Old Testament - Genesis 29:1-30 - (Tribes of Israel Begin - Pt 1)
Channel: Calvary Chapel Windward
Date: 2016-02-08

Old Testament - Genesis 29:1-30 - (Tribes of Israel Begin - Pt 1) - CC Windward - Pastor Tim

Old Testament - Genesis 29:1-30 - Tribes of Israel Begin - Pt 1 - Calvary Chapel Windward - OAHU, HAWAII - Pastor Tim Newman - From Local Olelo / Oceanic / Time Warner Cable show "A View from Calvary" - Episode #: - Original Air Date: 5/27/2012 A.D.

PASTOR TIM's NOTES:

Gen 29:1-30
“The Tribes of Israel Begin”
1. Jacob ARRIVES
Vs. 1-14
1a. Jacob ARRIVES at Haran.
“So Jacob went on his journey,” which is literally,“Jacob lifted up his feet.”
We find that Jacob has come to look for his family in Haran.
Jacob finds that Laban’s family is near and that he has come to the right place.
1b. Jacob ARRIVES in time to meet Rachel.
Some would suggest that this was love at first sight.
Vs. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.
The word for “kiss” is the same word used when Laban arrives.
It is same word used in chapter 31 when Laban kisses his grandchildren good bye.
Jacob then breaks custom and removes the stone from the well.
Jacob no doubt saw this as the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises
made to him at Bethel.
1c. Jacob ARRIVES and is welcomed by Laban.
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.
Laban realized that Jacob was at his mercy—and highly exploitable.
God knew that Jacob needed a Laban in his life
 He needed some trimming.
o Because He needed a compassionate spirit.
 He needed to experience some pain.
 Because He needed to learn humility.
 He needed some added dimensions to his character.
 He needed to grow in faith.
 He needed to stop trusting in himself.
2. Jacob AGREES to work for his bride
Vs. 15-20
2a. Jacob AGREES to work for 7 years.
“Now Laban had two daughters.
The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah’s eyes were “delicate” (literally, “soft”), a description that most
commentators think means no fire or sparkle or glow, which was much prized in
the ancient East.3
Prov 15:1
but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance
2b. Jacob AGREES to work for Rachel.
Notice that it is Jacob who suggests the idea of working for 7 years.
Why would Jacob offer to work twice the normal length of time?
That is how much he valued Rachel.
3. Jacob will now ASK for his bride
Vs. 21-30
3a. Jacob completes the 7 years and ASK for his bride.
Jacob’s demand to Laban—
“"Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her."”
(29:21)
—strongly suggests that Laban was holding out, extorting as much as he could
from Jacob.
Why does Jacob not know what is going on?
The bride would have worn a veil until the morning after the wedding.
Gen 24:65
3b. Jacob ASK why he has been deceived.
"What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you?
Why then have you deceived me?"
We wonder if he heard the irony in his own words.
The verb “deceived” is the same stem used to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau
when he stole Esau’s blessing (cf. 27:35).
And everyone lived happily ever after—in their dreams!
What a recipe for misery.
Sister wives, one beautiful and the other less than beautiful.
One was loved, and the other was unloved.
Was it God’s will for Jacob to have two wives?
NO!
The famous creation ordinance is implicitly monogamous:
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they
shall become one flesh” (2:24).
And every time we see a departure in this it has disastrous consequences.

3
Ibid., p. 235, explains:
What makes eyes “soft” (רך) is unclear; most commentators think it means they had no fire or sparkle, a quality much prized in the
East. Whether her eyes were the only features that let her down is not said, but the glowing description of Rachel as having “a
beautiful figure and a lovely face” suggests Leah was outshone by her sister in various ways.
See also Gerhard Von Rad, Genesis: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1972), p. 291, who explains:
What is meant is probably their paleness and lack of luster. The Oriental likes a woman’s eyes to be lively, to glow, and therefore
eye make-up was used from most ancient times.
Jacob was the elect son but he did not escape the consequences of his own sins.
Far from being immune to discipline, God’s children are the object of special discipline.
And the work of God in the life of Jacob will continue and one day he will be the “Prince of
God”, but he is not there yet.

GENESIS, BIBLE, TEACHING, CALVARY CHAPEL, WINDWARD, PASTOR TIM, TIM NEWMAN, OAHU, HAWAII, KAILUA, KANEOHE BAY, AIKAHI, CHRISTIANITY, GOD, LIFE, HISTORY, TRUTH, JESUS, SALVATION, ETERNITY, CREATION, APOLOGETICS, REALITY, RETURN, PROPHECY, END TIMES, ARMEGEDDON, LAST DAYS, LOVE, GRACE, PEACE, EVERLASTING, BEAUTY, WISDOM, MORAL, GOOD, JUST, SWEET, BOUNTIFUL, HARVEST, SOW, REAP,