Genesis 29:1-3
Then Jacob lifted up his feet and went to the land of the peoples of the east. 2 When he looked, suddenly, there was a well in the field, and there were three herds of sheep resting by it. (For from that well they would water the flocks. The stone on the mouth of the well was large. 3 When all the herds gathered there, they would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the flocks, and put the stone back to its place over the mouth of the well.)
The phrase, “Then Jacob lifted up his feet.” suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. Before his vision at Bethel in chapter 28, Jacob’s heart was filled with fear; now he walked with a new spring in his step. Before, he felt the weight of his past; now, he looked with excitement to the future. Before, he was running for his life; now, he was running to find a wife.
While there appears to be no gap between verses 1 and 2, don’t be fooled. Jacob is traveling to Haran, 400 miles away. It would be pretty monotonous for Moses to keep writing “and Jacob continued on his journey” over and over again. This is a major trip for him, that didn’t happen overnight. After many weeks of traveling, Jacob suddenly arrived in Haran. He planned to stay there for a little while, find a wife, and then return home to Beersheba. Little did he know what was in store for him.
Genesis 29:4-7
4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We’re from Haran,” they said. 5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s son?” They said, “We know.” He said to them, “Is he well?” “Well,” they said. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock.” He said, “Since it’s still the middle of the day, it’s not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the flock and let them go and graze.”
Genesis 29:8-9
8 But they said, “We can’t, not until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well—then we water the flock.” 9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with the flock that belonged to her father (for she was a shepherdess).
Now before we go any further, it is important to understand that Rachel is very attractive (verse 17). Furthermore, she has sheep and is a shepherdess (29:9). In biblical times, sheep were a sign of wealth. In today’s language, we would compare it to a cute blonde, brunette, or redhead driving up in a late model convertible with the top down. Jacob was impressed!
Look at this obvious request: “Since it’s still the middle of the day, it’s not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the flock and let them go and graze.’ But they said, ‘We can’t, not until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well—then we water the flock.”
Like most men who notice the appearance of a woman first and then the car that she drives, Jacob notices Rachel’s appearance and the sheep that she was herding. So what does he do? In 29:7, he slyly says to the shepherds, “Don’t you guys need to take those sheep somewhere? I see Rachel coming and I want to talk to her. Why don’t you guys just take the sheep and take a hike?”
For some reason, the shepherds who are tending their flocks by the well are waiting for some unspecified group of people, to roll back the stone from the surface of the well. They are supposedly unable to roll back the stone themselves to water their flocks. I think they’re messing with Jacob and just want to watch Rachel too.
This is where things get interesting. Jacob pretends he has not seen Rachel and does not know who she is (although he has been told she is about to arrive and he does know who she is!). Verse 10 tells the tale:
Genesis 29:10
10 Now when Jacob saw Rachel (the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother), Jacob stepped forward and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother.
Isn’t it amazing how strong a guy can be when he wants to impress a woman? This task should have taken several men but once Jacob sees Rachel coming with her flock of sheep he single-handedly rolls back the stone. He wants her to know how wonderful he is. What a dashing, strong, helpful man he is.
He removes the stone before he greets her, although it would have been normal to greet someone before you do anything else. But Jacob was pretending he was involved in rolling away the stone before she arrived! He then even feeds Rachel’s sheep.
Our Jacob was a bit of a player, but that shouldn’t surprise any of us by now. This is who Jacob really is. He’s never really worked hard. Instead, he’s been the schemer, who now has to Hulk it up. I’m sure he made some noise, sporting a pose the whole way. What guy hasn’t embellished a little bit when trying to impress a pretty girl?
Genesis 29:11-12
11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. 12 Then Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.
So Jacob then struts over to Rachel and plants one on her. This kiss may not have been what we necessarily envision. It wasn’t like he dipped her down and kissed her lips.
More likely, he kissed her on both cheeks. However, it is worth adding that this appears to be the only case in the Bible of a man kissing a woman who is not his mother or wife.
After the kiss, Jacob decides to have a conversation with Rachel, knowing how much women value talking. Rachel was the daughter of Laban, and Laban was the brother of Jacob’s mother, Rebekah. So Jacob and Rachel were actually first cousins—the first recorded “kissing cousins.” In any case, apparently Rachel enjoyed the conversation and the kiss so much that she ran home to tell her father what had happened.
Genesis 29:13-15
13 Now when Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, hugged and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things. 14 Laban said to him, “Surely you are my own bone and flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month. 15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you, my relative, serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”
At first glance, Laban appears to be the perfect uncle. But it is worth noting that Jacob worked for Laban for a full month before they even discussed wages. This is a tough gig for a guy who is penniless and desperate for money. Remember, as we talked about last week, according to Jewish history, Jacob’s nephew took all of his wealth in exchange for not killing him. He arrived at his uncle’s broke and tired.
Genesis 29:16-17
16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.
A few English translations understand Leah’s eyes to be her best quality, so they translate the Hebrew word for “delicate” (rak) as “lovely”, “pretty”, or “soft”. However, most scholars suggest that Leah’s eyes had no fire or sparkle. They were dull and lifeless. The point is that, physically, she did not measure up to her sister. Rachel was “beautiful of form and face.” This is the Bible’s way of saying that Rachel was drop-dead gorgeous.
So, what do we make of this? It’s ok to be physically attracted to your spouse. God wants us to desire his choice for us. But it’s more important to marry someone of Godly character.
Ideally, God will give us the desire of our hearts by giving us someone that we find beautiful spiritually and physically. We just have to wait on His timing. Take it from someone who waited a very long time! It is more than worth the wait!
Genesis 29:18-21
18 Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he said, “Let me serve you for seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” 19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than I give her to another man! Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, yet in his eyes it was like a few days, because of his love for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are completed, so I may go to her.”
How would you like to lay that line on your future father-in-law? “Give me your daughter as you promised, as I am ready to sleep with her now!”
Jacob is not thinking about romance; he’s not seeking to have a conversation with Rachel; he wants to have sex with her.
But before you think badly of Jacob, please note that he waited seven years to marry Rachel before he slept with her. In our day and age, many couples don’t want to wait seven days before sleeping together.
But this story teaches a valuable principle: True love can be tested with time.
Jacob waited seven years or 364 weeks. If he was paid every two weeks, that’s 182 paychecks. Now, in case you men lose the impact of this, Jacob worked 2,555 days for his bride.
This demonstrates the reality of Jacob’s love for Rachel. Any man who can love a woman like this is showing himself worthy of her love.
How much effort would you put in?
Genesis 29:22-24
22 So Laban gathered all the men of the place and he prepared a feast. 23 When it was evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him, and he went to her. 24 Laban also gave her Zilpah his female servant to his daughter Leah as a female servant.
This is about one of the meanest pranks ever played on a man. It is soap opera mean. Jerry Springer mean. Why would any father do such a cruel thing? To put it simply, he was greedy!
Laban was motivated by his greed to keep Jacob working for him for nothing.
Imagine the impact her father’s decision would have on Rachel. She had been looking forward to this day for seven years. How would you feel if, on your wedding day, someone else took your place?
So, how could this happen?
It was dark They had partied with a lot of family Jacob was likely drunk
Genesis 29:25-27
25 So when it was morning, behold there she was, Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you’ve done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked with you? So why have you deceived me?” 26 But Laban said, “It’s not done so in our place—to give the younger before the first-born. 27 Complete the bridal week for this one. Then we’ll also give you this other—for work that you’ll do with me—another seven years more.”
Verse 25 in the Hebrew is literally, “Behold, Leah!” As in Surprise!
He wakes up a contented man. He rolls over to kiss Rachel. But the face smiling back at him is not Rachel—it’s Leah! I’m surprised he didn’t have a heart attack. Then it hits him: He’s slept with the wrong woman. How could this have happened?
Then it hit him: Laban! It had to be Laban, because Laban was the one who brought his “bride” to his chambers. Interestingly, the Hebrew verb translated “deceived” is a derivative to the noun used in Chapter 27, verse 35 to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering that what goes around comes around.
Jacob knows that he has been had, and agrees to Laban’s terms.
Genesis 29:28-30
28 So Jacob did; he also completed this one’s bridal week. Then he gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban also gave his daughter Rachel his female servant Bilhah, to be a servant for her. 30 Jacob also went to Rachel and indeed loved Rachel more than Leah. So he served with him for yet another seven years.
God trains Jacob by allowing him to meet his own sins in someone else. Soon he will know what Esau felt when he was tricked out of something that was precious to him. Jacob is being made to see just how despicable his tricky ways are. It is all a part of the training in his life.
If Jacob hadn’t stolen Esau’s blessing and had patiently waited for God’s intervention and timing, he would have had the financial resources to acquire Rachel immediately, rather than having to invest 14 years of his life, laboring for Rachel’s hand in marriage.
Lesson: Taking short cuts and failing to trust God is costly! It can often cost years of a person’s life. What a heavy price sin requires!
Jesus weighs in…
Matthew 7:1-2, 12
“Stop judging, so that you may not be judged. 2 For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 12 So in all things, do to others what you would want them to do to you—for this is the Torah and the Prophets.
Jacob’s paybacks
1. As Jacob had deceived Isaac by taking advantage of his inability to see, due to poor eyesight, so Laban deceived Jacob by taking advantage of his inability to see in the dark tent.
2. Earlier, Jacob had deceptively pretended to be the older brother, and now Laban tricked him by replacing the younger with the older sister. Leah deceived Jacob as Jacob had deceived Isaac.
3. As we will see next time, Jacob was behaving like his parents, who each favored one son above the other, by favoring one of his wives above the other. In both cases, serious family problems followed.
4. Esau was forced to live with the results of Jacob’s deception; now Jacob is forced to live with the results of Laban’s deception.
Takeaways
If we do God’s will in God’s way, then things will go much smoother.
If we do things our own way, then we could live with consequences that may last for years.
If we treat others the way that we want to be treated, then we will be treated in the same manner.