As I mentioned prior to the reading, we are picking up right where we left off last week, and we will continue to see, as you notice from the reading, that there was a lot of sin happening in our patriarchal fathers. And when we talk about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, most of what comes to our mind is all the good things about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but when we go through at the pace that we are, which is not actually a slow pace, but we're actually stopping and paying attention each week as we look at the chapters and these texts and what's going on in people's lives, we realize that they are, in fact, sinners, a lot like we are. in need of a savior. I want to look at chapter 29 in five different points this morning. Verses 1-8, Jacob's journey. Jacob's journey, verses 1-8. Then 9-20, the relative Rachel. 21-30, lying Laban. And 31-35, unloved Leah. Then Jacob went on his journey. That is, literally, he picked up his feet. There's a renewed confidence. Remember where we left him off. He went to sleep, assuming that he was out in the middle of nowhere and wrongly thought that he could escape the presence of God. God met with him in the midst of a dream, showed him this ladder where angels were ascending and descending, and the Lord stood above it and spoke with him. He wakes up. refreshed, realizes God is in that place, that there's nowhere that he can go to escape the presence of God. It's almost as if some of the catechism questions that he learned as a kid are coming back to his mind, and there's a renewed commitment on his part, there's a confidence, he's cheerful, he lifted up his feet, he went on his journey, and he made it to the land that he was headed to. Now that sounds good, and Jacob is unaware. If he knew what was before him, he may not be too excited. I don't mean marriage is bad, I mean all that's coming in his life in the next several years. He's unaware that this is the beginning of his long exile. You may remember last week we mentioned his mom concocted this plan to send him away because his older brother was wanting to kill him, and she didn't realize that sending him away, even under the guise of finding a wife that she would be able to live with as a daughter-in-law, was going to be the last time that she saw him. When Isaac needed a wife, Jacob's dad, His dad, Abraham, had sent a servant. He didn't send Isaac himself, he sent a servant, and that servant carried loads of silver and gold and garments to make an offer for the bride to be. Jacob, on the other hand, appears to arrive in Haran empty-handed. It's just him and God. And he arrives there at the well, The three flocks are there, the shepherds are there, there's a stone, they haven't opened up the well yet, and the lazy shepherds who are there that day use the excuse of their inactivity on others not being present to help them. Basically saying this, that stone is too large for us to roll away. We're waiting on help. Jacob is confused. You can see in his language there why they're just standing around. It's still day, verse seven. It's time for them to drink and move on and eat. Go and pasture them, do your job. But they say, we're waiting on the others. It's not our custom to do it yet. The stone is too large. When they get here, they don't even act like they're going to be a part. I mean, the way the language is, they will roll the stone away, verse eight. Until all the flocks are gathered here, they will roll the stone away. These other people who are coming, we see who shows up next. It looks like they're waiting on Rachel to come and do the hard work for them. But Rachel does show up. Verse nine, she arrives and she's a relative. And as soon as she arrives, Jacob is impressed. And what do young guys who are looking for wives do? They flex. That's what Jacob does. These lazy guys waiting around, the stone's too big for them, it's not too big for me. And he single-handedly rolls the stone away. Now think, this is Jacob, right? He's the homebody. He's been hanging around close to the house. This is not Esau. He hasn't been out fending for himself and hunting. But he proves to not be that much of a slacker, at least when there's a girl on the horizon. But in his mind, Rachel was worth the extra effort immediately for him. We could call it love at first sight. He was willing to do what was necessary to impress her in order to win her over. So they have a conversation. Jacob says to Rachel, we're kin, we're of the same family, it's okay, we're in the family of God. Basically it's his way of saying, I'm eligible, you're eligible. She runs back, she tells her dad about these things, Laban. You remember Laban from previously in this story. So far he's only been up to no good. And if you were here a few minutes ago, you know that he's still up to no good. Verse 13 tells us that Jacob related to Laban all these things. Jacob did not relate to Laban everything, all of the circumstances that resulted in him being there. Jacob told him probably about the journey primarily, which is basically the only encouraging aspect of Jacob's life at this point. But he told him about the journey. We know that he didn't go into details about his long career in deception. Right? Who tells their future father-in-law that? Right? You don't go into detail about those things. He didn't. He's trying to win a wife here. And immediately he's welcomed into the family. Laban says to him, surely you are my bone and my flesh. And he stayed with him a month. Again, Jacob related to Laban all these things. He told him the positive things, which is why he's immediately recognized as being part of the family. And Jacob does. It's hard for us to argue. He proves that he fits right into this family of dysfunction. I mean, Laban says, my bone and my flesh. Laban says, we're cut from the same cloth. And we can add, yes, the same rotten, sin-stained cloth, both of these men, Jacob and his uncle Laban. Now, when we read Genesis chapter 29, it looks like a whole lot of coincidence going on. Jacob, he's been traveling for days out east to Haran. He just happens to come across a field. He just happens to come across a field with sheep in it. He just happens to come across a field with sheep who are waiting by a well. He just happens to come across a field with sheep waiting by a well with shepherds. Those shepherds in that field with sheep waiting to be watered at the well just happen to know Laban. And to top it all off, Laban's daughter, Rachel, just happens to arrive at this well in this field where the sheep are gathered and these shepherds are hanging out. That's a whole lot of mere coincidence, if you believe in that kind of thing. It's impossible for us to read what's going on here, particularly knowing the backstory and knowing Jacob's agenda and why he's coming. to the land of his fathers. It's impossible and really unfair for us to even attempt to read the text under the guise of anything other than divine providence. Nothing is coincidental. Not in your life, not in my life, not in Jacob's life. I mean, we use the term from time to time, that's just a coincidence. But in a very real sense, we are robbing God of his sovereign right to orchestrate and control all things. Nothing is mere coincidence. Everything is divinely providential. I mean, just take a moment and think about the course of your life. And notice the kind, compassionate, orchestrating hand of God working in the details. Working through even the difficulties. In the midst of the trivial and even the mundane. Notice the kindness that He has continued to show you. How He has used everything for His glory. And when we respond appropriately, everything is used also for our good. Jacob stays with Laban a month after just happening to come across this field with sheep that had shepherds that knew Laban and Rachel arriving, going back to meet Laban. He stayed with him a month, verse 14. Then Laban poses the question. He initiates his plan. And it sounds like, if we didn't read the entire chapter, we think at this point, wow, this Laban, he's genuinely concerned for Jacob's well-being. He's concerned that he's been hanging around the house for a month and probably helping out with all the chores. But I haven't paid him anything. You shouldn't work for nothing. What can I pay you? What can I give you for your labors? Should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be? Then verse 16 gives us a parenthetical pause, providing necessary details to the rest of the story. Now, Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Two daughters, Leah the older, Rachel the younger, verse 17. And Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face. Now because we're really shallow people, we read that and think, Leah looks really tired, Rachel looks really spry, or Leah's ugly and Rachel's pretty. But it really doesn't capture exactly what the text is attempting to communicate. This idea of weak, the word that's used there in the original also means delicate. So the description of Leah is not she's ugly and tired, okay? It's the one with nice eyes, with delicate, soft, and dainty eyes, and the one that is beautiful. She doesn't have just one thing. Rachel doesn't have just one thing that stands out. All of her is beautiful. So you have the one with nice eyes and the one that's beautiful. Now Jacob loved Rachel. So he said, I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel. If you'll give me your daughter in marriage, I will work for you. for seven years. Laban says, I would rather you marry her than someone else. You have a deal. We can see the handshake happening in Laban's words in verse 19. He appears to agree to the terms. He would be insane not to. He gets Jacob's labor. Jacob has proven himself a hard worker over the past month, but he also retains Rachel's labors as well. He's not giving Rachel to him for them to move off somewhere or go back to the land of promise. But he retains Rachel's labor. She was one of his shepherdesses. And he gets Jacob to boot for seven years. And verse 20 tells us that Jacob served seven years in order to marry Rachel. And they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. The life just flew by for him because there was purpose. His life had purpose and so he worked hard and he waited patiently. He, in his mind, was earning his prize honestly. And the fact that the seven years went by like a few days, the fact that his life now had purpose, the fact that he was working and waiting and earning his prize honestly, all of this adds to the great disappointment that is just around the corner that he is about to experience. At the end of his days, he comes to Laban, verse 21.3, give her, Give me my wife, he says, my time is completed, that I may go into her. The time had flown by, Jacob had earned his wife, and he goes to Laban and says, I have completed my end of the bargain, now you fulfill your promise. Verse 22, Laban gathered all the men of the place, he made a feast, they're celebrating. In the evening, he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him. And Jacob went into her. The bride was veiled for these ceremonies in this culture. So Leah would have been wearing, the bride would have been wearing a veil throughout the day. Now we don't know if Rachel was veiled throughout the day or if Leah was veiled throughout the day. We don't know all of the wickedness that Laban was involved in. What we do know is that Jacob expected to marry Rachel and he ended up not married to Rachel. We do know that brides were completely veiled during ceremonies and festivities and it makes clear that it was in the evening, verse 23, the darkness of the evening Laban brought the bride to Jacob. And I might say here at this point in the story, every one of us have questions about this story that we just don't know the answer to. What we know is what the text tells us. So we're gonna work hard to stick with that. So it came about in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. Morning dawns, the sun comes up, and Jacob has married the wrong woman. which is actually the right woman, but the wrong woman with regard to what he intended. It's the right woman in some ways that we'll see in future chapters, a little bit this week. It is impossible for us to imagine the heartache. Again, remember all his hard work, his patient waiting, his honest earning, only to be tricked, deceived into marrying the elder sister. What is this, he says to Laban? What is this you have done to me, verse 25? Did we not have an agreement? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? This is what he says in verse 18. I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel. Laban's response, it is better that I give her, generically. So Laban's gonna say, in my mind, I was talking about Leah, not Rachel. It's better that I give her to you than to another man. Stay with me." Laban planned to trick him all along, and here he has successfully deceived him. Why then, he continues, Jacob talking to Laban, what is this you've done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Those are rhetorical. Why then? Why, Laban, have you deceived me? Why have you deceived me? Jacob's father's words to Esau, identical phrasing. Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing. This is after Jacob has tricked his dad into giving him the blessing. Isaac says to Esau, your brother came deceitfully. Now that brother who deceived his father says to Laban, why then have you deceived me? There's a parallel here with these scenes of deceit. The scene parallels Jacob's own conniving plan of deception. Think about that scene just for a moment. Jacob along with his mom prepared a meal. Isaac who was physically blind was wined and dined before being tricked into giving the blessing. Jacob, Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. Jacob too is wined and dined and then deceived in the dark. He brought the bride too and veiled in the evening. Jacob is deceived after the festivities by Laban. There's a parallel and we have to imagine even with Jacob's terminology that he's questioning here, that he begins to realize that the tables have been turned. And we begin to see as we read that actually Leah's eyes being weak were not the problem here, but Jacob's, Jacob's non-discerning eyes to know what was going on, who was in the tent with him on his wedding night. He has met his match, we might say. He gets a large dose of his own medicine. But it's not just meeting his match in Laban. but it's also his means of discipline. The Lord is using this. Jacob had put himself before the firstborn Esau. God had promised that Jacob would receive the blessing, you remember that. Jacob wasn't just taking what was rightfully his. Jacob was using backhanded means and sinful methods in order to, because he didn't trust God, in order to make sure that he got what he thought was rightfully his. He had put himself before his brother who was the firstborn. And he's no doubt being reminded of that sin with Laban's response. Listen to what Laban says after the question, why then have you deceived me? But Laban said, verse 26, it is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. Jacob, it's not the practice in any place for the younger brother to receive the blessing or the birthright. Surely he's remembering these things. But this is insufficient on Laban's part. Laban is guilty. I mean, the title of this section is Lying Laban. He is guilty of lying, treacherously deceiving Jacob. He blames the culture for his wickedness. That's just not how we do it around here, which we're prone to do as well, to fall into sin and say, well, that's what everybody else is doing. That's what Laban is doing here, excusing his deceit. Laban, as a wicked businessman, takes further advantage of Jacob's vulnerability with regard to the love of his younger daughter, and he offers him Rachel also, along with another seven years of labor. Jacob did so. He completed the wedding week with Leah and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. That's verse 28. In verse 30, Jacob receives Rachel as a wife and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah. He served with Laban for another seven years. So he He served Laban for seven years, he got Leah. He was tricked into marrying Leah. A week later, he receives Rachel as his wife, with the promise that he'll serve another seven years. I think oftentimes we think he served seven years and got Leah, he served another seven years and got Rachel. No, he got the wives a week apart, basically, and served seven years on either side. Now let's deal with this issue, Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. It really doesn't at all mean what it sounds like it means again. It's not that Jacob loved Leah a little bit and he loved Rachel a lot. It really better reads and it's better understanded, Jacob loved Rachel rather than Leah. It's not a comparative love. It's he loved one and he did not love the other. And just in case this story alone does not deter you from marrying sisters, Leviticus 18, 18, you shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister, right? There are enough problems here. It wasn't okay for them to do it. And God eventually had to make a law because people, we type people, don't learn well from our experiences. So we are protected, prevented from making the same kind of foolish mistakes if we're willing to abide by the law of God. But listen, Laban did not merely sin against Jacob here. That's the easy point we can see. He tricked Jacob. But he sins against Rachel as well. Imagine having a daughter who is anticipating marriage for seven years, working alongside the guy on the farm, serving alongside, seeing his honesty and his integrity and his hard work and looking forward and making plans. only for your older sister to end up with everything that you had hoped for. Laban was sinning against Jacob as a nephew and a future son-in-law, but he was sinning against Rachel as well and basically encouraging Leah as an adulteress. With the plan on the table in those days, the marriage was already complete, just not consummated. And here we find Laban sneaking in Leah at the last minute. It's a sin against Leah as well because he ends up giving Leah to a man who doesn't love her. She's unloved. Look at verse 31. Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved. Some of you have referenced Bibles and see that the word is a bit stronger than unloved. There was a bit of disdain. I mean, literally, it's hatred, which is a harsh word. But the Lord saw Leah, that she was unloved, which is wonderfully good news for those of us whose lives are an absolute mess. Leah was in misery, in a terrible situation. And the Lord loved her. He saw her in her distress. He drew near to her. He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Rachel was barren, as Rebecca before her had been, as Sarah before her had been. It's really remarkable that time and again we see what appears to be a hopeless situation and God comes and he answers the prayers of his people and he provides hope for all time. So Leah and Rachel, each wife wanted what the other had. Leah just wanted to be loved. Rachel just wanted children. And between the two sisters and each of their maids that were given at the weddings, the four mothers of the 12 tribes of Israel have been introduced. And we'll see that further play out through the rest of Genesis. Now, let's back up and consider again these marriage stories. The story of Jacob's marriage to Leah. the story of Jacob's marriage to Rachel, there's one glaring thing that's noticeably missing. God. It's Jacob working hard, it's Rachel with great expectation, it's Leah being thrown in at the last minute, and it's Laban manipulating and conniving and deceiving. I mean, certainly he's behind the scenes. We just saw that he's everywhere last week. We're not going to argue that he's not there. He is behind the scenes and he's orchestrating the entire drama. But on their part, from Jacob and Rachel and Leah and Laban, God is never acknowledged. They're just going through, playing life, pretending to play house, not acknowledging Him and their dependence on Him, seeing what He would want, attempting to consider what would please Him and what would honor Him, what would bring glory to Him, what would be best for themselves. When God enters the story again, verse 31, When he's back at the forefront of the story, he's there noticing Leah in her distress. He's watched all along, but he sees here Leah being neglected and unloved. And again, as I mentioned, it's not just being unloved. It's as if Jacob has an aversion to her, like there's animosity with her, and understandably so. She obviously went along with the plan that her dad had concocted. But Leah is Jacob's wife. And she deserves honor from Jacob. Leah is Jacob's wife. She deserves to be cherished by her husband. And we can see this longing inside her with the naming of her sons. God saw her in her distress. He loved her. He opened her womb. She conceived. Verse 32, she bore a son. She named him Reuben. Why? Because the Lord has seen my affliction. Look at what else he says. Surely now my husband will love me. Reuben, look, a son. Now he'll love me. Not for my sake, but at least I've provided him a son. He's going to love me now. Nope. Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, verse 33, because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has therefore given me this son also. And she named him Simeon. He has heard, literally, he has heard my cry. He sees that my husband still doesn't love me. Surely now he will. But no, she conceived again the third time, bore a son, and said, this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have born him three sons. Therefore, he was named Levi. He's attached, he's attached to me. Listen to the selfishness in Leah's naming of the boys. My husband will love me. He has heard me. He will attach himself to me. I am unloved. Idolatry is present in Leah's heart with the naming of her sons. Her heart was not set on God. God saw her, he had compassion on her, he loved her, but she was consumed with the temporal, with the earthly things. She wanted her husband's attention, which is not a bad thing. She wanted sons, but she wanted them for the wrong reasons. She wanted them to please her husband, not to please the Lord. We can see this exposed as we move into the final verse of the chapter. And Leah conceived again and bore a son and said, this time I will praise the Lord. So she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing. She no longer has her sights set on the temporal, on the short-sighted. Now, I am in no way suggesting that any of us somehow think that if we just please God, we don't have to do anything to cherish our wives or for the women. If you just please God, you don't have to honor your husbands. That's not the argument at all. We can make a very valid argument from Scripture that The way that you please God is by cherishing your wife or honoring your husband. The two are not, it's not one or the other. Leah realizes that the Lord has blessed her, the Lord has loved her, the Lord has opened up her womb and given her these four sons this time. This time I'm gonna lift my eyes above the dreadful circumstances that I'm in and I'm going to praise the Lord because he's worthy. Therefore she named him Judah. The Lord saw that Leah was unloved. And the Lord loves Leah not just by opening her womb. Again, that's super short-sighted. But he provided through Leah the lineage of Levi. The priesthood comes forth. And not just that, the Lord loves Leah by establishing her in the Messianic line. It's Leah, not Rachel. The descendants of Judah are the Messianic line. King David and then Christ. In closing, Jacob worked his heart out for 14 years to only end up married to sisters that could not get along. But through Jacob's sufferings, through the discipline of the Lord in Jacob's life, he will become prosperous and the father of many sons. It is the way that the Lord deals with his people. The great hymn writer said it well in the familiar hymn. These inward trials I employ from self and pride to set thee free. This is God speaking to his sons and daughters. The inward trials, I'm orchestrating them. I'm attempting to set you free from self and from pride. These inward trials I employ from self and pride to set thee free and break thy schemes of earthly joy that thou mayest seek thy all in me. Jacob, stop seeking the things of this world. Leah, don't just pursue the things that are temporal, but see the larger picture. See what I've called you to. that you might find your all in me. Leah recognizes that. This time I will praise the Lord. Esau's vengeful anger at his brother for stealing the birthright. His murderous plot leads to Jacob having to leave the land in search for a wife. All the while, we see God in the details, establishing the family line from which his own son will come. It is a messy, messianic line. But God is a God who overcomes, overrides, reconciles, and redeems in the midst of our sinful situations. That's what he's doing here. It appears that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they just continue blowing it with regard to the temporal. But we see again the mercy and grace of God overriding, overruling, and accomplishing his good pleasure for his people. We're the great beneficiaries of that. This lineage, particularly from Judah, from the line of Judah, as I mentioned, King David and eventually Christ. When Christ came, he too experienced exile like Jacob. He experienced lonely separation from his father. Suffering, the writer of Hebrews says, outside the camp. That is, outside the kind, continuous presence and communion that He had known forever as He hung there on the tree. There's separation, and it's not just separation from the kindness of God, but He was in the exact firing line of all the wrath and fury of God that we deserve because of sin. This is the Holy One of Israel, the sinless Christ, who is in the sights of all the wrath of God for all time that we deserve. He suffered outside the camp. He suffered exile away from his father. This Jesus, the writer of Hebrews also says, in doing that brought many sons to glory. As I mentioned, Jacob's sufferings and his discipline of the Lord eventually resulted in him becoming prosperous and the father of many sons. The great son was Christ himself, who also suffered separation, exile, and in doing so brought many sons to glory. Sons and daughters, like you and me, if you're in Christ and hoping in him alone. May God help us. There's a real danger in reading this passage and thinking, I can sin like Jacob, I can deceive like Jacob, and God will override it. If that's your thinking, you're not yet in Christ. For the Christian, it's looking at where I've blown it, God can redeem. It's a difference in how we look at it. For the Christian, we look back, we see where we failed, and we see that God can reconcile and redeem. If you're planning the next great sinful excursion and trusting in Christ to forgive you, you're not yet close to the kingdom. Come to him. He's worthy of us making room in our lives to live in light of his scriptures, to obey him. to give lots of attention to knowing him and doing what his word commands. Now, if you're here this morning and you think that there's just no way, my sinful past, it's impossible, listen, only a small God couldn't forgive your sinful past. Your sins, my sins, yes, indeed, they are many, but his mercy, his grace, his love is far more. Come to Christ. Look to him and him alone for the salvation that he provides. Let's pray. God, we thank you that you promised long ago to save your people from their sins, and we thank you that we see the evidence of you making good on your promise by sending your own son in the fullness of time. God, we thank you that your decree was good, and that you did redeem a people for yourself. God, we thank you that you have saved us from our sin, that you have set our feet on the rock who is Christ, We pray God that you will continue saving, that you'll continue sanctifying, that you'll continue honoring your son and yourself and your church.