Let's bow our hearts before the Lord and seek His help as we look at His Word. Our Father, we praise You for all that You are for us in Christ and the magnitude of Your love for us that we have not merited one bit and certainly don't deserve. We sing, is it really true? that our Sovereign died, that our God died for our sin, and it is. And so we rejoice in you and we praise you for Christ and for forgiveness and for the glory of the Gospel. And pray that this morning, even through the darkness of Genesis 29 and 30, we would see the majesty of your love and your holiness and your wisdom and your faithfulness and your power I pray that you would change our hearts by the work of your Holy Spirit through your word. I pray for the best. I pray especially for Tracy and her mom. I pray for physical protection and strength for Tracy's mom. But more than that, I pray for faith for her heart, that her heart would be turned to you, inclined to your word, that she would love Christ and the Gospel right now as her outer man, fails her. I pray for strength and grace for Tracy as she is exhausted and trying to continue working. And so many unknowns. Will you pour your grace upon her to strengthen her for the tasks she faces right now? Father, we praise you for your majesty and pray that you'd help us to see it and know it today. In Jesus name. Amen. We're going to start in Genesis 29, verse 31, and go through chapter 30, verse 24, Today, and I will just say up front, these are dark, dark verses. You talk about a dysfunctional family. It is ugly in these verses. And really, this glimpse into this family 4000 years ago gives us a real clear picture of the folly of trying to make life work our own way. but it also points us to an incredible God who can be trusted so that we don't have to make life work our own way. So these are great verses. I want us just to work through the text and watch what happens. Then we're going to come back and focus on one verse that is jammed full of truth about God. So look with me, first of all, in chapter 29. And we'll read verses 31 and 32. Now, the Lord saw that Leah was unloved. You remember the setting, right? Jacob just married thinking he was marrying Rachel, was tricked into marrying Leah, and now has both Leah and Rachel. The Lord saw that Leah was unloved because it was Rachel that Jacob had wanted in the first place, and the Lord 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 those are painful words. I imagine if you just think about that for a minute, you feel the heartache in those words. Reuben means, see, a son. And Leah names him this because the Lord has seen her affliction. And that word affliction captures the turmoil of her heart. And boy, how practical is this? How many people today labor in a marriage where they don't feel like they're loved? That's exactly what Leah feels. And she uses that word affliction to capture the misery. And she is thankful that God sees her misery, so she names this child C, a son God has given. But unfortunately, she thinks this child will solve all the problems. Maybe now her husband will love her now that she is born him a son. And again, how many people have understandably hoped that a baby would heal a fractured marriage. But unless those people turn their hearts to the Lord, it will not. Now read verse 33, Then she conceived again, Leah did, 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. Simeon sounds like the word that means to hear. So she names this boy and I think because of her thankfulness that God hears what's said in that home. And you can imagine that some of the stuff said in that home was not fun to hear. And she rejoices that God hears what is said. He hears the evidence that she is unloved. And so she names this baby Simeon. You see, she doesn't say it as directly, but you can sense again that she is hopeful. God heard that I'm unloved and He gave me another child, so now I'll be loved. It doesn't work this time either. Verse 34, 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 Levi sounds like the word she uses that means attached to. Can you see her frustration growing? Come on, Jacob, this is three. Surely now, He will be attached to me." Her longing that her husband would love her. And once again, she's disappointed and Jacob doesn't change. And it's fascinating what happens next. Look at verse 35. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, this time I'll praise the Lord. Aren't those sweet words? So she named him Judah, which sounds like the Hebrew word for praise. And she stopped bearing. I love that verse. It's as if you move through those first three children, you see her frustration growing and growing. And you know what that's like when you've got someone in life and your hopes and your joy is pinned to them, but they don't ever change. And you can see her frustration grow and grow and grow and grow. And finally, she says, you know what? I've got to stop this. It's not that she has to stop wanting Jacob to love her, but she has to stop pinning all of her life joy and satisfaction in him. And so when the fourth child is born, she says, praise the Lord. I'm going to name him. Praise the Lord. Unfortunately, the story doesn't keep getting better from there. Look with me at chapter 30 and let's read the first six verses. What's going on in Rachel's heart now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob, no children, She became jealous of her sister, and she said to Jacob, give me children or else I die. And Jacob's anger burned against Rachel. Just stop in that phrase for a second and look back in chapter 29 at verse 20. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him But a few days because of his love for her. Chapter 30 verse 2. Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel. Wow. There's a sobering reminder for people preparing for marriage that even a love and a romance so powerful that it made seven years seem like a few days can turn into burning anger if the people in that marriage try to make life work their own way. Jacob's anger burned against Rachel and he said, Am I in the place of God who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb? She said, Here is my maid Bilhah. Go into her that she may bear on my knees so that through her I too may have children. So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife and Jacob went into her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, God has vindicated me and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son. Therefore she named him Dan, which sounds like the word for vindicate. So, while Leah struggles with misery, the misery of rejection and being unloved, Rachel struggles with jealousy. And in her jealousy, she resorts to the same kind of manipulation that her mother-in-law used. If you remember, Rebecca said to Isaac, if Jacob marries one of these girls, I'm going to die. What value is my life? So, now Rachel tries the same trick. If you don't give me kids, I'm going to die. as if Jacob is God and can do that. And he replies in anger and his anger burns against her. And since Jacob can't just give her a child, Rachel resorts. This is interesting. She first of all tries her mother-in-law's manipulation. Do this or I'm going to die. Then she tries her grandmother-in-law's manipulation. You remember that Sarah tried this give your maid to your husband thing to have a baby. Now here it is two generations later and Rachel gives Bilhah to Jacob so that she can at least have a child indirectly through her maid. And when Bilhah has this child, she names him Vindicate, Dan. God has vindicated me. But the problem is she's just wrong. That's not true. That's not what's going on. God is not vindicating her pride and her bitterness. It's like she's saying, ha, see, Leah, God's on my side. And that's not true. God's on the side of those who Humble themselves and go his way, but she is determined. It's like... I'm just not so sure she's right there in what she's saying. Look at what happens next. Verse 7. Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son. So Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed, and she named him Naphtali. Poor kid. His mom names him Wrestling. But then I thought, well, better for a boy to be named Wrestling than Petunia or something, I guess. So this guy's name is Wrestling. And you see what she's saying? She's saying, ha, I'm Wrestling with my sister and I'm winning. Which, again, isn't true. But look at verse 9. When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpha. So, Leah's rejoicing in the Lord. It couldn't handle the warring that kept going on. And when Rachel's maid started having children, Leah's heart started to drift back toward, you know, I've got to win in this fight. And so she goes through the same manipulation. She took her maid Zilpah, verse 9, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, how fortunate. So she named him Gad. And before I comment on that, do you realize how crazy this is getting? This is getting really messed up. This is a big mess of people trying to make life work their own way. They're all saying, I can't trust God. I can't do what God wants me to do because God will mess things up. I got to figure this out. Maybe I'll try this. Maybe I'll try this. And it just is getting uglier and uglier. by the day. And this time Leah names this child Gad, which means how fortunate, which to me sounds like she's saying, you know, lucky me, I won round seven of the fight with Rachel. Ding. Now verse 12, Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, happy am I, for women will call me happy. So she named him Asher. And again, it just sounds to me like she's flaunting. She's just like, hey, Rachel, guess what? And again, there's no mention of God like earlier. It's just like I won round eight in the battle with Rachel. Now I'm ahead. Now, you thought it was ridiculous to that point. Just wait till you see what happens next. Verse 14. Now, in the days of wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes. But she said to her, is it a small matter for you to take my husband? Would you take my son's mandrakes also? So Rachel said, well, then he can lie with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes, which you see obviously means or surely suggests that she had told Jacob you're not allowed to lie with her. So this is a mess. Now, there's more going on here. Rachel's not just hungry. The Hebrew word mandrake The name for this plant, this is a berry, it's bigger than what we think of as berries, but it's like a berry they ate. And the Hebrew name for that, the word mandrake means love plant. And for thousands of years, this plant, which they call mandagora or something today, has been thought to have, be some kind of love potion. And if you eat these, it's good for fertility or getting somebody to love you or whatever. It's just, and so, This is in the Harry Potter books. I'm not kidding. Mandrakes are in the Harry Potter books and in modern occult literature. And 4,000 years ago, the Hebrew word for this plant was love plant because they had the superstition that you eat this. And I don't know whether it was a fertility thing or whether it just meant then somebody will love you. It's like a Cupid kind of thing. But so that's what's going on. When Leah comes back from the fields, her son brings these mandrakes. Rachel's not thinking, oh, I'm hungry. Will you give me some? She's saying one of two things, either maybe if I eat those, I'll be able to have a child or else I'm not letting Leah eat those because I don't want her to have another one. Either way, she says, give me those mandrakes. Now you see how low this has gotten? These are people who supposedly trust God and believe in God, and now they're exchanging sexual favors for mystical berries from a love plant. And you know what's so sobering about this? If we decide to make life work our own way, we can make this big of a mess too, can't we? We will make this kind, it'll have different, it'll look different in our lives, but if we say, God, forget you, I'm going to do what I want to do, we'll make messes just like this with our lives. Now Leah isn't going to miss this opportunity, so she makes sure Jacob knows of the deal and In verse 17 and 18, God gave heed to Leah. She conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband. What? God's rewarding me because I gave my maid to my husband? He is not. I don't know where she gets that from. But you see, when you start walking the road of doing your own thing, Your thinking gets more and more and more twisted. You can't even see life straight anymore. And it's ridiculous what these ladies are saying now. God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband. Verse 19, Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, God has endowed me with a good gift. And look, the hope is still there. My husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. And boy, there's nothing wrong with the hope being there. I'm not condemning her for that. You know how many years of heartache this has to have been? Year after year after year living in a marriage where she's unloved and unwanted. At least this time she mentions God in the naming of the child. And God has given me a good gift. Ah, finally a rose among the thorns. Baby 13 is finally a girl. Not 13, it's baby what? 11? Or 12? Sorry, I don't remember what the number is. What is it? We had 11. That's right, because we're going to have Joseph and Benjamin still. So 10 plus Dinah is 11. Now verse 22, then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her, and opened her womb. Now you know that we have that word remembered many times in the Old Testament and it's always used for when God steps in and actively gets involved and it's the right time for God to get involved in an area of a person's life. It doesn't mean that God said, oh yeah, Rachel. It means God, that was the right time for God in his knowledge to step into Rachel's life. God remembered Rachel and God gave heed to her and opened her womb, which is a staggering statement. which we'll see back in 2931 also. So she conceived and bore a son and said, God has taken away my reproach. So she named him Joseph, saying, May the Lord give me another son. Poor guy. His name means, the Hebrew word means to add. So she's saying she wants God to add another child for her. So to put that in common English, she names this boy I want another one. That's the kid's name. The kid's name is give me another one. Like, thanks, God. Nice. It's a boy. Let's name him. Give me another one. And I I'll admit I might be being too hard on her here. Somebody else said Rachel's naming of Joseph expresses her abiding faith in the generosity of God who will yet grant her another child. But seeing what's been going on in Rachel's heart, I'm not so sure that that's what's happening. And at this point in the story, it switches back to Jacob and Laban. So we're going to start in verse 25 again next week. Well, I told you this was dark. If you thought messed up families were something new in the 21st century, now we know. At the end, I'm going to take us to Matthew 11. I don't want us to turn there now because I've got something else to show us in Genesis 29. But in adult Bible study this morning, we talked about Matthew 11, 28. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. What a chapter full of weary and heavy laden people we just read about, right? I mean, not just, not just Jacob, not just Leah, not just Rachel, But what do you think life was like for all those kids? I mean, you talk about being in a mixed family. Being in a mixed family is challenging enough. But then you add the fact that your moms hate each other's guts and you've got a serious mess for those kids. This is a family full of people who are weary and heavy laden. They are manipulating. They're miserable. They're jealous. They're trying so hard to make life work and it's just not happening. But there's one verse in this passage that for me, it's like sunrise in the middle of all this darkness. It's just beautiful. And it points us to the God that is all we need. The whole time, there's a God who's the answer to everything here. And they're just ignoring Him. Look with me at chapter 29, verse 31. Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren." Now that verse might not strike you initially, but that verse is packed with three incredible truths about God, and when you put them together, it is like beautiful light in the middle of this darkness. First of all, it says, Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved. Why would God care? I mean, there are a lot of women in marriages that feel unloved. Does God really see, know and care? I mean, humanly speaking, we could say He's God. He's got a lot bigger things to deal with, to worry about than how Leah's marriage is working out. That's what we would say, humanly speaking. Does God see and know and care about something as practical and mundane as the frustrations and disappointments of a marriage? You see, this is the way we think. We think God cares about missionaries going to the hardest places in the world. But my marriage? That's small fries for God. He doesn't see. He doesn't know. He doesn't care. Matthew 10, 29-31, are not two sparrows sold for a cent, and yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered, so don't fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows. So surely Leah thought she was all alone in her sorrow, but she was not. She was not. And we see here God's loving attention and his tender care for his people. The Lord saw that Leah was unloved. Now, the second phrase says, and he opened her womb. And that's a staggering phrase. God's power extends all the way to the intricate biology of the womb which God can control and God can change in a moment if He wishes. So in 1.11, verse 6, it says, he has made known to his people the power of his works. So we see here not only the tender care, the personal love of God, but we also see the magnitude of his power. And then the last phrase says, but Rachel was barren. Now, why is Rachel barren? Is it because God doesn't care? No. Is it because God isn't big enough? No. As a matter of fact, we know that later God is going to know it's the right time and He's going to open her womb. So why is she barren? It's simply because of the wisdom of God. God knows the right timing. And God in His wisdom is allowing her, at that point, to be barren. God is a God of perfect wisdom. He always knows what is best and He always knows when it's best. Now, if you just take those three truths and live in the reality of them, you will not have to live in the misery of Jacob and Rachel and Leah. Because those three truths put together are like gigantic foundation stones for your life. God loves perfectly. God is perfectly powerful. and he is perfectly wise. And that's all you need. If he was loving and not powerful, then all he could do is give us sympathy. If he was powerful and not loving, then we all would have been dead meat a long time ago. If he was powerful and loving but not wise, then he could be like the father who's always lavishing stuff on his kids, but he has no wisdom about what's best and when and how. is trying to buy their affection or something, but he's all three. He is perfect in wisdom. He is perfect in love. He is perfect in power. Now, what if Jacob would have lived in a reality of that? What if Leah and Rachel? Do you think you need to take the berries from the Mandrake and Do you need to bargain sexual favors with the second wife off your husband to get berries to try to have a baby? Do you need to do that if you've got this God? I think Jacob and Rachel and Leah were too busy for theology. You know? Life was hard. There was a lot going on. I don't have any time to think about God or worry about that stuff. I've got to deal with life. to deal with life. They needed God. They needed somebody to step into the situation who actually had the wisdom to know what ought to happen. Somebody who actually had the power to do what needed to be done. Somebody who actually cared in the midst of all this lack of love. But they were too busy for theology. It wasn't practical enough for them. Life was tough and they needed to face life and then get to God later. So you don't have to live a life of frustration, strife, depression, discontentment. You've got a God that loves you perfectly. He sees every trial. He knows every sorrow. I love that phrase from the King James of Hebrews 4.15. He is touched with a feeling of our infirmities. All of them. God cares, but He's also infinite in His power. He can do whatever He wants. And he's perfect in his wisdom. He's never made a mistake. He always does the right thing at the right time. It would have been hard for Jacob and Leah and Rachel to trust him. Right? I mean, their circumstances are severe. There is no doubt that they are in severe circumstances, but frankly, some of you have been in circumstances that hard. And it's hard to trust God. I know that. Faith is not easy. That's why we have to fight the good fight of faith, because faith's a battle. It would have been hard for Jacob and Leah and Rachel to trust God, but the result would have been what we saw in Matthew 11. It would have been rest and refreshment and peace in the midst of those circumstances. That would have been the result of faith. But instead, they live like practical atheists, kept trying to work it all out themselves. And the result was just a mess that kept getting worse. Now, go with me to Matthew 11. Matthew 11. Okay, Matthew 11 and verse 28. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And that word rest means refreshment, reviving. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. You see what part of that Jacob and Leah and Rachel didn't like? They didn't like God's yoke. You take God's yoke, and that means you have to go God's way. Instead of going on your feelings, you go on what God says. Instead of just going with whatever you desire to do, you look at what God desires for you to do. That's what it means to take His yoke, to go His way. And they said, no, no, no, no, no. We've got problems we've got to figure out here. No time for God. We've got to get this taken care of." And they said, we're going to go our own way and make this work. And the result? They spent miserable lives, weary and heavy laden. And Jesus says, if you'll submit to my way, which means giving up your own, take my yoke on you, you will find that the way, that yoke is easy and my burden is light. It's the great paradox of, there are a lot of paradoxes, but it's a great paradox of life. We say, if I go God's way, I'll be miserable and life will be so hard. And Jesus says, if you just take my yoke and go my way, you'd have unbelievable grace for those burdens. for the weary and burdensome things of life. But you have to give up on your own way and take the yoke of God's way. Learn from His meekness, humility, and Christ Himself will give you rest and refreshment and peace in the middle of wearying and burdensome circumstances. That's what they needed. They needed to take upon them the yoke of a perfectly loving, perfectly powerful and perfectly wise God. And today you might need to do exactly that. You might need to say, I've been running life my own way. I said, forget that yoke. I'm going to figure this out. And today you need to say, I know that that God is trustworthy. If He really is perfect in wisdom and love and power, I can trust Him. And so, because of that, I'm going to take His yoke on me. I'm going to go His way, His will, follow His word, and trust that the result will be rest and refreshment in the midst of my burdens. Paul said that our outer man is perishing. Our inner man is being renewed day by day. Man, did Leah need that in that kind of a marriage. And she didn't have it, because she was trying to work it out herself, and Rachel, and Jacob, and those kids. Will you turn to God's way? Take His yoke? He loves you more than you ever know, can ever imagine. He has more power than you can fathom, and His wisdom is perfect. You can trust Him. Will you bow your heads with me? We aren't going to sing today, I just want to give you a couple minutes to talk to the Lord about these things. And I encourage you again, if you're running life your way, stop, take his yoke and go his way. Trust that kind of God. Our Father, I pray for your grace in our hearts that by your power at work in our lives, you would help us to trust you and believe what your word says about who you are and what you can do and all your wisdom and love and power. Lord, we believe, but will you help our unbelief and give us the grace to take your yoke and live your way and trust your wisdom instead of being determined to do it our way. Give us your grace, Father. Help our unbelief. I pray that our inner man would be renewed day by day, whatever is going on in our outer man. So help us, we pray, for your glory. We pray these things because of our Savior, who has gained access for us to you. We pray because of Him. Amen.