Genesis 29: 9-14: “And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.”
Even though Jacob was determined to maintain control of the situation, God was still in overall control. In this case, God worked in spite of Jacob. Rachel, his relative, came to the well. Jacob didn’t accept the convention of the time and moved the stone away from the mouth of the well. Jacob already knew that Rachel was his relative so he let her know who he was. Rachel was a good woman for she accepted Jacob’s word that she was his relative. Before long Rachel took Jacob to meet her father. Why did Rachel accept Jacob so easily in a culture that keeps women away from men, as far as possible? Rachel knew about her aunty Rebekah and remembered the stories that her father told her so she knew what her relatives would look like and where they would come from. At this stage, she just accepted Jacob as a relative rather than a prospective husband and was also bound by the rules of hospitality that applied in those days. Laban was glad to see his relative and welcomed him into his home as such. If those people, in that time, were able to accept people into their homes and offer them hospitality then, surely, Christians should be quick to offer hospitality to other Christians.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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