Let's read all of these verses. Genesis 29 and 21. Jacob said
unto Laban, his future father-in-law, Give me my wife, for my days
are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. That's Rachel. Laban gathered together all the
men of the place and made a feast. It came to pass in the evening
that Laban took Leah, his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and
he went unto her. Laban gave unto his daughter
Leah a zilpah he had made for a handmaid. And it came to pass
that in the morning, behold, it was Leah. And Jacob 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? Laban said it must not be so
done in our country to give the younger before the firstborn.
Fulfill her week, and we will give this also, your request
for the service which thou shalt serve me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so and fulfilled
her week, Leah, and Laban gave Rachel, his daughter, to wife
also. Rachel, his daughter, Bilhah,
his handmaid, to be her maid. And Jacob went in also unto Rachel,
and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with Laban
yet seven other years. And when the Lord saw that Leah
was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah
conceived and bare 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.' She conceived again and
bare a son, and said, Behold, 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 have borne him three sons. Therefore was his
name called Levi, or joined. And she conceived again and bare
a son, and she said, Now will I praise the Lord. Therefore
she called his name Judah and left bearing." There's so much
here, it's too much to take in in just about 30 minutes. There's
an actual story here, a literal story of Jacob and his father-in-law
and Rachel and Leah. And then there's a spiritual
story, a gospel story. Look at the first story first,
the factual, and there's lessons to be learned here. Jacob is
a picture of every child of God. Jacob was loved by God, he was
chosen by God, taught of God, but he's a sinner. He's a sinner. Born a sinner, he always will
be a sinner. His name means deceiver, doesn't
it? And that's what he did. Do you remember how he schemed
against his brother for the birthright? Esau sold it. Esau willingly
sold it. But Jacob schemed for it. And
he didn't wait on the Lord. He plotted and schemed. He deceived
his father also. Remember that? Again, he should
have waited on the Lord, but he didn't. And you know all that
was in the Lord's purpose at the gospel store. But the fact
is, Jacob's a sinner and he's a deceiver. That's his name.
And he even deceived himself. You've got to be very deceitful
to deceive yourself, don't you? And we do the same thing. We
justify ourselves when we're guilty. And on and on it goes. And we justify our wrong actions
when we don't wait on the Lord. And the Lord's going to teach
Jacob. some hard lessons in life, and he's going to learn them
the hard way through trials and troubles that he brings on himself. But the Lord is going to do it
for his good. And it's the same with us. Whom
the Lord loves, he chastens. Why? Because of our sin. That's why. That's because. In
verses 21 through 25, his father-in-law deceived him. And he said, why
have you done this to me? I can't believe you've done this
to me. Boy, he quickly forgot that. Forgot what he was. Forgot what he'd done. To the
Lord first. Against thee, David said, and
thee only have I sinned. But against other people too.
And have we ever thought that? How could he or she do this to
me? How could they treat me like that? We quickly forget, don't
we, what we are and what we've done. There are lessons here,
and let me give you several things we learned here. A lesson in
sobriety, a lesson in modesty, a lesson in depravity, a lesson
in sovereignty. A lesson in sobriety. Marriage should be entered into
with great seriousness and sobriety, or that is, your eyes wide open. Your eyes wide open. Very few
people do that, especially when you're real young, you know,
you're just heads in the clouds and you're smitten with and taken
with this person and you're not thinking clearly. And apparently
Jacob, how could he be deceived like that? How could this happen?
He had a big feast the night before. Was he overcome with
wine? overcome with desire? Yeah, possibly. But you know, Jacob's 70 years
old at this time. Seventy. Surely a man of that
age had learned something. Surely he'd learned something
by then. No, he didn't. Lesson in sobriety. Seriousness. Especially, well, in everything. Be sober, Peter said. Serious. Marriage is a serious thing.
It's to be entered into with great seriousness and contemplation
and thinking very clearly about who you're going to be a lifelong
mate with. And don't be taken up with whatever
it may be. Seek the Lord's will. Are you
doing it for love? Lesson in modesty. Lesson in
modesty. The fact is, back then, the bed,
when two entered into a physical relationship,
they're married. They're married. There's no ceremony. There's no wedding ceremony.
There's no vows taken. But before the Lord, when two
become one, they're married. And anything else he calls fornication. And he strictly prohibits it.
Because it's the union. It's the marriage union. It's
what consummates love. And, you know, our Lord said,
I speak of, and the scripture says, I speak of great mystery.
I speak of Christ and his church. And when we're joined to him,
we can't be joined to anyone else. And when we go to be with
him, forever, that's the union, finally. And we're presented,
he says, as chaste virgins to the Lord. Don't give ourselves
to anyone else. So there's a lesson in modesty
here. Even before the law. The law is not written, but this
is an unwritten law that you don't do this until you're married. So that's the way it is. And
God will judge, he says. And his people are greatly chastened.
All right, here's a lesson in depravity. This is an actual
story here, and that's part of the reason the Lord gave it.
And I'm saving the best for last, but these things are needful.
A lesson in depravity. Jacob is overcome with whatever
his desire. Laban is full of deceitfulness. Laban has his own selfish desires
in mind. Someone said he's trying to get
rid of both his daughters, so they don't have to give him anything. He was a selfish man. He was
a trepidatious man. He deceived Jacob and both his
daughters. Leah, how deceitful can you get? This man was in love with her
sister, and she with him, we believe. How could she do this?
to her sister. That's what sinners do, don't
they? She's a sinner. Rachel, did Rachel not aware
of this? Sure she was. They were having
a feast for her and Jacob to get married. How can these things
happen? How can these people do all this?
Because they're a bunch of sinners, that's why. They're all born
in sin. In sin did my mother conceive
me. Oh, the exceeding sinfulness
of sin, Scripture said. The plans, the schemes, the lusts,
the desires of all sinners are, number one, against God and against
ourselves and against others. Our sins always cause great trouble,
pain, sorrow, anger, wrath, jealousy, division, hatred, don't they? Jacob and Laban Boy, they fell
out over this and it never healed. Leah and Rachel became jealous
of one another. It was a mess. You remember Abraham
and Sarah and Hagar and Ishmael and all that? Sinners all. That's what they all are. Well,
here's a lesson in sovereignty. What good can come out of any
of this? All this sin and wickedness.
God's not in this. Oh, no. I like what Thomas Watson
said. He said, God does not have a
hand in the sin where the action is, but He has the hand in the
action where the sin is. In other words, He doesn't make
people sin. They do it willingly. He lets
them go. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. The lot is cast into the lap.
I love this scripture. The lot is cast in the lap. Everybody
did what they schemed and planned and willed and wanted to do. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. If not, we're all in trouble,
aren't we? If the Lord doesn't use everything,
I mean, if the Lord doesn't overrule everything, we're all in a mess. We're in trouble. Our sins are
going to destroy us. We're sin abounded. Grace did
much more than that. All things work together for
good. Sin? You may not think it at the time. It looks like a mess. This looks
like a mess, doesn't it? This looks like an absolute mess
that no good can come out of all this. Well, here's a lesson
in sovereign grace and sovereign mercy. Through all of this sin
and lust and desire and adultery And in being jealousy, twelve
sons were born. The twelve tribes of Israel.
Sons of Jacob. Bilhah and Zilpah and these maids. And it got worse. It got worse. And you know, how could Leah... Here's a lesson in sovereign
mercy and grace. God's grace is sufficient. How
can Leah and Rachel ever get along after this? How can these
two sisters coexist together after what they've done to each
other? How? Grace is the only way. A brother offended is harder
won than a city, the Scripture says. Harder to win back than
a city. And you can't do it. With man,
it's impossible. But with God, it's going to take
the grace of God. And it's going to be a humbling
thing. for both people involved. And
here's the fact, we're born in sin, we're conceived in sin,
and you, you were dead in sin, children of wrath even as others,
walked according to the course of this world, did what you wanted
to do, but God. But God. I thought about the
Lord's family in Matthew 1. I told you about looking, getting
into my family tree, you know. And, you know, they don't report,
they don't report everything about your family members or
else you wouldn't include them in your tree. Murderers and thieves,
pilots, you know, your grandmothers, you don't know. You know, all
of my kin were Irish or Scotch, and they were the most heathen,
wild men. I mean, heathen. At any rate, our Lord's family
tree in Matthew 1, I went back and read it, has Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. Now, who was Abraham? Was he
a noble fellow? He was an idolater, a 75-year-old
idolater, heir of the Chaldeans, a heathen, born in Iraq. Go back and read the story of
Judah. Judah, he came from Leah. Judah
came from Leah. Judah, the story of Judah, that
his wife died and his daughter-in-law, Tamar. Tamar dressed up as a harlot
and Judah went into this harlot and had a child. These are in the Lord's family
tree. These are his kinfolk. He's numbered with the transgressors.
Rahab is in his tree. A harlot. A harlot. Rahab had
a boy. Rahab got married and had a boy. His name was Boaz. Bathsheba. Bathsheba. You know that story. She had a son, too. You know
what his name was? Can anything good come out of
this? It's all good. Temporarily, maybe not. Seemingly. To the eye, no. Much pain and sorrow and grief
and guilt and shame and sin against God and others and yourself,
but God. A lesson in sovereignty. And Manasseh. Manasseh was in
the Lord's family tree. The most wicked man ever. Can anything good come out of
this mess? Christ can. Why? Because He came into this
world to save sinners. And He proved that by choosing. He chose His family. If you could
choose your family, would you choose harlots, thieves, robbers? This is my grandmother, a harlot,
Rahab. The Lord did. To show us He didn't
come for the righteous. Came for sinners. Came for sinners. Are you in the Lord's family
true? If you're one of His own, you know what you are? Rahab,
Judah, David, Bathsheba. That's what you are. Right? Came to save sinners. He's numbered
with the transgressors. Can God bring good out of evil
and sin? He must. He must. Or our sins are going to destroy
us. Now here's the gospel story. Well, that was the gospel, wasn't
it? All right, here's a deeper lesson,
though, a spiritual lesson. Jacob represents Christ. Not
perfectly. No way a man can represent Christ
perfectly. But he represents the Lord Jesus
Christ and these two wives of his. Leah and Rachel represent
Jew and Gentile. He's married to Leah. That's
the firstborn. The Lord said, go to the Jew first. Our Lord loves Jacob, his people,
Jews, Gentiles. The elder shall serve the younger,
though. The Jew will serve the Gentile. The first shall be last. The
last first. Christ united himself to the
Jews first. He was a Jew. He came to the
Jews. He said, salvations of the Jews.
He came, he was born of Jewish parents. He was born in the land
of Israel. And he ministered to, all his
days, to the Jews. But that's not his only bride.
He has another wife that he must bring, and she's a Gentile. She's a Gentile. Romans 9, and
I don't have time to read all this, but let me just quickly
read it, something to you from Romans. The Israelites are the
ones who pertain to the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, the service of God, promises, whose are the
fathers, of whom is concerning the flesh Christ came. He is
over all, God and blessed forever. Amen. Children of the promise.
But like Leah, Jews were terrible sinners. Terrible sinners. And here in Genesis 29, verse
30, it says that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. And verse
31 says the Lord saw Leah was hated. He opened her womb. Romans 11 says, Has God cast
away his people? Does God hate the Jews? You know
all that's come upon the Jews? Who did that? God did. Why? Did they deserve it? Did the Jews deserve all that
it's coming for? Yes, they did. Yes, they did. The Jews said, kill him. They
sent God's Son. The Jews said, kill him. A woman
argued with me not long ago, said the Jews didn't kill Christ,
and I quoted her scripture, and she still didn't believe that.
I said, yes, they did. And in our next message, in Acts
chapter 2, it says, You men of Israel, hear these words. You,
with wicked hands, have taken and crucified the Lord of glory.
And all these things have come upon the Jews. But has God cast
away His people? Does God hate Jews? Oh, no. They
were His first love. He's not done with them until
the fullness of the Gentiles come in, whatever that means.
I'm not sure. No one is. But at any rate, And
it's the only sense in which the word love less, hate, people
use that, they use that with Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated, meaning he loved Esau less. That's not what that means.
Right here it does. We say, then are you the one
that interprets it? Are you the one to decide? No,
God doesn't. But if you look at the words, hate, Esau means
detest, despise. Utterly detest and despise. Same
word the Lord said, you'll be hated by all men for my name's
sake. They'll kill you. That's not loveless. That's hate. That's hate. They hated me without
a cause. Same word. Not loveless. But
right here it is. It seemed like Jacob hated Leah. He didn't hate Leah. But Rachel
was his first love. OK. So Jew and Gentile. All right. Now,
here's a better, not a better, but another lesson. Stay with
me a few more minutes. I believe this is a clearer type
here. I really do. This is good. Leah. Now, just
forget that last type, OK? Leah represents professors of
religion, not the true bride of Christ. Rachel represents
true love, the true wife of the Lord Jesus Christ. Leah was a
wife in name only. Jacob didn't love Leah. He loved
Rachel. Right? His covenant wasn't to
serve, to marry Leah. It was Rachel. Right? Right. His true love. Jacob loved
Rachel, not Leah. And he served Leah. He did. He was merciful to Leah.
And isn't the Lord merciful to all? Yes, He is. Well, He doesn't
love everybody. It's because the Lord is compassionate
to them. And His tender mercies are over all. And the rain falls
on the unjust like the dust. Don't confuse that for love.
Because whoever the Lord loves, They saved. They saved. Alright? Jacob loved Rachel,
not Liam. Jacob first saw Rachel, didn't
he? When he came into this land,
he was looking for his bride. And who did he find? Rachel. He set his eye on Rachel. His heart was set on Rachel. He foresaw Rachel whom he foreknew. He did predestination. He said,
this is going to be my bride. Long before she knew who he was,
he knew her. And he loved her. Fell in love
with her. And he's going to have her. And
he's going to serve her. Not Leah. He didn't come for
Leah. He came for Rachel. See the picture
here? And he proposed to marry Rachel,
not Leah. And his service was, and he lived
for Rachel, though Leah benefited from his service to him. And
like Jacob and Esau, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Rachel
have I loved, he said, Leah have I hated. Rachel was his true
bride, his true love, not Leah. Alright, here's a picture. Leah,
she wanted to be married. She wanted to be married to Jacob.
Okay? Not for love. She's not wanting
marriage for love. She's the firstborn. She doesn't
have a husband. She just wants to be married.
She's not in love with Jacob. So what's she going to do? She's going to scheme. She's
going to plot with her evil father. Her evil father schemed with
her. This is how you get the blessing.
We'll trick him into marrying you. It doesn't work that way,
does it? We'll trick him. The evil father.
Who's the evil father of unbelievers? Our Lord said, you're of your
father, the devil. And he's behind false religion. He's the one
that convinces everybody, if you make all these little schemes
and do all these little things, you'll con God into loving you. That if you produce a bunch of
fruit and do a lot of works, then He'll fall in love with
you. Oh no, you're not saved by works. You're saved by grace. You don't make Him love you.
He loves you first. They are schemed and tricked
like religious professors. They're going to let God. They're
going to choose God. They're going to accept Jesus. That's
satanic. Satan's behind that. Accept Jesus. That's not marriage. It's not love. It's not the true
bride of Christ. We're not united to Christ by
our decisions, by our will, by our works. We're not brought
to Christ by cunning, by deception, by trickery, by bribery. We're
brought by the sovereign power and Spirit of God. God who loves
us and will bring us to Christ and bring us to love Christ.
And we're brought by the Spirit of God, by the preaching of the
gospel. And as I said, Leah just wants a husband and what a husband
can give her. She's not in love with Jacob. Jacob and Rachel loved each other. He served seven years. Do you
reckon they were in love? She knows why he's there. And
every day they got to know each other. Don't you know? Seven
year courtship. They're in love. They're in love. Jacob loved her and Rachel loved
him. Not Leah. Leah's not in the picture. So she schemed. It's not going
to make him love you. And you may pretend to be his
wife, but you're not. You're not. And religion for
gain, religion for health and wealth, religion to make friends,
religion to find a husband or wife, religion for entertainment. That's false religion. True religion
is all about love. Love of God for His people and
the love of His people for Him, for Christ. Verse 31, and I close,
it says, When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her
womb, but Rachel was barren. Now isn't that significant? Rachel,
his true bride, was barren. But Leah, his illegitimate, or
not his bride, she has all kind of fruit. Like Sarah was barren. Like Rebecca
was barren. bride, like Hannah was barren,
like Elizabeth was barren, the true daughters of Abraham. And Leah thinks to win her husband's
affection by producing children. She kept saying that, didn't
she? If I have babies, he'll love me. That's not why he loves
you, if he does. Has that not happened before?
Young ladies get pregnant, and the young fellow doesn't love
her at all, and she thinks, well, if I get pregnant, he'll have
to marry me, and then he'll love me. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. And religious people
think they're works. We've done many wonderful works
in your name. I never knew you. Look at all we've done for you.
Look at all these converts we've produced for you. I never knew
you. They're not my children. Leah's
children were all bad, weren't they? They were all bad. Rachel
had two sons. She died. Oh, here's a good picture. She died giving birth to the
last one, Benjamin. Who was Rachel's firstborn? Joseph. Joseph. Oh, my. What about Joseph? He's the son that was loved.
He was different than all the rest. Jacob loved Joseph. He was his favorite. And, well,
he shouldn't have. All the sons of Jacob, other
than Joseph, were a sorry bunch. Sorry bunch. Rachel's barren.
The church of God seems barren. Look at this. You can't call
it a crowd. It's farce. religious world to come in here.
Shoot, God's not in this place. Hold on now. Christ said we're
two or three together. If you go to the upper room,
you'll see 12 men. Is God there? Well, down at the temple was
a multitude. Rachel was barren. But finally, She had a son, and
boy, he was worth the wait. And just a few sheep were infinitely
worth more than a zillion goats. Rachel, Leah, Jacob. What an amazing story, huh? We'll look at that some more.
We didn't begin until the half of it. Okay. I am glad. I am glad.