Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

We continue now with the story of Jacob and of his two wives, Leah and Rachel. Even more significantly we have the birth of his twelve sons who will represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Like the previous story of Jacob and Esau, this one is full of human deception and intrigue. Yet we are moving closer to the promise of the Messiah (Genesis 3:15). It is out of human brokenness, not human righteousness, that Christ will come.

1. Jacob’s Two Wives – Genesis 29:1-35
   1. Having received God’s promise, Jacob continues on his journey. He comes to the home of his ancestors where he will look for his uncle, Laban (Genesis 29:1).
   2. He finds himself beside a well which is covered with a large stone (Genesis 29:2). He speaks with the shepherds and they confirm for him that he is in the country of Laban (Genesis 29:5). The discussion about the stone probably refers to several established practices:
      1. In an arid country a well was especially valuable and important. It was covered probably to keep impurities from getting into the water.
      2. The shepherds are not ready to open the well because all the flocks have not arrived. Apparently they would wait until all the flocks had come so that the well would not have to be opened more than once a day. Jacob seems aware of the practice that the well would not be opened too often. This suggests that a common practice was being followed.
   3. We have the first mention of Rachel. The writer does not record Jacob’s reaction but it seems clear he wants the other shepherds to finish watering their flocks and then go. They protest that all the other shepherds have not yet arrived with their flocks (Genesis 29:8).
   4. Rachel arrives on the scene. Upon her arrival, Jacob rolls the stone from the well’s mouth (Genesis 29:10). Several things are apparent here.
      1. Jacob, in spite of his domestic talents, clearly was strong since we know that this was a large stone. There is the suggestion that the shepherds as a group probably moved it together once they had all gathered.
      2. From the perspective of the New Testament, this is a prefiguring of the resurrection of Jesus when another large stone is rolled away. Jacob is Israel and Israel’s hope and ultimate descendent is Jesus. The water in the well is also richly symbolic since Jesus will reveal himself to the woman at the well at this very same spot (John 4:12). Jesus will identify himself as “living water” (John 4:14, 7:38, 19:34).
      3. The lesson for us here is that God often accomplishes his purpose through very ordinary and indeed mundane events. This is more the case than in the miraculous examples of burning bushes, crossing of seas and special healings. We need to be sensitive to the fact that God is constantly working around us and through us.
   5. Jacob greets Rachel with a kiss and weeps. This may have been an appropriate greeting between long lost cousins (which they are). However, we will soon learn that Jacob is in love with Rachel.
   6. Jacob is brought to his uncle Laban who greets him warmly (Genesis 29:13-14). After a month, during which time Jacob has apparently been working for his uncle, Laban says that Jacob should be paid. He asks him, “What shall your wages be?”
   7. The narrator inserts the fact that Laban has two daughters. The older is Leah who has “lovely eyes” while the younger, Rachel, “was graceful and beautiful.” To put it simply, Leah was very attractive but Rachel was apparently a knockout.
   8. Jacob wants to marry Rachel. Jacob offers to work for Laban for seven years in order to marry Rachel. Laban agrees, noting that Jacob is part of their family (Jacob and Rachel are first cousins) (Genesis 29:18-20).
   9. The seven years pass quickly for Jacob (Genesis 29:20). At the end of the period, the wedding is arranged. There is a feast which celebrates the union. Jacob wakes up the morning after the wedding, looks at his bride and discovers it’s Leah, not Rachel! The suggestion is that Rachel accompanied Jacob during the wedding feast (There may not have been a ceremony. None is mentioned). It is only in the bed chamber that the switch is made (“But in the evening …,” Genesis 29:23). It is therefore likely that both Leah and Rachel were in on the deception, otherwise how would it have worked?
   10. Jacob protests. Laban replies that since Leah is the older sister she should be married first (apparently he neglected to mention this during the previous seven years). However, if Jacob is willing to work another seven years he can marry Rachel as well (Genesis 29:28-30). Jacob then has married both sisters but he loves Rachel instead of Leah (Genesis 29:30).
   11. Because Leah is unloved, God gives her children while Rachel remains barren (Genesis 29:31). Leah gives birth to four sons, all of whom are given symbolic names. The fourth son is Judah (Genesis 29:31-35).
   12. There are several major themes in this story:
       1. There is a poetic justice since Jacob is basically made the victim of a similar deception to the one he and his mother carried out on his brother, Esau. However in this case the priority of the firstborn is established rather than set aside (Genesis 29:26).
       2. God’s standard of marriage is once again being set aside (one man, one wife, Genesis 2:22-24). We learn later that a man marrying two sisters is absolutely prohibited by God (Leviticus 18:18).
       3. If in fact Leah and Rachel aided their father in his deception (which to me seems to have to be the case) then we have an account with multiple layers of deception going all the way back to Jacob himself. Yet in terms of God’s plan of salvation, it is necessary for Jacob to marry Leah. Leah gives birth to Judah and it is through the line of Judah that Christ is born (Matthew 1:1-2).
2. Continuing Conflict and Deception – Genesis 30:1-43
   1. This marital threesome is no more effective than the one involving Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. Rachel becomes bitterly jealous of her sister. She resorts to the ancient custom of presenting her female servants to her husband so she can have “legal” children. When Leah is no longer bearing children, she resorts to the same practice.
   2. The sons in particular (there is only one daughter, Dinah, Genesis 20:21) all have symbolic names which are basically plays on words in the Hebrew, “Naphtali” for “wrestling,” “Asher” for “happy” (there is fortunately no Dopey).
   3. What we have is the emergence of the twelve brothers who will represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Yet the family structure becomes more and more dysfunctional. We basically have twelve sons, one daughter, four mothers, two wives and one father (What were family dinners like?).
   4. The sibling rivalry continues between Leah and Rachel. This is seen in the account of Rachel bartering for Leah’s mandrakes. Mandrakes were believed to be in effect a love potion or a source of fertility. In a bizarre arrangement, Rachel gives Jacob to Leah in exchange for the mandrakes and Leah bears two more sons. Obviously more than one encounter was involved (Genesis 30:14-20).
   5. Eventually Jacob wants to move on. Laban makes the rather odd statement that he has learned by “divination” that the Lord has blessed him because of Jacob. The word suggests the interpretation of omens or signs.
   6. Laban tries one more deception but it backfires on him. Jacob is willing to take only the spotted or colored lambs from the flock for himself. Laban agrees to this but then removes all the lambs fitting that description. However, by a strange practice of exposing the white lambs to spotted rods while they are breeding, even the white sheep give birth to spotted lambs. The theme of magic runs in the background throughout these stories. Without getting into the somewhat magical practice, the point of the story is that Laban’s attempt to cheat his nephew fails (Genesis 30:37-43).
   7. Jacob, in spite of the family turmoil, is blessed by God (Genesis 30:43).
   8. The critical lesson in all this is that in the midst of jealousy and deceit, God’s purpose overrides human failings in his intention to bless all the nations of the earth (Genesis 12:3). We therefore should be both encouraged and careful. We are encouraged when we realize that in the midst of human brokenness, God is ultimately bringing about blessing and indeed salvation (the complete blessing of the nations is Jesus Christ coming as the Savior of the world (John 4:42)). Second, we need to be careful about judging human situations. On the face of it, the story of Jacob is all about human beings who are less than admirable to say the least. Yet God’s promise is being carried about in and by these people. At best we only see the surface of events. We must be careful to look past appearances (John 7:24).
3. Questions for Us –
   1. What are the practical lessons for us in this set of stories? Why do you think God is hardly mentioned in this account? How do these stories affect our daily walk as Christians?
   2. What do you find encouraging or discouraging in these stores? What do you see as hopeful in these chapters?
   3. Is there any character in particular with whom you identify? Who and why?

« Back to the main Bible Study page