Answers Bible Curriculum Second Edition Unit 5 Lesson 43
This week in Sunday school, we learn about how God affirmed his promises to Jacob and provided Jacob with a family. There are many questions that arise from this section of Genesis. What is the significance of Jacob’s ladder? Why did Jacob marry multiple wives? And how could God use the sinful choices of men to further his own plan? We will see, however, that what God was teaching Jacob is a lesson we need to learn as well: God is always at work to bring about His good promises to His people.
Our main text for this lesson is Genesis 28:1-30:24.
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very good all right well good morning everyone welcome to Sunday school good to see you again it’s nice and bright over there all right we are continuing with our answers Bible curriculum and our study through the lives of the patriarchs we are currently following the life of Jacob but by the way we’re continuing to refine our video and sound it was really good for me last week in terms of hearing you hopefully it’s even better for you this week in terms of hearing me alright but last week we saw Jacob steal the blessing from Esau though God had promised Jacob and his descendants that they would obtain a bleak a place of blessing and authority over Esau and his descendants Jacob and Rebecca decided that they would use sin in order to bring about God’s promise their plan worked they deceived Isaac they obtained the Abrahamic blessing for Jacob but in the process they enraged Esau and he’s ready now to kill his brother Jacob Jacob has to flee in order to save his life so we observed a principle last week then we must not use sin as a way to obtain God’s promise not bad for us to be active but whatever we do we don’t use sin we wait on the Lord even what Jacob did even what Rebecca did was part of God’s sovereign plan God would actually use Jacobs flight to Haran to finally provide a family for Jacob and what a family that’s the subject of today’s class Jacobs family grows now we’re gonna see in when it folds today and the different passengers we look at what God was continuing to teach Jacob and really to teach us about trusting God to provide and keep his promises let’s pray and then we’ll continue a great God you are the provider you are the Creator brought the sustainer we need you not only to sustain our physical life but also our spiritual life and Lord God we know that you have designed so often that we will need to wait on you and there will be many temptations in those situations to turn to sin as a way to make things easier but to bring about what we need or desire I pray God that we will learn from the line of Jacob just as he meant us to I pray God most of all that we would learn to trust you as a good sovereign perfectly wise God you are our God in Jesus name Amen well please take your Bibles and open to Genesis chapter 28 and this is 28 and what do you know if you’re using the Pew Bible it’s on page 28 so go ahead and turn there we’re gonna be looking at several passages today some of them will spend more time with and some a little bit less time with we’re gonna pick up immediately where we left off last time Jacob has just stolen the blessing and now I realizes he has to flee before he goes Isaac has a little chat with him we’re gonna start there Genesis 28 verses 1 to 5 Genesis 28 1 2 5 and it reads thus so why is it called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said to him you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan arise go to paddan-aram to the house of beth you well your mother’s father and from there takes yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you may become a company of peoples may he also give you the blessing of Abraham to you and to your descendants with you that you may possess the land of your sojournings which God gave to Abraham and Isaac sent Jacob away and he went to paddan-aram to Laban son of Vettii well the aramean the brother of Rebekah the mother of Jacob and Esau all right we’re just starting with these first five verses when observe a few things we see here Jacob being sent off to Rebecca’s brother Laban in hot rock or what later be called ha now what’s Jacob’s mission go ahead and tell me um G notice that it says eight wife that’s the understand notice also in this commissioning in his Isaac affirms a panic icing Jake saying he doesn’t mention the whole deception thing like lately was pretty no those things I blessed over you before I’m gonna yeah bring those past I think is on board but God’s plan at this point and he does he’s a blessings to Jacob and to jacob descent which part the blessed is ticket there’s a lot of talk here multiply this versus work multiply you and you become a company of people may you descendants possess the land now it’s kind of interesting that that’s spoken about I can’t because to this point they said the descendants have have I mean Abraham did have a son but it was only there at least Isaac wasn’t chose so just status quo I’m one kid so what are we gonna start actually seeing it Kim seed multiply become a people and has God really chose answer I mean Isaac sprayed but it paid over take a buck for Jake but will God accept you oh let’s read on genesis of twenty first and we’re gonna pick up look for text here Genesis 28 10 to 20 here’s what then jacob departed from bear sheep and award hurrah came to a certain place spent the night there because the sun had set they took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and lay down in that place he had a dream behold a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and behold the angels of god were sending and descending on it and behold the lord that’s yahweh yahweh stood above it and said i am yahweh the god of your father Abraham and the god of Isaac plan on what you lie I will give it to you and to your descendants your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed behold I am with you and we’ll keep you wherever you go and we’ll bring you back to this land for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said surely Yahweh is in this place and I did not know it he was afraid and said how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven so Jacob rose early in the morning and it took the stone that he had put under his head and he set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top they called the name of that place Beth L however previously the name the city had been less then Jacob made a vow saying if God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take and will give me food to eat and garments to wear and I returned to my father’s house in safety then Yahweh will be my god this stone which I’ve set up as a pillar will be God’s house and of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you all right we’ll stop here and make some more observations notice that Jacob is on his way now to her Anne I’m actually gonna go back to this slide for a little bit so you can see the map he’s on his way to her and this is a 500-mile trip 500-plus actually a little bit more than 500 miles going from southern Canaan to southeast Turkey and you can see he’s arriving in Bethel and hopefully you can see there on the map Bethel is kind of right in the center of Canaan I’m say more about that in just a second but you can see where he goes long trip what’s your impression about how much stuff Jacob has with him on this journey he loaded up he doesn’t have enough sorry go ahead somebody says no entourage no servants no band of camels after all he’s using a stone as a pillow doesn’t seem to have any luxuries with him he makes comments about the Lord providing him food and clothing doesn’t have much with him and imagine you were in his situation imagine you set off on this 500-mile journey you’re going through unknown territory and you only had the basics with you maybe you have an animal it’s not mentioned here but he probably has an animal maybe a camel or something you’ve got maybe a week’s provision of food and water but there’s a lot of uncertainty you don’t know what’s gonna happen to you on the trip you don’t know what awaits you at the end of your journey how would you be feeling I bet you could use a little bit of an encouragement and a little bit of assurance notice a gracious God he sends this dream to jacob and in the stream Jacob sees a ladder or better understood it could also be translated staircase he sees a staircase and it stretches from earth up to heaven with angels moving up and down on it he was standing at the top of this staircase Yahweh himself and notice how God introduces himself to Jacob he says I am Yahweh the God of Abraham and the god of Isaac and then notice what God affirms to Jacob in verses 13 to 17 it says I will give you the land of Canaan I will give you uncountable descendants your descendants will spread widely from here actually as I said Bethel is kinda in the middle of Palestine so when he says you’re gonna go north west east and south that would have been everywhere around Bethel so every direction from there his seed is gonna spread out it says in you and in your seed all the nations will be blessed I would bless you I would protect you wherever you go I will bring you back to Canaan and I will keep my promises to you now what do all these promises remind you of some sayin this is this things that God had promised Abraham multiplied seed possession of the land promised a blessing and that one special promise in you all the families of the earth will be blessed and what are the conditions for these promises and notice Jacobs reaction upon waking he says Yahweh’s in this place this must be God’s house and the gateway to heaven he sets up this pillar to commemorate the place it names the place Bethel which means house of God beth-el and it makes vow he says God takes care of me then Yahweh will be my god in fact notice what he further intends to do he says I’ll make this pillar God’s house and a tenth of everything I have I will give to God now let’s take a step back and interpret a little bit why are the angels going up and down on this staircase why would they be doing that it’s not like that it’s just really fun to go something like that what you did anyway today yeah so I think you’re right why not really angels and that term just means messenger and so if they’re moving up and down then there must be sending out messages or I think we can even say more broadly messenger also has the idea of servant they’re doing whenever God tasks them to do going from heaven to earth doing what God wants accomplished and then also returning to heaven to see what God wants them to do next and certainly as you point out ROI that involves Jacob these angels they’re accomplishing God’s will including with what takes but what’s taking place with Jacob so then what what is God’s showing to Jacob what has got emphasizing to Jacob by giving him this vision of this heavenly staircase holy zine work they doing things that involve Jacob what’s got emphasizing to Jacob I again Judy said he’s taking care that’s right God emphasizes to Jacob that he is taking care of him or I think we can also say that God is at work God is aware of what Jacob is dealing with God is aware of Jacob situation and God is himself is intimately at vall intimately involved his angels are going back and forth and he’s overseeing it all he’s standing at the top of the staircase and what it’s not have been a comfort to Jacob God says I see I’m at work I’m involved don’t be afraid Jacob and of course this is right along with all the promises that he gives to Jacob this would be an encouragement to Jacob to rely on God to trust in God now where do we see this concept of angels ascending and descending somewhere else in the Bible even in the New Testament Isis well in John 1:51 it says this Jesus speaking speaking to Nathanael truly truly I say to you you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man so Jesus alludes to this passage himself and he declares or he alludes this section Genesis and he declares what you what Jacob saw you’re gonna see on me on son of man was Jesus saying if Jacob staircase in the Old Testament was a revelation to Jacob and Israel that God was at work God was involved he was aware and he was bringing to pass his promises and what is Jesus declaring about himself in the New Testament by comparing himself to that heavenly staircase I think I think there’s something to that just make it away no that is a look specific staircase is it a away from moving between heaven and earth and Jesus certainly would be the mediator but even more broadly if the staircase in the Old Testament meant that God was involved he was aware and that’s at work he’s bringing to pass his promises and certainly the same thing would be true of this man and the promises that he was bringing the past in his own life Jesus its life they involved just as you said a pub making away we’re man to be reconciled to God there Jesus was declaring I am going to be the focus of God bringing about his promises to me in me you’re gonna see God’s promises coming to pass you’re gonna see just how intimately involved God is and how at work because I am God and I’m here so we can see a similar message being declared in both situations but even more intense in Jesus’s own life now notice going back here to Genesis these promises that God gives to Jacob and this staircase it’s all emphasizing what God is doing and what God will do but then Jacob says here’s what I’m gonna do God Jacob offers a vow to God well how would you understand this vow is this a sign of faith is this a sign of lack of faith and self-reliance you know at first when I didn’t know this passage super well it’s kind of like you know Jake is being kind of mercenary kind of modern kind of bartering with God but the more I think about it I’m actually inclined to view this valve positively one of the reasons is that God’s gonna mention this vow again in Genesis 30:1 13 he’s gonna talk to Jacob you can say hey remember that value made to me oh wow and I’m gonna keep what I promise to you and also many other times in the Old Testament we see people offering vow to God and it’s not a bad thing it’s a sign of devotion it’s to be commended you can think of Hannah’s vow to God and others but Jacob does not seem to fully understand what God’s up to here I mean this Bethel really the house of God and the gateway to heaven no and does God need a house no does God need a tithe from Jacob no in fact I’m not even sure how that would work I mean there’s no priest – there’s no theocracy at this point so how would Jacob even give that tide to God not quite sure but I am reminded maybe you are two of David’s desire to build a house for God this comes much later but David says why should I eat well in a permanent house and God still dwells in the tents I want to build a house or a god and when God communicates to David about this he commends David for his desire but he also stresses – David God does not need anything don’t need a house they don’t really need anything I’m God and in fact God says to David rather than you build me a house I’m gonna build you a house so again it’s all about what God’s gonna do here God is telling Jacob everything he’s gonna do for Jacob seems like Jacob wants to pay God back somehow and again there’s something commendable about that but Jake was missing the point a little vision is not about Jacob what you can do for God but this is about what God is graciously doing for you the point is for Jacob the trust God and receive those gifts in humble gratitude and there’s something there for us also isn’t there think for yourself do you need to be reminded that in the midst of or difficult circumstances where nothing seems to be changing that God actually just as he was with Jacob it just really as he was in the life but Jesus himself God is actively and intimately involved he’s at work in your life and even in your difficult situation and he’s keeping his promises and bringing them to pass it’s happening it’s like you can’t see it but if got with a pull back the veil on the spiritual world you see those Eagles going back and forth do you realize that that’s true about you and do you also need to be reminded that God is primarily concerned that you receive his gifts not that you somehow it gives something to him by the way a Greg Caleb how are we doing on sound I noticed it maybe a little bit of a feedback issue is that okay okay okay well we’ll do the best we can well God’s made all these wonderful affirmations or promises but let’s see whether God keeps these promises to Jacob so we’re gonna read on now go to Genesis 29 Genesis 29 verses 1 to 14 see what happens it says then Jacob went on his journey and he came to the land of the sons of the east he looked and saw well the field and three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it for from that well baked water the flocks now the stone on the mouth of the well was large when all the flocks were gathered there it would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and punish put the stone back in this place on the mouth of the well Jacob said to them my brothers what are you from they said we are from sets then do you know Laban the son of Nahor and they said we know him he said is it well with him and they said as well and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the Sheep he said is still high day it is not time for the livestock to be gathered water the sheep and go pasture them but they said we cannot until all the flocks were gathered and they roll the stone for the mouth of the well then we watered well he was still speaking with them Rachel came where their father she or she was a shepherdess Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of leek his mother’s brother Jake kissed Rachel felicitous police and wet dick told rate so that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebecca’s son and so she ran and told her father so when Labour heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son he ran to meet him and embraced and kissed him and brought him through his house then he relates leave in all these things they said surely you are my bone in my flesh and he stayed among my notice there’s a lot of similarities here to another that happened in the past to this same area remember Abraham servant also came through paddan-aram or to her ran and even to the house where Laban was don’t sit number the similarities that we see here see God directly to the right family and the right house just a little toll he happens to comes this well and someone from the house late and that person is able to get him to leave his house so God brings him rights to please and notice also that he encounters a woman at the well a woman from the household just like him serve and encountered Rebekah Jacob encounters Rachel but you know perfect timing this woman just like his before she runs to tell the household the patriarch comes glads received the purse Abraham’s servant before but now Jacob right into the house the paycheck do you notice the differences also this time no gifts no servants no entourage at this time also notice the woman doesn’t water the man’s animals it’s the man that waters the woman’s animals and rather the woman’s strength energy character being put on display we see Jacobs strength and character being put on display because did you notice it says that Jacob himself rolled the stone off of the well we don’t know exactly how big a stone was but first who says the stone was large and verse 3 indicates that normally a plurality of persons move this to the Jacob C’s Rachel sees her flocks he goes all by himself so that he can water her endless Jacob EP in the seventies but he’s no old man he’s in the prime of life and he’s clearly strong we do need to note that Jacob and Rebecca are Jacob and Rachel rather are related Rachel is Rebecca’s brother’s daughter and that means Rachel and Jacob are cousins first cousins but remember this is part of the point Jacob is sent to Iran to find a wife from among Abraham’s kin from that special clan from which Abraham had left and which he had obtained a wife for Isaac this was considered a good thing at that time now Jacob has successfully traveled all the miles he’s gone 500 plus miles he’s arrived safe and sound into the house of Laban and so we to see God keeping his promises to Jacob God said I’ll protect you I’ll keep you trust me and we see it coming to pass God is faithful and now it’s time to take a wife and head back right well there’s a problem because what does Jacob have to offer as a compensating bride price for the bride well he doesn’t have anything and because he only came with the basics you can’t do what Abraham’s servant did give all those treasures to Bath you well and to Laban so that Rebekah could be obtained Jacob doesn’t have any bride price so no bride price means no bride and no bride means you can’t return to Canaan so what to do well Jacobs got a solution but as he pursues this solution circumstance is gonna take a pretty surprising turn and this is what we’re gonna read next in verses 15 to 30 so look at Genesis 29 15 to 30 alright so verse 15 then Laban said to Jacob because you are my relative should you therefore serve me for nothing tell me what shall your wages be now Laban had two daughters named the older was Leah named the younger was Rachel only his eyes were weak but Rachel was beautiful of form and face now Jacob loved Rachel so he said I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel Laban said it is better that I give her to you then give her to another man stay with me so Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her then Jacob said to Laban give me my wife where my time is completed I may go into her Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast on the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him and Jacob went into her Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah hasn’t made so it came about in the morning that behold it was Leah and he said to Laban what is this you have done to me was it not for Rachel that I served with you why then have you deceived me but Laban said it is not the practice of our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn complete the week of this one and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve me for another seven years Jacob did so and completed her week and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife Laban also gave his maid bill huh to his daughter Rachel as her maid so Jacob went into Rachel also and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah and he served with Laban for another seven years hmm so what is Jacob’s solution to the bride price issue he offers to work for Laban but work seven years for Rachel I don’t have anything to give you except my labor but I’ll work for you for seven years does that work Laban Laban says all right we’ll do that and why Rachel well Jacob loves Rachel and in comparison to her sister Rachel’s beautiful Leah while she has weak eyes what does that mean that weak eyes it’s not totally clear probably does not mean that she has sight problems or that she was blind probably means that her eyes were not considered particularly beautiful it may be that her eyes were pale a light color which would have been considered perhaps a blemish at that time having the dark more sparkly eyes had been considered more attractive they were really into eyes back then as in terms of what really makes a person beautiful and Leah seemed to be lacking in that area and in whatever way didn’t mean that she was unattractive just that her eyes were considered a drawback but Rachel on the other hand she did not lack in any area of beauty so Jacob contracts with Laban to work for Rachel Jacob worked seven whole years seven years I mean where were you seven years ago but this seemed like such a short time to Jacob because this love for Rachel eyes and that romantic you know it’s funny when I look for the different pictures to use for Sunday School and I type in the verses and I look for this passage and I see all these like romantic little displays it’s like oh yeah Jacob work seven years for Rachel and they seemed like it seemed like nothing isn’t that romantic you know hard so they have like a little silhouettes of a couple standing together okay yeah that is a little romantic but this is not gonna be a storybook romance I don’t know if you want to go to Genesis 29 for inspiration about your romantic life because when Jacobs time is up and they have the wedding feast and the honeymoon night Jacob discovers in the morning that he’s just slept with Leah and not Rachel they say wait a second how could that have happened I mean Jacob seriously you didn’t notice that you had the wrong bride well must be a little gracious Jacob first of all who would have expected this kind of deception I mean you just don’t do this to be but you don’t just switch the ride last-minute there would have been no reason for Jacob to be double checking second it would have been dark at the end of the feast day and third Leah was probably veiled for the whole celebration at least for the first day so really what happened was that a parent used surprise and another person’s lack of ability to see properly to make one sibling pretend to be another sibling in order to steal a blessing wait a second what does that remind you of exactly what Rebecca and Jacob did to Isaac they took advantage of his inability to see and they surprised him so here we see Jacob being deceived in a way that was very similar to how he had deceived Isaac now this certainly was a very scummy move on Levens part Jacobs understandably angry I mean Laban why would you do this notice Levens explanation when confronted he says it’s not our custom sorry it’s not our custom to give the younger daughter away before the older I mean that’s why I had to give you Leah custom and then he makes an offer he says why don’t you finish the wedding celebration for Leah finish out the week and then I’ll let you marry Rachel at the end of the week after that though you’ll have to serve me another seven years Jacob consents to this proposal at the end of the week marries Rachel too and that means now is two wives but he has to work another seven years for his second one now notice Laban also gives a maid to each of his daughters as they get married he is Zilpah to Leah and gives bill Hut to Rachel these maids they would have been female slaves just like Hagar was to Sarah then notice verse 30 somewhat portentous statement it says indeed Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah again doesn’t this remind you something we’ve seen recently favoritism within a family Isaac and Rebecca favored different children and now we have a man favoring one wife over the other is this gonna lead to family harmony of course it will not alright now that we’ve made these observations let’s ask some questions again some interpretation questions why did he do it why did Laban give Leah and not Rachel to Jacob I mean nobody benefits from this Leah she’s not wanted how she gonna benefit from this relationship Jacobs gonna be annoyed you can get the right wife Rachel her expectations were dashed well wonder seems to come out well from this is Laban why did he do it certainly this custom explanation oh it’s not our custom dad as a flimsy excuse Laban was up to something else maybe that Laban was trying to get rid of a less eligible daughter get leah married away I won’t have to revive her anymore she’ll be someone else’s problem but I think there’s something more Jacob I’m sorry Laban tips his hand when he makes his proposal verse 27 he says you’re gonna have to serve me another seven years if you want Rachel does he see Laban loves having Jacob work for him he’s gonna say later on hey I noticed that when you’re working for me I’m blessed by God even once Jacob to keep working for him there’s seven years have been good but he’s wondering how he can get that to happen it gets Rachel he’s just gonna leave I know Laban says I’ll switch my daughters he’ll be stuck with Leah and forced if he wants to obtain late or to obtain Rachel to work seven more years for me really this is Laban sacrificing Jacobs happiness and his daughters own happiness in order to satisfy his own greed it’s poignant then Genesis 31 15 when Jacob is leaving running away from Levens household and tells his wives about it they both say hey our Father sold us they say that they sold they’ve been sold to Jacob so that Lake it Laban could consume the purchase price that is Jacob’s labor and what he’s able to get from Jacobs work so this was this was an evil move laven but we also have to ask what about accepting this proposal was it evil was it wrong for Jacob to accept Levens deal and take Rachel as a second wife what we know from Scripture is yes it was it was wrong because let’s face it even though leah was not the one that Jacob wanted God has made his design for marriage clear from creation it is one man and one woman till death they part genesis 2:24 says for this region and this is based on adam’s own union with Eve for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife his wife singular and the two shall become one flesh so God’s design has been there from creation it was one for one you can’t make it polygamists without transgressing God’s will and God’s design now you say well Jacob didn’t have that scripture he didn’t he couldn’t read Genesis 2:24 that’s true that’s not my God left himself with no witness in the world I mean he’s been talking to people we don’t know how much revelation was out there and what exactly it looked like but God did have a witness of himself in the world at that time I mean and also if you just think about what marriage is it should not include polygamy if marriage is fundamentally the joining of one person with another to becoming one then you can’t you can’t bring a third into that they can you can no longer have that complete unity that you would just have from two so Jacob should’ve known now it is true that the Mosaic law regulated but did not forbid polygamy not like it says in first five books of Moses thou shalt not have multiple wives God never said that explicitly so does that mean that God was okay with polygamy and with Jacob and with some of the Israelites we’re gonna see it again I mean King David righteous man he’s gonna have a ton of wives Solomon is gonna have a ton of wives other people are there Israelites are gonna have more than one wife was God making was he okay with looking me at that time I think the way to understand this is the same way we understand divorce as it was practiced in the Old Testament this was a concession due to man’s hardness of heart this did not reflect God’s heart and it did not reflect his design for marriage in Mosaic Lodge in Deuteronomy 24 it made it made it regulated what would be inappropriate divorces so Deuteronomy 24 for me and find some indecency and his wife which is not specified and he gives her a divorce well then he’s got to do it this way doesn’t say he must divorce her but says if he ends up doing that then there needs to be a certain process and ultimately that was God being gracious and protecting protecting women to some extent from unfair divorces but the polygamy worked the same way God’s regulations in the Mosaic law about polygamy we’re not a sign that God was okay this is fine no this is just God working around the hardness of man’s heart he did not approve he did not condone polygamy in fact every time or nearly every time polygamy appears in the Bible in the Old Testament it’s always with problems attached you look at a family who’s polygamists in the scriptures and you see problems and certainly and that’s going to be true in the life of Jacob and with his wives this is because when you go against God’s design for marriage what the polygamy divorce or something else you’re gonna experience painful consequences as a result this is the lesson our society at large just doesn’t get they keep trying to redefine marriage and do different things of marriage and then they don’t understand why it’s so problematic that’s because you go outside God’s design you’re gonna experience painful consequences God made marriage wouldn’t need to be a certain way and he loves marriage and he wants to see men honor it the way that he designed it to be so this means if you’re Jacob and you wake up next to a spouse you didn’t choose because of God’s designed for marriage what should you do accept it accept it and move on if Jacob wanted to be righteous if you wanted to be wise you could say if you wanted to be happy you should have said you know what Laban has done me a terrible wrong but what he did was still under God’s control after all didn’t God promised me that he would protect me from all evil that was one of the things God said to him back in Bethel but God did not protect Jacob from this so this must not be contrary to God’s good plan for Jacob this was God’s will for Jacob therefore if your Jacob you had to say I’ll let go of my love for Rachel and I will commit to love Leah as God’s special gift and provision for me now of course that’s easier to say than to do it would have been difficult for Jacob but it would have been right and it would have been the way to blessing we can see a little mini application from that can’t we I mean think about your own spouse do you need to make that same kind of affirmation instead of thinking about how your spouse isn’t exactly what you wanted or how you wish your spouse was more this or more that you also need to remember that your spouse even if you got married in a in a sinful way or in a foolish way your spouse the one that you have is their deigned for you by God your design according to God is that you love and appreciate your spouse that is the way to wisdom that is the way to righteousness that is the weight of blessing your spouse may not love you back and they even sin against you when you try to love him or her but it fusions five is abundantly clear that you honor God God is pleased when you treat your spouse rightly even when your spouse doesn’t treat you that way in return it is remarkable though and I think many of you can attest to this it is remarkable how a person responds positively when you commit to love that person and commit to doing what’s right and good with that person but this is not what Jacob chose but Jacob did not embrace these truths he decided he would simply add the spouse that he did want to his life but it didn’t really make things better it resulted in a whole lot of problems nevertheless even this was part of God’s plan God promised the Blessed Jacob even through jacob’s lack of faith and foolish decisions last section of Scripture we’re gonna consider today we won’t actually read but we’ll consider in summary fashion Genesis 29 verses 31 to chapter 30 verse 24 this is where we hear about Jacob’s wives bearing children this is where we see the family grow or really grow what happens well we start to see as soon as we’ve got these two wives a sisterly rivalry developed they’re both competing for their husband’s love which of course that’s what Plus what happens in polygamy Leah sees that she’s unloved but God grants Leah children for Jacob she has four she has Reuben Simeon Levi and Judah and she hopes that having these kids having these sons it would win her husband’s love for her after all this would be extremely valuable in those days remember having children especially having sons that was a wonderful thing for a wife to do that was to her honor that showed blessing or that’s what many people understood the show blessing from God on her she’s got all these sons for Jacob surely Jacob will love me Rachel her sister sees this and it’s like I got to keep up with my sister and she employs the old Hagar trip trick she takes Bilhah her slave and she gives bill Hut to Jacob as the concubine as a slave wife so that Rachel might obtain children for Jacob through bill huh Jacob goes along with this bill huh gives birth to two children Dan and Naphtali but leah sees this she doesn’t like this come back from rachel and so she gives her slave Zilpah to jacob as the concubine Jacob goes along with that too bears two sons gad and ashur and these would be on Leah’s behalf and then there’s some more squabbling between the sisters and then leah wins the right to jacob again and she bears two more sons it’s a car and Zebulun so six sons for Leah from her own body then finally after all that God opens Rachel’s boom and she gives birth to a son Joseph well we can definitely see that we are on our way to a multiplied seed and Jacob now has 11 sons and he’ll have another one through Rachel pretty soon Benjamin but before he’s even returned to Canaan he’s got a Levin son doesn’t even count the daughters the daughters aren’t mentioned all the way he’s got eleven sons this is way more than Abraham or Isaac had God’s promise is coming to platt to pass finally we’re seeing the beginning of a multiplied seed but look at the way it’s come about Jacob has taken four wives two of them are sisters and two of them are slaves there’s competition for Jacob’s love through bearing children there’s jealousy that’s rivalry their strife their sin these problems are just gonna continue in the lives of the children makes you wonder what might have happened if Jacob had just accepted Leah and moved on kind of poignant that she’s the one who bears the most children I mean and that day she would have been considered quite a catch six sons that’s impressive again it’s not what happened and we can’t play the counterfactuals really too much because God ordained for things to come about a certain way even though every person is responsible for his choice this by the way is clear evidence that the Bible is not made up because who would choose this who would choose this as a nation’s history the literal first family of Israel is messed up Moses has not sugar-coated the path he’s not turned israel’s history into a glorious fairy tale no by God’s Spirit he’s told us the truth even the ugly truth why the Israel’s that we might learn it might believe we do see again principle that we’ve been seeing the past few weeks and that is you do not need to sin to accomplish God’s will Jacob Leah Rachel they were not compelled to sin they justly bear the responsibility and consequences for what they chose to do God would have brought about his promises God would have blessed each of them they didn’t need sin they didn’t need to sin nevertheless God mysteriously ordained these choices these sinful foolish choices to bring about exactly what he had promised this I tell you this is this is beyond our full grasp but the rivalry between Jacob and Esau which led to the rivalry between Leah and Rachel which would one day lead to the rivalry between their children it would one day bring about their Rachel son Joseph would go to Egypt and become an amazing source of salvation for the entire family in fact the sin of Jacob’s family it was a key part of God moving forward his full his whole plan of redemption that culminated culminates in the Messiah that seed that God promised would bless all the nations of the earth somehow in the perfect wisdom the justice the goodness of God God was working out everything in those sinful moments their sinful moments for his glory and his people’s good and isn’t that exactly what Romans 8:28 and 29 say that God works all things together for good for those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose there’s an amazing set of truths that are right next to each other which is if you sin you forfeit God’s blessing follow God don’t turn to sin to bring about his promises and yeah whatever God whatever happens is under the sovereignty of God is ordained by God and for his people he works it out for a good purpose now again as I’ve been saying God’s faithfulness and sovereignty should not make us nonchalant about sin but it should encourage us God is in control God is bringing his good purposes to pass just as he brought them to pass in the past and many of these purposes involved a distant future so even though we don’t see an angelic state care on angelic staircase in our lives we can know from the Testament the Old Testament that God is always about is good work even through our trials even through our struggles with sin and even that times when we make wrong choices God is still at work that’s a great comfort but what is he called us to do God’s sovereignty is to lead us to faith and obedience not to sing so again we’re seeing this truth in the life of Jacob and to drive this home a little bit more let me just ask you a few questions of application thanks we’ve still got time for you to think about first what trials and sin struggles are you going through in your life how can you apply the truth that God is always intimately at work even in those difficult situations another question what regrets do you have in your life surely there are things we regret foolish choices sins how can God’s sovereign goodness still bring comfort and encouragement to you even about those regrets well of course this is not to say that if we didn’t have a chance to do something again like some some terrible sin in our past that we wouldn’t do it but we also have to recognize the truth that because God brought those things to pass because he allowed it to happen there is a redemptive element to it there’s something there’s some good that God yet brings about even from our sinful and foolish choices how can God’s sovereign goodness bring comfort to you and encouragement even with those things that you regret and then there’s one up one more question do you recognize just what a generous Giver God is to you we saw this with Jacob right God says look at all I’m gonna do for you I’m a generous God how can you apply this truth to you are thinking and to the elements of your life maybe when it comes to your spouse or your job or any other aspect of your life that you sometimes might wish were different God isn’t generous Giver he says in the scriptures that he does not hold back any good thing from those who walk uprightly Jesus teaches us that in the New Testament that God is a father who is so glad to give good things to his children I mean even evil fathers on earth and their kid needs something they don’t say I’m not gonna give that to you at least most of them God says how much more me so how can you apply that truth to elements of your life that maybe you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself whether you might wish were different how can you recognize actually God is being generous and loving and giving this to me how can I respond appropriately to that some questions for you to think about well I’m sorry about the sound issues today Lord willing we’ll get some of those things worked out for next week if you have questions about today’s lesson please email me I would love to try and deal with those questions as best I can next week we’re gonna see more about how God keeps these promises to Jacob we’re gonna see Jacob returned safely to Canaan and as we do we have more to learn about God’s faithful goodness and his sovereignty which should lead us to faith and obedience I look forward to talking about that with you next time let’s close in prayer well God we know that we are to be instructed we got to be changed by your word and the life of Jacob is a wonderful reminder in many ways about your sovereignty and what is the right way the wise way the blessed way to live erotically said in the past Jacob is a someone who he does rely on his own wisdom so often he’s always clutching reaching you’ve been trying to trick in order to get what he needs but you reminded him I’m the one at work I’m the one giving you all that you need trust me and Lord we know that that truth is true for us too God you do all things well we do have some difficult things in our lives God things that you’ve brought in by your faithful sovereignty and some of them God we know we’re responsible for well the reason we’re dealing with those difficulties is because we chose sin we chose a foolish way we chose not to listen to your word to pay attention to your word and yet God even in those things you are gracious you’re teaching us through that you’re teaching others you’re helping us to be able to sympathize with others and being able to instruct others and yet God these things are painful we thank you God for your comfort that just as you’re with Jacob you are with us and you’re with us an even greater way you dwell in us your spirit is in us your power is with us and you tell us that we have all wisdom in Christ so God and those as we continue on in those difficult situations I pray God that we would be rejoicing in you rejoicing in that your good purposes still will come to pass and that you will provide you’ll provide for us in our needs even in our difficulties and you will display your glory that wonderful glory at the end where God some of your purposes will not even be realized in our lives we won’t see the end of what you were doing but one day we will you’ll unfailing will I will see that’s what God was doing that was what God was doing even in that difficult time look how he even used what was my foolish choice to bring about a grand purpose what would we praise you for that and yet God we don’t we don’t want to experience the pain of doing sin and doing those foolish choices so help us to walk in your wisdom help us to trust in your way I prayed you blessed the people at Calvary today and anyone who might be listening who might be elsewhere then I paid you a blessed him and I pray that they’d walk more faithfully with you in Jesus name Amen all right guys I’ll see you next week