Good morning, y'all. Good to be with you this morning. And as Brother Dave was praying, we sang that song, He will cause us to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments. And He caused us to come together because it brings Him glory when we come together in love to worship Him and edify one another. We're going to be in the first 30 verses of Genesis 29. Genesis 29, verses 1 through 30, and I've titled this, Honor and Deception. Genesis 29. You probably recall from chapter 28 how Jacob was sent by his mother and father to find a wife. I'm going to flip over to 28 and read the first couple of verses just to refresh that in our minds. Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said to him, you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise and go to Pat-An-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take yourself a wife there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. And in verse 5, Jacob was sent away by Isaac and he went to Patamaran to Laban, the son of Bethuel, the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. What we're going to see in our passage this morning is the fulfillment of that. And we heard last week when Aaron was showing us how Jacob had left Beersheba And he went what appears to be about 50 miles and he stopped in Bethel. And so we pick up now after that, and it says in verse one, and I'll read through verse 12. So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. And he looked and he saw a well in the field and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it. For out of that well, they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well's mouth. Now, all the flocks would be gathered there, and then they would roll the stone from the well's mouth, water the sheep, put the stone back in its place on the well's mouth. Jacob said to them, My brethren, where are you from? And they said, We are from Haran. Then he said to them, Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said to them, is he well? And they said, he is well. And look, his daughter, Rachel, is coming with the sheep. Then he said, look, it is still high day and it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go and feed them. But they said, we cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and they have rolled the stone from the well's mouth. Then we water the sheep. Now, while he was still speaking to them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 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. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. So she ran and told her father. It was a little more than 200 miles from Beersheba to Paddam Aram. He had stopped at Bethel and had pressed on until he reached his mother's people. And this scene Jacob sees the water in place for the sheep. It reminds me when Abraham's servant was sent back to find a wife for Isaac. And he came to a watering hole, if you remember, and he saw what turned out to be Abraham's brother's people watering their flock. agricultural life, agrarian life, the people that shepherded sheep and herded cattle needed water. And so it was normal, it was natural, it was necessary for them to gather periodically at these common places. And it's providential that the people that Abraham's servant was looking for, and in our case that Jacob was looking for, they were there at the watering hole when they each got there. Nahor saw Rebekah at the watering place. Jacob saw Rachel at the watering place. Details are different, but when both men arrived at their destination near water sources, they each saw the women that God had ordained to be the wives of Isaac and Jacob. In chapter 4, the servant inquires of Rebekah about her father, and her response gives the servant cause to rejoice and worship God. That's in 24 verses 22 through 27. Remember how the servant responded. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his mercy and truth toward my master. As for me being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren. So the young woman ran and told her mother's household all these things. And Rebecca had a brother, whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. In our passage, Jacob sees the shepherds at the well and he asks them where they're from. Jacob asks that they know Laban, who's the grandson of Nahor. Nahor is Abraham's brother, family. They're all related in one way or the other. Laban is the grandson of Jacob's great uncle. I think that's how it works out. So he finds out that Rachel belongs to the clan. He knows he's been told by his mother and father, go get a wife from our clan. So Jacob is very interested in this girl Rachel. He knows this is the family that he's supposed to be with to find a wife. The conversation that Jacob has with the local shepherds is revealing. See, Jacob gets there and he recognized, he observed that there's a lot of daylight remaining and it doesn't make sense to just have the sheep lay down and wait for the end of the day so that every sheep can come, all the flocks can come together and water them all at once and then put them away for the night. Why not water those that are there and then take them back out and let them feed some more? That's what Jacob's advice is. The locals, they just want to hang out. They don't want to work. And this has the animals just standing around, waiting on water, not able to graze. Jacob wasn't trying to boss these men around. Jacob was simply offering an observation from one shepherd to another. And I think we see in Jacob's mind a man who was born a deceiver, but reborn a good shepherd. He wanted the sheep to be cared for rightly so that they would prosper and benefit Laban. Now, one commentator I read thought that Jacob was simply trying to get the other shepherds out of the way so he could be alone with Rachel. I think that's imposing 20th century norms onto this ancient historical record. I don't think that's what Jacob was up to. Now when Rachel arrives with her sheep, Jacob rolls the stone away and waters her flock. He greets her according to the custom of the day, gives her a kiss, not on the lips, on the cheek probably. That's the custom of the day. He told her of their family connection. I'm Rebecca's son. If you're Laban's daughter, you know Rebecca because she's your aunt. Family ties. In this, Jacob acted honorably. He is seeking to honor his parents' wishes and he is seeking to honor his larger family. Now one thing we don't find out from our passage here is Did these other shepherds, these local shepherds, did they follow Jacob's advice or not? I would say it's not likely. I think what we're seeing here is a contrast between Jacob being a thoughtful, concerned shepherd with these other people who are more self-concerned than they are for their sheep. Because what we're going to see unfolding here is that the sheep that Jacob cares for, they prosper a lot more than all the other sheep that these other people care for. And I think this is God working in Jacob to prosper him because he's got plans for Jacob. Now, we read in Proverbs 12, 6 that a righteous man regards the life of his animal. And in Proverbs 27, 23, we find to be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds. Now, Jacob didn't have the benefit of reading Proverbs because Solomon hadn't been born yet. But these principles are God honoring even before Solomon wrote them down. And an honorable man An honorable man will be diligent to care for his animals that are entrusted to him. A hireling will seek to get by. We're familiar with this kind of language because Jesus used it in talking about himself as the good shepherd and all who are his, he will bring them in through the sheepfold door, but the hireling tries to come in over the wall. And the hireling will not put himself between danger and the sheep. Because the hireling doesn't have any skin in the game. This gives eternal weight to the simple act of being a faithful shepherd of animals and of the spiritual sheep of God. It's not an easy thing to care for animals. It's not an easy thing to care for the sheep of God. We at times act just as dumb and just as willful as cattle and sheep. and brothers and sisters, it ought not to be so amongst us. We are to seek to make the elders' care for us not burdensome. We are to work together and not be stubborn and stiff-necked. Because He has taken out our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh that beats after Him. Verses 13 through 30, I call this, the deceiver is deceived. So starting in verse 13, it came to pass when Laban heard the report about Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet him and he embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh, and he stayed with him for a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be? Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter. And Laban said, it is better that I give her to you than I should give her to any other man. Stay with me. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, give me my wife for my days are fulfilled that I may go into her. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. And now it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah, his daughter, and brought her to Jacob. And he went into her and Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came to pass in the morning that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, what is this that you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me? And Laban said, it must not be done so in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week and I will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years. So Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife also. And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. Then Jacob also went into Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years. So in the beginning of this passage, Laban finds out that Jacob is his nephew and he's very happy to see him, and he greets him in the same custom that Jacob greeted Rachel. He gives him a kiss on the cheek. And he invites him to come to his home. He doesn't tell him, go find a place with the other shepherds. He's treating Jacob as a family member. Come to my house. And Laban confirms, yes, they are family. And yes, he is happy to see him. And a month passes by. And it appears that Jacob has been tending Laban's flock because Laban volunteers that Jacob should not work for free. It's not as a slave, but he's a family member, so he should be paid. We're talking about paying Jacob because he's family and the next thing we read is Laban telling Jacob he's got two daughters, as if he wants to offer up one of the daughters as payment. We do know that Laban says he's got two daughters and we do know that Jacob came here to find a wife. Now, in most circumstances, when a man gives his daughter to be a wife, a dowry is given with her. A bride price is given with her. In this instance, Jacob's going to work. for the privilege of taking a daughter of Laban in marriage. Lee is the firstborn. Now, we know from the men in our narrative we've been going through that being a firstborn male is important. And we know from Esau and Jacob, there's a blessing that goes to the firstborn that's very important. And when he doesn't get it, there's anger and resentment and consequences. Lee is the firstborn. We don't know what that means here yet. Rachel is the younger. And Moses says that Leah had delicate eyes. And it's not known really what that means. I looked at a lot of commentaries and different translations and tender eyes, delicate eyes, weak eyes, different words used for that Hebrew word. How does that figure into what she looks like? The expression may mean that she had appealing eyes. There's quite a few translations that say that. Beautiful eyes in Leah. But it's as if her beauty was in her eyes and nowhere else maybe. Hard to say. Jacob wasn't attracted to Leah. He wanted Rachel. Some suggest that her eyes were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. At any rate, she didn't measure up to her gorgeous sister. Rachel is described as being beautiful of form and appearance. We're not given details, but we're told enough to know that that would attract a young man's attention. This is who Jacob desired at his wife, and he set his heart on having her. Now, Jacob volunteers to work for Laban for seven years to have Rachel. Laban observed that this is the best course. He didn't want his daughter to go to another man. He's been observing Jacob's work this past month and he's probably seen in him some of the potential that we will later read of. And so in verse 20, Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed only as a few days to him because of the love that he had for her. Time flies when your attention is caught up with thoughts of delight rather than the drudgery of daily life. And so at the end of this week, this seven year period, Jacob asks for his wages. It's not clear when Laban hatched his plan of deception. When did he decide he was going to make the switch and deceive Jacob and give him different wages than he had bargained for? Maybe it was when Jacob first asked for Rachel. Maybe it was here when he says, I've been here seven years, give me my wages. We're not sure. What we do know is he prepared a feast, a wedding feast. He says in verse 22, Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. Wedding feasts in this culture were a big deal. They celebrated the expansion of the matriarch's clan. And he's the one who typically gave the feast, celebrating this new life coming into his family. The parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22 provides A little more detailed look into this celebration, comparing this feast to the king who arranged the feast. And verse 4 of that chapter says, tell those who are invited, see, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fatted calf are killed and all things are ready. Come to the wedding. This is a lot bigger than our typical fellowship meal. Took a lot more preparation time. You just didn't go to HEB and pick up cold cuts back in this day. So no doubt. No doubt there was wine to drink at the wedding feast. We see that at the Canaan wedding feast, there was wine. There was probably wine here. Wine probably figured into the meal that Jacob had, eating a lot and drinking a lot far into the evening, not recognizing that he was given the wrong woman. So after the meal, After much wine, probably, Laban executed his deception and he took Leah, not Rachel, to Jacob's tent. And in the darkness and under the influence of drink, Jacob takes Leah as his wife and did not know what had happened until the next day. Such is the danger of too much wine. When Jacob realized what had happened, he protested to Laban. The deceiver asks Laban, what is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel I served you? Why then have you deceived me? The shoe was on the other foot. Jacob had little, if any, concern for taking advantage of others through deception. But, he had just worked hard seven years to find out he married the wrong gal. And he was not happy. He was not happy when he's the one being taken advantage of by deception. Now here's the irony. Jacob had participated in his mother's deception to cheat Esau out of his firstborn blessing. Now his mother's brother had deceived Jacob so that the firstborn female would not be cheated out of her blessing, which is to be married first. Firstborn. Laban, if he had been an honorable man, He would have talked to Jacob about this firstborn custom before the seven years, before the agreement was made. When Jacob said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter, Laban, if he was an honorable man, he would have said, well, wait a minute. That's not how it works here. But no, he'd just keep his mouth shut, get the benefit of the man working, and then give him what he wants to. Laban's proposed resolution to the situation that he has caused, he says, fulfill her week and we will give you this one, Rachel, also for the service. You serve me another seven years. So Jacob had just worked seven years and now he's got to fulfill her week. What does this mean? fulfill her week. It's kind of an obscure phrase. In Samson's life, we look in Judges 14. Judges. That's better. Judges 14, we find Samson had taken a Philistine woman as his wife. And his parents weren't approving of this, but we find out in the chapter, this is God's plan. This is Yahweh's plan for Samson to find a weakness among the Philistines because at this time they had dominion over Israel. Samson's father accompanied this woman to where Samson was. And Samson gave a feast there for the young men as the young men used to do. And verse 11 through 12. And it happened when they saw him that they brought 30 companions to be with him. So there's 30 guys coming to this feast. And then Samson said to them, let me pose a riddle for you. And if you can correctly solve it and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothing. So we see there in this conversation, while Samson is angling to get an advantage over them, he reveals that there's this custom of having this wedding feast last seven days. So it's an ongoing daily feast to confirm publicly man and wife are man and wife. That's the custom practiced around the nations around Israel. And Jacob fulfilled this week for Leah. He maintained his position as Leah's husband in this public setting. And after that seven days was over, Rachel was given to him as a second wife. The obligation that Jacob's going to work for Laban another seven years. Now this passage ends up with this sad observation here. He loved Rachel more than Leah. Now I have no way of knowing if this situation in Genesis 29 prompted what we read in the law. But if you look in Deuteronomy 21 and verse 15, Deuteronomy 21 verses 15 through 17, we read this. If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is her who is unloved, then it shall be On the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, gives his blessing to his sons, he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For he is the beginning of his strength, and the right of the firstborn is his. Now, case law worked out before our eyes in Genesis 29. It's percolating in Moses' head and the Holy Spirit moves him to put it in their statute books, providing for the woman who is not loved by her husband. God is wiser than we are. And he provides so that even a hard-hearted marriage will not be neglected, but yet be worked out in such a way that the unwanted child is still honored, still blessed. Everybody is made in the image of God, and everybody is due honor from others because of that. So there's a few things I want to wrap up in concluding this lesson. There's an old saying, what goes around comes around. That's a western expression of karma. The Bible tells us that we reap what we sow. That's a biblical truth. We who are in Christ are promised that we won't suffer justice for our sins. One who has suffered this on our behalf so that we will not. Just as sure as we are saved from the wrath of God, we are not shielded from the consequences of our behavior, nor are we shielded from being attacked by the enemy. We are secure from them being successful, but the attacks will come. The trials will be ours. Thomas Griffith had three points of meditation and learning that he derived from our passage here. The first thing he observes is that we ought to be doing the will of God. After Bethel, there was a long journey to Haran. Bethel was this God-glorifying, uplifting experience for Jacob. He was being drawn near to God, and he had this understanding of the blessing that was going to be his, and off he went to meet with his mother's people. And Griffin says, the quiet times with God are intended to be the means of doing our ordinary work in the daily round, the common task. He says, conversion is intended to be expressed in consecration. And the real test of our life lies not in our profession, but in our character and in our conduct. So, point one, doing the will of God. Point two, experiencing the providence of God. And all throughout Genesis we've seen the providence of God. When history is being written and recorded in God's word, we see the hand of God doing that writing. And it is God who causes events to unfold and people to be moved so that these circumstances can be worked out. There's nothing really small in human life. Jacob arriving in Bethel and being tired after a 50 mile walk meets God. It wasn't just a happenstance, stopping point for Jacob. The true Christian heart will always love to trace the hand of God in the ordinary everyday experiences of life. For after all, Griffith says, ordinary means ordered. And it's the joy of the believer to realize that everything is ordered and that all things work together for good to them that love God. So the second point is experiencing the providence of God. Recognize that's what it is. And the third point is discover the justice of God. Laban's deception came to Jacob as a great surprise. But he ought not to have been surprised by it. He was now commencing to reap what he had sown. Griffith says Laban is seen to be the equal of his clever sister Rebecca and Jacob is being paid back with family coin. We're chastened and trained and it is the highest wisdom of every believer to accept and learn all that God has to teach him. So Rebekah and Laban, deceivers, they have this family coin that Jacob's getting paid back with. I like that phrase. Jacob, perhaps unbeknownst to him at the time, was being guided by the hand of God to provide circumstances that would mature him and cause him to draw near to God and be the Israel that the people would need. Each of these three points are evident in our passage, and we ought to be able to see that this was the means given for Jacob's development. And we see that doing the will of God always is the right course of action. Jesus said, I have come to do the will of the Father, and His will is that I lose none that He gives me. That's in John 6 verse 38. The will of God for us is related to what Christ did according to the Father's will. Not that we can save people, but that we can participate in the gospel proclamation that is the power of God unto salvation for those who are being saved. Much of our walk through Genesis has revealed the constant hand of God's providence guiding history down to the smallest detail The ancient Hebrew children murmured against God because they were focused on their misery rather than on God himself. You remember when they were in the wilderness? Oh, that we had not left Egypt. We had cabbages and leeks. Any of you all eat leeks? They desired to go back and have that stuff. Why? Because they were in the great unknown. And human beings stress out when we don't know what's coming tomorrow. We are needing to trust God for tomorrow. Because as James wrote, you don't even know if you're going to live tomorrow. If it is God's will, you will go tomorrow to do business. Now, I read something yesterday that just kind of popped this into my mind. In Revelation 17, the apocalypse of John reinforces this idea of God's providence in the last puny little paragraph of Revelation 17. You see it in other places. We're going to see it in Genesis, a well-known story at the end of Genesis about when all things are being worked out by God for His purposes. But in Revelation 17, starting in verse 15, we read this. The angel is speaking to John, and he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues, and the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, and they will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. Verse 17, "...for God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled." And the woman you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. All the people of the world, they've been in league with this great woman who's the system of the world, the evilness that goes on around us. And now they're going to conspire together to destroy and overthrow her because God has put into their hearts to carry out His plan. God's providence just doesn't rule the lives of the saints. God's providence rules that daily decisions that the reprobates make. They don't even know that this is what's happening. Many Christians fail to see that the author of history actually writes it. He doesn't merely observe it. And it's been said that the sovereignty of God is a pillow that the saints rest their heads on. And if this were not so, if it were not so that God was this sovereign, where he causes the nations to wage war against themselves, so that his purposes will be fulfilled. If he wasn't that sovereign, we would not have cause to have peace. Because he couldn't give us peace in the midst of trial, say Kathy. But he is a compassionate God and he cares for his people. And if you are in Christ, he causes things to work together for your good. Lastly, God's justice should never be far from our minds. It was justice that demanded the perfect sacrifice to be made for payment for sins. Less than a perfect sacrifice could not meet the perfect demand for justice for high crimes against the most holy God. The chastisement we receive in this age is to correct us and remind us of that great and terrible day that is coming when the Lamb of God sits as the judge in the courtroom of heaven. So the question for us, this day and every day, are you at peace with the judge? Is he your advocate? There's no other recourse for you or for me or for anyone, for on that day, each mortal will give an account. And only those whose names are recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life will be welcomed into their rest. they will be welcomed in by the Lord of the wedding feast. God's justice is pure and it's certain. No child of God redeemed from hell's gallows should think that he deserves the grace poured out from Calvary. And no one who stands outside of Christ has reason to think he will escape the perfect gaze of the perfect judge. I set before you life and death. In Christ, there is honor, there is glory, and there is eternal life. In the Prince of the air, there is deceit, there is shame, and there is unending death. The remedy is Christ Jesus. None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good. None but Jesus. If you do not have peace in your soul, flee to Christ. He came to save sinners and that He does supremely well. Let's pray.