that here
in another chapter or two. And she called him, now, and
she conceived him. Let me go back here, verse 22.
And God remembered Rachel. And all this mess going on, God
remembered Rachel. God hearkened to her. Evidently
she had finally called upon the Lord over this matter. And God opened her womb. And she conceived and bear a
son and said, God has taken away my reproach. And she called his
name Joseph. Joseph, this is the one who was
a real picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and said, the Lord shall
add to me another son. And of course later on she had
Benjamin and she died giving birth to Benjamin. Now what's all this? I mean,
what can we get out of all this? Other than the fact we're a mess.
We're all a mess. Here's what I get out of this.
It was evident that Jacob's salvation was all of grace. It was all
of grace. He was a mess, his family was
a mess, just as we are a mess. But grace put Jacob in the number
of the Savior's family, just like it has some of us. It's
evident that salvation is all of grace. As I mentioned about
Noah, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and then the
Lord did a work of grace in Noah. Look over in Romans chapter 11. In Romans 11, let me see the
verse here. In 11 verse 5, Even so then,
at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. God chose Jacob. God chose some of you. There
are some others out in this world, other places, God chose. And
He chose them by grace. I don't see, I don't see a hair's
difference between Jacob and Esau. Do you? When Pharaoh and
Jacob met, he asked Jacob something about himself, and Jacob said,
I have not attained to the years of my father's. He said, mine
have been few days and full of evil. And Jacob, I believe, knew
that much of that he brought on himself. He brought that on
him. A lot of it he brought on himself. Salvation, all of grace, our
justification before God is all of grace. Look over in Titus
chapter 3. Titus chapter 3. In Titus chapter 3, look in verse
7. That being justified by His grace. The Lord did not justify me or
you because we deserved it. If we deserved it, He wouldn't
have to justify us. Being justified by His grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. chosen by grace, justified by
the grace of God, cleared of all charges, called by His grace. Paul said in Galatians 1.15,
When it pleased God who revealed His Son in me, He
called me by His grace. When it pleased God, He called
me by His grace. The call did not go out, and
you and I were of a better character, we
had more intelligence, and we answered the call while everyone
else sat there. Oh, it's by grace. He calleth
his sheep by name. He calls His sheep by name. He
calls them by grace. He calls them to Himself. Called by the unmerited favor
of God. We have been saved by grace,
for by grace have you been saved. For by faith have we been saved
through grace. That's not of yourself. That
faith is not of yourself. We've been saved by grace, we
are being saved by grace, and we shall be saved by grace. I
mean, if you look at the life of Jacob, what a mess, what a
mess. Jacob, have I loved, he changed
Jacob's name to Israel. He said, because as a prince,
you have power with God. It is by grace. It says over in Romans 11, 6
that it is by grace. If by grace, then it's no more
of works. Not one thing that you and I
will ever, ever, ever do will enter in to our salvation. Not one. Not one. We are kept
by the grace of God, and it is the grace of God that will bring
us home. God tells Joseph, look over in
the, go back to Genesis, go to Genesis 35. We'll skip just ahead just here
a second. What a mess this was. But here in Genesis 35, And God said to Jacob, Arise,
go up to Bethel and dwell there. Go back to the house of God and
dwell there. And make there an altar unto
God that appeared unto thee when thou fled from the face of Esau
thy brother. He was on the run. Jacob was
on the run. And out of all this mess, I mean,
what a messed up family. God appears to Jacob. He says,
go back to the house of God. Go back, go back. Go up to, up
to. God never rejected Jacob. He
never turned on Jacob. He never left him. I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. God's love, God's grace to Jacob
never wavered. Ours does. Our love will waver. You go back over there to Genesis
and there's Jacob and Rachel in the kitchen just going at
it. Where'd the love go? I mean, he served for seven years
and it seemed like but a few days for the love that he had
to her. Standing there in that house,
that probably seemed like forever before they were going to get
this thing settled. Where'd that love go? Where'd
it go? Where'd he go? He was so passionate. He worked 14 years for her. He
worked 14 years for Rachel. And here they stand just at each
other's throat. I'm gonna turn over to 2 Thessalonians
and I'll close with this. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God even our Father which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation and a good hope through grace. Brethren, if you have a really
good hope, and that good hope is the Lord Jesus Christ. As
Paul writes to Timothy, he speaks of Christ, Jesus Christ, our
hope. He's given it to you through
grace. And he will never, ever take
it away. Even though you and I are a mess.
A mess. When I read that though, I tell
you what, It just makes the grace of God and the love of God shine
like a diamond when you put it on a black cloth. You take that
diamond, you put it on a black cloth, and it just shines, it
just stands out. And you really see the grace
of God when you and I see what we are, not what we used to be. Not what we used to be. It's
what I am. It's what I am. I know what I
am. And yet, God's love and God's
grace never forsakes me. Never does. Alright.