There are passages of Scripture that are like the script of a soap opera, and today’s is no exception. It’s another tangled tale of deception and dubious ethics worthy of Eastenders! Yet it also contains some implicit lessons for us to learn – it is included in the pages of Scripture for a purpose.
Jacob’s story so far…
If you’ve been with us over recent weeks you will know that we are following the lives of the Old Testament Patriarchs. We’ve already become familiar with Abraham and Isaac, and as the story ended last week, Isaac’s son Jacob was fleeing from his older brother Esau, having taken his birth right and blessing from him.
One night, at a place called Bethel, Jacob had a vivid dream in which he saw angels ascending and descending on a stairway to heaven – and he also heard God’s voice. A voice that promised Jacob his protection, his blessing and an inheritance that would one day include the land of Canaan that he was currently fleeing.
Fresh from his night-time revelation, Jacob continued to travel north towards Mesopotamia – towards the town of Harran – the home of his mother’s family.
Laban’s deception
As we join the story this morning, Jacob has arrived safely at his uncle Laban’s house. He’s pretty much destitute, and relies on Laban’s hospitality to survive. But Jacob’s a hard worker, and Laban offers him a wage for his labour – What would he like?
Jacob has fallen in love with Laban’s beautiful daughter Rachel, and so asks for her hand in marriage. Laban says ‘yes’…but only if he works for seven years on his land. Jacob consents, and the seven years “seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for Rachel”. When the time elapsed, Jacob duly asks Laban for Rachel as his wife. But on the wedding day Laban secretly substitutes Rachel’s older (and less attractive) sister Leah in place of Rachel.
Jacob doesn’t realise what’s happened until he wakes up on the morning of his honeymoon and discovers that its Leah, not Rachel, whom he’s slept with! You may well wonder how Jacob could make such a mistake? Well, the bride would have been veiled at her wedding, wine would have flowed freely at the wedding feast, and its dark in a tent at night – I will leave the rest to your imagination!
Understandably furious, Jacob confronts Laban and says, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” Laban replies that “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one”. But if Jacob is prepared to work for another seven years, then he can have Rachel as his wife too! So after a week of wedding celebrations with Leah, Jacob takes Rachel as wife number two. But he then has to work for another seven years in Laban’s service – they don’t fly by as fast as the first seven!
So that’s the whole sorry tale, but what lessons can we learn from it? Let me suggest three…
- Act with integrity!
Firstly, this passage is a strong reminder of the importance of acting with integrity. Jacob had deceived his father Isaac to obtain his blessing, and now Jacob himself is deceived by Laban and Leah. You might say ‘what goes around comes around’!
Jacob now knows first-hand what it feels like to be deceived – to be the victim of a scam, as we might say today. Whether it concerns your father’s blessing, your bride or your bank account, no one likes to be the victim of a con – no one likes to be duped. We can only hope that Jacob reflected on this painful experience, and realised what pain he himself must have caused Isaac when he pretended to be Esau all those years earlier.
As Jesus would teach his disciples many years later, we should “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lk 6:31). If we are ever tempted to treat people in a way we would not like ourselves, we should resist the urge. If we are ever tempted to deceive someone, don’t do it! Instead, we should strive to act with integrity in all our dealings with our family and friends, with our clients and customers, with our neighbours and colleagues.
Don’t take Jacob, Leah and Laban as your moral role models. Imitate Jesus instead, and pray for the Holy Spirit’s help to be trustworthy and transparent at all times.
2. Marriage is monogamous and good!
The second lesson from today’s passage is that marriage is monogamous and good. It was never God’s intention that Jacob (or anyone else) should have more than one wife. As far back as Genesis chapter 2, it’s clear that God’s intention is for marriage to be an exclusive relationship between one man and one woman.
In fact that passage is so foundational that the Lord Jesus himself quoted it when he was questioned about marriage: “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh” (Matt 19:4-6).
It is certainly true that some Bible characters did take more than one wife, for example Abraham, David, and Solomon had multiple wives, as well as Jacob. But what the Bible describes it doesn’t necessarily condone. What the Bible reports it doesn’t necessarilysupport. Indeed, what Jacob did in today’s passage – marrying two sisters – is explicitly forbidden in Leviticus 18!
If we had time to read on a few extra verses, we would see that Jacob’s polygamy caused emotional damage to both Leah and Rachel. Leah was in constant misery because Jacob loved Rachel rather than her, while Rachel became jealous of Leah’s fertility compared to her own. A disaster all round!
Monogamous marriage or celibate singleness remains the Biblical model for Christians. It is God’s good design that we should celebrate, honour and defend. It is a healthy model for human relationships that we can commend to our contemporary culture.
3. God is gracious!
The theme of God’s goodness brings us to the third and final lesson from today’s passage – that God is gracious. Because despite all Jacob’s faults and failings, God continued to bless him. Despite Jacob’s sins, God graciously fulfileed the promises that he gave him during his vivid dream at Bethel. Promises of prosperity, progeny and protection.
Because by the time Jacob had fulfilled his term of service to Laban, God has blessed him in many ways. As well as a wife (or two!), Jacob left Laban’s land with many children, animals and wealth:
- Jacob had arrived on Laban’s doorstep in poverty, but he left it in prosperity.
- He had arrived in Harran alone, but he departed the town with a progeny that included twelve sons.
- And throughout the time he was in Laban’s service, God had protected Jacob from physical harm.
By God’s grace Jacob was ready to return to Canaan and inherit his portion of the Promised Land. Jacob had done nothing to deserve such blessings, they were all undeserved gifts of God.
As Christians we too are recipients of God’s grace. Like Jacob, we too fail in so many ways, yet God remains true to his promises to us. In our case God’s promises are not of worldly wealth, but of a heavenly inheritance. If we are faithful followers of Christ we are spiritually rich in so many ways – we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are forgiven sinners, we are God’s adopted children, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jacob could literally count his blessings as he rode away from Laban’s house in Harran – and so can we. Our blessings may be largely invisible to the watching world, but they are no less real:
- They are gifts of grace that are more precious than any worldly assets.
- They are blessings that will endure into eternity.
- They are blessings that equip us for life in Promised Land to which we travel – the Kingdom of God in the world to come.
Conclusion
So as I finish, lets remember those three lessons from Jacob’s years at Laban’s house:
- Act with integrity – so pursue honesty in every area of your life.
- Marriage is monogamous and good – so commend it to our culture;
- and thirdly, God is gracious – so count your blessings!