Genesis 29:1–30 (ESV),
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 the sheep!” He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep 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 water the sheep.”
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.
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed 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 kinsman, 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 that 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 in to 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 in to her. (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah 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 Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
Jacob Meets Rachel at the Well
And so finally Jacob arrives back to the country and he meets Rachel at a well. And he displays strength by rolling away the heavy stone and he waters the flock. And there's this romantic moment that quickly turns into another tale of deception.
The Great Deception
Ironically here Jacob the deceiver is the one who gets deceived. And so he works for Laban for seven years for Rachel. But Laban tricks him and he gives him Leah instead.
Now, it's noted that the text here says that Leah's eyes were weak. Now, this is a weird kind of phrase for us in English because we don't really know what that means. But it could mean either maybe dull, as in she struggled to see, or tender. It also could mean that she just wasn't very nice to look at. I think it's probably a combination of all of those because the contrast is for Rachel, who is described as beautiful in form.
The point, however, rather, is that Jacob is deceived and he marries Leah instead of Rachel. He is deceived by his uncle just as he deceived his brother.
Divine Justice Through Human Actions
Now, Laban justifies this act of deceiving Jacob by invoking a local custom. He says the older must be married before the younger. Again, you can't help but see the echo of Jacob's own life, language about the younger and the firstborn. It's really just an echo or a reminder of all of Jacob's earlier deceptions.
Calvin comments that Jacob's deception of Isaac comes back to haunt him. And God uses the same trick of Laban's in this case to discipline Jacob. And often it is the way that God would use the consequences of our own sin to discipline us and to transform us into the people he calls us to be.
The Cycle of Favoritism
Now, this kicks off a cycle of deceit and favoritism. We already saw that Isaac and Rebecca had favorites, each of them. Now here, Jacob loves Rachel more than he loved Leah. There's this repeating pattern of these divided affections that Jacob himself experienced in his own home.
Ultimately, Leah is going to suffer because of this, because Jacob loved Rachel. But God is going to bless Leah with children. But of course, it is the children of Rachel that also are going to cause an issue within what will ultimately become the nation of Israel. And so there's all of the seeds, all of the foundations for trouble within Israel as a nation are seeded here.
What This Passage Means for Us Today
So what does this passage ultimately have to do with us?
Recognizing the Consequences of Sin
Well, I think firstly, we are called here to recognize the consequences of our own sin, and in particular, the sin of deception. Here, Jacob has been the deceiver and now finds himself as the deceived one. As people that follow Jesus we should be people of truth knowing that our lies will often return to harm us and haunt us in the future.
The Danger of Parental Favoritism
This passage also starts giving us a hint that the favoritism that has existed within the family continues to cause damage going down into future generations. And how much so it is with us too if we favor one child over another. This is a passage that reminds us that we are to love our children equally and to give them each the same kind of footing in the world.
God does not have favorites within his family. We are all redeemed by Christ Jesus and we are all put on equal footing as a result. And so it should be with us as parents for our children.
God Works Through Messy Circumstances
But perhaps most importantly, this passage points us to the fact that God works through really messy circumstances. Jacob's family is full of rivalry. They are full of deception. They're full of favoritism. And yet this is the family through which God has promised that the ultimate redemption would come.
Even these broken families are usable by God. And in fact, it is this particularly broken family that God uses to bring about the redemption that fixes all of our problems and even the sin that lives in our hearts. And so God can use even your messy circumstance and your messy family to bring about good. And that's a good thing.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we pray and thank you that you are a God who can use even messy circumstances to bring about your good. We think, of course, of the most ultimate terrible circumstance of Jesus needing to come to earth to live a perfect life and yet to die as one who is rejected by the world. Thank you that even through that you have managed to bring about good, not just good, but our ultimate good, redeeming us from our sin so that we can live in a perfect family with you forever. We thank you for this in Jesus' name. Amen.