Welcome back to another Biblit! We are picking back up in our Genesis series with another wild story involving Jacob and deception. There is a twist this week! This time Jacob is not the deceiver, but he is the one being deceived! Before I jump into the context and recap of the story, I have to encourage you (once again) to read it yourselves at some point! I cannot underplay that value! But without further ado, I hope you enjoy this week’s Biblit on Genesis 29:
Context
Jacob, if you recall, just had a life-changing encounter with God. In the previous chapter, he had a dream where God gave His blessing to Jacob and assured Jacob He would always be with him. The next morning, Jacob arose filled with hope and praise for the Lord. We witnessed a brand new response from Jacob; one of great faith! Today we pick the story back up and see in verse 1 that Jacob has finished his 600-mile journey! This is why the title of this week’s Biblit is “Provision.” God is the great provider and His provision in this chapter is clear and adamant right off the bat!
Jacob finishes the journey and winds up at a well (of all places haha). Crazy how many wells keep appearing in these narratives! It’s important to remember these people live in a desert, so a well of water was of supreme value. We often take water for granted in today’s society, but it was a rich resource for them...much like in Dune!
Anyways, Jacob is at this well (it may or may not be the same one Abraham’s servant met Rebekah at) and meets some shepherds. He starts talking to them to see if they know his uncle, Laban. This is the man his parents told him to go see about marrying someone in the family lineage.
For a quick reference, Laban was Abraham’s great-nephew. If that helps you keep track of everyone.
God’s great providence is revealed in the shepherd’s responses. They say not only do they know him and that he’s doing great, but also that his daughter is coming down to the well right that second to water his sheep! Jacob is blown away and probably overwhelmed with a “love at first sight” kind of thing. He jumps into action and takes notice of the large stone covering the well. He questions the shepherds why they haven’t moved the stone to water their sheep yet. (I think he’s trying to get the shepherds to leave so he can talk to Rachel alone, but who’s to say). They are not clear on the custom or motive here, but the shepherds say they can’t open the well yet. Perhaps it was custom to wait until everyone was there to water the sheep. Remember, water is a valuable resource, which is the reason for the stone in the first place.Jacob, maybe trying to impress Rachel, moves the stone himself and offers to water Rache’s sheep! This is very similar to the kindness Rebekah showed the servant one generation ago. After Jacob and Rachel meet, she brings Jacob to meet Laban, who runs out and embraces him with love! They go back to the house and Jacob lives with them for a month working as a servant!
After a month of free labor, Laban comes to Jacob and tells him he ought to be paid for all this work. He asks what he would like in return for his labor and Jacob tells him he’d work for 7 years if it meant he could marry Rachel!
Then...boom! 7 years go by as quickly as reading this sentence.
Now, this is where the story starts to get twisted. The twist is Laban has two daughters. Rachel was the youngest and according to the text, the more attractive one. Leah is given the attribute “weak eyes.” There is some debate as to the meaning of this phrase, but given the context, it’s probably not a compliment. Anyways, Laban has these two daughters. He knows Jacob will marry Rachel, but what about Leah? In these 7 years of working no one married her! We cannot be sure what Laban’s true motives are here, but he comes up with a devious plan.
Contextually, a wedding ceremony back then took place like this:
There was a large feast with the bride and groom separated.
The bride was also heavily veiled.
After the feast, the bride and groom would go on their “honeymoon.”
Laban abused these rituals so he could disguise Leah and trick Jacob into marrying her instead of Rachel. She was hidden by a veil and later by the cover of nighttime. It wasn’t until morning that Jacob realized they were swapped! Furious, he confronted Laban. Laban gave a weak excuse that it simply was not custom for the younger daughter to marry first. He gives him a week with Leah and then allowed Jacob to marry Rachel too....as long as he worked another 7 years! Dang.
So now Jacob is married to both Leah and Rachel. This is where things get even worse for poor Leah. First, she was given to a man who didn’t love her, now Jacob doesn’t do anything to help her. Leah was unloved and desired nothing more than to have Jacob’s attention. God sees her pain and provides for her 4 healthy children!
There is something interesting in the names of the children that show Leah’s heart. The first 3 kids were named with references to her pain in her relationship with Jacob. For the first 3 children, she was focused on seeking love from Jacob.However, God changes her heart. By the fourth kid, she is now focused on the Lord. Despite her worldly awful circumstance, God still loves for her and provides for her. When she has Judah she simply praises the Lord and no longer seeks Jacob’s love.
Interpretation
Now, I told you earlier that this Biblit was entitled “Provision” for a reason. It’s easy to see God’s provision in the beginning when Jacob safely makes it to Harran and meets Rachel. But it’s hard to see it after the fact with all the deception and heartbreak. How did God provide for Jacob in the midst of this awful deception? How did God provide for Leah in the midst of being unloved? Well, let’s tackle those two main things:
Jacob is deceived. Let’s recall that Jacob was the original deceiver. His sins have consequences even in the midst of God’s blessing. Here we see these consequences in the form of stark irony. Remember, Jacob’s mother dressed him up like his brother to deceive his father. Here we see Leah’s father dress her up like her sister to deceive Jacob. Jacob used his father’s blindness to deceive him, while Laban used the veil and cover of night to deceive Jacob. Jacob’s deception was used to thwart a customary tradition (the firstborn getting the birthright). Laban’s deception was used to keep a customary tradition.
God tells us there will be consequences to our sins, even if we are forgiven. He will use these consequences to grow our faith deeper. Why? Because he loves us! Hebrews 12 tells us: “God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Furthermore, there is an important distinction between condemnation and consequence (at least how I’m defining them). Consequences are not avoidable. Sometimes God will keep us from consequences through grace, but it’s not guaranteed, and he will use them to grow us. Condemnation is avoidable. Condemnation is the eternal punishment of sin we all deserve. This has been forgiven through Jesus Christ and is the reason we get to relish in the presence of God and call him Father!
How is Leah provided for? Well, we mentioned it briefly, but it’s through her children! Through Leah we see the priests of Israel through the line of Levi and through Judah we see the birth of Christ! This is the promise of God to Jacob in his dream, and it is fulfilled through Leah, not Rachel! I can’t think of a better legacy and provision from God!
Application
What did I take away this week? God’s provision. Simple, the end, haha!
Seriously, though, I want to take more time to appreciate God’s provision for me in both little ways like the water I get to drink to the huge ways in how he provides discipline and grows my holiness! I also want to appreciate that God can work in our lives even after we have died, much like Leah. Everyone loves the verse in Jeremiah 29:11 - “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” But no one reads the previous verse: “For thus says the Lord: when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.” Sometimes, the thing we want and pray for God to provide won’t come in our timing. In fact, most times it won’t. But we can rest assured God will provide and fulfill all his promises to you!