THROUGH THE BIBLE - Genesis..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Well, good evening everyone and welcome to church. If you have your Bibles, would you please open them up to Genesis chapter 29.

Genesis chapter 29. We are going to continue with the reading of the scripture and meditating upon each one of these chapters. Probably just a bit. So Genesis chapter 29. I'm going to be reading from the English Standard Version.

Let's pay attention to the word of God. This is Genesis chapter 29. Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it. For out of that well the flocks were watered.

The stone on the well's mouth was large, and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, My brothers, where do you come from? They said, We are from Haran. He said to them, Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? They said, We know him.

He said to them, Is it well with him? They said, it is well. And see, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with a ship. He said, behold, it is still a high day. It is not time for the livestock to be gathered together.

Water the ship and go. Pasture them. But they said, we cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well. Then we watered the ship. While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

Now, as soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman and that he was Rebekah's son. And she ran and told her father. Verse 13, As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embrace him and kiss him and brought him to his house.

Jacob told Laban all these things. And 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 kinsmen, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?

Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. Jacob loved Rachel, and he said, I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel. Laban said, it is better that I give her to you than I should give her to any other man.

Stay with me. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, give me my wife, that I may go into her, for my time is completed. So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went into her.

Laban gave his female servant Silpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant. And in the morning, behold, it was Leah. And Jacob said to Laban, what is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"

Laban said, it is not so done in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years. Jacob did so and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his female servant Bilah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.

So Jacob went into Rachel also and he loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban for another seven years. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben. For she said, Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction, for now my husband will love me. She conceived again and bore a son, and said, Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.

And she called his name Simeon. Again, she conceived and bore a son and said, now this time my husband will be attached to me because I have borne him three sons. Therefore, his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, This time I will praise the Lord. Therefore, she called his name Judah.

Then she sees bearing. Amen. This is the word of God. Brothers and sisters, we have now gone through the story or the history of the Old Covenant or the Old Testament. through the people of or through the persons of Abraham and then Isaac.

And now we're getting to this chapter in which we are going to be focusing on the life of Jacob as the father of the covenant people of Israel is from Jacob that the 12 tribes are going to come is from Jacob that the covenant people of Israel will come. This is the father of Israel. Actually, his name is going to be changed from Jacob. to Israel, because it's in his loins that the twelve sons are, and these represent the twelve tribes of the people of Israel. We see different patterns that repeat in the life of Abraham, in the life of Isaac, and in the life of Jacob.

And in the previous chapter, when our brother was explaining to our chapter 28, we see the repetition of the giving of the promise now to Jacob, this promise of be more be fruitful and multiply. You will be a great nation that I will be with you and I will bless you now is given to Jacob. You might remember that Isaac was blessing his son and he's saying in a similar way that Abraham said to his son Isaac, Isaac said now to his son Jacob, you are not going to get a wife from this land of the Canaanites, but rather you're going to go to the land where your mom was born and you're going to get a woman for yourself from your mother's Brother, go to that land because the Lord is going to be with you and he's going to prosper your ways. And you're going to get a wife, not from the Canaanites, but rather from the land where you belong. And then in the end of Chapter 28, we see this confirmation of the promise.

We cannot understand what we have in Chapter 29 if we do not understand the importance of what it was given to Jacob in Chapter 20, as a brother said to us last week. Put your eyes in verse 15 in chapter 28, because here we have a very important covenantal promise, brothers and sisters, a very important relational promise, if you want to put it in different terms, that God gives to Jacob. The Lord says to him in verse 15 in chapter 28, Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you. until I have done what I have promised you." Jacob, the Lord says to him, I will be with you and I will accomplish in you that which I promised that I was going to do.

Jacob then starts this trip from Beersheba to Haran, or this city of Padan-Aran, which is the same place, trying to find a wife for himself in order to continue the fulfillment of the promise of being fruitful and multiply. Now here we have, brothers and sisters, in chapter 29, we have Jacob being deceived by his father-in-law. And what happens in chapter 29 is very interesting because you might remember the character of Jacob. Jacob is a deceiver by nature, and now he is going to be deceived by his father-in-law. You might remember that he is the person, Jacob is the person that taking advantage of the circumstances and the emotional character of his brother, Esau, that he took the birthright of his brother, just exchanging it with food.

But you might remember that this Jacob is the one that deceived his father Isaac, making him believe that he was Esau. And then he took the blessing of the firstborn. We have the deceiver, Jacob being deceived. This is the character of Jacob. And something very interesting happens in this story, brothers and sisters, because as he's approaching from Beersheba to this land in Haran, he's arriving, he's reaching the place where he's going, and then he finds this well, a well that has a large stone on top of it.

is so large, the stone that is on the mouth of the well, that all the shepherds that were close to this well would have to push and move that stone because it was really big. And there were three different flocks of sheep that were laid around this well that were just being watered with the water that was coming from from the well. And then Jacob will come and will approach the people that were around this well and he will ask them, Who are you? Where are you coming from? And ends up that these people are coming from the place that where Jacob was actually going, the place that was Haram.

But something very interesting is happening. You might see the similarities or you might remember, brothers and sisters, the similarities when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac in a very similar way. Now, Jacob is going to find a wife for himself in a very different way. Jacob will not pray and glorify God for the success of his trip, but rather what he's going to do is enter into this conversation with the shepherds that were around the well.

He will ask, where do you come from? And they come from this land that he was going to. And once they say that, they say, Rachel, is coming. He had asked them before if they knew Laban, who is the person that he was looking for. And they said, yes, we know Laban and we know that he is good, that he's doing well.

And look at that. Rachel, his daughter, is coming there. Now, the deceiver, the deceitful Jacob is going to make a very interesting comment. Look in verse 6, he says, he said to them, is it well with him? Speaking of Laban, his mother's brother, and he said to them, is it well with him?

And they said, it is well. And see Rachel, his daughter is coming with the ship. And now he said something very interesting. Behold, it is still high day. It's not time for the livestock to be gathered together.

Water the sheep and go pasture them. Basically, Jacob is telling them. This beautiful lady is approaching us. You guys are with me. And then this beautiful lady is coming.

Why don't you go? He was trying to stay just by himself with this beautiful lady that was approaching him, which was something that it was not supposed to be done. The deceiver, the deceitful Jacob, was using his deceitful techniques to try to get what he wanted to do. And not only that, but once they said, we cannot go because we need to water our livestock and we need to push the stone back into or we need to push and remove the stone from the well. The text says that the stone was a big, a large stone.

But look what is going to happen in verse nine. While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's ship, for she was a shepherdess. Now, as soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the ship of Laban, his mother's brother, pay attention. Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. The reason that the shepherds gave him why they couldn't leave the place so he would stay alone with Rachel, he actually came and pushed the stone by himself and watered the sheep by himself.

Before I was studying this passage, I had the idea that Jacob was actually a weak man. When they compared with Esau, you have this impression in your mind that Esau is strong and that Jacob is rather weak and skinny. But actually, he moved a stone that the text says that it was big, that it was large, and all shepherds pushed that stone. He pushed it by himself. He was actually a big man.

Probably compared with Esau, he was weak, but he was a strong man. And he was simply showing off before Rachel in order to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish with Rachel. And that's why we see that after he performs these things, he will come and approach Rachel, and he will kiss Rachel, and he will introduce himself as a kinsman, as someone who is related to her. Then Rachel will go back to the land, will go back to Laban, his father, and explain everything that happened. And Laban is going to accept Jacob asked his son, he's going to say, your bone of my bones, your flesh of my flesh, come and he will receive him.

But here we have then the story, beloved brothers and sisters, of the deceiver Jacob being deceived. And this is very important because When God enters into a covenantal relationship with his people, when God enters into a covenantal relationship with each one of the individuals that call him Lord, he accomplishes the work that he starts with each one of them. not only individually, but also collectively. In the chapter before, he had promised that he was going to be with him, that he was going to take him to the place that he belonged, and that he was going to accomplish what he promised. And these, brothers and sisters, also included a confirmation of the character of Jacob to that character of God.

Jacob was a deceiver, a deceitful person, a liar. And as we will see how progress chapter 29 and 30, and as we see how he progresses even until the end of Genesis, we will see how the character of Jacob is transformed by the power of the covenantal relationship that he has with his God, the God of Israel. Then Laban is going to say to him, now you have been with me for a month. I don't want you to work or you stay here for free and you don't receive your wages. This is how the story continues.

So he says, tell me your wages and now you will be paid that which you want. Now, in the heart of Jacob, he wanted to marry Rachel. So he said, I will work for seven years and I will get Rachel because this is the person that I love. She was the younger daughter of Laban and we know what continues there when those seven years passed and then now Jacob is expecting to marry the beautiful Rachel now Laban is going to deceive Jacob and it's going to change probably in night it was dark and probably they they might have had some wine and it was dark it was difficult for him to see so Leah is changing he says in our country in our land With our people, the custom is that we don't give the younger, but rather that we give the firstborn. So you submit to the law of our country.

Now, the one who wanted to be served, Jacob, not only is he put into service for seven years, but also he is being deceived. Now he takes Leah as the wife. He did not want to take Leah. Now, by the way, he should enough continue working another seven years to have another two wives or more wives, because from the very beginning of time, the intention of the structure of marriage from God is one man. and one woman.

He made a mistake there, but by the mistake providentially God worked what he wanted to achieve with the people of Israel. He worked another seven years and then he will accomplish what he wanted to obtain. But beloved, when a person enters in a covenantal relationship with God, God will work in the character of that person, conforming to that person, to the character of God Himself. This is what 1 Peter said on the things that we've mentioned. If you call on Him, Father, the One who judges and gives impartially to each one according to what they deserve, like the deceiver Jacob deserved to be deceived, deserved to experience the things that he had done, God repays very justly and in a fair way.

If you call on him, then conduct yourself with fear throughout the time of your exile. Conduct yourself with reverent fear, knowing that God will work in you that which he had planned for you. And in the end of this chapter, beloved, we have another example, a glorious example. that when people are in a covenantal relationship with God, sometimes it takes time for us to realize that the most important thing is not a relationship to the world and to the temporary things, but rather to God. We have the story then of Leah.

Leah is hated or probably in the Hebrew is not as loved as Rachel was. not as appreciated as Rachel was, and because he was hated or he was not appreciated or loved as Rachel was, then the Lord heard her prayers, and then she was barren, but then she conceived, and she conceived four sons, at least in this portion of Scripture. The first three ones It seems that she uses those three sons to speak of her marriage, speak of her relationship with their husband. Put your eyes in the text and see what she prays for when she conceives those three first sons. The first one is Ruben, and he says, Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction, for now my husband will love me.

So we have here Leah saying, because I was hated, because I was in affliction, now the Lord has given me the son. And the purpose of that is that my husband will love me. Then it comes the second one, Simeon, and says, because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me his son also. That is in verse 33. And that is Simeon.

And then it comes the third one. And it seems that Leah is going to relate that son again to the situation that she was going through in her marriage. Now this time my husband will be attached to me because I have born him three sons. So she's like, now I have given my husband what he expected and what he wanted. So therefore he's going to give me his love.

But then it's on the fourth time that she's going to change now the praises or the intentions of having these sons. Because then when Judah is born, she says, this time I will praise the Lord. This time, I will praise the Lord. Beloved, when we enter into a covenantal relationship with God, the most important thing that God does in us is to work conformity to what he has planned for us to be. Christianity is not about doing, but rather it's about becoming, and becoming like Jesus Christ.

And then everything that happens in the time of our exile, everything that happens in our sojournings, everything that happens in this time is pointing towards conformity to the person of Jesus Christ. He is the first among many brothers. He is the first among many of us covenantal people, and as covenantal people we're walking towards being like Him. He has given the promise not only to Abraham, not only to Isaac, and not only to Jacob, I will be with you and I will make you a great nation. But he has also given that promise to the church that I will be with you until the end of the age.

Go, therefore, and proclaim the gospel, baptize, make disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. I will be with you until the end of the age. The being with us until the end of the age is not for us to do, but it's rather for us to become like Him. In becoming like Him, we do the things that we are called to do. In being like Jesus Christ, we are doing the things that we're supposed to do.

Amen?