It is better that I give her to thee

Genesis 29: 15-19: “And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.”

Jacob had spent his life as a control freak trying to manage every situation so that he remained in control and reached the goals that he had set for himself. His mother helped in every way that she could. Esau had the confidence of being the older brother and assumed that everything would come easily to him. He didn’t value the things that he hadn’t had to work for. However, as soon as Jacob came to his mother’s home country, his uncle took control and started to manipulate Jacob. He didn’t give him time to settle in and take stock of his situation. At that stage, there is no evidence that Jacob even asked Laban if he could work for him, Laban just assumed that he could get an extra worker who didn’t know the local conditions and he hoped to exploit him. Jacob believed in love at first sight because he fell in love with Rachel when he first met her at the well. He had come to find a wife and he felt that his goal was already achieved so he asked for her to be his wife. On the other hand, Laban was happy to use his daughters as weapons to manipulate Jacob. He made sure that he sounded sincere but he was planning to rip Jacob off. Jacob spent a large part of his life manipulating other people but then he experienced what it was like.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

My bone and my flesh

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.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

And rolled the stone from the well

Genesis 29: 1-8: “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll he stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep."

Jacob had an amazing experience where he had a vision of the Lord and understood that the Lord was Lord of all creation. He knew that God was in control and that changed his attitude to life, so much so, that he promised to give God back a tenth of all that God gave him. However, he still had a tendency to go back to his old ways. This is true for every person: we know that God is able to change us but as long as we are interested in being in control of our lives then we will have a tendency to go back to our old ways. The Lord brought Jacob right back to his uncle’s region. He had never been there, even though his mother was born there. When he got to the place he quickly started to take control and didn’t follow the local customs. It is very easy for us, as Christians, to assume that we are God’s people therefore we can do whatever we want to do. This is not true. We should accept that every government has been set up by God and we need to submit to the government authority unless they tell us how we should worship. If they want us to worship in an special way we should worship in the way that God has told us and peacefully accept the consequences.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

The Great God

Genesis 28: 23: “And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee”

Jacob had such an incredible experience that it changed his behaviour for the rest of his life. He committed himself to give God a tenth of all that God gave to him. There is no evidence to suggest that he didn’t do this. This leads to a very important point for anyone who wants to work for God. Every one of the great heroes of faith in the Bible had a vision of the Lord’s majesty. This doesn’t mean that they had a dream one night, it means that they understood that the Lord is the creator and ruler of all creation. If we want to become a great man or a great woman of God we need to understand that there is no such thing as a great man or a great woman of God, there are only ordinary men and women who belong to the Great God. It the greatness of our God that matters not what we can do or achieve. Jacob was able to survive twenty very hard years because he understood that God is the Great God.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

How dreadful is this place!

Genesis 28: 17-22: “And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

In Psalm 111: 10 and Proverbs 9: 10 we read that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is important for us to fear the Lord as then we will come to Him with the correct attitude. The first time that we read about fear in the Bible is in Gen 9: 2 where we discover that every animal on the earth has a fear and dread of man. We know that fear is associated with dread and that this is associated with being under another’s authority. In Revelation 19: 5 we read that everyone is to fear the Lord. This reminds us that it is proper to understand that the Lord has, by right, authority over us and we do well to submit to that authority. Jacob wanted to have the benefits of the Lord’s blessing and to inherit the eternal promises but he didn’t trust the Lord to take control of his life and bring these things about. He schemed and plotted to get something that the Lord had promised to give him while he was still in his mother’s womb. However, in order to have wisdom, he had to learn to submit to the Lord and to trust Him to deliver what He had promised. Jacob went through many years of hardship before he finally reached the place where he submitted to God but this was the first step in that process. He learnt to fear the Lord and to understand that the Lord is holy, even though He is also gracious. Jacob began to learn that lesson but he also wanted to be in control of the situation and tried to make a deal with God by saying that he would submit to the Lord if the Lord did what he wanted the Lord to do. This is not the proper attitude to have when you come to the Lord.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

I knew it not

Genesis 28: 10-16: “And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.” 

Jacob was about to begin a difficult period in his life. He had spent his life cheating and lying so that he could obtain the spiritual blessings God had set apart for him from before his birth. However, he was going to be cheated and lied to for many years before he was able to find rest. However, the Lord gave him a vision to carry him through all the hard years. He saw a vision of a ladder reaching up to heaven and angels going up and down the ladder. He was to learn that God knew where he was all the time and that God understood his problems and cared for him in every situation. Even though he didn’t know that the Lord was with him when he lay down to sleep he soon understood that the Lord was with him and he would be with him for the rest of his life.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

When Esau saw

Genesis 28: 6-9: “When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram; And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.”

Even though Esau was the elder son, he was the one who seemed to be left out at all the important times. He just wanted to be put first rather than having the left overs after Jacob got what he wanted. This is not quite true because Esau was Isaac’s favourite while Jacob was his mother’s favourite. However, as soon as Esau saw that Jacob was sent away to find a wife in his mother’s homeland he went and found foreign wives as well. Esau is a good example of a person getting what they chose. He wanted to have instant gratification and wasn’t willing to make sacrifices for long term good. Jacob, on the other hand, knew that the eternal things were best and he schemed and planned to make sure that he had the eternal blessings. This might no be the best way to seek God’s blessing but it is certainly better than sacrificing God’s blessings for a good plate of food. People who live in the post Lord Jesus Christ era can get access to all God’s eternal blessings without doing anything other than believing on the Lord Jesus Christ (see Acts 16: 30, 31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”) It is much better to be in the position we are in where we can be confident that the Lord Jesus Christ has finished the work and there is nothing left for us to do (see John 19: 30 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1