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Thursday, January 10, 2019

Does It Mean Anything?

Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.” So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. (Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.) But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?” [Genesis 29.21-25]

I guess I love these OT stories. There is so much to learn - and so much to speculate on too.

Doesn't it seem odd that Jacob would be surprised that he was deceived by Laban? Jacob, the one who went through with deceiving his father Isaac into giving him Esau's blessing!

It is furthermore interesting that the circumstance in which Jacob was deceived was not dissimilar to his own deceptive ways in that it had to do with order of birth. Jacob was born after Esau and therefore the birthright and blessings were Esau's. Rachel was born after Leah and therefore she was to be married first.

Order of birth means something. I am not sure our modern culture has any real idea what it means, but, in Jacob's day, it was serious.

Another interesting note: even though attractive Rachel was the mother of Joseph, through whom great deliverance would come to Israel, it was through no-sparkle-in-her-eyes Leah that Jesus' lineage is traced (tribe of Judah).

Does this all mean anything? We shall see...

Father, I am grateful for Your Word. I am also grateful that, just because I don't 'see something' today, does not mean I will never 'see it.' I look forward to continuing to listen to Your voice as it speaks to me through Your Story the Bible.


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