Turn with me to Genesis 29. Genesis 29. said in the New Testament that our Lord preached in parables. It says without a parable, he did not preach. And a parable is an earthly story. It is a physical story with a spiritual meaning. That's what a parable is.

Our Lord did that in the New Testament because that's what He did in the Old Testament and He does not change. Every single one of these physical Old Testament stories is a picture of our Lord's dealings with His people. All of them are spiritual pictures of how the Lord saved His people. All of them. And what amazes me about them is all of them are drowning in sin. That's what amazes me about them. In every one of them, there's so much sin, you think, how could this be a picture of Christ? And the redemption of the cross, how some of the lives of these people that our Lord made it very clear, He loved and saved.

Some of their lives are so awful, you don't even want to say it out loud, what it says about them. You know what I'm talking about? You just cringe to repeat some of these things, not saying we're any better than them. It's just their sins are written out. Sin is awful. It's just terrible.

But thank God that is the case. It brings great hope to us with our sinful lives that we're living on this earth. It brings great hope. These stories prove to us that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He said, I did not come to call the righteous. Look at me, look at how righteous I am. He said, I didn't come to call the righteous. You know what all God's people say? Don't look at me, I'm so sinful. He said, I didn't come to call the righteous, I came to call sinners, came to save sinners. And that's what we have right here. We have a story that plainly tells us how Christ saved his sinful people. And what I'd like to do is I want to first just tell you the summary of this sinful physical story, and then I'll end this by showing you the glory of the spiritual gospel picture in this.

If you look first at Genesis 28, Genesis 28 verse one says, And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, but go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother." Go to Padan-aram, specifically a place inside Padan-aram that was called Haran. You look at verse 10, and Jacob went out from Beersheba and he went toward Haran.

Now chapter 29 is our story today and it says, then Jacob went on his journey and came into 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 lying by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks, and a great stone was upon the well's mouth. And thither, or there, were all the flocks gathered. And they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his place.

And Jacob said unto them, my brethren, whence be ye? And they said, of Haran are we? They said, we're from Haran. And Jacob thought, hmm, that's where I'm going. Verse five. 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. They said, He is doing well. And it just so happens that there's his daughter Rachel right there. Verse 7. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, high noon. Neither is it time that the cattle should 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 well's mouth, then we water the sheep. And while he 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, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother.

And Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept." He was so happy. He was thanking God. Verse 11, 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 Rebekah's son. And she ran and told her father. And it came to pass when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his 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. And Laban said unto Jacob, because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for naught, tell me what 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, but Rachel was beautiful and well-favored. And Jacob loved Rachel and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.

And Laban said, it is better that I give her to thee than 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 he had to her." Jacob had to work taking care of Laban's cattle for seven years to earn the hand of Rachel in marriage. Seven years. When I first read that, studying this, I thought, fellas, we need to step up our game. This man worked seven years. They seem just like a few days to him because of the love he had for her. Beautiful, isn't it? Oh, he loved her so much.

Verse 21 says, and Jacob said unto Laban, give me my wife for my days are fulfilled that I may go in unto her. And Laban gathered together all the men of that place and made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah, his daughter, and brought her to him. 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, foreign handmaid. And it came to pass that in the morning, behold, it was Leah.

And 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 isn't it interesting that the trickster got tricked? Everything that goes around comes around, doesn't it? Verse 25, it came to pass that in the morning, behold, it was Leah. And 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? And Laban said, it must not be so done in our country to give the younger before the firstborn.

Fulfill her week. Fulfill Rachel's week, oftentimes in the scripture, a day represents a longer period of time, quite often. In this case, each day represents a year, seven years. He said for the first seven years, you worked for Leah. Now you got to work seven more years. Verse 27, fulfill her week and we will give thee This also for the service which thou has served with me yet seven other years.

And Jacob did so man had to wait 14 years. And fulfilled her week and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her her maid. And he went in also under Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

Now for the record, I just wanna take this moment to say that never has polygamy, being married to more than one woman at a time, never has that ever been allowed by God. Our Lord said, therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they too shall be one flesh.

Everyone has wondered, everyone has asked the question, why were they allowed to do that in the Old Testament? Everybody's asked that question. They had all these wives, why were they allowed to do that in the Old Testament? They weren't. They weren't. They were allowed in the sense that God allowed it to happen. God did allow it to happen, but they were not allowed in the sense that God condoned it and blessed it. It was an act of sin on man's part. And all it ever produced was more sin. That's all it ever produced, more sin. The fact that Jacob ended up with two wives was the result of sin. That's all there was to it. But even though man meant all of these workings right here for evil, God meant them for good.

God meant them for good to show us a spiritual picture of what had to take place for sinners like us to be joined into union with Christ. I believe that this will be very eye opening. I really do. I pray it will be. Now, let me just tell you what the spiritual picture is. I don't want to drag it out and unveil it in some wowing way. Let me just spell it out and then I'll show it to you.

Jacob represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Laban represents God the Father. Rachel, the younger sister, represents God's elect, God's sinful, but chosen to redemption, chosen to salvation, selected to union with Christ people. That's who she represents. And Leah, the older sister represents God's holy law.

Now watch this. Okay. Verse 5. Jacob said, Is Laban well? And they said, He is well. And behold, there's his daughter. There is his four known. There is his four loved. There is his sheep. There's his sheep. The end of verse 6 says, Rachel, his daughter cometh with the sheep, Laban's sheep. This is a representation of God's sheep. Rachel was the representative of all the sheep. God, the father is the one who chose all of the sheep that would be the bride of the lamb.

And he gave them to Christ. He presented them to Christ. And as the father loved them, Christ loved them. All of those selected people, as the father loved them, Christ loved them. Greater love had no man than this. Christ saw his bride. Christ loved his bride even though she was in a helpless, hopeless, dying condition.

Verse 7, Jacob told the other shepherds who had their flocks sitting there waiting by the well, he said, it's high noon. It's the hottest part of the day. It's the peak of the sun's Judgment on the earth, the sun just beating down on the earth, the wrath, the fire, the heat.

He said, those sheep need water. And the other shepherd said, we can't give it to them. Not until the herds of the cattle come and they roll away the stone. then we can get water to them. That's false religion. Those are false preachers, false shepherds that cannot give the living water to those flocks.

Verse 9, it says, while he 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, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. They couldn't do it, so Jacob went near and did it. There's an old song that says As poor, wretched sinners, no God and no hope, it seemed there was no one to help. But God, in his mercy, salvation supplied, emptied heaven and came down himself and a ransom was found.

Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban. It doesn't say right there that any of the other flocks received living water. But Laban's flock did. And that's exactly what will be said for the father's flock.

Christ provided for them. Verse 11 says, And Jacob kissed Rachel. Christ desired his bride. Christ loved his bride. Christ set his affection on his bride. Christ joined himself to his bride. The word kissed means kissed. But it also means touched. It means he clinged to Rachel. And verse 13 says, he came to her house where she was, he came to the place where she was.

And verse 14, Laban said to him, surely thou art my bone and my flesh. That's what God, the father says to God, the son, we are one. We're one. Verse 15, And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for naught, tell me what shall thy wages be? Jacob worked for Laban, and God the son worked for God the father.

At 12 years old, our Lord said, Know ye not that I must be about my father's business? In his ministry on this earth, he said, I must work while it's day while it's daytime. I must work from the cross. He cried, it is finished. And in his high priestly prayer, he said, father, the work you gave me to do, I finished it. The Father laid a work on the Son. It was the work of redeeming God's heathen, sinful people. And the Father told the Son, if you ask of me, I will give you those heathen people for your inheritance. And that's exactly what God the Son asked for. He said, Father, I will that they be with me where I am, that's what I want. And that's what Jacob asked for right here.

The end of verse 15, Laban said, tell me what thy wages shall be. And in verse 18, Jacob said, I want Rachel. That's what I want. I want Rachel. And that's what Christ said, I want my bride, I want my people. And this is what it took for Jacob to earn Rachel. And this is what it took for Christ to earn his bride. Verse 23. It came to pass in the evening that Laban took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob and he went in unto her. Why? Why did he do that? Why did he do that?

Verse 26, Laban said, it must not be so done in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. What he said was, there's a law here. We have a law here. And that law is going to have to be fulfilled. In order for Christ to earn the hand and the union and the marriage of his sinful bride. And this is if you understand this, you're going to be so happy to hear this. In order for Christ to earn the hand and to earn the union and to earn the the marriage of his sinful bride, Christ is holy and God is holy, a man is sinful. And in order for Christ to have that union and that marriage with his sinful bride, he had to earn the appeasement of the law against her first.

Jacob had to work seven years for Leah first. Seven is the number of perfection. Seven is the number of fulfillment. It's the number of completion. It's the number of satisfaction. And that's what Christ had to do first. In order to earn his sinful bride, he had to fulfill the law of God. That was against her. He had to fulfill it to perfection. And let me just interject why this ought to be such good news to us. If He did it, we don't have to.

You ever come to know the truth, and it'll set you free. Don't turn the page. Don't turn your page. But on your own sometime, start turning the pages and start reading what the law of God demands. And what you're going to say is, oh, man. You're going to say what the apostles said. who then can be saved. With man, it's impossible, but not with Jesus Christ. Everything the law demanded, Christ fulfilled it to perfection, to completion, to satisfaction.

That's what he was doing for 33 and a half years on this earth. Why didn't he just come down, die and leave? Why 33 and a half years? Why was he here for 33 and a half years? Because he had to establish a righteousness. He had to go page by page through God's word.

I mean every single thing this law demands, Christ fulfilled it. He didn't leave one I undotted or one T uncrossed. Every page. He was establishing a righteousness. He was earning a perfect record of obedience according to the law. And he had to fulfill, as the scripture words it, every jot and tittle of that first. First. In order to complete the work of redemption, he had to complete the work of justification first.

And that's exactly what Christ did. He said, I did not come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. That is exactly what he did. He said, Father, every soul you gave to me, I have kept them. What does that mean? He said, I kept them in your law. Hmm. I've kept them in your law. I have kept them in your righteousness. I've kept them in your holiness. I've kept them in your love and favor and grace. Kept them in Christ.

There is no love or favor or grace outside of Christ. There is no righteousness outside of Christ. There is no obedience to the law outside of Christ. kept him in that and with that perfect work being finished, he then set his face like a flint to the cross. With that being finished, he then set his face like a flint to the perfect work of redemption.

Seven more years. Seven is the number of perfection. Seven is the number of fulfillment. It is the number of completion. It is the number of satisfaction. Just as Christ finished the work of earning a righteousness for his people, he finished the work in full of shedding his own blood on the cross of Calvary to pay the sin debt of his people and to join them into a perfect number seven union with him.

And that's what our union with Christ is. It is a perfect union. It's not a sinful union. It's not a sinful union. It's one that is in perfect agreement with it's one that is vitally joined to. The holy law of God. Joined to Christ and joined to His law, in Him, with Him, by Him. He is the centerpiece of it. Christ had to be the one to join God's people. He was the joining factor. And in closing, let me show you this, okay? Just in closing, look right here at verse 17, chapter 29, verse 17.

It says Leah was tender eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well favored. Everyone naturally takes that to mean that Leah was less beautiful, not as attractive because it says, but Rachel was beautiful. And that's fine. That's totally fine. If you read on down in the definitions, if you go long enough, you can put enough of it together to say that's what it means. But the actual definition of the term tender eyed is weak. Weak. That's what the word means. Weak. Beautiful means, when you look it up, beautiful means beautiful. Rachel was beautiful in Jacob's eyes. This is good. Rachel was beautiful in Jacob's eyes. Leah was weak in Jacob's eyes.

In keeping with our spiritual picture here, turn with me to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 1, it says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Watch verse 3.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak. Leah represents the law. And what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, because of our sinful flesh, the law was weak in that it could not redeem the sinner. The law said, you do this and you'll live. And this sinful flesh couldn't do it. And the law could not say justified before God. Couldn't do it.

Christ had to satisfy the law. Christ had to make it so the law could say, well done. And Christ had to redeem the sinner. Christ had to do it all. Christ had to do it all. Verse three, 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, that means by a sacrifice for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.

That's what Christ accomplished in his coming. Number one, the satisfying of God's law. And number two, the redeeming of God's people. And he accomplished both in perfect fulfillment. And that's what the story of Leah and Rachel tells us. And I pray the Lord will make it to be a blessing. I pray he'll make that to be a blessing. All right.