1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,400 All right, good morning. Our scripture reading today is 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:08,240 going to be from Genesis 29 verses one through 30. 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,920 If you don't have a Bible with you, there should be a Bible 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,720 underneath the chair, and this scripture passage will be found 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:19,680 on page 21. So again, that's Genesis 29 one 6 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,920 through 30. Then Jacob went on his journey 7 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,120 and came to the land of the people of the east. 8 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,360 As he looked, he saw a well in the field and behold 3 flocks of 9 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,560 sheep laying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were 10 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,600 watered. The stone on the well's mouth 11 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,400 was large and when the all the flocks were gathered there, the 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,680 shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and 13 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,640 water the sheep and put the stone back in its place over the 14 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,040 mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, My brothers, 15 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,160 where do you come from? They said we are from Heron. 16 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,680 He said to them, do you know Laban the son of Nahor? 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,280 They said we know him. He said to them, is it well with 18 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,880 him? They said it is well and see 19 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:03,960 Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep. 20 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,960 He said, behold, it is still high day. 21 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:10,600 It is not time for the livestock to be gathered together, water 22 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,320 the sheep and go pasture them. But they said we cannot until 23 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:16,920 all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled 24 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,600 from the mouth of the well, Then we water the sheep. 25 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,720 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her 26 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:24,760 father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 27 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,280 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his 28 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,520 mother's brother, and the the sheep of Laban his mother's 29 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,360 brother, Jacob came near this and rolled the stone from the 30 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,600 well's mouth and water the flock of Laban his mother's brother. 31 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:41,720 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. 32 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,320 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman and 33 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:48,480 that he was Rebecca's son. And she ran and told her father. 34 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,160 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister's son, he 35 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,280 ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him 36 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,080 to his house. Jacob told Laban all these 37 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,880 things, and Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my 38 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,920 flesh. And he stayed with him a month. 39 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,400 Then Laban said to Jacob, because you are my kinsman, 40 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,479 should you therefore serve me for nothing. 41 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,360 Tell me what shall your wages be now? 42 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,680 Laban had two daughters, the name of the older was Leah and 43 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,360 the name of the younger was Rachel. 44 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,200 Leah's eyes were weak but Rachel was beautiful in form and 45 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,840 appearance. Jacob loved Rachel and he said I 46 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,840 will serve you 7 years for your younger daughter Rachel. 47 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,760 Laban said it is better that I give her to you than that I 48 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,360 should give her to any other man, stay with me. 49 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,200 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him 50 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,800 but a few days because of the love he had for her. 51 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,000 Then Jacob said to Laban, give me my wife that I may go into 52 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,760 her for my time is complete. So Laban gathered together all 53 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,720 the people of the place and made a feast. 54 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,040 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to 55 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:59,800 Jacob, and he went into her. Laban gave his female servant 56 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,320 Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant. 57 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,000 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah. 58 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,320 And Jacob said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? 59 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,200 Did I not serve you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me? 60 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,360 Laban said, It is not so done in our country to give the younger 61 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,480 before the first born. Complete the week of this one, 62 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,440 and we will give you the other also in return for serving me 63 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,280 another seven years. Jacob did so and completed her 64 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,400 week. Then Laban gave him his daughter 65 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,200 Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his female servant, 66 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:34,440 Bill Ha to his daughter Rachel to be her servant. 67 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,160 So Jacob went into Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than 68 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,320 Leah and served Laban for another seven years. 69 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:48,360 This is God's true word. What a text, am I right? 70 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,880 Good. Good morning, Port City family 71 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,080 and friends. My name is Will and I'm one of 72 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,840 the pastors here at Port City, and it is my honor anytime that 73 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,800 I get to open God's word with you all, no matter what the text 74 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,120 that I get to preach is. I love this church. 75 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,560 I love the people in it. I love that I get to know so 76 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,000 many of you so well. And for those of you that know 77 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,079 my family well, you know that my wife is incredible. 78 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,880 She's absolutely incredible. And many of you have probably 79 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,200 thought how in the world did we'll get Lauren and I don't 80 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,880 know, but God is gracious. But I want to share with you a 81 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,040 couple of my favorite things about my wife, OK? 82 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:31,480 She loves her friends incredibly well. 83 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,080 She sees people, she knows them, she remembers things about them. 84 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,280 She's one of the best people that I know that can do that. 85 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,720 But if I can just be honest with you, I want to share something 86 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,000 with you after 14 years of marriage. 87 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,840 If you want to make Lauren Thrasher, my wife, feel nervous, 88 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:53,480 go and ask her what I do for a living because she has no idea. 89 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,440 I promise you that. Case in point, some of y'all 90 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:57,400 think I'm about to get in trouble. 91 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,200 I promise to ask her how I could do this before I did it. 92 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,120 OK, case in .2 weeks ago, we're on the phone with a friend and 93 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,600 we're talking and I mentioned something about a risk that 94 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:07,360 they're taking. And she stands up with 95 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,120 confidence, bold confidence as she points at me. 96 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,760 And she says, and you need to listen to my husband because he 97 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,480 is in risk management. And I looked at her and I said, 98 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,840 babe, I haven't been in risk management in over 2 years. 99 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,960 I promise you, this woman who can remember the anniversary of 100 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,400 the time that your dog rolled over looking at your front door 101 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,440 still does not know what her husband does for a living. 102 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,160 We're working on it. We're going to get there at some 103 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,920 point, I promise. I share that story because the 104 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,960 text actually made me think back to my time in risk management, 105 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:42,840 which is saying something because it was two years ago. 106 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,360 One thing that we used to have to do when I was in that career 107 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,520 path was we would look at a process and we would think, OK, 108 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,040 what are all of the steps that are that are taking place in 109 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:55,320 this process? We'd break it down. 110 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,720 And then for each step, we would think, what is the worst thing 111 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,920 that could happen at this point in time? 112 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:02,880 What's the worst thing? We have to think of all the 113 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:04,280 scenarios. And then we would think about 114 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:06,200 how can we control for that thing, right? 115 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:08,280 What's the worst thing that could happen? 116 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,360 And that came to mind for me because when I read this 117 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,200 passage, I really thought if I were to give, if I were to read 118 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,440 the first 13 or 12 verses of this passage, and then I were to 119 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,600 give each of you a piece of paper and say, write down the 120 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,160 worst ending that you could think of for this, this 121 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,360 Scripture. I doubt, I hope honestly, that 122 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,480 none of you would have guessed that this is how this passage 123 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:35,960 would end, right? We wouldn't guess it because in 124 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,360 our wildest dreams, we couldn't imagine just the, the 125 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,720 brokenness, somebody doing something like this, this 126 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,120 situation, a father, right, bringing his daughters into this 127 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,240 situation. We, we just couldn't imagine it. 128 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,480 The, the chaos and the, and the mess that ensues here, right? 129 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,560 It's a hard passage for so many reasons. 130 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:02,480 There's just so much brokenness. And if I'm being honest, I've 131 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:04,960 wrestled with this one. I've wrestled with it. 132 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,280 God, what, what is it that you have for your people in this 133 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:11,000 text? Tanner, couldn't you give me a 134 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,400 couple more verses to get to the rest of the story, right? 135 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,040 Like, what do you have for us? And my hope this morning is I've 136 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,920 been just processing this and, and praying through this and 137 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,640 wrestling with this is that you would walk away with a greater 138 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:32,000 appreciation of how big the God that we serve is and how great 139 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:33,720 this story is that he's weaving together. 140 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,800 I hope that you're encouraged that there's no mess that is too 141 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,920 great for our God, including whatever mess you walk in here 142 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,800 with this morning. There's not a bigger mess that 143 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,600 he can't handle. My sermon this morning is called 144 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,440 Can God work in a mess like this? 145 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,680 This morning I have 3 themes that I think that we see in this 146 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,400 passage. Kids, I got you. 147 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:03,960 As always, you come to me at the end. 148 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,800 You write these three things down. 149 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,280 I got a piece of candy for you because I love you guys. 150 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,200 I love hearing you run up and down the hallways, even though 151 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,880 sometimes I tell you to stop. You guys are awesome. 152 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:14,880 I got you, Tejon. Love you guys. 153 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:17,960 All right, before I jump in though, I want to start off with 154 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,680 a word of prayer. Father God, I just come to you 155 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,720 this morning. Lord, you know just the anxiety 156 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,320 that comes with this passage. Lord, you know how difficult it 157 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,240 is. God, you understand the weight 158 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:36,600 of preaching your Word. Lord, I pray this morning that 159 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,159 you would fill me with Your Spirit, not for my glory, but 160 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,080 for yours. God, would you teach us what it 161 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:43,840 is that you have for us? Your Word tells us that all 162 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,760 Scripture is profitable. God, I know that through so much 163 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,080 time and history, so many things were left out, but you chose to 164 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,160 include this. God, You chose to include these 165 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,280 details, and so you have something for us in these 166 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,960 details. Father, would you just help us, 167 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,440 God to to understand what it is that you have for us this 168 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,840 morning? Lord, we love you and then we 169 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:09,920 pray. Amen. 170 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,400 I also want to warn you all because normally I have a timer 171 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,760 to tell me how long I've been going and I forgot to said it. 172 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:17,920 I apologize. We'll see what the Lord does. 173 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,720 Amen. All right, before we jump in the 174 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,360 first, the first theme that I want to address this morning, 175 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,120 kids, write this down. Chosen doesn't mean easy. 176 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:33,480 Somebody say chosen. Somebody say easy chosen doesn't 177 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:34,320 mean easy. All right. 178 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,480 Last week, Pastor Tanner preached out of Genesis 28, 179 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,960 where on his journey, not Pastor Tanner's, but Jacobs, he, he 180 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,520 came to find his uncle, right? He's on his way to find his 181 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,600 uncle. He just had this incredible 182 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,480 experience with God. He had a dream. 183 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:54,440 Pastor Tanner reminded us that this ladder was symbolic 184 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,960 throughout all of Scripture. And then it was a sign, not that 185 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,560 we had to ascend to God, but that God had a plan to descend 186 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,040 to us. That's pretty incredible, right? 187 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:10,680 What a beautiful picture of God's faithfulness that Jacob 188 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:13,800 has just experienced. Talk about a mountaintop 189 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:15,760 experience. There's angels, you know, on 190 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,280 this, on this thing. And he's, he sees, he's having 191 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:20,520 this conversation with God like the incredible. 192 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,640 Now we step into this story. If I had to break it into 193 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:27,720 scenes, I would break it into three scenes. 194 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,480 Not to be confused with the themes, kids, these are the 195 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:32,600 scenes, not the themes. OK, I'll tell you when I get to 196 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,080 the themes. These are the scenes. 197 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:39,240 All right, The first scene would be called love at First sight. 198 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,400 The second one is the agreement, and the last one is the 199 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,440 deception. Let's jump into love at first 200 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:47,800 sight. Kids, can you say love? 201 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:54,200 You guys are awesome. All right, as as we step into 202 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,600 this passage and we begin to read, everything just seems to 203 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,720 be working according to plan. Like it's crazy. 204 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:03,840 He has this mountaintop experience. 205 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,960 And then we just step into this and he's continuing on his 206 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:08,880 journey. And the text says as he looked, 207 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,360 he saw a well in a field. Notice that all of this language 208 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,080 is just kind of happening to him, right? 209 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,840 He's not producing it, he's not doing it, it's just happening. 210 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,320 This is God's provision and sovereignty in this moment. 211 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,840 And then it says, and behold, 3 flocks of sheep lie are lying 212 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,640 beside it, right? It's just this moment if he 213 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,440 notices something that's there. And Jacob looks at the shepherds 214 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,400 cause usually when they're sheep, they're shepherds. 215 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,000 And he says, my brothers, where do you come from? 216 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,320 Guess where these brothers were from, Haran where he was going 217 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,640 crazy, right? It's just lining up. 218 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,480 Everything is happening. Mountaintop experience. 219 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,000 One thing after the other is landing where you would hope 220 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,240 that it would go. This man goes to sleep one 221 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:53,600 night. He has this incredible dream 222 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,040 encounter with God. God makes promises to him and 223 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,960 says, you are my guy. You're the next one in line. 224 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:02,240 He wakes up. He goes on this journey and so 225 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,800 far everything is just falling into place. 226 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,400 He happens upon a well with some shepherds who just happened to 227 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,640 be from where he's going. And then he says, oh, that's 228 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:12,280 great. Any chance y'all know Laban? 229 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:14,520 That's my uncle. And they're like, yeah, we know 230 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,720 Laban too. It's crazy, crazy. 231 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,440 Guess what else? Not only did he show up at the 232 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:24,440 right place with the right people, but he showed up at the 233 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,800 right time. Because they say here comes that 234 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,920 man's daughter. Jacob looks up and here comes 235 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,200 Laban's daughter. And guess what? 236 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:38,520 She was beautiful. As soon as he sees her, somehow 237 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:44,200 he finds the strength to move this large stone like earlier in 238 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,920 the text. This text covers like 14 years 239 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,240 at least, right? And so when something, when 240 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,800 there's a detail in a text like that, it probably matters. 241 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,600 And earlier in the text, we find that the stone over this well is 242 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,080 large. So large, in fact, that all 243 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:58,240 those other shepherds are just chilling. 244 00:12:58,240 --> 00:12:59,800 They're like, we're going to wait till everybody gets here to 245 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,040 help us do this thing, like we're not doing it ourselves. 246 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,640 And a beautiful woman comes, and he finds the strength to move 247 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,480 this by himself. Incredible. 248 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,360 After his show of strength, he tells her who he is. 249 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:16,520 He's like, you saw what I could do, now let me tell you who I 250 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,400 am. She responds with excitement and 251 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,960 she runs to tell her father all that's happened. 252 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,120 The scene ends there, right? First scene end. 253 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,200 We're thinking Hallmark movie. It might be summer, but it feels 254 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,720 like Christmas. You know, you've got a young man 255 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,080 who was a bad person. He's taking advantage of people, 256 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,480 he's made bad choices. He's on the run. 257 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,760 He's told to go to a town his family is from. 258 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,560 Sounds very familiar. On the way he has a life 259 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:46,080 changing moment. Now he has purpose and calling. 260 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:50,160 He's reminded of what matters. Meets a girl, she goes to tell 261 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,040 dad. Roll the credits. 262 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:57,120 That's a movie. But the story doesn't end there. 263 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,240 Kids, can you say next scene? All right, scene #2 the 264 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,920 arrangement. The story might be sounding a 265 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,120 little familiar at this point, and it honestly should sound 266 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,400 familiar. Jacob's grandfather's name was 267 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:13,920 Abraham. Maybe you heard of him? 268 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:19,360 Kind of a big deal in the Bible. When Abraham got old, he took 269 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,400 his servant and made him promise to find a wife for his son 270 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,160 Isaac. Spoiler alert, Isaac is Jacob's 271 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,520 daddy. Somebody say, Isaac, I'm going 272 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:31,600 to get you all these names straight. 273 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:32,840 I got to keep them straight for myself. 274 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,080 OK? His servant goes to where 275 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,880 Abraham told him to go, and he prays that God would make it 276 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,800 clear who the wife should be for Isaac. 277 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,920 God had blessed Abraham. And so this servant grabs camels 278 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,040 and all sorts of gifts from his master, and he goes to find a 279 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:52,080 wife for Isaac. Remember, Isaac equals Jacob's 280 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:54,200 dad. It's a lot of names. 281 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:57,760 He finds himself a well, it's not the same well, but it's a 282 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,920 very similar situation. And as he's praying God would 283 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,720 make it clear who the woman is that he's supposed to bring back 284 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,520 home, he sees Rebecca. Spoiler alert, ends up being 285 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,880 Jacob's mom. Long story short, he ends up 286 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:16,120 giving her a gold ring and bracelets and she invites him to 287 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:20,880 stay with her family. This is the scene when she 288 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:22,360 arrives at home. I'm going to read this OK. 289 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:28,320 This is in Genesis 24 verses 29 to 31 says Rebecca had a brother 290 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,960 whose name was Laban. Sounds familiar. 291 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,920 Laban ran out toward the man to the spring as soon as he saw the 292 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,080 ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms and heard the 293 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,960 words of Rebecca his sister. Thus the man spoke to me. 294 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,840 He went to the man and behold, he was standing by the camel's 295 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,960 at the spring. He said, Come in, O blessed of 296 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,120 the Lord, why do you stand outside for? 297 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:58,800 I have prepared the house and a place for the camels after they 298 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,480 settled down and they eat food and they get down to business. 299 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:04,880 The servant says I am Abraham's servant. 300 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,000 Dude is loaded. He's blessed by God. 301 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,120 He's got flocks and herds and silver and gold and servants and 302 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:11,920 camels and donkeys, all kinds of stuff. 303 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:17,320 He said he has a son and I think God directed me that your sister 304 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,320 is the one who should be his wife. 305 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,760 Her brother. Laban and father say bet if 306 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:24,400 that's from the Lord, we can't stop it. 307 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,640 Take that girl to her husband. The next day he took her to her 308 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,080 husband. Now if we Fast forward to how 309 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,080 Laban responds when Rachel brings Jacob to meet him, 310 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:36,680 remember before Laban's the brother. 311 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:38,520 Now he's the father in the situation. 312 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:45,720 Genesis 2913 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his 313 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:50,120 sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him 314 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:54,720 and brought him to the house. Jacob told Laban all of these 315 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,320 things. Do you notice the difference 316 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,400 between these two encounters? There's a slight difference. 317 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:07,960 The first encounter says as soon as he saw the ring and bracelets 318 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,520 on his sister's arms and heard the words of Rebecca, his 319 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:15,280 sister, this time there was no rings and there was no 320 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,960 bracelets. It was just words, right? 321 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,040 Unlike it, unlike his father, Isaac, Jacob didn't have 322 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,400 anything to offer. He was a runaway, if you 323 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:25,800 remember where he was coming from. 324 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:27,720 He didn't come with all of that stuff. 325 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,640 He didn't have anything that he could bring or offer for this. 326 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,120 And so Jacob hangs out there for a month. 327 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:38,000 And then Laban realizes that he has nothing to offer. 328 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,640 He says, OK, you can stay here and work, I guess what should 329 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,240 your wages be? And in verse 18, it tells us 330 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:53,080 Jacob loved Rachel and he said I will serve you 7 years for your 331 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,200 younger daughter Rachel. He was clear. 332 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:00,920 He said younger daughter Rachel, very clear, right? 333 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:03,640 It's going to be important later. 334 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,160 Now, seven years is a long time to wait for anybody. 335 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,960 Some of y'all still aren't seven years old, right? 336 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,960 It's a long time, no wait, especially when you are in love. 337 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,200 Jacob, who has been known to be a deceiver, he's been known to 338 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,160 be somebody who who takes what is not his. 339 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:25,280 He shows character in the situation. 340 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,480 He didn't try to have some sort of negotiation. 341 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,760 He didn't try to take advantage of Laban. 342 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,600 He offers a more than fair price in that day and age. 343 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,920 What do we see in verse 20? It says so. 344 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,640 Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seem to him but 345 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,720 a few days because of the love that he had for her. 346 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,800 We've jumped seven years between these two passages and even 347 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,280 seven years later we see the patience and love that he has 348 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,520 shown for Rachel. He didn't complain. 349 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:02,520 He waited patiently because he loved her so much. 350 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,680 The time flew by to him. She was a far greater reward 351 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,040 than the price that he had agreed to pay. 352 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,480 Jacob could have done something very differently though in this 353 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,960 situation. He could have walked into the 354 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,400 situation entitled. Where did he just come from? 355 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,080 He just had a dream. God said you are the next guy. 356 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,960 This is all the stuff that I'm going to do through you and for 357 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,000 you, I'm going to be with you. He could have, He could have 358 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,720 gone to Laban and said, Laban, let me tell you something, you 359 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,200 just hit the jackpot. I just had a dream and God 360 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:37,880 showed me a ladder. He told me that he's going to 361 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,680 bless me and make me great and give me countless children. 362 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,960 Let me marry your daughter. Like, congratulations, Laban. 363 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,560 I'm God's guy and I've chosen to be part of your family. 364 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,880 But Jacob didn't do that. That's not what he did. 365 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,880 I think that's important because I think that in our culture 366 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:00,840 today, I think where we live at, we can often think that if we 367 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:02,720 have to do a little work for something. 368 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,280 We're met with resistance in something, then God's not in it. 369 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,240 But I want you to know this morning that friction is not the 370 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:15,040 absence of the favor of God. Too often we think that if God's 371 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,880 leading us towards something, then it's going to be like we're 372 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:19,520 Super Mario. When he starts blinking. 373 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,840 You know what I'm talking about. Anybody that you know, Super 374 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:24,840 Nintendo, whatever, maybe you saw the movie recently. 375 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,400 He starts blinking and he stops jumping over stuff. 376 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:33,760 He just runs right through it. He's not dodging because he, he 377 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,080 is, he has the power, right? And so often times I think that 378 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,520 we think that if we have a promise from God or, or if God 379 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:42,560 has called us to do something, that's going to be it. 380 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,480 And the first time we hit some resistance or some friction, we 381 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:46,760 think maybe this wasn't from God. 382 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,000 Jacob had a promise from God, but that didn't mean that he 383 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,560 wasn't going to have to work either. 384 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,680 God's promise was a promise of how it would end up, not 385 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,800 necessarily what all the details would look like on the way. 386 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,040 And when God has given his word that he's going to accomplish 387 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,000 something, guess what? He's going to do it. 388 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:10,720 No matter how big the obstacle appears to be, God is going to 389 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:16,360 accomplish it. Now, Jacob, he wasn't afraid to 390 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:21,200 work. We saw that seven years, but I 391 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,800 guarantee you he wasn't ready for what was headed his way. 392 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,480 My next theme this morning, kids, this is number 2. 393 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:32,720 Chosen doesn't mean exempt. Dozen doesn't mean exempt we. 394 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:34,680 Talked about. Scene 1 and we talked about 395 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,400 Scene 2, but now we arrive at Scene 3. 396 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,040 The deception. Those seven years might have 397 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,720 felt like just a few days, but at the end of those few days, 398 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:50,200 Jacob was ready to get married. He went to Laban. 399 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,000 And said my time is complete, where my wife at, I'm ready. 400 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,320 It's been 7 years. That's the first sign of trouble 401 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:58,480 right there. There's probably some signs 402 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,640 before that, but the first real 1, he had to go to Laban. 403 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,720 We get the idea that if he had never gone to Laban, Laban 404 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:07,440 wasn't going to go to him. He was just going to let him 405 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,680 keep doing his thing. Might still be working today. 406 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,720 Verse 22 through 23. This is how Laban responds. 407 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,560 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made 408 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,040 a feast. But in the evening he took his 409 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:26,960 daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went into her. 410 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,320 Wait a second, I thought we were talking about Rachel. 411 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,160 He just said, Leah, you all know those commercials where like 2 412 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,320 couples are fighting and they and they're like, hold on, what 413 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:37,800 did you say? And then they throw the flag and 414 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,280 then it does the replay thing. It's kind of like, hold up, what 415 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:41,880 just happened? We got to we got to go back to 416 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,000 the text again. He was very clear. 417 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,920 He said you're younger daughter Rachel. 418 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:49,640 But that's not what. Happened. 419 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,400 And as a reader we see this and we're like Jacob. 420 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:57,760 No, stop, don't do it. This man has worked seven years 421 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,800 to be tricked. And then we see in. 422 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,520 Verse 25 And it says, And in the morning, behold, it was Leah. 423 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:11,440 And Jacob said to Laban, What is this that you have done to me? 424 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:16,160 Did I not serve you for Rachel? Why then, have you deceived me? 425 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,960 He's, he's coming. With this kind of judgement tone 426 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,480 of like, how could you do this? Like, why would you do this? 427 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,280 Talk about shock. He immediately. 428 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:32,120 Wakes up to go and see Laban. I know what we agreed to. 429 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,640 Why? Why would you do this to me? 430 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,920 How could you do this to someone? 431 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,000 I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense. 432 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:41,720 We can start to feel. Sorry for the guy. 433 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,080 He showed such. Patience. 434 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,680 It felt like we were on the verge of this love story. 435 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,240 Everything was just lining up for that. 436 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:54,120 And then it's completely destroyed by this sick trick by 437 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:59,640 Rachel's father, her father. It's not fair to either of them. 438 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,760 But Laban. Laban wasn't stupid. 439 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,800 He knew at some point Jacob was going to figure it out. 440 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,280 He's like he might. There's some deception where 441 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,240 it's like they're never going to know what I did. 442 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:12,320 This one. He knew eventually he was going 443 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,880 to figure it out, right? And so he was ready for this 444 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,760 moment. He responded with just the thing 445 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,800 that would cut Jacob to the core and make him accept whatever 446 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:26,200 price he needed to. Verse 26, Laban said it's not 447 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,160 done so in our country to give the younger before the first 448 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,040 born. Now to anyone else, this might 449 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:37,920 just sound like a lame excuse. But to Jacob it was a statement. 450 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:40,800 Laban was saying I know who you are. 451 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:43,920 Don't try to judge me. I know exactly who you are. 452 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,320 You know who you are, too. Remember who Jacob is. 453 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:51,440 Remember how he got there. Remember how and why he was on 454 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,480 the run in the first place. He took advantage of his own 455 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,720 brother. He deceived his father as the 456 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,240 younger brother to take what belonged to his older brother. 457 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,840 He is guilty as well. He's also guilty. 458 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,000 Our series is called Saints and Scoundrels for a reason. 459 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,360 It's not because we're talking about Saints some week and we're 460 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:14,440 talking about scoundrels the other weeks. 461 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,960 It's because many times the Saints are also the scoundrels. 462 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:22,160 And up until this point in the text, we we can forget who Jacob 463 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,760 was the 1st 13 verses. He seemed like the biggest St. 464 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,280 everything. He's a he's this gentleman who 465 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,720 lifted the large stone for his love, the patient and hard 466 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,920 working romantic who worked seven years for the opportunity 467 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:42,400 to marry the love of his life. But this line is in here to 468 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:47,000 remind him, and to remind us that while the last 13 verses 469 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,080 made him sound saintly, his Rd. leading to this point had plenty 470 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,640 of scoundrel. Plenty of it. 471 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,840 Jacob's lack of response in this text says it all. 472 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,280 He didn't argue. He didn't push back. 473 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,360 Message received. He just agreed. 474 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:07,400 To work another seven years for Rachel. 475 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,160 I don't know if this is God's way of disciplining Jacob for 476 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,840 his previous deception, or if it's just natural consequences 477 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,480 of sin if he's he's reaping what he has sown. 478 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:25,240 But either way, just because Jacob was chosen does not mean 479 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:29,800 that he was exempt. We see here. 480 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,400 That just because God gives grace from the penalty of sin, 481 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,200 it doesn't always mean that we will escape the consequences of 482 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,280 it. The Bible tells. 483 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,760 Us that the Lord disciplines those whom He loves. 484 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,600 And sometimes, I don't know about all of you, but sometimes 485 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,520 when we're the ones being disciplined, we can feel like 486 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,440 it's not love. Maybe we can take it as a sign 487 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,760 of fury or frustration because some of us are parents and we're 488 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:56,440 broken parents and we know there's times when we don't 489 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:57,920 discipline out of a right motivation. 490 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:00,880 Or maybe you had parents that didn't discipline out of a right 491 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,000 motivation all the time. But I'm here to tell you that we 492 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,920 have a perfect father. He always. 493 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,120 Disciplines out of a righteous motivation. 494 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,280 There is no sin in him, only righteousness. 495 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,560 And so when He does discipline us, we can know that it's 496 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,160 righteous and it's good, even if it hurts. 497 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:25,720 But sometimes the consequences of sin are not as a result of 498 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,360 God's discipline. Sometimes we're just reaping 499 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:31,440 what we have sown. I know some of us in here have 500 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,960 had to face consequences of sin that maybe we committed prior to 501 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:37,920 following Christ. There's things that we've done, 502 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,840 decisions that we've made, or maybe even things that we've 503 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,480 committed as we followed Christ, as we've stumbled through this 504 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,280 life and and we still mess up and we still sin. 505 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:49,440 We're in Christ. And we know that we're his 506 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:51,480 children. We know who he sees when he sees 507 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,240 us. He doesn't see that sin anymore. 508 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,800 He's already paid for it on the cross. 509 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,920 But what's also true is that our hand is broken because we 510 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,520 punched the wall in anger. There's consequences, you know, 511 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,200 I'm also here to tell you that sin is not only sin because it's 512 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,800 what God said, it's also what God said because it's good and 513 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,280 true and best and. When we stray. 514 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,120 From what's good and true and best for us, there's 515 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:20,400 consequences. Regardless of whether Jacob was 516 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,600 being disciplined by God or if he was just dealing with 517 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,840 consequences of his own deception, there's a mess. 518 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,360 We have an absolute mess on our hands. 519 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:33,880 Before I go too. Much further, I want to call out 520 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:35,560 that I'm not going to address polygamy here. 521 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,520 Pastor John, I think, did an incredible job of that a couple 522 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:42,080 of weeks ago. All I'm going to say is that 523 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,560 polygamy, like many things we see in the lives of people 524 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:46,880 throughout Scripture, are things that are described, not 525 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,280 prescribed. Right, just like. 526 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,120 Deception is is laid out here. There are things in Scripture 527 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:55,240 that we see in God's people that are the evidence of the fact 528 00:28:55,240 --> 00:29:00,480 that we have a messy people who need a savior, but it's not 529 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,280 necessarily God's way. Just because it happened doesn't 530 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,040 mean it's God's plan for his world. 531 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,800 And this story is a prime example for why that's not the 532 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,960 design for marriage. And frankly, any story that you 533 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,360 see that in Scripture is another prime example, because they all 534 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,040 turn out very similar to this. If we fast. 535 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,480 Forward to the end of the section. 536 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,120 Jacob has two wives that are sisters, one that he very 537 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,320 clearly loves and the other that he doesn't. 538 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,400 We can feel bad. For Leah, because she's the 539 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:32,920 unloved wife, but we can also understand why Jacob would 540 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,040 struggle to love her. Every time he looks at her he 541 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,680 just sees the deception both in his past role as the deceiver 542 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,320 and in his present role as the deceived. 543 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,280 The plan was to go and meet his uncle and get a wife in return 544 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:51,360 quickly, but now he has a debt of an additional 7 years to work 545 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,040 off. For Rachel, he's stuck with his 546 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,720 father-in-law, who's at he's at odds with and who just deceived 547 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,040 him. Not only that, but if we peek 548 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:02,520 ahead into the story a bit, if we look in a chapter 30 verse 549 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,480 one, it tells us that when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob 550 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,560 no children, she envied her sister. 551 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,840 She said to Jacob. Give me children or I shall die. 552 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,720 It's not looking too good. The whole thing is a mess. 553 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,520 It's painful for every single person involved. 554 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,200 Nobody wins. Think about Rachel. 555 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,680 She expected to get married all of these years and and is pulled 556 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,440 at the last minute to see this marriage go to her sister. 557 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:33,600 Then we find. Out that she's barren and 558 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,840 watches her sister have child after child after child. 559 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,120 Think about Leah. Who, whether or not she had a 560 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:44,480 say in this situation, finds herself in a marriage with a man 561 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,840 that she knows. All he wanted was her sister. 562 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:49,200 She was the tag. Along. 563 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,080 Her father had to trick. A man into marrying her. 564 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,720 And he woke up. On their wedding night with pure 565 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:01,440 disappointment on his face. At this point. 566 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,560 In the story it's hard to see how God is keeping his promises. 567 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:10,960 Verse 15, chapter 28 said, Behold, I am with you and will 568 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,960 keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this 569 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,080 land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I've 570 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,520 promised you. It's hard to see how. 571 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,160 God is in that. Where's God out in all of this 572 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:25,280 mess? What's he doing? 573 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,960 Where's his presence seen? It seems like Laban. 574 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,280 Might have thrown a wrench in God's plan. 575 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,560 How could God work in a mess like this? 576 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:43,720 My last point this morning. Kids number. 3 The deceiver had 577 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:48,960 a plan, and so did God. Jacob's whole. 578 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:53,840 Life has been, and honestly will continue to have this theme of 579 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,400 deception. Jacob walks. 580 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:57,920 Through this. But it's not like he just learns 581 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,040 his lesson and he's good to go from here on out. 582 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,440 He took advantage. Of his brother's weakness, lack 583 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,520 of patience and hunger to take his birthright. 584 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,920 He deceived his father by taking on the appearance and smell of 585 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,440 his brother to take his brother's blessing. 586 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,320 Then his mother, in order to keep him safe from the anger of 587 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,480 his brother, manipulates his father Isaac to send him to 588 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,920 Haran and. Now that he's. 589 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,240 Here he's deceived by his uncle Laban. 590 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:29,960 And as we. Continue into Jacob's story. 591 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:34,160 It gets worse and worse and worse, and it doesn't stop with 592 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,440 him. His kids continue with the 593 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:38,600 rivalry. In fact, they end up selling 594 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,520 their own brother into slavery and tell Jacob that he was dead. 595 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,080 So how can a? Mess like this end up in God 596 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,160 fulfilling His promise for his offspring to bless all the 597 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,880 families of the earth. We look at Genesis. 2814 It 598 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,280 says, Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and 599 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,200 you shall spread abroad to the West, and the east, and the 600 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,720 north and the South, and in you your offspring shall be. 601 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,800 Shall all the families of the earth be blessed? 602 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,280 How in the world are they blessing anybody? 603 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,040 They don't even seem to like each other. 604 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:15,160 We can look back. And think, did God get the right 605 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,120 guy? Look at this. 606 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:21,000 Man, he's a mess. The truth is that. 607 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,120 The only reason Jacob is the right guy is because God 608 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,560 declared him to be the right guy. 609 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,040 He was a vessel. To bring God's plan to fruition 610 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,800 and there was nothing that he or anyone else was going to do to 611 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:38,840 stop God from getting the glory that he deserved. 612 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,880 Those children that we're talking about, his kids that are 613 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,720 also a mess. They end up being. 614 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,160 Pretty important in the Bible that son that was sold into 615 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,040 slavery by his brothers. His name is Joseph. 616 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,840 They ain't coat of many colors. Not the musical. 617 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:02,280 He was Rachel's first son. God takes him from being a slave 618 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,560 to prison to being second in charge of Egypt. 619 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:08,360 Talk about God. Being able to work something. 620 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,040 Now let's read the. Beginning of the lineage of 621 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,639 Jesus found in Matthew one. Just going to read. 622 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:18,719 Verse 2 says Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the 623 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,800 father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his 624 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:25,040 brothers. Judah. 625 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:30,239 Who was Jacob's son is named in the lineage of Jesus. 626 00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:33,840 Jesus. Was from the lineage of this 627 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:38,520 crazy family, and more specifically from Leah, who was 628 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:42,800 the wife that Jacob didn't love. So ask me. 629 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,960 Again, how God can fulfill the promise found in Genesis 2814. 630 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,639 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall 631 00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:52,239 spread abroad to the West and the east, and the north and the 632 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:57,000 South, and in you and your offspring shall all the families 633 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:02,000 of the earth be blessed. Jesus came out of this mess. 634 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:07,800 Our Savior. I need you to know that this 635 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,160 story and this line of Jacob is not the only messy story in the 636 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,840 Old Testament. Just read through the rest of 637 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,200 the names listed in the genealogy of Jesus in their 638 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,240 stories. It doesn't get better. 639 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,880 They're all messy stories. The whole Bible is a is a book 640 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,040 of messy stories. So many times we think the Bible 641 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,920 is a book of people who who live these clean and perfect lives 642 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,000 and we need to be more like David and we need to be more 643 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,200 like Jacob. That's not the Bible. 644 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,080 That's. Not it we get creation and then 645 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:41,040 we get the rest. It's just us messing it up but 646 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,680 God finding a way to make this messy people clean and alive 647 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:46,960 again. In fact, he. 648 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,760 Used a messy family to bring the one who would come and live in 649 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:54,760 that mess but remain clean. Jesus was God with us. 650 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,920 He came into the world as a baby, grew up, faced temptation, 651 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:03,080 lived among sinners, lived and worked with frustrating, messy 652 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:05,480 people. Do you all know any of them? 653 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:08,960 Yet he never. Sinned. 654 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:14,640 He never once messed up Out of this mess God brought the one 655 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,800 who would ultimately clean up our mess, not by sweeping it 656 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:22,920 under the rug, but by becoming a mess on the cross and paying the 657 00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:26,920 penalty for it. The only one. 658 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:30,280 Whoever who never sinned and never messed up took the penalty 659 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:33,400 for the rest of us who have clearly messed up. 660 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,560 Now everyone wants to be shown grace until they're the one 661 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,520 that's offended. They want a gracious judge until 662 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:42,880 they're sitting in the other seat. 663 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:44,360 If. Someone hurts. 664 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,840 Someone that you care about. You don't want grace anymore, 665 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:51,200 you want justice. We all desire a righteous judge, 666 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:54,840 but in God we get a righteous judge who demands payment and a 667 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:58,240 gracious judge who makes that payment on our behalf. 668 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:02,800 Maybe there's some of you in here this morning who don't know 669 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,080 Jesus. Maybe you know that that you are 670 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:10,440 a mess and that you are tired of trying to clean it up, trying to 671 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,760 be good enough, trying to fix everything. 672 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,640 I'm here to tell you this morning that Jesus isn't asking 673 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,880 you to clean yourself up. He's asking you to put your 674 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:25,280 trust in Him, the only one who can save you from your sins, and 675 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:30,760 let Him do that work in you to. Those of us who. 676 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,920 Already followed Jesus, I want you to remember that just 677 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:39,600 because life feels like a mess right now, maybe you look around 678 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:40,840 and you say, God, where are you at? 679 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,840 Where are you? At things are a mess. 680 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:48,840 My kids are a mess. My my family's a mess. 681 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:52,880 My work is a mess. I'm just here to tell you that 682 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,960 that just because it feels like a mess right now doesn't mean 683 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,680 God is not present. He's been working in mess ever 684 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,840 since the beginning. Don't lose heart. 685 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:09,960 He's there. Let's pray, Father, I just come 686 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,760 to you. Oh Lord is is a mess. 687 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:18,760 Speaking about Mess guy, God I pray this morning. 688 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:22,000 That you would just get. This word in US, Lord, that you 689 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,040 would, would show us through our mess, Lord, how great of a 690 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,640 savior you are. God, I pray. 691 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:32,120 That you would work in us this morning, God, I pray that your 692 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:36,680 word would, would just show us who we are as a mirror God, and 693 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:39,360 show us who you are and the price that you paid for us. 694 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:42,280 For those of us in here this morning, God, who don't know 695 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:44,480 you, Lord, would you call them to salvation this morning? 696 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:47,400 Lord? Would they trust you with all of 697 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,720 the mess that is their life when they follow you from here on 698 00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:52,920 out? Knowing that one. 699 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,600 Day, God, You are going to make it all right. 700 00:38:57,440 --> 00:38:59,280 Lord, we love you. Your name we pray. 701 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:00,160 Amen.