GENESIS: We All Reap What We Sow, and Have to Deal With the Consequences; Jacob 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?”

So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East. (Genesis 29:1)

In the previous lesson, we studied that Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother." (Genesis 28:1-2) So after traveling for some time and being visited by the Lord in a dream, he has finally arrived in the east, near Haran, where his mother's people are from. (Genesis 11:26-32)

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. 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. And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” So he said to them, “Is he well?” And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.” (Genesis 29:2-6) 

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.” 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.” Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 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. Then Jacob kissed [greeted] Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. 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. (Genesis 29:7-12) 

All of the questions and introductions were necessary so that Jacob would be sure he was at the right place and so that he could explain who he was to everyone. 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. And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh [relative].” And he stayed with him for a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. (Genesis 29:13-17) In other words, Leah was not as attractive as Rachel.

Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. (Genesis 29:18-20) Either Jacob chose Rachel because he saw her first and immediately felt love for her, or he chose her because she was the most beautiful, which is why her and Leah's looks were mentioned. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. (Proverbs 31:30) Choosing a spouse can not just be about looks, but the character of the person is most important.

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.” And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. 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. And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. (Genesis 29:21-24) What a deceitful man Laban was, to have Jacob work for him for seven years to earn the right to marry Rachel, but then to get him drunk during the marriage feast and send Leah into the wedding chamber instead.  As we learned from the wedding ceremony of Isaac and Rebekah, the final act of the marriage ceremony is the consummation of the marriage. (Genesis 24) Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:24-25)

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?” And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.” (Genesis 29:25-27) Now, either Laban sincerely did not want his younger daughter to be married before his older daughter, which he should have told Jacob from the beginning; or he wanted the free labor the Jacob provided, and this way he got fourteen years of service from him.

Interestingly enough, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. (Genesis 25:27) Jacob with the help of his mother deceived his father Isaac, and Isaac had to later tell Esau, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” (Genesis 27:35-36) Jacob stole Esau's birthright and blessing, but he also had to become a skillful hunter, a man of the field. He had to work, and work hard for everything he wanted; nothing was coming to him easy anymore. 

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (Galatians 6:7) We can deceive people to get what we want and think we're getting away with something, but God knows ALL; and even if He forgives us and still fulfills His covenant, like He did with Jacob, we will suffer the consequences, whether here or at the judgement, just like Jacob did. Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years. (Genesis 29:28-30)

A total of twenty-one years of service and two wives. ...if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. (Mark 3:25) Every relationship we've studied so far, there arose a problem when the man had more than one spouse. Again, this was a practice of the Gentiles, but God never wanted this to be the kind of marriages His chosen people had.  Marriage is supposed to be between one man and one woman, ONLY!  Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:6-9)

Just like all before him, this would cause serious problems in Jacob's family, as we will study in future lessons...