Next 3 chapters of Genesis deals with the life of Jacob in a foreign land. He spent 20 long years away from home and with his pagan worshipping, conniving uncle Laban. let’s look at this chapter together and see what God will teach us.
So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East. 2 And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. 3 Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.4 And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”And they said, “We are from Haran.”5 Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”6 So he said to them, “Is he well?”And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.”7 Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”
The phrase “went on his Journey” literally means happy feet or he lifted his feet in Joy. As you can see his attitude ( walk) has changed after the encounter with God. He is no longer running from his brother, no longer worried about his future as he knows God is in control of his destiny. After traveling for 400 miles through rough terrain, he had reached his destination. Jacob was somewhat perplexed by the fact that the sheep and shepherds were simply resting by the well in the middle of the day. How many of us just sit by the well? We receive the living water ( Born Again) and then we sit and do nothing with it.We should be tending to the sheep while we wait for Jesus.Pray and see how God wants to use you and do your part in bringing the Gospel to those who are lost. Don’t just be busy with church activity and pre occupied with Christian calendar, share the Jesus you have received.Spotting Rachel in distance, Jacob wanted to be alone with her and clear the field thus, he said to men gathered around the well, hey guys you should water these sheep and take them to pasture.
8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”
Maybe the other men also had their eyes on beautiful Rachel and that is the reason they were hanging around the well.
9 Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 And it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.13 Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. 14 And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.
While the discussion was taking place, Rachel arrived with her father’s flock. The verse states She was a shepherdess thus calling attention to fact that it was some what unusual for a woman to do this kind of work. As soon as Jacob sees Rachel, Jacob with Herculean Strength alone rolls the stone from the well – no doubt trying to impress her. 100 years ago Rebekah had watered the camels of Issac. Here, her son waters the flock of his future bride. You get the impression in reading this verses here that with Jacob it was love at first sight. Before even introducing himself, he proceeded to kiss Rachel. Laban did not know Jacob, but he knew that he came from wealthy family. As we will see, Both were so similar, for they both were deceivers.
I want to draw your attention to the fact the sheep were watered when the stone was rolled away. We read about another stone that was rolled away few thousand years later. On that sabbath day after the crucifixion, Women came to the tomb of Jesus and were worried about who is going to roll away the stone? but when they got there, the stone was already rolled away by an angel as written in Matthew. Jesus said to the woman by the well, I am the living water. When that day, an angel rolled away the stone, That empty tomb is the victory of Jesus. We all who are his sheep are watered by that living water. The resurrection of Christ is the basis of our salvation. This is the reason every other religion tries to deny the resurrection. We have our life in risen Christ. There are churches out there who proclaim or try to tell you, resurrection is not enough. Don’t fall into their trap, Jesus paid it all on the cross and when he rose on the third day, death lost its sting. Satan was defeated and he no longer has any power. If there is any church, pastor, ministry tells you that after accepting Christ,” you have to do this” or you must be baptized in a such and such way or you must donate a certain amount, run away from them. They are teaching a false doctrine. Any one who teaches you Jesus plus something else is twisting scripture and spreading Satan’s agenda. JESUS DID IT ALL. All we have to do is accept him as savior and live a life of obedience to him in faith.
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you, therefore, serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance.
Jacob was industrious and wanted to make himself useful to Laban, so he soon started to help with the family business. This also kept him closer to his love Rachel. After he had been there a month, Laban offered him work. Laban asked him what is your price? Laban probably knew by this time Jacob’s affection for Rachel and recognized many advantages to having Jacob as a son in law. Laban had noticed that Jacob was an able and faithful worker and, furthermore, he realized that he was heir to substantial inheritance. He wanted to bind Jacob to him in some way, and he very craftily let Jacob name the terms, knowing that, because of his feelings for Rachel, he will get a better deal. Laban, therefore immediately agreed to Jacob’s offer.Rachel was beautiful in both face & form, compared to Leah and much more desirable.
18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”19 And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
Jacob gladly served agreed upon time for Rachel, and the reward of having her as wife made the time pass quickly. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us, Love is Patient. Jacob truly loved Rachel. He knew this was the woman God had chosen for him.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days, are fulfilled, that I may go into her.” 22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. 23 Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. 24 And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. 25 So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”
However, when the time was up, Laban seemed not to notice at all, no doubt, he was not happy to lose Jacob’s services after the marriage. Jacob finally had to remind him. Maybe it was at this time Laban decided to trick Jacob and to substitute Leah for Rachel. By doing so he killed two birds with one stone. Both Leah & Rachel were beyond the age at which women usually married, and Laban might have been concerned about finding a husband for Leah ( due to her looks). By substituting Leah for Rachel, he could extract another seven years from Jacob, as well as solve the problem of finding a husband for Leah. In the morning, Jacob found out he was deceived. Jacob deceived his father Isaac because he could not see, here Jacob is deceived because of the darkness of night.
And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”28 Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. 29 And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. 30 Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
Laban knows the reason why Jacob is in Haran. He knows how Jacob tricked his father into giving him a blessing. Before Jacob can say anything, he reminds Jacob of his own deceiving ways. Once Laban mentioned ‘firstborn” Jacob would remember what he had done to Esau. Laban proposed a new deal to Jacob. Just a note here, Jacob married Rachel then served the additional seven years. Jacob was thus more or less forced into becoming a bigamist. Many people look at this portion of scripture and conclude that it is ok to have more than one woman but that is not what bible says. Bible here is telling the story of a life of Jacob. It is much like a newspaper which reports the story as it happened. Bible clearly says you can not serve 2 masters because you will love one and hate the other. We will see this play out in next verse.
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah but watch what happens in space of one verse. At first text indicates that Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. But here we read he hated Leah. You see, the heart is constructed in such a way that we cannot be in love with two people . We might think we can.The world may say we can. But the Bible says we cannot. Today not many of us have 2 wives and so you may say how is this helpful to me? Are you serving 2 masters? you can either serve the Lord or the world. You can either feed the flesh or your spirit. Because like Jacob you are going to love one and hate the other. If you truly know God and walking with God, you will have no room in your life for sin and wordly desires. Oh by no means you will be perfect & sinless but you will love the Lord and desire to walk with him.
32 So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben;[a] for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.[b] 34 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.[c] 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah.[d] Then she stopped bearing.
Leah made the mistake of thinking a baby would bring her and Jacob together. How many couples today make the same mistake? Instead of dealing with the issue in their marriage, they decide to bring a child in marriage or relationship hoping that will solve their problems. All it does is just complicates the relationship further. Reuben whose name means “sees a son” didn’t bring Jacob & Leah together in way Leah had hoped. So when the second son was born, she named him Simeon which means Lord has heard. Leah thought he would be the answer to her prayers. She bore a third son and named him Levi whose name means “join”. Leah thought surely after giving him three sons Jacob’s heart will be joined to mine but it wasn’t. When the fourth son is borned there is no mention of husband. “Judah” means praise. She had relaized no matter how many kids she gave Jacob, his feelings would not change towards her so she decide to give praise to Lord. The fourth son was the only one whose name did not reflect her own situation. It is perhaps the reason that Judah is the one through whom God intended to being Messiah into the world. Amen
only savior jesus 