Genesis 29:1-14
A Changed Man

What do you do with a passage like this? Why is it here? Should I draw the moral that you should keep in shape in case you have to move large stones? That women (such as Rachel) love muscular men? That you're always welcome in someone's home if you're able-bodied and willing to work?

To understand this story, we have to understand its context. It ties several threads together from previous stories.

Specifically we need to remember: a) The last meeting at a well, b) Jacob's behavior so far, and c) God's relationship to Jacob.

  1. Three Things to Remember Going In
    1. The Last Meeting at a Well
      1. Abraham's servant and Rebekah
        1. Abraham sent servant to find wife for Isaac
        2. Servant prays, let her be the one who offers water not only to me, but offers to water my camels
          1. Let her be extraordinary in her hospitality
          2. Let her be extraordinary in her willingness to serve
        3. This is a sign of faith
          1. Who else could be so extravagant in hospitality but those who entrust their reward entirely to God and thus diligently seek him, loving him and their neighbor?
          2. Those who lack this faith are grasping and covetous. Unable to trust themselves to God, they must provide for themselves.
          3. We saw this hospitality in Abraham with the three strangers
          4. We see it in Rebekah - an Abraham-like hospitality suggested an Abraham-like faith, thus making her a fit bride for Isaac, the heir of a covenant that is received by faith alone
          5. And these are all prefigurements of our Lord Jesus, who was Lord over all yet became a servant of all
        4. The servant recognizes Rebekah as a fit fiancée for Isaac
          1. So he gives her a nose ring and some bracelets and sends her off to fetch her brother, Laban
          2. Laban sees the wealth represented in the nose ring, bracelets and camels and comes running.
            • "Come in, O blessed of the Lord!" he says. (He reasons that one with such wealth is surely blessed).
            • And the servant then explains just how greatly the Lord has blessed his master Abraham: "He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys."
            • With such news, Laban is only too happy to offer Rebekah's hand in marriage to Isaac, Abraham's son.
      2. These meetings at wells are about marriage and the perpetuation of the covenant. They are about a man of faith finding a woman of faith so they can bear children in faith as they wait for the promised seed.
      3. Jesus and the Samaritan woman
        1. The culmination of these stories
        2. He comes as her prospective bridegroom as in the previous stories.
        3. What does she have to offer him? What does he have to offer her?
        4. She offers him earthly water, he offers her heavenly
        5. He appears to have nothing, but in fact has everything she needs.
        6. He is the promised seed.
    2. Jacob's Behavior So Far
      1. Jacob the Grasper
        1. So they are born, Esau first, with Jacob grasping his heel
          1. What am image!
          2. Do you remember the Lord's promise to the serpent? The seed of the woman will crush your head and you shall bruise his heel.
            • Esau comes out looking like the seed of the woman; Jacob comes out looking like … Satan.
            • Esau comes out crushing Jacob's head; Jacob emerges clutching violently at Esau's heel.
        2. Esau comes out strong, Jacob week.
        3. Esau receives the love of his father, Jacob of his mother.
        4. Everything points to Esau as the chosen seed. Everything except the actual announced choice of God.
        5. It is Jacob who will inherit the promises God made to Abraham, Jacob who will inherit the land, Jacob who will inherit heaven, Jacob who will inherit God himself as his own possession.
      2. Jacob the opportunist
        1. Esau comes in weary from the hunt and sees Jacob making some bean stew
          1. Give me that, Esau begs
          2. Jacob says, sell me your birthright.
          3. Esau says, what is my birthright to me if I lose my life, ok
        2. Oh how profane and immoral is Esau!
          1. He despises the inheritance of heaven for a trifle in this world.
          2. He chooses the earthly life over the heavenly - What are heavenly promises to me, he cries, if my earthly life may be lost?
          3. He is godless, faithless, and wicked
        3. But is Jacob much better
          1. He exploits Esau's fleshly nature in order to gain the inheritance.
          2. Jacob, however, does not wait on the Lord in faith to supply what he has promised.
          3. Jacob doesn't trust the Lord enough to do that. He goes after the promises himself.
          4. He is like Abraham conceiving Ishmael through Hagar. He is attempting by his own strength to bring about the promise of God.
      3. Jacob the deceiver
        1. Isaac grows old and desires to bless his son, Esau.
        2. So he sends his son out to hunt some game and prepare him a meal such as he loves.
          1. Isaac has become like Esau, loving the world
          2. Thus he loves the son who can bring him earthly food rather than the son concerning whom heavenly promises were made.
        3. Jacob hears of this, disguises himself as Esau, lies to his father (by invoking God's name, no less), and thus receives the blessing.
        4. Are we supposed to cheer now?
        5. He deceives his father. He cheats his brother. And thus he receives the heavenly promises which speak of eternal life in the presence of God.
      4. Jacob the banished
        1. His scheme backfires tragically
          1. Esau, naturally, is angry and comes gunning for Jacob
          2. Jacob must hurriedly leave the Promised Land lest he be slaughtered.
        2. He leaves with nothing but what he can carry
          1. He is headed back to heaven where he ought to find a bride.
          2. But with what will he woo her?
          3. He does not have the " flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys" that Abraham's servant impressed Laban with.
        3. He is a picture of Adam, banished
      5. Jacob has gone after what God promised using his own devices.
      6. In so doing, he has made a mess of everything.
    3. The Lord's Relationship to Jacob
      1. Jacob the chosen
        1. Chosen before birth
        2. He and Esau struggle in the womb so fiercely that Rebekah cries out in agony to the Lord
          1. The Lord tells her she will bear two children and the older (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob)
          2. He makes this choice out of his mere good pleasure, not because of anything inherent or foreseen in either child
          3. He sets his electing love on Jacob
      2. Jacob the promised seed
        1. "To your seed I will give this land"
        2. Therefore, Jacob ought to be a picture of Christ
        3. So far, he's been anything but
      3. Jacob the heir of the covenant
        1. Nevertheless, at Bethel, God reaffirms his choice.
        2. Set up then read: "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring."
        3. God chose Jacob before he had done anything right or wrong
        4. God reaffirms that choice here, after Jacob has committed many sins.
        5. This is what it is, children of God, to have God's electing love set on you.
      4. Jacob responds in faith
        1. Moves stone from horizontal to vertical
        2. "SINCE God will be with me, and keep in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I return in peace to my father's house, and the Lord shall be my God. THEREFORE this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to you.
      5. Yet still he has nothing
        1. No possessions
        2. No land to call his own
        3. No bride with whom to become a great nation
        4. If these things are to happen, they must be from the Lord.
  2. The Lord Proves Faithful
    1. The Lord Brings Jacob to the Right Place
      1. Jacob: "My brethren, where are you from?"
      2. Shepherds: "We are from Haran."
        1. Haran! The very place he has been sent.
        2. It isn't the Promised Land; he can't return there yet
        3. But it's the place he was headed to wait out his exile
        4. Who but the Lord could have brought him so unerringly here?
        5. If the Lord will guard his going out, will not the Lord guard his coming back again?
        6. The Lord is faithful. Jacob can believe the promises made at Bethel.
      3. Jacob: "Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?"
      4. Shepherds: "We know him."
        1. Not just anywhere in Haran!
        2. Jacob is brought to the very place where men know his uncle Laban and can direct him to Laban's house.
      5. Jacob: "Is he well?"
      6. Shepherds: "He is well."
        1. The Lord has preserved Laban's life for the sake of Jacob, the chosen
        2. The Lord is faithful. Jacob can believe the promises made at Bethel.
        3. But wait! There's more!
      7. Shepherds: "Look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep."
        1. There she is, the one who can take him to Laban.
        2. There she is, the one whom you may make your bride.
        3. There she is, the one with whom you may become that great nation, just as the Lord promised.
      8. This is exactly the woman Jacob was hoping to see:
        1. Scripture rubs it in:
        2. "Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother's brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother's brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of his mother's brother Laban."
    2. The Lord Gives Jacob a New Heart
      1. You see why I put it this way, I hope.
        1. We're not moving from what the Lord did to what Jacob did here.
        2. We're not saying, the Lord did his part, now let's see if Jacob will do his.
        3. That's not the kind of covenant God gave to Abraham.
        4. That's not the kind of covenant Jacob inherited.
        5. GOD will do it all, both that which is necessary FOR Jacob and that which is necessary IN Jacob.
      2. Jacob arrives, footsore, weary, and THIRSTY AS A CAMEL!
        1. What do we expect him to ask first?
          1. Where can I get a drink?
          2. Where can I lie down and rest?
        2. The old Jacob, the greedy grasping deceiver, would have asked such things. He would have looked out for his own earthly needs with a cunning diligence.
        3. Instead, this thirsty man asks where are you from and do you know Laban and is he well?
          1. Why? Because in Laban's house he must find a bride with whom to bear the promised seed and become a great nation.
          2. Because this is what God has promised him and the promises of God now mean more to him than the things of this life.
          3. Jacob is not like Esau who sold the promise of God because he was hungry
          4. Jacob is not like the old Jacob who tricked his way into the blessing because he thought of it as earthly wealth.
          5. Jacob is transformed by the gospel that he heard at Bethel and this gospel has become his life.
      3. Rachel appears on the horizon
        1. The question with Rebekah was, is she a fit bride?
        2. And she proved she was by hospitality.
        3. Here the question is, is Jacob a fit husband?
          1. Has God made the right choice here?
          2. Or will God's plans come to nothing because he chose a greedy, grasping, me-first liar?
          3. No! God transforms this selfish man into one who loves his neighbor and seeks the things above.
        4. This thirsty man gives water to Rachel and her sheep, just as Rachel's mother had given water to Abraham's servant and his camels.
      4. How has Jacob changed so radically?
        1. He has inherited the promises of God and become convinced that they are his.
        2. Before: He spent all his time trying to trick his way into the inheritance
        3. After: He is assured that the inheritance is his, that God will give it to him. Therefore he may spend his life serving others without fear.
        4. What a difference! He has become a picture of Christ.
      5. Result: Jacob, who had nothing to offer, is brought into Laban's home.
        1. Rachel is so impressed, she runs home to tell Dad
        2. Laban says you are my bone and flesh, you are my family. Come live with me.
        3. He has proven himself a fit husband, not by wealth, and certainly not by gross trickery and deceit, but by doing those things his new heart prompts him to do.
  3. The Assurance of the Gospel Changes Things
    1. For Abraham
      1. In Haran
      2. In the Promised Land (but then to Egypt)
      3. In the Promised Land again (and so to rescue Lot in faith)
      4. To make a covenant with him and promise a seed
        1. He believes
        2. Then he doubts and conceives Ishmael
      5. To confirm the covenant with him and give him its sign
        1. He believes, but laughs at the idea of having a son
        2. Sarah laughs as well
        3. He lives as a man of faith though, interceding for Sodom
        4. Then he falters and lies to Abimelech
        5. Still God protects Abraham and he believes
      6. The son is born
        1. All doubts are washed away
        2. He sends away Hagar, cuts a favorable covenant with Abimelech (no longer fearing him)
        3. And he offers his own son up in sacrifice
      7. When he is old, he seeks a suitable bride for his son that he may bear a seed who will inherit the covenant.
    2. For Isaac
      1. Lord appears: "I am with you"
        1. Isaac believes
        2. But he falters and lies to Abimelech
      2. Lord appears: same message
        1. Isaac believes and confronts Abimelech
        2. And he dwells in the land.
    3. For Those Who Trust in Christ
      1. "If only the Lord appeared to me in this way, I would be convinced as well."
      2. Then be convinced! He has appeared to you in a better way.
      3. Jacob saw shadows and pictures! So did his father Isaac and Isaac's father Abraham!
      4. You have the reality in Christ!
      5. Do you think that God has not appeared to you at the top of a staircase into heaven?
        1. May the Lord open your eyes!
        2. John 1:51: "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
        3. JESUS is that stairway to heaven!
        4. By faith you "see" this and are brought up to heaven in him.
        5. Jacob stood at the bottom of a staircase that was merely a vision, and he looked up into a vision of heaven.
        6. Where are you in Christ?
          1. At the TOP of that staircase, seated in heavenly places with him
          2. This is no mere vision or shadow
          3. This is who you are and this is where you are.
      6. In Christ, the true Jacob, you have become a great nation
      7. He has brought you to this place, to this true Promised Land
        1. He will keep you wherever you go
        2. And when at last your home is revealed out of heaven, you shall dwell there with him forever.
      8. And here he appears to you over and over, strengthening your weak faith that you may live as children of God.
        1. The Son has been born!
        2. Let your doubts be washed away!
        3. In Jesus, God has said "I am with you" and he will never leave you - Just as he said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but with oh! so much more power
        4. In Jesus, Jacob's descendants are as the dust of the earth, and you are among them
        5. In Jesus you have been brought to the very gate of heaven.
      9. Come then! Take on Jacob's faith and more!
        1. You are freed, as he was freed, to seek the things above
          1. Why grasp and lie for things that are passing away?
          2. That which is eternal is fully yours
          3. Walk according to this knowledge
        2. You are freed, as he was freed, to a radical hospitality.
          1. When all that is important is assured, how easy is it to seek the good of others first?
          2. You know longer need to look out for number 1
          3. GOD has sworn that he will look out for you
          4. You are free, therefore, to look out for your brothers and sisters in Christ, selflessly, just as Christ has been selfless on their behalf and yours.

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