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As a reminder, it is a Communion
Sunday. 

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If you're planning to commune 
with us, you need to receive the

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elements in the foyer. 
If you need to slip out in order

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to do that, that's fine. 
We are in a series in Genesis 

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and noting how important Genesis
is not only for the foundation 

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of Holy Scripture, but also for 
answering our most vexing and 

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important questions in life, 
namely who am I, what am I, and 

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why am I here? 
All humans need answers to these

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types of questions and their 
idolatries surround trying to 

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satisfy these deepest longings. 
Thankfully, God has given in His

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Word truth that we may have the 
correct answers to these 

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questions and therefore live 
according to His precious 

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promises. 
We can note in the Bible in the 

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early chapters of Genesis that 
Adam and Eve have these 

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questions provided for them. 
Who? 

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What are they? 
They are humans made in the 

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image of God. 
Why are they here? 

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To multiply and fill the earth 
and be agents of blessing 

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throughout the earth. 
They are in a special place, 

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special people with a special 
purpose. 

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But sadly, because of of the 
fall, these precious things are 

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wrecked, and so they leave their
special place in paradise in the

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Garden of Eden, and are exiled 
out of that space. 

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And their beautiful sons, their 
family, the beginning of their 

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people. 
Cain murders Abel, and as the 

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generations unfold in those 
early chapters of Genesis, we 

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see these people who are 
supposed to be agents of God's 

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blessing in the world, his 
viceroys. 

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We see them making horrible, 
horrible decisions, cursing one 

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another, murdering one another 
until God decides to start over.

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There's a universal flood. 
He reiterates a covenant with 

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Noah. 
And then we come to Chapter 12 

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when he meets Abraham and says, 
I'm going to make you a land, a 

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nation, in order for that so 
that you can be a blessing to 

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the nations. 
And as we go through the stories

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of the patriarchs, Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob, we see certain 

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things repeated. 
We're going to see some of that 

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this morning. 
Even as we come into Chapter 29 

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on the heels of Chapter 28, 
we're we're worried because the 

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son of promise, Jacob, is 
leaving the land. 

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He has to flee from Esau because
he has just deceived Esau and 

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his father. 
Esau's murderously angry. 

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And in order for this not to be 
Cain and Abel, 2 point O Jacob 

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has to run away outside the land
in exile. 

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Once again, he's under the 
threat, a death threat from his 

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brother. 
And we're wondering how that's 

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going to resolve. 
And that tension is going to 

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keep him out of the land. 
We don't know how long we're 

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worried about this. 
We're in suspense. 

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Some of us Are you probably 
right ahead? 

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And what's to become of his 
life? 

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How is he going to be a blessing
to the nation's when he lives 

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such deceptive, lying ways to 
his closest people, his brother,

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his father? 
How is this going to resolve? 

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Last week we were in Chapter 28 
and Jacob's on the run, and 

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we're nervous for him. 
He's exposed, he's vulnerable. 

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He has nothing, no friends, no 
protection, no peace, and God 

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himself comes in his grace that 
is greater than his sin, reveals

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himself to Jacob and this 
stairway to Heaven, gives him an

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Oracle and reiterates the 
promises given to his father and

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his grandfather before him, that
he will indeed have the 

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blessing, be the son of promise,
land, nation, and blessing. 

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So he's got to spring his step. 
Perhaps he's encouraged by this 

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night time vision and heads on 
his way, which is where we pick 

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him up in the text. 
So if you follow along in your 

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Bibles, we're in Genesis chapter
29. 

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I'll be working my way through 
not the whole chapter, but some 

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of it. 
There are two scenes, 2 scenes. 

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The first, as was introduced in 
the scripture reading, is 

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Jacob's meeting of Rachel. 
What we're going to learn from 

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this scene is that God provides 
according to His promises. 

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Let's read together Genesis 
chapter 29, beginning in verse 

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one. 
Then Jacob went on his journey 

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and came to the land of the 
people of the East. 

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As he looked, he saw a well in 
the field and behold 3 flocks of

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sheep lying beside it, for out 
of that well the flocks were 

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watered. 
The stone on the well's mouth 

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was large, and when all the 
flocks were gathered there, the 

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shepherds would roll the stone 
from the mouth of the well and 

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water the sheep and put the 
stone back in its place over the

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mouth of the well. 
Interesting setting. 

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Let's continue verse 4. 
Jacob said to them. 

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My brothers, where do you come 
from? 

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Keep in mind Jacob doesn't have 
all your fancy GPS systems. 

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He doesn't even know for sure 
where he is. 

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He asked these folks, Hey, where
am I? 

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We are from Haran, Yes. 
Imagine you have no idea where 

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you are and you're hoping to get
to such and such a place and you

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walk up and you're there. 
This is what Jacob was worried 

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about. 
How am I supposed to even find 

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my way to Uncle Laban? 
How am I supposed to know? 

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God gives him all the 
reassurances and guidance by 

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angels and then lo and behold, 
he is in Haran, the country of 

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his extended family. 
So, so far so good. 

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He asked him another question, 
verse 5. 

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He said to them, any chance you 
know Laban, the son of Nahor? 

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They said we know him, yes, but 
we're still nervous. 

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I mean, is he still alive? 
There's no e-mail. 

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Verse 6. 
He said to them, is it well with

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him? 
They said it is. 

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Well, yes. 
I'm not only where I need to be,

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but the guy that's supposed to 
take care of me is still alive. 

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There's hope rising, but it gets
even better. 

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My friends, they said it as 
well. 

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And see Rachel, his daughter, is
coming with the sheep. 

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Let's stop right there. 
Do you remember the story before

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when Abraham sent his servant 
over to Haran to find a wife for

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his son Isaac? 
Lots of similarities here. 

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They went to the same place and 
there's a rapid sequence. 

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Right away you meet Rebecca in 
that text, and right away we're 

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meeting Rachel in this one. 
Surely Jacob knows that story, 

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and hope is rising as the 
similarities begin to map out. 

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Rachel, his daughter is coming 
with the sheep. 

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Verse 7, Jacob says, behold, 
it's still high day. 

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It's not time for the livestock 
to be gathered together, water 

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the sheep and go and pasture 
them. 

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I can't help but think Jacob 
trying to get rid of these guys.

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He's seen Rachel, we know some 
things about her and he's like, 

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hey, you guys, you know, get out
of here. 

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I don't know, say reading verse 
8. 

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But they said we cannot. 
We cannot until all the flocks 

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are gathered together and the 
stone is rolled from the mouth 

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of the well. 
Then we water the sheep stone's 

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heavy. 
Seems like they have to 

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cooperate in order to move this 
heavy stone that is over the 

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mouth of the well to water the 
sheep. 

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This is probably my favorite 
part. 

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While he was still speaking with
them, Rachel came with her 

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father's sheep, for she was a 
shepherdess now. 

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As soon as Jacob saw Rachel the 
daughter of Laban his mother's 

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brother, and the sheep of Laban 
his mother's brother, Jacob came

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near and rolled the stone from 
the well's mouth and watered the

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flocks of Laban, his mother's 
brother. 

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Whoa, do you remember the first 
time you saw her? 

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Did you get a fluttery feeling? 
I met Deidre in high school. 

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I can still remember how I sort 
of was quavering inside when I 

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saw her eyes and her smile and 
her bouncy hair. 

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I wanted to drop down and do one
handed push ups. 

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Something about this this so 
relatable it draws us in. 

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Do we believe in love at first 
sight? 

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Parents don't. 
Now that's infatuation something

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compelling, especially when you 
think about the previous story 

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and how God was in all of the 
moves of this matchmaking 

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endeavor with the the servant. 
Before he can even stop his 

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prayers, they're being answered 
in rapid sequence, and he prays 

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and he worships, and Jacob 
probably feels like he's living 

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in that story. 
Verse 11. 

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Then Jacob kissed Rachel and 
wept aloud. 

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Strange reaction. 
Why is he crying? 

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You might too, if you were full 
of suspense and worry, on a 

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difficult journey, totally 
exposed, and you at last find 

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your place and your people. 
Cries loud. 

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Not tears of grief, but tears of
relief and joy. 

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Hopefully this isn't too off 
putting for her. 

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And she still remembers the 
story about how he moved the 

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heavy stone so the things may 
progress. 

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Apparently she's excited. 
Rapid sequence. 

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He verse 12. 
And Jacob told Rachel that he 

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was her father's kinsman and 
that he was Rebecca's son. 

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And she ran and told her father.
Verse 13. 

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As soon as Laban heard the news 
about Jacob, his sister's son, 

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he ran to meet him and embraced 
him and kissed him and brought 

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him into his house. 
These, this sounds just like the

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story before Laban's the one to 
hear the news. 

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He comes out to grieve, 
interested in investigating. 

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But friends, there's some very 
important differences between 

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this story and the one with 
Abraham's servant. 

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What are some of the 
differences? 

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Do you remember? 
Abraham's servant came with a 

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retinue of camels, ostentious 
displays of wealth and fine 

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gifts, prepared to negotiate a 
match. 

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Laban investigates that and is 
excited about the wealth that he

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sees, and we get a hint in the 
text that he might be a touch 

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greedy. 
Now Jacob shows up and he's got 

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deja vu. 
Except in this case, there's no 

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camels, there's no wealth, 
there's no presence. 

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There's this nephew on the run. 
How will it go for him? 

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Seems like everything's going 
well, but now there's a shade of

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tension. 
He ran to meet him, and embraced

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him and kissed him and brought 
him into his house. 

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So far so good. 
Jacob told Laban all these 

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things, and Laban said to him, 
Surely you are my bone and my 

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flesh. 
He's convinced that this is 

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indeed his nephew. 
And Jacob stayed with Laban for 

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a month. 
Then Laban said to Jacob, 

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Because you're a I'm because you
are my kinsman. 

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Should you therefore serve me 
for nothing, tell me, what's 

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your wages be? 
Seems like a nice thing to do. 

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Offer him some employment. 
Jacob's still thinking about his

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mission, and he's still thinking
about the lovely shepherdess. 

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Verse 16. 
Now Laban had two daughters. 

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The name of the older was Leah, 
and the name of the younger was 

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Rachel. 
Leah's eyes were weak, but 

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Rachel was beautiful in form and
appearance. 

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Stop right there. 
You may have English 

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translations that think that the
Hebrew is complimenting Leah's 

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eyes. 
You can find those readings. 

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The Hebrew word is tender or 
weak. 

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It's hard to interpret, probably
doesn't refer to her eyesight. 

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She's probably well seeing. 
But since there's such a strong 

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contrast here between Leah and 
Rachel, particularly in beauty, 

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most commentators and 
translators think there's 

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something wrong with her eyes 
that makes her unattractive. 

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So the story is setting you up. 
The older sister lives in the 

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shadow of the younger, 
invisible, unnoticed, unloved. 

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Perhaps verse 18. 
Jacob loved Rachel and he said I

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will serve you 7 years for your 
daughter Rachel. 

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Something that we know from the 
cultural context here is that 

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Jacob is making an extremely 
generous offer. 

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It's customary for the family of
the groom to provide something 

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in the betrothal and he more 
than double S the expected gift 

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here. 
Laban's no dummy. 

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He senses an opportunity and 
we're going to find out that he 

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may be more than he seems, and 
not in a good way. 

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00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,080
This guy's desperate. 
I have an opportunity. 

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Verse 19. 
Laban said it's better that I 

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give her to you than I should 
give her to any other man. 

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Stay with me. 
The response is very ambivalent 

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at best. 
Verse 20 So Jacob served seven 

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years for Rachel, and they 
seemed to him but a few days 

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because of the love that he had 
for her. 

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Isn't that lovely? 
What is work when there's a 

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reward at the end of the road? 
So he serves this time and we're

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LED in our imaginations to 
consider that the relationship 

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is growing to the point where he
is desperate to be with her and 

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kind of rude and perhaps out of 
line. 

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In verse 21. 
Then Jacob said to Laban, give 

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me my wife that I may go into 
her, for my time is completed. 

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Don't talk to your father-in-law
that way, ever. 

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00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:27,000
Verse 22 so Laban to so Laban 
gathered together all the 

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people, the place and made a 
feast. 

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So we're getting set up here for
the next scene. 

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OK, so in that, in that first 
movement, what I'm going to do 

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is I'm going to divide this into
two scenes. 

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As I told you in the first 
movement, God provides according

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to his promises. 
He provides for Jacob according 

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to his promises. 
It's why he's so excited that 

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things seem to be going so very 
well. 

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We can also consider that the 
Lord provides for his people 

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according to his promises, not 
just to Jacob, but to people of 

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faith, that we receive his 
promises in a very special way 

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as people of faith. 
But first we need to consider 

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how Jesus. 
There's little vignettes in this

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first scene that can remind us 
of the life of Christ. 

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So let's draw some of those or 
look to see some of those before

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00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,120
we apply this first scene to our
own lives. 

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Well, what are some things that 
I see? 

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This is not an exhaustive list. 
And perhaps you have your own, 

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some Jesus parallels to this 
first scene. 

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Well, the first thing that you 
can note is that Jacob hopes to 

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be a bridegroom, doesn't he? 
And he's on a mission away from 

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00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,280
his father's house in order to 
find one that sounds a lot like 

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00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:54,320
Jesus, the bridegroom, who in 
his incarnation goes on a 

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00:16:54,320 --> 00:17:00,000
mission away from his father's 
house to fetch a bride that is 

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00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,200
his church. 
What are some other little 

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00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,440
things that we may be able to 
notice in this story that remind

257
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,520
us perhaps of the life of 
Christ? 

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Well, one thing that I thought 
of when I was looking at this is

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that there are other watering 
stories in the Old Testament, 

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aren't there? 
When the nation of Israel needs 

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00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,240
water in the wilderness, they 
speak to the rock. 

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00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:25,640
And then Moses errantly strikes 
the rock, right? 

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00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:27,640
He strikes the rock and then 
speaks, strikes twice. 

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00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,120
He's supposed to strike, then 
speak. 

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00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:33,240
It's a motif of Christ, the rock
that we've been singing about 

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that provides living water for 
the people, children of Israel. 

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00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,840
But then it gets even more 
specific in the Gospels when he 

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tells the Samaritan woman at the
well called Jacob's Well, if you

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00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:54,000
knew who I was, you'd ask me for
a drink and I'd water it because

270
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:55,640
I have special water. 
You don't know anything about 

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living water. 
I'm the living water. 

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00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:04,480
So we have this watering Jesus, 
who is the one who gives living 

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water, who is the living water. 
But then the other thing I 

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noticed, and maybe you see it 
too, is that there's a stone 

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00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,320
that has to be rolled away in 
this passage. 

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00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:17,320
What does that remind you of? 
Thank you. 

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00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,000
I heard that Jacob has to roll 
the stone away to provide the 

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00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:25,320
water for the sheep. 
Christ our Lord, on that third 

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00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:31,800
day, stone rolled away and the 
living water comes out of the 

280
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:36,520
tomb for we his sheep. 
It's a beautiful thing. 

281
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:40,840
He provides according to His 
promises through His person and 

282
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,440
His work. 
And for this we must, friends, 

283
00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,760
rejoice in His Providence, 
rejoice in His Providence. 

284
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:51,920
And I want to think about His 
provinces according to His 

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00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,800
promises. 
He gives you a people, a place 

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00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,440
and a purpose, doesn't He? 
First, if you're a believer, He 

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00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:04,920
gives you a special place. 
And here I have in mind the 

288
00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,560
gathering places of the local 
churches. 

289
00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:13,880
We used to call this room a 
sanctuary, a sacred space where 

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00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:20,000
special meetings occur. 
He gives us a sacred space, A 

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00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,600
holy place, a local fellowship, 
not only in the here and now, 

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00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:28,320
but he says that he's gone to 
repair a place for us in heaven.

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00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,760
So he gives us a place. 
He not only gives us a place, He

294
00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,160
gives us a people in the family 
of God. 

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00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,120
Before your conversion, you're 
lost. 

296
00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:39,520
You don't. 
You may not know that you're 

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00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:41,640
lost, but you're homeless and 
helpless. 

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00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:46,240
You don't have your people. 
Bible teaches us in our 

299
00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,320
conversion we are adopted into a
network, a kinship, a family of 

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00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,480
God. 
We call each other brother and 

301
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,200
sister. 
He gives us a people, the family

302
00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,720
of God. 
And finally, he gives us a 

303
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,120
purpose. 
You join his church. 

304
00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,360
You. 
Engage His Commission and His 

305
00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:12,600
mission to bless the nations as 
we go forth on a mission of 

306
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:17,400
disciple making and friends, I 
hope whether you're just 

307
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,040
beginning to walk with the Lord 
or you've walked with Him for a 

308
00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:23,160
long time, that you're rejoicing
today that He's given you a 

309
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:27,160
place, that you're not homeless,
that He's given you a family and

310
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:31,160
you're not an orphan, and He's 
given you a purpose to do holy 

311
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,920
work in His name. 
It's exciting, it's awesome. 

312
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,040
It's because what he has done in
our behalf. 

313
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:46,440
So we enter in Scene 2 as I was 
setting up, and it's hard to 

314
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,880
find a place in the Bible where 
it goes from sort of the highest

315
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:50,720
of highest to the lowest of 
lows. 

316
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:56,120
So fast, mind. 
Some sort of crazy Shakespearean

317
00:20:56,120 --> 00:21:00,280
drama where everybody lies dead 
at the end of the play. 

318
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:06,560
What's happening move to is that
we're going to learn something 

319
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:10,760
about God's discipline. 
God disciplines according to his

320
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,600
purposes. 
God disciplines according to his

321
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:19,040
purposes. 
So Jacob's asked for the 

322
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,800
marriage. 
Laban gathers everyone together,

323
00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,520
made a feast. 
Verse 23 But in the evening he 

324
00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,520
took his daughter Leah and 
brought her to Jacob, and he 

325
00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,520
went in to her. 
Laban gave his female servant 

326
00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,400
Zilpah to the daughter Leah to 
be her servant. 

327
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,760
And in the morning, behold, it 
was Leah. 

328
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,600
OK, that's super messed up. 
Can we all agree that that is 

329
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:49,680
super messed up? 
So whatever we thought of the 

330
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,480
previous deceptions leading up 
to this one, deceiving somebody 

331
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,440
for a pot of lentils for their 
birthright, deceiving another 

332
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:02,000
person, an old blind person, 
tricking them into giving you a 

333
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:06,960
blessing, that's all terrible. 
We agree this has to be worse. 

334
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,680
You think you're marrying 
someone, it's the best day of 

335
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,280
your life, and it turns out to 
be somebody else in the morning.

336
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,280
What? 
What? 

337
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:24,280
How could that even happen? 
Well, just you can think about 

338
00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:30,040
the custom to have these people,
the brides, totally veiled, and 

339
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,720
the wedding party, as it gets 
later and later in the evening, 

340
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,000
you don't have electric lights. 
It's getting darker and darker 

341
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,080
and darker. 
You're feasting, probably 

342
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,080
imbibing some wine or other 
intoxicating beverages. 

343
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:51,880
Little tipsy, perhaps going into
the bridal tent the end of the 

344
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,760
night. 
This occurs in the morning. 

345
00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:02,600
Jacob is incensed. 
And what we have here is a type 

346
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:06,920
of poetic justice, don't we? 
There's something compelling 

347
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,120
about that, you story lovers. 
Don't you kind of like it when a

348
00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:13,840
villain gets their just 
desserts, when the trap that 

349
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,960
they've been building is sprung 
upon them? 

350
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,880
But famous, famous biblical 
example could be Haman in the 

351
00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,880
story of Esther, builds A 
gallows for Mordecai's enemy 

352
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,640
only to be hung on his own 
gallows. 

353
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,160
So now the great deceiver, the 
great Jacob is out. 

354
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,400
Jacob by of all people, his 
father-in-law, his protector 

355
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,400
that he thought who was going to
help and bless his life. 

356
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:48,000
He's incensed, he's super angry.
And in the morning, behold, it 

357
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,560
was Leah. 
And Jacob said to Laban, what is

358
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,320
this you have done to me? 
By the way, that's a Genesis 

359
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,320
echo. 
There's been an atrocity like in

360
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,560
the Garden of Eden when they eat
the fruit, God says what is this

361
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,440
you have done? 
What is this you've done to me? 

362
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,560
Did I not serve with you for 
Rachel? 

363
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:11,800
Why then have you deceived me? 
Laban said. 

364
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,800
It is not so done in our country
to give the younger before the 

365
00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,840
first born. 
Oh, now you tell me. 

366
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,920
Dad, we had seven years to talk 
about this. 

367
00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:34,720
We had an understanding. 
But interestingly, the angry 

368
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:39,120
Jacob becomes almost totally 
passive, like putty in this 

369
00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:41,440
tyrant's hands. 
You noticed this? 

370
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,880
He noticed this. 
Why? 

371
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,240
Well, one reason is this line, 
it is not so done in our 

372
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,960
country. 
To give the younger before the 

373
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,800
first born is like, hey, does 
this sound familiar? 

374
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:08,200
We know Jacob, we know. 
We don't let the younger go 

375
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,880
before the older. 
Ouch. 

376
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:22,640
Laban has all the leverage Jacob
would have to kill him and run 

377
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,160
away with Rachel, but where's he
even going to go? 

378
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,280
Isn't there a death threat back 
home too? 

379
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,760
What are we going to do? 
Besides, he still has Rachel, 

380
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:35,720
and that's whom he wants. 
That's whom he's in love with, 

381
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,960
that's whom he's smitten by. 
Verse 27. 

382
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,200
Complete the work. 
Sorry. 

383
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,520
Complete the week of this one. 
That is Leah, and we will give 

384
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,400
you the other also in return for
serving me another seven years. 

385
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:53,200
Now some think that this means 
that Jacob has to work another 

386
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,360
seven years before he can marry 
Rachel. 

387
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,320
Some people read it that way. 
It's probably much more likely 

388
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:05,560
that Laban gives Rachel to Jacob
now in this moment, and then he 

389
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,640
agrees to work another seven 
years so that both marriages 

390
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,720
occur in the same relative 
space. 

391
00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,160
Verse 28. 
Jacob did so and completed her 

392
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,600
week. 
Then Laban gave him his daughter

393
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,240
Rachel to be his wife. 
Laban gave his female servant 

394
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,760
Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to
be her servant. 

395
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,200
So Jacob went in to Rachel also,
and he loved Rachel more than 

396
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,320
Leah and served Laban for 
another seven years. 

397
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:39,600
Jacob is under discipline. 
This is not say that God is is 

398
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:46,440
making people sin, but that He 
is allowing them in their 

399
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,840
deceptive practices, in their 
fallen hearts, to entrap and 

400
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,720
deceive each other in order to 
teach the deceiver what it feels

401
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:59,200
like, in order for him to taste 
a little bit of his own 

402
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:04,840
medicine, that he may become 
humble and kind, a truth teller,

403
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:12,320
that he may find his place. 
He's a deeply holy man of God. 

404
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:19,160
This is God's end, his will. 
So the deceiver is deceived, the

405
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:24,520
grasper is grasped, he has 
servitude for 14 more years or 

406
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,600
caught in a situation that's 
explicitly condemned later in 

407
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:33,680
Leviticus chapter 18, verse 18 
says, and you shall not take a 

408
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,560
woman as a rival wife to her 
sister, uncovering her nakedness

409
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:42,880
while her sister is still alive.
The Bible, in all of these 

410
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,720
stories regarding polygamy show 
it as an unmitigated disaster 

411
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,400
that always hurts the 
vulnerable. 

412
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,600
And we're entering into a time 
of intense strife for a 

413
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,680
household that's hard to 
imagine. 

414
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,720
Pastor Brighton's going to 
unpack that for us next week. 

415
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:09,000
And through all of this, God is 
sovereign over all things. 

416
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,440
And through these four women now
He will begin the process of 

417
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,240
expanding the family and 
building a nation. 

418
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:22,760
The ends do not justify the 
means, and yet the Lord is 

419
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:28,920
sovereign over it all. 
Again, before we apply this, I 

420
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,520
would like to look for some 
glimpses of Jesus. 

421
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,200
We've already talked about him 
being a type of Jacob, a 

422
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,840
bridegroom on mission from his 
father to find a wife. 

423
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,960
But what else can we see here 
now in scene two? 

424
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:49,840
Well, like Jacob, our Lord went 
through a horrible treachery, 

425
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,600
didn't he? 
When Judas Iscariot betrayed 

426
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,120
him, his so-called friend, one 
whom he trusted and loved, 

427
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,600
betrayed him. 
So our Lord is the betrayed 

428
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,640
bridegroom. 
We can also see that our Lord 

429
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,360
went through servitude in order 
to win his bride, didn't he? 

430
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:14,720
He's called the servant. 
I did not come into the world to

431
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:19,200
be served, but to serve and give
my life as a ransom for many. 

432
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:26,040
He is the bridegroom who served 
went through a type of slavery 

433
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:32,880
in order to win his bride. 
We can also think about how Leah

434
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:40,320
is unloved and our Lord is 
called one whom there is nothing

435
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,760
about his appearance that should
cause us to be drawn to him. 

436
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,680
He's also despised and rejected,
forsaken. 

437
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:54,000
It's just sad, sad thing. 
But our Lord, unlike Jacob, will

438
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,200
love perfectly to the end, won't
he? 

439
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,080
So He is a better bridegroom. 
We could also think of our 

440
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,720
Lord's discipline. 
He's constantly disciplining His

441
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,040
disciples as He disciples them. 
In fact, an important aspect of 

442
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:12,400
discipleship is discipline. 
You're going to go through 

443
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:14,920
suffering. 
That suffering is going to mold 

444
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,120
us and shape us, hopefully, if 
we respond well to it, into the 

445
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:23,040
image of our suffering. 
Servant, Savior, groom. 

446
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,120
He rebukes them, He teaches 
them, He trains them. 

447
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:36,920
Jacob or sorry Peter especially 
has to go through hard lessons. 

448
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,360
Thomas as well. 
So my friends, as we consider 

449
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:46,800
our story, consider our Lord, we
should try to apply this to our 

450
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:52,000
lives that somehow we may too 
persevere in His discipline. 

451
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:58,400
Some of the consequences that we
suffer are obviously and frankly

452
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:02,920
directly related to our sin. 
If you get a ticket for speeding

453
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:04,480
down the road, you should be 
like, why this is happening to 

454
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,840
me, I don't understand. 
No, you're under discipline that

455
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,600
directly corresponds to your 
sin. 

456
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:14,680
Other things are more murky and 
hard to sort out. 

457
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,680
And then you don't want to 
necessarily always think that if

458
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,480
you got a cold this week that 
it'd be because you maybe didn't

459
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,480
do all your Bible reading last 
week. 

460
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:25,800
Not sure that's exactly how it 
works. 

461
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:31,360
But the Bible does teach us to 
consider our suffering, all of 

462
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:37,680
our suffering in some ways, to 
be formative, to be sanctifying,

463
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:42,280
to be sharpening, to be saving, 
to be redemptive. 

464
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:48,200
We don't always know what he's 
doing, but he's sovereign over 

465
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,320
all of it. 
And he asks us to persevere 

466
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,160
within it, even when it's 
really, really hard. 

467
00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:00,160
How does Jacob stay in this 
dysfunctional mess with Laban 

468
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:03,040
for so long? 
What is he learning? 

469
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,800
That question is going to drive 
the story for chapters. 

470
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,680
What's driving you? 
What's driving me? 

471
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,880
Proverbs chapter 3, verses 11 
and 12. 

472
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:20,760
Worth memorizing, my son? 
Oh, it's worth memorizing for 

473
00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:26,360
the women too, my daughter. 
Do not despise the Lord's 

474
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:31,120
discipline or be weary of his 
reproof. 

475
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:37,120
Why? 
For the Lord reproves him whom 

476
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:43,760
he loves as a father, the Son, 
her daughter, in whom he 

477
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:50,440
delights. 
So behind his bitter providences

478
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,120
there's a shining sun of His 
grace. 

479
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:57,880
And his redemptive purposes need
to be the kind of people that 

480
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:03,960
rejoice, not also rejoice in his
provisions, but also the kind 

481
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,360
that can be persevering under 
his discipline. 

482
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:16,880
So to conclude, our Lord is 
guiding Jacob, it's clear, to 

483
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:22,520
Laban's land, to his family, 
providing for him according to 

484
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:24,840
his promises, given him the 
blessing. 

485
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,280
But we've also seen this morning
that the Lord is disciplining 

486
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,520
deceitful Jacob by allowing him 
to be deceived by his uncle, 

487
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:36,120
which gives him a taste of his 
own medicine. 

488
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:44,280
So we too must rejoice in his 
provision and receive his 

489
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:48,320
discipline according to his 
sovereign redemptive plan. 

490
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,600
Let's pray. 
Father, will you move in our 

491
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,200
hearts by Your Holy Spirit 
convicting us of a sin and 

492
00:33:54,200 --> 00:34:00,280
causing righteousness in us? 
We pray that You would infuse 

493
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:05,320
our worship, Thanksgiving for 
how kind You are to us in Your 

494
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,840
provision, but also in Your 
loving hand of rebuke and 

495
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:13,040
discipline. 
Bless us, we pray, in Jesus name

496
00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:14,679
and by the Spirit, Amen.