Light At the End of the Tunnel
(Genesis 29:1-14)
1. I came across this true account from Reader’s Digest:
My cell phone quit as I tried to let my wife know that I was caught in freeway gridlock and would be late for our anniversary dinner. I wrote a message on my laptop asking other motorists to call her, printed it on a portable inkjet and taped it to my rear windshield.
When I finally arrived home, my wife gave me the longest kiss ever. "I really think you love me," she said. "At least 70 people called and told me so."
2. In today’s text, Jacob initiates what will be one of the great romances of all time.
3. Yet you need to remember that Jacob had been scared, lonely, and walking into the unknown. But He experienced God at Bethel, and his mentality had been transformed.
4. His life teaches us many practical lessons, and from today’s experience we can see the main idea:
Main Idea: If we are in the doldrums -- but learn to be emboldened by walking with God -- we can find courage to pursue better times.
I. Better TIMES Come to Jacob (1-14)
A. The Background (1-3)
Jacob traveling toward Iraq, about 600 miles away. He knows he is approaching Haran, where Uncle Laban -- whom he has never seen -- lives.
He sees shepherds approaching a well with a boulder over it -- probably to keep animals away from it, etc. Water was and is a precious commodity in the Middle East
The boulder is very heavy, so it typically takes more than one man to move it, and the shepherds had a system of labor sharing; when all were there, the assembly line began.
B. The Conversation About LABAN (4-6a)
Yes, Jacob had arrived in the neighborhood
Was there "shalom" with Laban? Yes, there was "shalom" with Laban. The idea is that if one is healthy and has comfortable means, one is at peace. The ancient middle easterners understood that peace, not looking for some magic charm that will be fix all of life’s problems, is the key to happiness.
Sadly, this is not true in our nation, since we have such high and unrealistic expectations.
The BBC (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3157570.stm) did a study five years ago and published some interesting conclusions. According to the October 2, 2003 article, the happiest localities in the world are (in order): Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico.
What might surprise us is that none of these peoples are noted for being wealthy (Puerto Rico would be the best off, financially). People do not typically go hungry in these nations, but these people live in poverty (most of them, deep poverty).
The United States was rated as the 16th happiest nation (even though we are the wealthiest nation in the world). Wealth does affect ones sense of happiness, but other factors are more influential.
The BBC study found that the following ten factors (in order of importance) determined ones level of personal happiness: genetic propensity to happiness, marriage, making friends (and valuing them), desiring less, doing someone a good turn, faith, refusal to compare ones looks with others, earning more money, growing old gracefully, and not stressing oneself about ones personal intelligence.
C. The Introduction of RACHEL (6b)
The Talmud suggests that Rachel was 14 years old, which meant she was 21 when she finally married Jacob.
D. Jacob’s intent to see her ALONE (7-8)
What Jacob is doing here is trying to get the shepherds to move along so he can spend time alone with Rachael.
Jacob was an experienced shepherd, and these fellows may have been younger, so Jacob perhaps thought he could advance his agenda, playing on his experience. As it stood, they had a different system of operation, so Jacob could not move them along.
E. Jacob’s Attempt to IMPRESS Rachel (9-11)
1. Jacob tries to impress Rachel with his strength; he was not a particularly strong man, as far as we know, but a girl can bring out the Tarzan in many a man.
2. In our culture, if a strange man walked up to a young woman and kissed her, it would be certainly considered inappropriate. Such an act would be worse in that culture.
F. Jacob’s "EXPLANATION" (12)
1. A relative -- I’ve come from afar to see your family…
2. Cousins often married back then, so she was a "kissing cousin"
"Endogamic marriages (i.e., within the circle of one’s relatives) were preferred by ancient tribes. The chosen suitor for a girl was her cousin; it was actually forbidden for the eldest daughter to marry outside the family." (The Jewish Encyclopedia)
Since the human race was younger, birth defects not as likely
When Isaac needed a wife, they went to the family to find one; Esau had married Canaanite women, and the his parents hated it. So Jacob was following the ethic of the culture and probably hoped that Rachael would too!
• What did Rachael think? She was excited, but probably scared, too.
G. Laban’s GOODWILL toward Jacob (13-14)
Jacob was unsure what Laban’s attitude would be toward him. Laban’s offer of hospitality seemed to be authentic, not coerced by custom. Jacob could rest a little easier.
• Jacob had lost most of his possessions, his family, his homeland, his friends, and his routines. But he would find a new life rich with meaning and the start of his own family.
• Many of us may feel that we are at a similar threshold: the economy, an empty nest, our own new family, seeing friends move away, an illness-- perhaps the end of a happy routine.
If we are in the doldrums -- but learn to be emboldened by walking with God -- we can find courage to pursue better times
II. Our ATTITUDES Affect Our Futures
A. MELT down or survive?
1. The dictionary defines meltdown as, "a situation in which a rapid rise in the power level of a nuclear reactor, as from a defect in the cooling system, results in the melting of the fuel rods and the release of dangerous radiation and may cause the core to sink into the earth."
2. From this original definition comes the new buzzword definition used in popular culture, "a decline or breakdown in a situation or condition." [yourdictionary.com]
3. Meltdowns are tragic:
4. Our nation’s economy has melted down
5. I have seen families, churches, and Christians melt down
6. The gal who melted down in the Food Network contest.
7. Perhaps some of you are experiencing a meltdown right now.
B. BETHEL or Self-confidence?
1. Jacob was invigorated to face life because he had met God at Bethel
2. The pattern: we are bold, we live life, we tackle obstacles with God’s help.
3. Rather than meltdown, the pattern is to escape to God, find strength in God’s Word, and then get back into the rink and start boxing.
4. Although trust in God can be passive (when we are helpless to affect things-- as in the case of salvation), most often it is active --as in the case of following Christ, which is based on our salvation.
5. Too often, people get this reversed: they work for their salvation and they passively wait for God to fix all their problems…
C. VICTIM or pilgrim?
1. A pilgrim is a wanderer. "This world is not my home..."
2. The pilgrim feels grief and loss, and is in no hurry to get over losses, but he does adjust in time. The victim wallows in self-pity perpetually. He cannot move on.
3. Life has its stages, and the trusting pilgrim moves through them, hand in hand with God. If not for Bethel, Jacob may have been a victim, not a pilgrim.
D. Now or LATER?
Jacob would live a tenuous life for some time. The blessings God had for him were yet future, but he would experience them. He would become the father of the God’s special nation, Israel.
But life is lived in stages, and we must meet the prerequisites of life if we are to move on to the higher stages. Jacob could wait, because he had learned that God did have a plan for his life. Jacob learned that there was no instant magic touch that would bring him to his destination. He would enjoy the journey -- but he would pay his dues.
Most of us wish that God would wave His wand over us and fix us, our families, and our nation. But God’s way is the way of steady growth.
• Daily times in God’s Word -- like our "You’ve Got the Time" approach (a tool).
• The discipline of Bible reading, study, Scripture memory, and prayer that is more than reciting lists.
• The fellowship of those who are into the Word.
