Beautiful
Mess: Appearances Can Be Misleading Gen 29:1-30
Intro:
The
Story so far: Pursuit of the Seed (Gen
3:15) to destroy the Serpent and Sin. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Jacob vs. Esau.
Esau is angry, so Jacob has to leave. His mom encourages him to go to her
hometown and find a wife there. On the way, he “meets God” in Bethel (i.e.,
Jacob’s Ladder—referenced in John 1 as being Jesus himself). Now, he makes his
way to Haran.
The Fairy Tale: Once
upon a time a strong prince came to a magical well where sheep were watered.
The stone covering the well was so enormous it could only be moved by all the
shepherds working together. The prince saw a beautiful princess at the well…
she was so beautiful he fell in love at first sight, and kissed her, weeping
for joy. His love was so strong it enabled him to move the enormous stone, to
uncover the well, and to water her flock. They went to see the king, who was
overjoyed at the love match. The end.
But appearances
can be misleading. There was once a man who loved cars. He saw an ad for a car a Cadillac for $100, so he went to see the car. As he looked at the car, he realized that it was worth more than $100, and said to the woman selling the car: "Ma'am, this car is worth more than $100." She replied, "Yes, I know that. But what you don't know is that my husband recently left me to be with his secretary, and he called me and requested that I sell his car and send him the money. So I am." Appearances can be misleading.
The Real Story . .
. Jacob is not quite as noble as he pretends, the beautiful princess is not
God’s intended goal, and the king is not as honest and caring as he
appears. Three points—Jacob Takes a
Trip, Jacob Takes a Job, Jacob Takes a Wife
Jacob
Takes a Trip (vv. 1-12)
“lifting up his
feet”—he has a new spring in his step since Bethel, but has he really changed?
He travels 400 miles from Bethel to Haran.
Haran is his mother’s home town, so he hopes to find family there.
The well?
(Remember Rebekah’s story here). Tries to get rid of the shepherd’s kind of
like a boy getting rid of his kid brother so he can have time alone. The
shepherd’s don’t buy it.
Jacob is unlike
his father’s servant in that he is acting on behalf of God instead of letting
God act on his behalf. Jacob is still
trying to make things happen on his own terms.
He sees Rachel, and he decides to pursue her. He doesn’t ask for God’s direction, he simply
bulls his way in.
Jacob
shows off—he moves the stone by himself (to impress Rachel? Here Jacob acts more like Esau), he waters
her sheep, and he kissed her (the first kiss recorded between cousins “kissing
cousins” and the first kiss in which a man kisses a woman that is not his
mother or wife). Jacob is being a bit
presumptuous, it seems, and running ahead of God. He pursues Rachel, he does not wait on
God.
It
appears here that Jacob may be casting off conventions in an effort to make a
good impression. He is actually the despised son of his father, a man who
cheated to get what he wanted from his brother, and a man who is even now
trying to “help God out” in fulfilling the promise. Jacob is not yet broken, he still thinks he
can “fix” things. Fresh off of his
radical experience at Bethel and after hearing God’s promise, Jacob doesn’t
humble himself and seek God’s guidance.
As usual, Jacob wades into the situation with his self-confidence in tow
and tries to help God complete the promise.
Proud Jacob sees Rachel and decides to claim his territory without even
asking if that is what God intended!
How
are we like Jacob? Where have we heard the
promise of God about our situation or lives and yet keep trying to “help” God
out?
Appearances
can be misleading—The manipulator tries to be a hero, but he is still
manipulating
Jacob
Takes a Job (vv. 13-20)
After Jacob
introduces himself to Rachel, she runs to get her father. Laban in turn runs to meet this young
man. Do you think Jacob made an
impression on Rachel? The fact that his
mother’s family are running to meet him would indicate that the old Jacob charm
was still working. Of course, giving
what we learn about Laban later, it may just mean that Laban thought he had a
“sucker” on the line.
“Kiss” and
tell—Jacob receives a customary greeting and shares his story. Does he tell all? Including the details of
his trickery to his brother and father? Laban’s response “You are my own flesh
and blood” could warn of issues to come.
We could hear these words as Laban’s ringing endorsement of his nephew.
Or… maybe there the tiniest hint of warning. If Laban is perfectly suited to
his nephew, might that mean that the deceiver has at last met his match? Time
will tell—Appearances can be misleading.
Lonely Jacob finds
a welcome place, a place to call home. For one month he enjoys hospitality and
rest. He got to know Rachel better, and Laban got to see what kind of
suitor/employee Jacob may be. This month brought both Laban and Jacob to the
conclusion that a continuing relationship between them could be of mutual
advantage. But, appearances can be
misleading, and the month-long vacation may be about to end as we move to the
next scene.
Laban makes a
proposition, and Jacob offers a counter.
Lackluster Leah vs Ravishing
Rachel-- Please note the irony here: Laban
has two daughters—an older one named Leah and a younger one named Rachel. Jacob has an older brother too, remember
their relationship? Esau lost everything
a first born could hope for, and he lost most of it by means of Jacob’s
manipulation. Rachel and Esau were desirable, but Leah and Jacob not so much. “Cow”
and “delicate” eyes versus “Ewe” and shapely beauty. Jacob chooses beauty over
character. 7 years of labor=over $200,000 today.
Breaking
convention yet again, Jacob responds to Laban’s proposition with a
counter-offer, and both men think that they will win. Appearances can be misleading, and this seven
year engagement will not end exactly as Jacob plans!
Appearances
can be misleading—What looks like help, may really be deception
Jacob
Takes a Wife (and gets Taken) (vv. 21-30): The
big day arrives. After seven years of
labor, 364 weeks, 2,555 days, Jacob goes to Laban and demands his pay! “Give me my wife!” Jacob may well have had this day marked on
his calendar, the day the woman he loved enough to work for her for 7 years
would finally become his wife . . . the beautiful romance will finally be
fulfilled. Most couples today wouldn’t
wait 7 days to have sex, but Jacob has waited 7 years (and worked hard during that time) just so he can marry the
woman he desires. He wants to be paid. Laban calls a feast—but this won’t end
well for Jacob. His emotion is boundless, his excitement is off the charts. He
is finally getting the beautiful woman he desires! Jacob is focused, and after
the proper amount of feasting, he heads to the marriage tent. But remember,
appearances can be misleading. Things
are not as they seem.
Laban has replaced
Rachel with Leah. We aren’t sure exactly why the switch is made (except for
Laban’s excuse later). Perhaps Laban realized he could get more free labor out
of Jacob? Greed could be the motive. On the other hand, imagine how the women
here may have felt. Why did they go along with their father? Were they victims
or participants? Was their competition between the two for Jacob (next week’s
sermon)?
Jacob is deceived,
but how did he not figure this out—the wedding veil and the alcohol may have
contributed. The darkness of the tent may have been a factor. Remember,
appearances can be misleading. In the dark, Leah may seem a lot like Rachel.
(Jesus calls us to walk in the light).
Imagine the next
morning. Jacob wakes up, light is streaming into the tent. He rolls over to
kiss Rachel, and “Look! It’s Leah!” I can imagine he jumped five feet into the
air, wrapped a blanket around him, and said, “What are you doing here?” I wish
that conversation had been included. Jacob grabs his robe and heads to confront
his father-in-law about the change in wages! What is this you’ve done? Why have
you deceived me?
What irony that
Jacob should repeat almost the identical words of Pharaoh to Abraham (12:18)
and almost the same expression of Abimelech to Abraham (20:9) and Abimelech to
Isaac (26:10). Interestingly, the Hebrew
verb translated “deceived” is cognate to the noun used in 27:35 to describe
Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering what goes around comes
around. The deceiver is deceived. The
trickster is tricked. The younger brother who supplanted the older brother
finds that the younger sister whom he loves has been supplanted by her older
sister, to his great dismay. And now it is Jacob’s turn to suffer.
Laban had a
response (older marries first), but note the irony. Jacob had dishonored the
principle of the firstborn by cheating his brother out of the birthright and
the blessing. Now God forces him to honor the principle he had violated by
marrying Leah first. And who had Jacob deceived? His father, Isaac. Now the
deceiver is deceived by his father-in-law! Everything that goes around comes
around. Laban is going to change Jacob’s
life forever. Up until this point, Jacob has lived by his wits. He has survived
by relying on his native intelligence and his shrewd ability to take care of
himself in any situation. Now, he finds himself agreeing to another seven years
of labor for his love for Rachel.
Appearances can be misleading—the happy wedding day has turned into a
bit of a disaster.
God trains Jacob
by allowing him to meet his own sins in someone else. Now he knows what Esau
felt when he was tricked out of something that was precious to him. Jacob is
being made to see just how despicable his tricky ways are. It is all a part of
the training in his life. If Jacob hadn’t stolen Esau’s blessing and had
patiently waited for God’s intervention and timing, he would have had the
financial resources to acquire Rachel immediately, rather than having to invest
14 years of his life, laboring for Rachel’s hand in marriage. Lesson: Taking
short cuts and failing to trust God is costly! What a heavy price sin requires!
Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows,
that shall he also reap.” Jacob has been sowing for a long, long time. Reaping
day has come. He’s been sowing the seeds of deceit, and the harvest is about to
come. Jacob is deceived, yes, but he is
also receiving God’s discipline (cf. Hebrews 12).
The story of
Genesis is the quest for the “seed” to destroy the work of the serpent and the
sin that came as a result. Abraham
receives a promise that his descendants would bless the nations. Isaac carries the same promise (as does his
son Jacob). While Jacob looked to
ravishing Rachel for the fulfillment of that promise, it will actually be
lackluster Leah through whom God provides the seed. Of the many children Leah produces for Jacob,
two of them are named Judah and Levi.
From Levi the children of Israel will find a model prophet/leader named
Moses. From Judah they will receive a
model king/leader named David. These two
men become the models for the future Messiah who will be known as a prophet,
priest, and King. Oh, and it is through
Judah that Jesus is born according to human lineage.
Appearances can be misleading—What looks like a
problem may actually be a blessing
Leah
is actually God’s provision (Things are not always as they seem)
Conclusion— We must remember that appearances can be
misleading. What we think are negative
things may in fact be positive things.
While those things we sometimes cherish may turn out to be not as
precious as we thought. In fact, they
may turn out to be stumbling stones for us.
The invisible or overlooked things in our lives may well be the vessels
through which God provides the teaching and the lessons we need to become the
children of God he intends us to be.
1)
Make sure what you cherish is genuinely precious: Jacob loved
Rachel, and his love for her is evident. Nonetheless, it was through Leah that
the world would be blessed, and Jacob later realized that when he was buried
next to Leah and honored her. What are the beautiful things we try to grasp?
Are they really important to our lives spiritually, or do they just get our
attention because they are flashy and pretty? Do we need to repent about
putting too much faith in things that are not that precious?
2)
What is overlooked may be vessels of grace: Jacob overlooked Leah, and she was
the vessel of grace. Pay attention to the “overlooked” things in our lives. We
may find a blessing there. God sometimes works out godly character in hard
situations (Romans 5:3-4). God also will sometimes use weakness to reveal his
strength. Or he will work through our weakness to show himself great (1 Cor
1:26-31).
Appearances
can be misleading
Application—1)
Evaluate your situation: Are we trying to manipulate your situations? Are we
trying to help God out? Where are we pretending to be a hero when we are not?
Where are we trusting what looks good instead of seeking God’s guidance? How are we like Jacob here?
2) Value those who are overlooked: Who in our world
needs attention? Maybe we are the
invisible and overlooked Leah, where do we go? Proverbs reminds us that to have
friends we must be friends. Look around, and see who is “hidden” or
“overlooked,” we may find a blessing. Remember, things are not always what they
seem.
3)
Accept God’s help/guidance: we must quit trying to be boss and let him
lead. Where do we need God’s guidance? Where do we need his help? Will we be
bold enough today to step out of our invisibility and come to the front of this
building to say we are turning to him? Will we repent of putting our faith in
what looks good on earth, and start looking for our help from God?
Thanks for reading!
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