If you find the book of Ezekiel,
start turning to your right, you'll find Daniel. Keep turning
to your right and you'll find Hosea chapter 12 and verse 12. I chose a portion of this text
because this is the title of what our study is going to be
based upon this afternoon. Hosea chapter 12 and verse 12.
Jacob fled. into the country of Syria, and
Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep." In
Genesis chapter 31, verse 41, this is Jacob, whose name the
Lord changed to Israel, speaking to his father-in-law Laban. Genesis
chapter 31, Thus have I been twenty years
in thy house. I served thee fourteen years
for your two daughters, and six years for your cattle, and thou
hast changed my wages ten times. Now look over in chapter 29,
beginning at verse 16. I just want to read a portion
of this because I've read this to you before. Genesis chapter
29, beginning verse 16. This is where Jacob fled out
of the land of promise, Canaan. He came into Syria, Pandanaram. And Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah. The name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah was tender-eyed, weak-eyed, soft and delicate. But Rachel
was beautiful and well favored. And Jacob loved Rachel and said,
I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, your 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. And Jacob said unto Laban,
Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go
in unto her." As you and I read these passages, one thing that becomes evident,
and we've studied it, of all the flesh, all the sin, and all
the weakness we see in all of these people, everybody concerned
had their weaknesses and their faults. Laban was a cheat. He was a very greedy man. He
took advantage of Jacob, deceived him. Leah and Rachel were idolaters. Rachel even stole her own dad's
idols to worship him. And Jacob himself was a man to
this very day still leaned to his own understanding. coached his brother out of his
birthright when they were young. He deceived his own father to
get the blessing. And now here he is bargaining
to his future father-in-law for a bride. I will labor for thee seven years
for Rachel, your daughter. We never see where Jacob sought
the Lord in prayer. You remember when Abraham sent
his servant to get a bride for Isaac? He blessed him and said,
The Lord will prosper your way. The angel of the Lord will go
with you. He'll find a bride. And Abraham's servant trusted
in the Lord. He came here to this same land
to get a bride for Isaac, and he bowed his head and prayed.
trusting in the Lord to lead him to find a bride for Isaac. We don't see any of that in Jacob. He comes here to Pandanaram. Isaac had already told him, the
Lord bless you, and the Lord prosper you, give the blessing
of Abraham to you. But he never prays. He's a man
who is still leaning to his own understanding. He thinks he can
outsmart everybody. He's going to trick everybody.
But he meets his match in Laban. And that's the way we are, brothers
and sisters. When we lean to our own understanding,
and we're so prudent that we can figure everything out, then
that's when we'll meet our match. Flesh is our match. The devil
is our match. That's why the Word of God tells
us to trust in the Lord with all your heart. Trust in His
mercies. Trust in His truth. Trust in
His Word. Trust in His promises. Lean not
to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge
Him. Acknowledge before Him that we
can't outsmart anybody. Acknowledge to Him that we don't
have ability to direct our path. Acknowledge to Him that He has
power to do it. He has the wisdom to do it. In
all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your steps.
Be not wise in your own deceit. Trust in the Lord and depart
from evil. But this is what Jacob had not
learned up until this time to do. All of these people here
that you and I have been studying about, all of them showed that
they were sinners. All of them sinned. All of them
fell short of God's glory. But that won't be our study this
evening in spite of all of their sin, in spite of all the flesh
and all the deception and all the weakness of the flesh that
you and I see in here. We see in Jacob a faint picture
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His love for His people. And I read it to you in the text
in Hosea, Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. It was different in Jacob getting
his wife than Isaac getting his. Isaac never came to this country
to get his wife. He stayed in the promised land.
His servant was sent to get him a bride. And the way the servant
got the bride for Isaac was coming here to this same country and
telling Rebekah, Isaac's fiancee, his future bride, of how Abraham
had this only begotten son. How that he had given him all
of his wealth, given everything into his hands, And by this message,
this servant wooed and he won the heart of Rebecca. And finally he said to her, will
you go? Will you leave your land? Will
you leave your family's house? Will you leave all your possession
here and go to the land of promise and to be the bride of Isaac?
And she said, I'll go. And that's the way Isaac got
himself a bride. But with Jacob, we read here
that it was altogether different. He leaves his father's house
with all of his riches. He comes here to Pandanaram,
and all he has is his staff. He doesn't come with his father's
wealth. He doesn't come here to purchase
a wife. He doesn't even come here to
woo or win his wife. But he comes here to serve for
a wife. He doesn't bring all the riches
of his father with him. He doesn't have the treasures
of his father's house, the gold and silver and the cattle that
Isaac had. But he comes here by his own
labor, by his own toil, and he serves for a wife, and he keeps
sheep for a wife. And you'll notice this. As Jacob
came here to this country, and as he first met Laban, he could
have told him, my father has blessed me. I'm the firstborn. I have the blessing of the firstborn.
Everything that belongs to Isaac, my father, is mine. He could
have told him that, and all of that would have been true. But
Jacob never tells him that. He doesn't say, since I'm the
firstborn that has the blessing, I'm ready now to get my wife
and go back to the land of promise. He doesn't say that at all. He
comes to Pandanaram as a poor man with the only means of securing
his wife is to become a servant and to buy her with the toil
of his own hands and the work of his own soul. Brothers and
sisters, we see the Lord Jesus Christ. He stands in the Jordan
River. His body is wet with that water. His clothes are drenched with
the waters of baptism. And heaven opens up its doors. And a voice speaks and says,
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The Spirit
descends upon Him and lights as a dove and remains there.
The Father says, I blessed Him. He's my firstborn. My soul is
wrapped up in Him. But the Lord Jesus did not come
to purchase a wife by heaven's riches. He does not
come saying, I'm the firstborn of heaven. The Father has given
to me all things and therefore I deserve, I've earned, or I
can buy a wife. He doesn't come to buy his bride
by the glorious riches of heaven. But he, like Jacob, comes to
this world a poor man. There's no room in the inn for
him. His bed, like Jacob, was often
on the ground, and the stars were for his covering. He had
no place to lay his own head. For your sakes, he became poor. He that was rich left those riches,
just as Jacob did, and became poor, that ye through his poverty
might become rich. And he says it like this, and
only he can say it, the Son of Man came not to be served. He didn't come to be ministered
unto. He came to serve and to give
his life a ransom for many. It's doubtful that Jacob knew
all that was required of him. You know he was a tender fellow.
He was a homebody. He was domesticated. He loved
to stay in the house and talk with his mother. He wasn't an
outdoorsman. It's very doubtful when Jacob
said, I'll serve you seven years for your daughter Rachel. It's
very doubtful that he had any idea what service would be required. Look over here in chapter 31
with me. Look back over in chapter 31.
And look in verse 38. Here's how he says it. I doubt seriously if Jacob realized
what was involved in him serving for a wife. He says here in verse
38. This is what he tells his father-in-law. Twenty years have I been with
thee, Thy ewes and thy she-goats have not aborted their young,
and the rams of your flock have I not eaten? That which was torn
of beast I brought not unto thee, I bore the loss of it. Of my
hand did thou require it, where the stolen by day are stolen
by night. Thus I was in the day the drought
consumed me, and the frost by night. And my sleep departed
from my eyes. And he says in chapter 31, in
verse 6, here's what he tells his two wives that he labored
for. You know that with all my power I served your father. How this man suffered. His service
was with all his heart. Of the night, he lost sleep. When a sheep was eaten or when
it was stolen, he suffered the loss of it. Of the day, the heat,
he had to endure it. Of the night, the cold that bit
him. I doubt seriously if he knew
the extent to which he would have to labor for his wife. But the Lord Jesus Christ knew
what was required of him. He knew everything that was to
come upon Him. But yet, knowing that never removed
the reality and the difficulty of His service. Our Lord Jesus
was tender. He was meek. He was lowly. He was holy. He was harmless. He was undefiled. He was separate
from sinners. He knew no sin, no God what is
in His mouth, and yet when He left heaven's home where He was
admired, where He was secure, where He was comfortable, He
came to a world where He was despised and rejected, where
He was tempted of devils by horrible and gross sins against His Father. His friends betrayed Him. They
denied Him and all forsook Him. He took our iniquities. He took
our burdens. He bore our sicknesses. So often
His heart was grieved by unbelief, by those who had no reason to
do anything but trust Him. How often was His strength consumed
with labor until He had to set on a whale or sleep in a ship
to revive Himself. How often did the sleep depart
from his eyes when he awoke up a long time before day to seek
the Father's face on our behalf. And whatever was lost by us,
he bore the loss of it himself. Whatever was owed by us, he paid
the debt himself. He gave His sweat mingled with
His blood. He gave His back to the smiters,
and His cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. He took upon Himself
the form of a servant, humbled Himself, and became obedient
to death, even the death of the cross. And this He did, as Jacob
did, with all his power. With all his heart and with all
his might, Jesus our Israel served for a wife. He served for us. He kept sheep. I am the Good
Shepherd, and I laid down my life for the sheep. I wonder
how Rachel and Leah felt as Jacob told his father-in-law in their
very presence. how He had suffered, how He had
served for them. Could they have known what He
went through to secure them for Himself? Could they have known
that He suffered such loss? Could they have known that He
endured nights without any rest and heat of the day and the cold
of the dark? How did they feel when they found
out, when they heard Him say, all that He has suffered, just
to win them to be His wife. Brothers and sisters, is our
love, is our affections, is our heart drawn out to our Lord Jesus
Christ as we hear of Him serving to secure us? As we hear of His coming, leaving
heaven's glory, leaving heaven's riches, and serving for us even
unto death, even at so great a loss to himself, to take us
from this place of idolatry to that promised land? Is our hearts
drawn out to Him when we hear of His suffering for us? Jacob suffered for a wife. He
suffered. He served for a wife. We are
told here in our text, Jacob's motive for doing it. He says
in chapter 29, and look at this again. In chapter 29. And he says in verses 18 and
verse 20, Jacob loved Rachel. And out of this love, he said,
I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy younger daughter. And he says in verse 20, Jacob
served seven years for Rachel, and we seen his service, didn't
we? With all of his heart and all
the loss, all the loss of sleep. And Jacob served seven years
for Rachel, and yet they seemed unto him but a few days for the
love he had to her. He served because he loved her. And he could truly tell his wives, I lost sleep. I had sleepless
nights, but it was nothing. I loved you. Everything that
was lost, I replaced it, but it was nothing because I loved
you. I earned you because I loved
you. The drought consumed me by day,
but it's nothing. I loved you. The cold bit me
in the night, but it was nothing. I loved you. I loved you. Fanny Cosby, I think, says this
very well in her familiar hymn, and she says it like this, tale
of the cross where they nailed him, withering in anguish and
pain, tale of the grave where they laid him, Tell how he liveth
again. Love in that story so tender,
clearer than ever I see. Stay, let me weep while you whisper. Love paid the ransom for me. She takes the motive and says
it's the price. Love is not the price, it's the
motive. But Fanny Crosby says you can't
separate them. Love paid the ransom. Without love, there would have
been no ransom. He loved us and gave Himself for us. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life. Love. Love. Jacob stooped so low to
serve, and yet he didn't count his stoop at all. He served seven
long years, and he says, it's as a few days to me for the love. If Jacob did that for his wife,
how much more could the Son of God say? It's nothing. I loved
you. I loved you. They seem to me
but a few days for the love that I have to you. And notice something
else about this. In verse 21, We're told that after Jacob had
served for his wife, that he fully expected to receive his
wife. In verse 21, Jacob said unto
Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may
go in unto her. My days are fulfilled. This number
seven, you'll find it in the Scriptures, is the number of
completeness It's the number of perfection. Seven. John saw
the Lamb of God in heaven, and he had seven horns. That's perfect
power. Complete power. All power in
heaven and earth is given to me. He had seven eyes. The Lord Jesus sees all things.
He knows all things. All things are naked and open
in the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He had the seven
spirits of God. What is that? In Him dwells all
the fullness of the Godhead body. There are seven churches. There
are seven days. Seven is the number of perfection.
He served seven years. Old Rachel. And now he says,
she's mine. And he demands her. And even
wicked Laban, in the end, realizes that he cannot justly withhold
Rachel from this man. He had earned her. He had worked
for her. Give me my wife. And what does
the Scripture say concerning the Lord Jesus and His bride? God saw the travail of his soul
and says, I'm satisfied by his knowledge, my righteous servant,
there he is. Who is that servant? That's Christ.
He shall justify many. He shall do it. Why? Because
he bore their iniquities. This is why you and I see particular
redemption all through the Scriptures. Because Jesus Christ purchased. He served. He laid down His life
for His people. He came into this world to save
His people by His service. And justice says, give the man
his wife. And not a single one for whom
Christ served will perish at last. Give me my wife. He says that to the devil. He
says it to justice. Give me my wife. and they have
to give Him up. He loved the church and He gave
Himself for her for this reason, that He might sanctify her and
wash her and purify her and make her holy. That was the intent
of the service and death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He'll have His church at last. Everyone Everything that he served
for, he'll have it. We found in my text tonight that
Jacob not only served for Rachel, he served for Leah, and he served
for the cattle. And he tells his father-in-law,
these are mine because I served for them. I don't know the extent of the
sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters,
I really don't. If you ask me to tell you all
the reasons for His sufferings, what's He earned, what has become
His right by His sufferings, I don't know. I don't know. I know the earth is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The world is His and everybody
that's in it. I know that no man lives to himself,
and no man dies to himself. Whether any man lives or dies,
he is the Lord. To this end, Christ both died
and revived and rose again, that he might be Lord both of the
dead and the living. A man may be dead in trespasses
and sins, but he belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. A man may
be dead in the grave, but he belongs to Christ. A man may
be alive physically, but he belongs to Christ. A man may be alive
spiritually, he belongs to Christ. No man lives or dies to himself
whether we live or die with the Lord. He earned that right through
His death and His resurrection, but specifically And the most
glorious cause for his sufferings and for his service, the servant
of God, was to redeem his elect people, redeem his church. I lay down my life for the sheep. And what's the consequences of
that? They shall never perish. And no man can ever justly plucked
them out of my Father's hands. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hands." One last thing in chapter 28, in verses
1 through 3, we see it. Rachel didn't know this. Leah
didn't know this. Laban didn't know this. But Jacob's purpose in coming
here to Pandanary was to secure for himself a wife. It seemed
like everything was just happening accidentally. He comes here and
accidentally runs into the very wife that he's going to marry.
And he serves for her. And he's deceived. Laban deceives
him. And he has to serve seven more
years. And it seemed like there was all this sin and all this
confusion. But in the end, he got his wife. And now we go back long before
he ever came here to Pandanaran. And we find it was his purpose
all along. His father sent him there to
secure for himself a bride. Look in chapter 28. Isaac called
Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said unto him, Thou shalt
not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, arise, go to Pandanaran,
to the house of Bethuel, isn't that amazing, thy mother's father,
and take thee a wife from Phentz of the daughters of Laban, thy
mother's brother, and God Almighty bless thee. and make thee fruitful
and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people."
And long before the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth, brothers
and sisters, long before He ever came to you and wooed you and
courted you to marry you, His Father had already told Him,
Go to earth. Go and secure for yourself a
bride. And could I not say this? He
already had His bride marked out. Every house that the Holy
Spirit was to go to, every village, every town, every state, all
time for all time, everything was purposed, everyone was purposed,
the very people that was to be His bride. was already written
down in a book. And the Lord Jesus, unknown to
us, came and secured us to be His wife. Ain't that wonderful? Ain't that wonderful? And He,
unlike our Jacob, unlike our Israel, He knew it all. And He
could say just as Jacob, it was nothing. I enjoyed doing it. For the joy that was set before
me, I did it because I loved you. I loved you. And you'll
never repay Him. You'll never repay Him. All we
can do is bow before Him and praise His name for doing it.
Let's pray.