Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, August 21, 2016
We are looking at the failures of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and how they relate to the dispensation of the Promise of God.
Tit 1:2, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
When Jacob saw Rachel, he did what all of the other men did together, he did by himself because he was trying to impress Rachael.
These men would gather together at this well and wait for Rachel to come with the sheep because she had a beautiful body and a beautiful face.
Here is a perfect stranger actually given the shepherds orders, he commands them to "Water the sheep" and then "leave" and then find the sheep pasture!"
"Water the sheep, and go, pasture them."
Notice only Jacob went up, and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and only watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
He did this because of verse 17, Rachael had a beautiful figure and a beautiful face.
She not only had a gorgeous figure and a beautiful face...,but apparently she was also smart, so she left the flock behind for Jacob to take care of.
GEN 29:6b "behold, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep."
We read nothing about her taking her sheep back with her, --- do we MEN?
Jacob wanted to work in the same environment that Rachel was working in.
Laban realized that Jacob would eventually come into a substantial inheritance from Abraham and Isaac and he also had observed Jacob's obvious love for his daughter Rachel, so uncle Laban had a plan.
Laban knew that his sister Rebekah who married Isaac was very wealthy and it would only be a matter of time before
Jacob received all that wealth!
He wanted to bind Jacob to him in some way but....., in a rather crafty manner, he wants to let Jacob name the terms, anticipating that because of Jacob's desire for Rachel, he would get a better bargain this way.
You don't mind the head game if there are rules and boundaries but when you play with uncle Laban and nephew Jacob, there are no rules and boundaries....anything goes!
Seven years of free service by a man who was an exceptional worker was surely a fine deal for Laban, especially in view of the fact that he would have been happy to have Jacob marry into the family regardless.
When dealing with a deceiver you must be precise and accurate with your words.
Laban figured because Jacob loved Rachel so much that he could extort another seven-year period of free work from
Jacob, as well as solve the problem of getting a husband for Leah at the same time.
It was the custom in the ancient world to have a great festive week after a wedding, beginning with a banquet on the wedding night, with many male guests invited.
At the proper time, when the wedding formalities had been observed, Laban presented his daughter to Jacob as his wife.
Now comes the time when the deceiver is deceived.
Laban invited "all the men of the place" to the marriage banquet so that when the prank played on Jacob becomes known to all, it will not be easy for Jacob to cast off Leah.
Laban's plan was to get rid of Leah and put Jacob in bondage.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you or as MAT 7:12 says "Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them,
When Jacob deceived his father Isaac, he pretended to be the elder when he was the younger --- now, he thinks he's getting the younger when, in fact, he is getting the elder.
Here's the pot calling the kettle black which is an idiom used to claim that a person is guilty of the very thing of which they accuse another.
As generally understood, the person accusing (the "pot") is understood to share some quality with the target of their accusation (the "kettle").
"It's alright that I deceive my father but how could someone deceive me"?
The tables are turned now and Jacob says in effect, "It's an awful thing to deceive someone."
1. In the ancient world it was customary for the bride to be veiled until they entered the bed-chamber.
2. When Jacob took Leah into his chambers and into his bed, it was also customary that the room would be completely dark with no candles.
Supposedly illustrating the privacy of the marriage bed which in HEB 13:4 is said to be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled;
3. In the ancient world, the conversation was to be in whispers and in brief words of love.
4. Unlike most marriages today, when they got married in the ancient world they had sex for the first time......so Jacob would not have been familiar with Rachel's body.
5. The night of their celebration of marriage, they drank the finest wine and a lot of it......need I say anymore!
The question implies that Laban has made a mockery out of the finer and truer desires of men, and has toyed with loyalty, truth and pure love.
Jacob now feels what it's like to have deceit practiced on him concerning something that is extremely important and precious.
There was a clause in the fine print that perhaps Jacob didn't see.....or in reality that he had conveniently forgot to mention to Jacob.
Laban certainly should have explained this to Jacob at the time of his proposal, but he kept it to himself, not wanting to lose the opportunity to have Jacob work for him and to get him into the family.
PRO 1:31 "So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, And be stuffed with their own devices.
This is why Eliphaz said to Job in JOB 4:8 "According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it.
That's not divine discipline but it divine retribution which comes from the law of volitional responsibility or reaping what we sow!
GAL 6:7, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
The most striking example of what men term "poetic justice" is the case of Jacob himself.
First, he deceived his father and was, in turn, deceived by his father-in-law.
Jacob faked that he was the elder when, in fact, he was the younger, and deceived his father Isaac.
The divine retribution was that on his wedding night instead of receiving the younger daughter he received the elder for his wife!
When a person continues to make negative decisions and they even hurt others, GAL 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.