Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev Pam Reed for writing this for us.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Genesis 29:15-28 (NRSVUE)
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was graceful and beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) 25 When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.
Devotional Thought
“It’s not fair!” How often have you heard that – or thought it?
Jacob could justifiably say “It’s not fair!”. He had been duped by his father-in-law, Laban. He had worked seven years to marry Rachel, the woman he loved, only to find had married her older sister, Leah. The justification was that in this culture the older daughter should be married first – though Jacob wasn’t told this upfront. (The comment about Leah in v.16 is unclear – it may mean she was ‘delicate’ or ‘soft’ rather than having poor vision. Or perhaps she just didn’t meet the accepted standard of ‘beauty.’) Whatever the reason for the duplicity, Jacob was told he could take Rachel as his wife now but would need to work another seven years to pay the bride price.
Jacob was silent about the situation. Years earlier he had tricked his twin brother Esau into giving up his birthright for a meal. He followed this up with a successful plan to deceive his father Isaac into pronouncing the blessing upon himself rather than Esau. (Genesis 25:29-34; 27:1-40). But now the master deceiver had been tricked by someone greater at deception than himself.
But how unfair was it that both Leah and Rachel were seen as ‘chattels’ that could be bought by a prospective husband? What about Leah being rejected by Jacob in favour of Rachel? Where was God in all of this? And where is God today when life isn’t fair?
In Leah’s case we find that God blessed the one who had been treated with contempt. Leah bore more children than Rachel (Genesis 29:31ff). The Epistle reading this week (Romans 8:26-39) shows God’s attitude towards unfairness in life. Romans 8:28 is often translated “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God” – which seems to imply that God might give us troubles for his purposes. But an alternate translation is “In all things God works together for good for those who love God.” This emphasises that God can bring good from even the worst of circumstances. God was with Leah, and Jacob, and Rachel. God didn’t abandon them when life was unfair. And our God doesn’t abandon us when we face problems – whether of our own making or caused by others. God’s love for us is everlasting, as Paul says in Romans 8:38-39:
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Prayer
Gracious God,
Thank you that your love is not dependent on our own actions.
Thank you that you, who loved deceivers like Jacob and Laban,
also love us, who do not always measure up to your standards.
Thank you that Jesus died because we cannot measure up.
And thank you that you can redeem all the messiness of our lives,
and sanctify us to praise you. Amen.