Genesis 28 – 31
Jacob’s story continues as he starts his quest for a wife. He followed his father’s guide and found a wife. Now prior to this his brother Esau marries an Ishmaelite woman, whose offspring becomes the nation of Edom. Who we later find is a problem in the future for Israel. So you can see the roots of conflict in the Middle East run thousands of years. Although Jesus was to be the connecting “glue” to heal this conflict, Christianity has only splintered off to become another group vying for the “Holy Lands.”
During his quest for a wife Jacob has the famous “Jacob’s ladder” dream in 28:12 he describes the dream:
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
This is one of those dreams that you can take it for what it says or dig ultra-deep into a derived meaning of the rungs, our relationship to God, changing of the guard for Jacob between Israel angels and Canaan angles, or a few others. Or you could just take it as it was written that angels ascend and descend into our lives each and every day. I tend to take many of these visions and dreams more for their surface value than deeper spiritual meaning but at the same time God may use these to help us dig deeper into understanding Him. In this case I tend towards the simple explanation.
Jacob quickly finds a wife in Rachel, and then he prayed for a sign and got it, confirming she was “the one.” Yet when asking for her hand he volunteers for 7 years of servitude with her father. This is one of those stories that gets strange to me. After the 7 years Laban gives his eldest daughter Leah and not Rachel. So Jacob works another 7 years as described in verse 29:30:
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
In this story the Lord saw Leah was “hated” and he allowed her to have children. That is one of those things I don’t understand, if someone is “hated” why did he conceive children with her? Is this more Biblical evidence that even a Godly man like Jacob is a sex crazed pig that would sleep with anyone, including someone he “hated”? I don’t understand this relationship, yet it happened this way.
Notice the next section describes the children Jacob had with Leah and Rachael. Notice there are 11 sons; Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon and Joseph. Notice how they match the 11 of the 12 tribes, Benjamin shall be born later to fill out the heads of the 12 tribes. The only thing that bothers me about this story is the fact that there are 4 mothers in this story, Rachael, Leah, and their respective servants.
The remainder of the reading is Jacob trying to leave Laban and return to his homeland. During this time he cannot stop being prosperous and succeeding, which arises jealously of Laban’s sons. Jacob just keeps doing his thing until finally he flees, yet still Laban pursues. Finally the chapter ends 31:55 with Laban leaving:
Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.
Again this is an interesting story which should be used mostly for historical reference and less about how we should live our daily lives. Unless you pull how faithful Jacob is in serving his term with Laban. This is a great example of honor and character, where he did what he said. He could have easily just left with Rachael and lived happily ever after. Through this we see how faithful persistence shall return the end “goal” for you, assuming it’s God’s will.