And oh, what a chapter we get to look at tonight. You talk about, you know, we've been seeing some drama along the way, and then tonight we have a gentleman who's willing to serve for seven years for the woman of his dreams. I wonder how that turns out. Well, we'll look at it. We're in Genesis chapter 29, and we'll look at this in two parts. Now, it's not, let's see, where are we? It's possible we could treat both parts of this chapter tonight. It's also possible that we may not get there. But we'll do what we can and what we need to do. So as we remember back to chapter 28, we have Jacob's dream. So if you remember, there's some strife in the family because Jacob tried to circumvent God's providence. God told his mom that the older would serve the younger. But that didn't keep her from suggesting that Jacob, her beloved son, take the blessing by force, using deception, using deceit, and indeed that's what happened. So what does God think about it? Well, God shows, God appears to Jacob in a dream, and Jacob sees a ladder, Right there, verse 12 of chapter 28, "...he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." Well, Jacob is off on a journey to find a wife, and Esau is not happy with him, and Esau is after him, and Jacob is by himself, God chooses this time to show him this ladder. Hindsight is 20-20 for us, but Jesus is that ladder from heaven to earth. And we see on this ladder that the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. So this is a great encounter. with jacob you remember it this way all kinds of conflicts and encounters so conflicts with man encounters with god they're not mutually exclusive so the lord stood above this ladder in verse thirteen and behold the lord stood above it so that's the focal point of the whole dream is god god has a plan, God is the one who orchestrates the plan, God decides who's to be blessed, and God is going to work these things out according to His glory. And so He reveals Himself to Jacob as the Lord. He says, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac, The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and your descendants." So he's giving him this promise. The practice of deceit on the part of Jacob does not cancel the promise. In fact, God reasserts the promise. Verse 14, your descendants will be like the dust of the earth. You will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And that's what the theme of this entire book of beginnings. It's the Creator and the blessing. The Creator desires to bless. And he determines the names and the faces and the places of the blessing. He goes on to say, Behold, I'm with you. So he gives the general promise that he had given to Abraham and Isaac. And then he zeroes in on Jacob in verse 15 and makes it very personal to Jacob. And isn't that the way it is with the Christian life? God has these general Promises that are astounding and they're powerful and they stem from God's sovereignty and from the fact that he's alive. Promises like, you know, he who trusts in the Lord will be forgiven of his sins. He has promises of the return of Jesus. He has the, there's promises concerning prayer that when we prayer, when we pray, he hears us. There's all kinds of promises that he would be with us wherever we go. He will not leave us. He will not forsake us. The promise of the fact that Jesus is the friends who sticks closer than a brother, the promise of His guidance, of His leadership, the promise of wisdom. I mean, we can go on and on and on and on, but there are specific things that He promises us. Things that when we're reading the Word, He just drops it right into our heart. The Holy Spirit brings the Word to our heart, and we know that's for me. That's something I'm dealing with. That's something I've struggled with. And God will get behind that and he'll penetrate a promise and bring that promise right to your own heart. I've heard testimonies of many of you that have said as much. So he tells him, I'm with you. I'll keep you wherever you go. I'll bring you back to this land. I won't leave you until I've done what I have promised you. Jacob awoke from his sleep and he is in a state of shock Surely the Lord is in this place. I didn't know it What he means is when he laid down he was but he's just by himself He's on a mission and the Lord showed up Never never underestimate the Lord and his power his sovereignty and his choosing to show up in the midst of your doubts and fears. And the Bible says he was afraid, and that's a proper response. It says, how awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Jacob rose early in the morning took stone that he had put under his head and he set up it up as a pillar poured oil on its top I know we've read this before but we got to get through this to the first verse of chapter 29 Rose early took stone put under his head set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top he recognizes that God is has manifested Himself to Jacob. You could almost say that Jacob was born again. He called the name of that place Bethel. However, previously the name of that city had been Luz. Bethel sounds a lot better than Luz. House of God sounds a lot better than almond tree. Then Jacob made a vow. See, when God shows up, He desires commitment out of us. He desires our recognition that He just did what we saw Him do or heard Him say. He desires a commitment. When God uses His Word to speak to us, He wants a response. And so he made a vow. Jacob made a vow. If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. The stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me, I will surely give a tenth to you. Verse 1 of chapter 29. Then Jacob went on his journey. Now you gotta hear this because the literal Hebrew there is, then Jacob picked up his feet. And what we see here is Jacob with happy feet. Okay? Now think about where he came from. Think about what was going on in the household. Think about the friction between Jacob and his mom and Esau and his dad. Think about the deceit. Think about all of the strife. that he had lived in and now he has just had an encounter with the Lord. He went on his journey, he's got happy feet. He's a happy man, he's picking up his feet. I ho, I ho. He's off to find a wife. And he came to the land of the sons of the east. And he looked and he saw a well in the field. Now anytime you see a well in the Old Testament, it's a sign of blessing. And there's a well that God provides for all of us. According to John 4, when that woman from the city of Sychar stood at, let's see, yeah, that was Jacob's well, Jesus met her there. And Jesus said, he who drinks of this well will thirst again. But Jesus said, there's a well that never will run dry. And he said, there's a well that'll quench the thirst of a parched soul. And so Jacob sees the well in the field. And behold, and we have these beholds here, okay? Behold, so see it. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it. Now what a beautiful picture that is. A well and three flocks of sheep. This is nothing more or less than the blessing of God. You gotta get caught up. You gotta get caught up in the joy and in the pace that Jacob has as he carries himself forward on this journey. And then it just gets better because he sees the well and there's the sheep. And for from that well they watered the flocks. Yeah, that's it. That's this beautiful setting there. And the stone on the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, My brothers, where are you from? They said, We are from Haran. He said to them, Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said to them, Is it well with him? And they said, It is well. And here's Rachel's daughter coming with the sheep. He said, Behold, it is still high day. It is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep and go pasture them. But they said, we cannot until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well. Then we water the sheep. While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. Some of you ladies like a good love story. Jacob's gonna go from 0 to 60 in about 2.5 verses, so just hang on. When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted his voice And wept. Now there's a picture. The commentators kind of all over the place here. We think maybe after Jacob, you know, he rolls this stone away from the mouth of the well, he just got overcome with emotion and there you have it. Kissed Rachel, the shepherdess. And then he lifted his voice and wept. So anyway, I wonder what's going to happen next. Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebecca's son and she ran and told her father. So when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. So what, here's what you and I should be feeling and seeing from this. The parallel to this is Genesis 24. Yet, what we're looking at is we look at events as they kind of unfold. And you and I need to make the connection that God is leading Jacob according to his providence. Circumstances are happening. But that's not the only way God works. God had already revealed himself to Jacob with that divine encounter. But now, we don't read a lot of, then God told Jacob this, or to go here, or to do this, or to roll away the stone from the mouth of the well, or any of that. We just have circumstances. taking place we have something unfolding and we know that God in his providence is doing what he's blessing Jacob that's what he's doing he told Jacob knew where he was supposed to go to find a wife and he went there and God is blessing Laban said to him, surely you are my bone and my flesh. And he stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, because you are my relatives, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be? It's about to get real interesting. Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Now when we read older and younger, our minds need to go back to the birth of Jacob and Esau, and the blessing of God on the younger, not the older, but that the younger tried to hijack the blessing through deception so he gives us the name of the older Leah the name of the younger Rachel and Leah's eyes were weak but Rachel was beautiful of form and face now Jacob loved Rachel so he said to Rachel's dad, Laban. He says, I'll serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel. Laban said, it is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man. Stay with me. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. So you take this first part of the story, and all you can do is say, you can just write God's blessing right over the whole deal. God has orchestrated everything. God has led him. I mean, Jacob has found a gold mine in Rachel. He's the happiest guy around. So let's wrap this first part up. So those who know God are all the more willing to proceed from this divine encounter and to trust God in Jacob's situation, to trust him with regard to finding a wife. And he's willing to serve others. He's willing to serve Laban. He's willing to remove the stone from the mouth of the well. He's willing to do these things. He's willing to serve. And we find God blesses. God blesses those who receive the promise. God blesses those who have had this encounter with the Lord. And then those who receive the promise, that would be Jacob, are large-hearted in their service to others. I mean, he's willing to serve Laban for seven years. Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go into her. Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. It's all going so well. They're having a celebration. Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him and Jacob went into her. Now wait a second. Do we need to go back and re-read that? First part, no, we don't need to reread that. We know something has taken place here that Jacob did not expect. Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came back in the morning that behold, it was Leah. But Jacob had served for seven years for Rachel. I wonder what's going on here. Did God go on vacation? Did God suddenly decide not to be sovereign over Jacob's circumstances? And he said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? Spoken by Jacob the swindler. What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me? Spoken by the master of deception. So what's going on here? This is something that is so applicable to you and to me as people of God and as people who are following the Lord who have had an encounter with Him. I mean, if you've been born again, if you've received Jesus, you've encountered the Lord. The Lord is able to do a couple things at once in our lives. He is able to bless us abundantly and to completely be faithful in delivering His promises to us. And at the same time, He is able to discipline us according to our own besetting sin. Because that's what He's done with Jacob. Yep, go on, fulfill the promise, go on and find a wife. Well, you need to find a wife, but the Lord would not, listen, He was not going to tolerate that streak of deception that Jacob is so notorious for in his own family. God was going to deal with that sin. So, you and I need to make room for both of those in our lives. I mean, the New Testament talks about the fact that God disciplines His own, and He does. And God wants to move us or increase us in this life we know as the sanctified life. We are to become more like Jesus in our lives. And so the Lord has visited Jacob's own sin upon himself through Laban. Jacob was himself deceived. And he's blind to his own. It's like all of a sudden, what is this you've done to me? Now he's questioning Laban. What is this? I don't deserve this. Why then have you deceived me? So it's all right for Jacob to deceive others, but not to be deceived by someone else. And Laban has a great response. It is not the practice, it's not customary in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. There's an order. Complete the week of this one and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years. Jacob did so and completed a week and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. So Jacob went into Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban for another seven years. Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben. For she said, Because the Lord has seen my affliction, surely now my husband will love me. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has therefore given me this son also. So she named him Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son and said, now this time my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons. Therefore, he was named Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, this time I will praise the Lord. Therefore, she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing. You think Jacob learned anything through the 14 years that he served Laban? I think he did. We'll stop there tonight. But think about it. It's good stuff. As God unfolds his sovereign plan in the life of Jacob to teach Jacob to trust God's plan and trust his sovereign work in his own life. much the same way that we should trust his faithfulness to the promise. Let's pray and we'll be dismissed. Father in heaven, thank you for the time together tonight. Thank you for the time of prayer. Thank you for the time in your word. be magnified in our lives, and we just pray for the Sunday services. We ask, Lord, that you continue your work and let us be a people who look for every indication of your involvement in our life, not only for blessing, but for discipline as well. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.