Uncomfortable S2 - Day 6
Jacob gets the wrong wife
Genesis 29:14 . . . After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month, 15 Laban said to him, “You shouldn’t work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be.”
16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. 17 There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. 18 Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”
19 “Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.” 20 So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.
21 Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”
22 So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. 23 But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)
25 But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”
26 “It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. 27 “But wait until the bridal week is over; then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.”
28 So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. 29 (Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.) 30 So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.
That might be the most uncomfortable story of all! Jacob really thought he was going to get everything he was hoping for when he tried to marry Rachel. Imagine the shock he must have gone through when all was revealed and he figured out what had happened.
In the text it even says that Jacob “raged” at Laban for the mistake, which didn’t seem much like a mistake. It seemed as if it was a dirty play on Laban’s part.
To even understand this story we have to put away our preconceived notions of what marriage is supposed to be. While Laban certainly pulled a “fast one” on Jacob, it was not so unusual for someone to have more than one wife at that time. The fact that there was deception involved makes it more uncomfortable for us, and Labans inability to deal honestly with Jacob is a poor example for us.
But the point is actually that there are a great deal of things that don’t fit our cultural/religious paradigm. When these things were taking place, they were commonplace and no one would bat an eye. We live in different times, and therefore we need to learn to exegete the principles out of the story, and not so much the exact behavior or circumstances.
When we try to make the ancient conform to our understanding of how thing should be, we miss a great deal of the point of these stories. As a pastor, one of my jobs is to help create the connection between the principles we see in scripture and our modern lives. In some places in scripture it is easy. But for some of these Old Testament stories, things are a lot more difficult to create that connection.
In this story, we see the obvious problem of deceitfulness, but for some reason, Jacob seems to accept it, take Rachel as his wife after a week, and then stays for the rest of the seven years that Laban suggested. What are we supposed to learn from this story? Is that we are to simply take it when someone deceives us? That we should always make sure to lift the veil at our weddings to make sure we are not being hoodwinked? What is the point that is trying to be made in this story?
It may be a simple point that is to be made. It may be that during the uncomfortable situations that we find ourselves in, there is the possibility of remaining faithful. Even in the uncomfortable situations that we find ourselves in, we should not be discouraged from working toward the result that God has for us.
Well, we can leave you in the uncomfortable not knowing what the exact point could be. What we do know, is that Jacob had an amazing amount of faith, even when he had been deceived in a pretty serious manner.
JOURNAL
Have you ever been deceived but still had to make good on your promise?
16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. 17 There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. 18 Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”
19 “Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.” 20 So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.
21 Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”
22 So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. 23 But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)
25 But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”
26 “It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. 27 “But wait until the bridal week is over; then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.”
28 So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. 29 (Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.) 30 So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.
That might be the most uncomfortable story of all! Jacob really thought he was going to get everything he was hoping for when he tried to marry Rachel. Imagine the shock he must have gone through when all was revealed and he figured out what had happened.
In the text it even says that Jacob “raged” at Laban for the mistake, which didn’t seem much like a mistake. It seemed as if it was a dirty play on Laban’s part.
To even understand this story we have to put away our preconceived notions of what marriage is supposed to be. While Laban certainly pulled a “fast one” on Jacob, it was not so unusual for someone to have more than one wife at that time. The fact that there was deception involved makes it more uncomfortable for us, and Labans inability to deal honestly with Jacob is a poor example for us.
But the point is actually that there are a great deal of things that don’t fit our cultural/religious paradigm. When these things were taking place, they were commonplace and no one would bat an eye. We live in different times, and therefore we need to learn to exegete the principles out of the story, and not so much the exact behavior or circumstances.
When we try to make the ancient conform to our understanding of how thing should be, we miss a great deal of the point of these stories. As a pastor, one of my jobs is to help create the connection between the principles we see in scripture and our modern lives. In some places in scripture it is easy. But for some of these Old Testament stories, things are a lot more difficult to create that connection.
In this story, we see the obvious problem of deceitfulness, but for some reason, Jacob seems to accept it, take Rachel as his wife after a week, and then stays for the rest of the seven years that Laban suggested. What are we supposed to learn from this story? Is that we are to simply take it when someone deceives us? That we should always make sure to lift the veil at our weddings to make sure we are not being hoodwinked? What is the point that is trying to be made in this story?
It may be a simple point that is to be made. It may be that during the uncomfortable situations that we find ourselves in, there is the possibility of remaining faithful. Even in the uncomfortable situations that we find ourselves in, we should not be discouraged from working toward the result that God has for us.
Well, we can leave you in the uncomfortable not knowing what the exact point could be. What we do know, is that Jacob had an amazing amount of faith, even when he had been deceived in a pretty serious manner.
JOURNAL
Have you ever been deceived but still had to make good on your promise?
- What does this story tell us about honesty, commitment, and following through?
- Would you ever work for seven years for a wife/husband?
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