A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Hey, thanks for joining us today for a daily walk. Do you enjoy a good love story? Well, we've got a good one lined up for you today. It features Jacob and Rachel. Perhaps you had to wait quite a bit to marry your spouse and found it difficult. But imagine having to wait 14 years. Jacob did that out of his great love for Rachel. He was patient and sacrificial, and that stands out in his story from Genesis chapter 29. That's where we join Pastor John Randall as he continues through the first book of the Bible.

John Randall: It's interesting in verse 15, notice then Laban said to Jacob, because you are my relative, should you there serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be? And Laban had two daughters, and the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah's eyes were delicate. But Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. Laban gives Jacob an option. Hey, name your price. Jacob obviously needed a wife. I mean, if he's going to be the father of many nations, and he's got to have a wife, and so he says, what what do you want?

There's a description here of the two daughters that he has. The older was Leah. It says that her eyes were delicate. One definition is weary. There are other commentators that suggest maybe one eye was I don't know if if that's the case. Something There's a definite contrast. I'm not going to be dogmatic about it, but there's a contrast here. Her eyes were weak, but Rachel was awesome. I mean, it's like there's this obvious something is not. He's like, definitely not that one. You know, this one, not the not that one, not the one with the delicate eyes.

This one, beautiful in form and appearance. That's that's the one I want. And that's what it says. Now, Jacob loved verse 18 Rachel and said, I'll serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter. Let's be clear on this. Your younger daughter, Rachel. And Laban said, well, it's better that I give her to you than I should give her to another man. Stay with me. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel. And notice it says, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. Isn't that so sweet?

Oh, man, don't you love ladies like Jacob, you know, you're so sweet. But I'll tell you something, love is patient. Love's willing to wait. Love's willing to make sacrifices. That's what true love looks like. To him, it says it seemed seven years seemed like a few days. No big deal. I mean, seven years, what's seven years? I'm getting a wife out of the This is awesome, you know. This is great. It seems like a like a week. It was seven years. I asked my wife to marry me in 19 days. I don't want to wait seven years.

I waited six months. That was long enough. And then we got married. But it says here, Jacob and his uncle had come time for the agreement. You know, seven years had passed. Jacob just marked off his calendar. You know, he's getting down to the final stretch. And he labored for her. And then after seven years, the day came. He punched the clock for the last time. Wedding day, look at look at what happens. Verse 21. Yay, on my way to my wedding. That's what you think. It says Jacob said to Laban, give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go into her.

And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah, his daughter, and brought her to Jacob. And he went into her. And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came to pass in the morning that behold, it was Leah. He woke up to the weak eyes. That's a problem. He said to Laban, what is this that you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why have you deceived me?

Oh, the deceiver got deceived. How does it feel? Not good. Not good at all. He got the weak eyed woman. And Laban said, it must be done. You know, for in our country I forgot to mention this. To give the younger before the first born, you know, fulfill her week and and we'll give you this one also for your service, which you'll serve me for another seven years. Wow. Then Jacob did so, fulfilled her week, and then he was given Rachel as a wife also, and he ends up serving for 14 years. But Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid, and Jacob also went into Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah.

And he served with Laban still another seven years. You know, there's several things you could take away from this whole the switch at the bridal ceremony. How did Jacob not know that he was not marrying Leah? I'm assuming they were heavily veiled. I mean, that's what I'm thinking. Or she wore glasses, sunglasses. I don't know. No, not sunglasses. But she was heavily veiled. He didn't see it. I don't know. And another thing I think about, did Leah go along with her father's deception? Obviously, was Rachel a part of it? Was she forced and they had no say?

I mean, whatever it happened. But I also think that you reap what you sow. Here's the irony. Jacob was the man who had deceived his own father, and now he's been deceived by his own father-in-law. Jacob was the one who had pretended to be the firstborn son. Now he receives Laban's firstborn daughter to be his wife instead of the second born. Huh? He found out how it felt. You know, the Bible does tell us in Galatians chapter six, don't be deceived. God's not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. If he sows to the flesh, he will of the flesh reap corruption.

If he sows to the spirit, will of the spirit reap everlasting life. Obviously, this is not the way you want to start your marriage is plural. I mean, there's supposed to be one wife, one man for life. And by the way, just because you see it in the Old Testament, doesn't mean that God approves of it, but he allowed it. This isn't the way to start a family. Jacob had two wives instead of one. And it didn't take long, obviously, for problems to occur. And And what you are going to find out as you go on in this story, I'm just going to tell you ahead of time, here's a preface.

Things get really messy. This family It It is so messed up. And yet in the midst of the mess, there is a redemption story that comes out of it. And the Bible doesn't gloss over the mistakes of people in scripture. These aren't perfect These are far from perfect people. And we see in verse 31 when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, Jacob wasn't loving her. That he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And so Leah conceived, bore a son, called his name Reuben, and said, the Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore my husband will love me, she hoped.

Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he is therefore given me this son also. And she called his name Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son and said, now this time my husband will become attached to me because I born him three sons. Therefore his name is called Levi. And she could This lady is very fruitful. She conceived again and bore a son and said, now I will praise the Lord. Therefore she called his name Judah, and then she stopped bearing. The Lord observed the obvious neglect within the home.

And yet the Lord allowed Leah even in the midst of her Listen, marital neglect to be fruitful, to be fruitful. It is not okay nor acceptable, nor biblical to neglect your spouse. That's not part of the the plan. That's not part of God's intention in the marriage. And if you don't continue to invest in your marriage, you end up neglecting it. And if you neglect it long enough, you get to a point where you just there there's no real connection at all. And that is not God's plan either. God desires you to be one, united in all things.

And you can get to this place where the kids are out and you know, now we're empty nesters and now we just kind of do our own thing. I can finally pursue my lifelong dream of whatever apart from you because you stood in my way. And the kids are You know, that kind of a thing. And this this These are things that These are real conversations that happen. And people just they grow apart and they grow apart, and Jesus wasn't the center of the thing. And so after time, there's nothing that they build on it.

So now the kids are gone, now they're starting their own families and And then they just There's not What Who are you? I don't even know who you are. There's no connection there. And so then you think you make the mistake and the sin of looking somewhere else for somebody to meet some need that you think you have and that this person can't. And you And it's just not right. She was unloved. She was neglected. But even though she was neglected and unloved, she The Lord allowed her to remain fruitful. And I am not saying if you're in a tough situation tonight that it's easy or that that's Pray, remain fruitful.

God can bless you even in the midst of that. And you are going to find out this is interesting as we read here, the tribe of Levi came from Leah, the ones who ministered and served in the house of the Lord. The Messiah came from Judah who came from Leah. I mean, God has ways. You talk about being fruitful and how God can work even in the midst of painful situations and circumstances. Such was the case for Leah. And I'll give you a little preview. I'll give you another preview. Here's something you'll find out as we continue on in the story.

When Jacob gets ready to be buried, guess who he wants to be buried next to? Leah. I mean, God just has ways of healing and working and even in the midst of that. Maybe that's a word for somebody tonight. But the name Reuben means see a son. In the Hebrew, it sounds like God has seen my affliction. God sees what I'm going to. He sees my affliction in the midst of this situation that I'm in. Simeon means one who hears. And it suggests that Leah had been talking to God about her misery. What I don't like this.

Levi was the name she gave her third son, and it means attached. Leah was still hoping that Jacob would love her for the sons that she had born and be attached. And then Judah, her fourth son, means praise. I mean, you look at all that she went through and everything that she endured, and she came to this point where she could say praise. Started out God see my affliction. Started out he's the one that hears. Moved to attached and then to praise. She remained fruitful even in the midst of difficulty and pain that she was going through.

As you go on in the story, things Well, they continue to unravel in the family because Leah now stops bearing children. And then Rachel is now completely frustrated over the fact that she is unable to bear children. And you have to understand in this culture to not have a child for a woman, it was the most painful thing you could imagine. And your the other wife has four, and you have no one. And so you come to chapter 30 and notice what it says. Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister and said to Jacob, give me children or I die.

And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel. He said, am I in the place of God who has withheld you from the fruit of the womb? And so she said, here is my maid Bilhah. Go into her and she will bear a child on my knees that I also may have children by her. Now again, this was a custom. This was having a child by proxy. This isn't again God's plan. But this is what you know, wanting a child so badly that she said, have a relationship with her. It reminds you of what Abraham did with Sarah and Hagar.

Same thing. And so Jacob's just Okay, notice I mean, again, it gets a little dicey in here. He So he ends up having a relationship with her. And And they end up having a child. She conceived and bore Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God has judged my case and he has heard my voice and given me a son. Therefore she called his name Dan. And then Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, with great wrestling I have wrestled with my sister and indeed I have prevailed. So she called his name Naphtali.

Now when Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her I mean, it's just This is a baby factory right now. She takes Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife, and Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Leah said, a troop shall come for me and called his name Gad. And Leah has made Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, I am happy for the daughters will call me blessed. And so she called his name Asher. I mean, this is just I mean, what do you have to say about this?

It's just a messed up situation here. How is God going to redeem something out of this that's so broken that that this family that's so dysfunctional, it's just not right? And And yet we see throughout the pages of scripture that God can take circumstances that are so beyond us we think there's no way that something good could come out of that. And I don't know how he does it, but he brings good out of it. And it's a redemptive story, folks. The Bible shows the sin of humanity. It shows how broken we really are and how God can take what's broken and make something out of it.

And when you read this, you think Let's move to the Gospels, but it's here for a reason. And what blows my mind and what just kind of is the fact that the Messiah would be willing to identify with this and come out of this in order to save us from this. He was numbered with the transgressors. And verse 14, now Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest and he found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to his mother Leah. And then Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes.

And she said to her, is it a small matter that you've taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, you must come into me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes. And so he lay with her that night. I mean, this is just messed up. What what what is going on? What are mandrakes? Mandrakes were this plant that apparently would help women to have children.

Somehow it would You would eat it, I don't know, mix it in your salad, the little Caesar dressing, and poof, you know, you just It made you more fertile. There was something they believed was connected to the mandrakes. And so Reuben came in, brought the mandrakes home to mom and and you know, to Leah. And Rachel was like, hey, give me some of those. Even shopping out in the field, I want some of those. And Leah You know, Leah's like, I'm not giving you these. Well, name your price. Can I be with my husband tonight?

All right, give me that. I mean, it's just That's what happens. It's a messed up thing. And so Jacob comes out of the field, has a relationship with her that evening. And God listened to Leah and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. And Leah said, God has given me my wages because I have given my maid to my husband. So he called his name Issachar. Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. And Leah said, God has endowed me with a good endowment. Now my husband will dwell with me because I have born him six sons.

And so she called his name Zebulun. And after she bore a daughter and they called her Dinah. So she got all these boys and finally a girl. And here's Rachel still barren, unfruitful. But then it says in verse 22, then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her voice and he opened her womb and she conceived and bore a son. And she said, God has taken away my reproach. And so she called his name Joseph. And the Lord shall add to me another son. This family is just obviously grown. From this family would come the 12 tribes of Israel.

This This is how they came into existence. Right here is a record of the most important bloodline in the world right here. Here's where it was. Here's where it started. In Haran. But after this, it came to pass verse 25, when Rachel had born Joseph that Jacob said to Laban, send me away that I may go to my own place to my own country. Give me my wives and my children, for I've served you. Let them go for you know my service which I've done for you. And Laban said to him, please stay if I found favor in your eyes, for I've learned by experience Notice this that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.

Isn't it interesting that this deceiver 14 years he has been serving in this job. And Laban was blessed because of Jacob. Even though it wasn't fair and he changed his wages and he took advantage of him and he deceived him, he had a family now and and all of this is happening. But But what ended up happening was the the business was blessed because this guy was a part of it. Maybe you're working in an environment that you hate. The people that you work with are not kind. It's difficult to work in that job, but this is where God has you at this moment.

Maybe that company's being blessed because you're there because of your influence, because you're you're there and God is blessing because because of your participation, because of the way that you work. This man was blessed because of Jacob's involvement. He was a hard worker. And then he said, well, name your wages to me and I'll give it. So Jacob said to him, you know how I've served you and how your livestock have been with me. For what you had before I came was little, and it's increased to a great amount. The Lord has blessed you since my coming.

And now, when shall I also provide for my own house? I mean, basically we've been doing this all for you. It's time for us to to separate from one another. And so he said, well, what will I give you? And Jacob said, you shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks. Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and these shall be my wages.

Now these weren't the ones that you would want. Jacob said, just give me give me those. Give me the Give me the You know, the cast offs. Give me the ones that that aren't the pure Give me those. I'll take those. He makes a deal with them. And And then he says after this, so my righteousness will answer for me in time to come. When the subject of my wages comes before you, everyone that's not speckled and spotted among the goats and brown among the lambs will be considered stolen if it's with me. And Laban said, oh, that is According to your word, let's do that.

So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, everyone that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs. And he gave them into the hand of his sons. Then he put three days journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. Okay, well, what's going to happen? What is all of this? Why is he doing this? Well, it tells us in verse 37, Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them and exposed the white which was in the rods.

And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. So that they should conceive when they came to drink. So the flocks conceived before the rods and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled and spotted. Then Jacob separated the lambs, made the flocks face toward the street and all the brown in the flock of Laban. And he put his own flocks by themselves and didn't put them with Laban's flocks. Interesting. Verse 41. And it came to pass whenever the stronger livestock conceived that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters that they might conceive among the rods.

But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in. So the feebler were Laban's and the stronger were Jacob's. Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous and had large flocks, female and male servants and camels and donkeys. What happened? He found a way to cause the flock to reproduce. There was something that we're going to find out that the Lord actually showed him. God revealed this to him at some point. And as a result of him following what the Lord had shown him and going through this process of feeding the flock in a certain way, they became strong and they naturally reproduced.

Jacob fed the sheep in a certain way. He cared for them in a certain way. He provided for them in a certain way. And because of that, they became stronger. I do believe that there is a way, if I may now take this from a spiritual context, to feed the flock of God which allows it to become stronger and to naturally reproduce. We feed the word of God. As as the church of the Lord is fed God's word, as the church takes in the word of God, what will happen? What has Listen, what has happened in this place, in our fellowship is a natural byproduct of just feeding the sheep, the word of God.

So what do you guys do at Calvary? What do you What do you guys do over there? How did you end up in that What What are you guys doing? We're just feeding the sheep.

Guest (Male): That is what we're all about here at a daily walk, feeding the sheep. We hope you enjoyed today's study in Genesis from Pastor John Randall. It's titled Jacob's Vows. You can hear it again at adailywalk.org or wherever you get your podcasts. And whether it's a resource or a prayer request, a question related to this study or a praise report, we would love to hear from you. Maybe you're greatly discouraged and would like prayer. Drop us an email today at adailywalk@gmail.com or call us toll free 877-242-0828. For a little while now, we've been telling you about the adailywalk 8-minute video devotional that we release each morning at 7:00 a.m.

Pacific, Monday through Friday. We've been so encouraged by the many who have told us what a blessing it is to their lives, and we don't want you to miss out on a single devo. So if you'd like, we can start sending them to you each day by text. To get the ball rolling, just text the word adailywalk to 877-242-0828. That's 877-242-0828 or just head over to adailywalk.org if you'd rather. How do I really know that it's God I'm hearing and not some other voice? Maybe you've wondered about that. In his book How to Listen to God, Charles Stanley shows how to distinguish God's voice from all the other voices around you and how to respond to it as well.

You'll learn why God wants to communicate with us, how God gets our attention, how he communicates with us, and how we are able to listen to the Lord and enjoy his presence. We're making it available right now to our adailywalk listeners for the cost of just $12. Call 877-242-0828 for all the ordering details or go to adailywalk.org. That's 877-242-0828 and adailywalk.org. We want to take this time to thank you for those of you who have supported this radio ministry in the past. Large or small, your gifts are making a difference. Right now, people are looking for hope and encouragement, and God's word has just that.

With your help, we're able to bring that to them at a time they really need it. You can donate online at adailywalk.org or call 877-242-0828. Well, thanks for joining us today. We look forward to continuing our study of the Old Testament next time we meet for a daily walk with John Randall where you'll never have to walk alone. This program is brought to you by Calvary South OC and made possible through your generous support.