I have had the privilege to disciple many new believers. I’ve seen and heard many testimonies of new believers, some were private and some were public at times such as baptisms and public testimony. The ones that concern me the most, the ones that I fear will not make it in their walk with God are the ones with the greatest hubris and unbridled enthusiasm. When I hear a person say, “I’ll never fail the Lord,” I get really worried. This comes by way of personal experience, but I think that the principle is born out in Scripture.
The reason is that testing always follows commitment. It’s easy to make commitments. Sometimes we are moved by an emotional sermon, or we are desperate for God’s help during a time of suffering or failure. But then comes the testing which reveals whether or not our commitment was real.
Jesus talks about this in the parable of the soils in Matthew 13. There, the seed of the gospel is planted in four types of soils. Only one produces a mature plant that will bear fruit. One out of four never sprouts up. Two out of four show some signs of life, but then quickly die off. Only the seed planted in good soil produces fruit. One out of four. I’m not certain that Jesus is giving us hard and fast percentages here, but my own experience bears out the statistical truth of this parable. The fact is that many who make commitments to Christ fail to carry out those commitments. The life of Joseph illustrates this principle.
Our focus in this message is for new believers, or for those who have just made commitments to the Lord. Perhaps this is a message we should preach on the first Sunday of January, after New Years resolutions are forged!
Jacob is at a turning point in his life. In fact, I believe that his experience at Bethel represents the first time that he truly trusted God. Now he is in Haran, a far away place where his commitment to the Lord will be tested.
JACOB is our picture of the CHRISTIAN LIFE
HARAN is our picture of the lessons that God must teach us if He can ever use us.
Our text is Genesis 29:15-30. This is the story of Jacob’s love for Rachel, and the deception of Laban in substituting Leah for Rachel on the wedding night and for forcing Jacob to work for him for twenty years. While this story is about weddings, work, deception and disappointment, the context of the story is found in Genesis 25:19 "This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac.” Note the phrase, “This is the account...” The Hebrew word here is Toledot. It is used throughout Genesis to give us the key characters, and in my opinion, the key divisions of this book. Genesis is a book about PEOPLE. Every story, every event in Genesis is given to demonstrate the fact that God works through people, and that people are accountable to him. This particular section of Jacob, Rachel, Leah and Laban is part of a bigger context. God is working through Jacob to bring about nation that he promised to Abraham. Throughout the book of Genesis, God is working out HIS PLAN through the people He created. Jacob is part of that plan, just like you and I are a part of that plan. The story of Jacob at Haran can teach us all an important principle about our lives and our walk with the Lord.
Haran is meant to represent something in our lives. It represents the testings that follow commitment. Let’s learn these lessons together.
After Bethel, for the first time, Jacob is a man who is WALKING WITH GOD.
But there are still some important LESSONS that God must teach Jacob. Other men and women of God had to learn these lessons.
For MOSES, it was 40 years of preparation tending Jethrow’s sheep
For PAUL, serving God was preceeded by 14 years in an “undisclosed location” (Galatians 2:1)
Even our Savior spent 30 years in relative seclusion and preparation for his three years of public ministry.
Our patriarch JACOB will spend 20 years in Haran (Gen 31:38).
This particular part of the story contains both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE elements
Jacob takes some BOLD STEPS, but also learns important lessons to help him overcome his former ways.
LESSON #1. Jacob Learns to TRUST GOD.
For Jacob, like most of us, the biggest question of our youth concerns love and marriage. In a good way, Jacob learned to trusts God for a wife. 29:15-20. Jacob left Beesheva for two reasons. One was to flee from Esau’s wrath, the other was to find a wife from among his grandfather’s people (Genesis 27:48- 28:4). His pursuit and his ambitions were good! Proverbs 18:22 tells us "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord."
We can imagine Jacob traveling for 1-2 months on the back of a camel praying for a wife. Then, he arrives in Haran and finds Rachel and it was LOVE at FIRST SIGHT. Now, after 2 months on the back of a camel, perhaps any person of the female species would be an irresistible attraction, but we learn that Rachel was truly something special, and Jacob was willing to do anything to have her.
But notice that Jacob would only have Rachel in God’s way. He show respect for her. He courts her. He works for seven years for her. And in one of the most romantic verses in the Bible, time flew because of Jacob’s love for Rachel Genesis 29:20 "So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her."
During this time, Jacob is faithful. He and Rachel keep themselves sexually pure. Their relationship develops from physical attraction to a deep love for one another.
Jacob shows his VALUE for Rachel
Jacob shows his PATIENCE
Jacob shows his SELF CONTROL
We look at this courtship as STRANGE. But there are some important lessons that we can learn about love and courtship from this text. WE are quick to criticize some aspects of Bible stories about courtship, but before we do, let’s realize that we are often prone to accept our customs from our culture and dismiss ideas from Scripture. I think that we would be better off if Scripture guided us rather than culture.
I think that we can demonstrate this point by reflecting on how much we accept cultural ideas as the norm for relationships. The following are examples from modern movies that all portray terrible examples of love and marriage. I’ve not seen all of these movies and have relied on reviews of others to make the following summaries.
“40 Year Old Virgin” Everyone in Andy’s life treats his virginity as absurd.
“Along Came Polly” Rubin and Polly meet, have sex while contemplating whether they are right for one another. They finally figure out that the are, but remain romantic roommates instead of getting married. This is the virtuous choice.
“Failure to Launch” Tripp is a 30-something single man who lives at home and whose concept of romance is deceiving younger girls to get them in bed. His parents hire Paula who specializes in getting men like Tripp to fall in love with her so that they gain confidence and move out on their own.
“The Five Year Engagement” Tom and Violet postpone their wedding, but nothing else. This is normal and even virtuous.
“Friends with Benefits” Dylan and Jamie give a try at sex without love. It ends up that they do fall in love.
And this list goes on with “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” “High School Musical (1,2 and 3),” “Twilight,” “Love Actually,” “Never Bene Kissed,” Sex in the City,” and just about everything from Hollywood concerning relationships.
Jacob has learned to trust GOD for his wife! He is committed to God’s plan
Lesson#2: Jacob Learns by Remaining Faithful When Tested
Jacob’s testing here in Haran comes in the form of being the recipient of Laban’s deception. The deceiver is deceived! There is a spiritual principle at work here. Jacob is receiving a dosage of his own craftiness in a way that God often uses. "Be sure your sin will find your out.” (Numbers 32:23) "Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7).
Laban is a greater deceiver than Jacob!
i. Deceives Jacob into working for him
ii. Deceives Jacob into marrying Leah
iii. Deceives Jacob into working an additional seven years
But the most stunning deception is the wedding deception. Gen 29:21-25. After working seven years for Rachel, Laban pulls one of the most stunning “bait and switch” routines ever recorded. He substitutes Leah for Rachel in their wedding night. This seems impossible for us to consider, until we learn a little about wedding ceremonies in this era.
After a full day or longer of celebration, the Bride would be brought to the bedroom by her father. She would be veiled from head to toe, at night, in the dark. And don’t forget, there are no electric lights! It is possible that Jacob was intoxicated from the wedding celebration, although we are not given this specific piece of information in the text.
But needless to say, the next morning was a shocking surprise! Jacob’s reaction was overwhelming.
Now, Leah was going to make a wonderful sister-in-law, but Jacob was not in love with her. We read that Leah had “weak eyes” (Genesis 29:17) This could be taken as a positive meaning “delicate eyes.” But from the very beginning, Jacob’s reacion to the two sisters is that Leah was nice, but Rachel was altogether beautiful. “She was lovely in form and beautiful” (Genesis 29:17).
Here is where the deceiver is deceived. Jacob uttered the SAME WORDS that Esau once said of him.
Genesis 29:25 "When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”"
Genesis 27:36 "Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”"
Jacob would also repeat these words later to Laban. Genesis 31:7 "yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me."
And Laban would repeat them back to Jacob. Genesis 31:20 "Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away." Genesis 31:26 "Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war."
Genesis 31:27 "Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps?"
Jacob had not experienced being on the other side of deception!
Jacob also experiences the reverse of what he did to Esau
Esau - OLDER one submits to the younger
Leah - OLDER one takes precedent over Rachel, the younger one. Genesis 29:26-27
Genesis 25:23 "The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”"
Jacob is learning from adversity. The lesson is difficult, but Jacob fulfills his vows and submits to the Lord. He stays faithful rather than running away, and he learns the important lesson of walking with God.
LESSON # 3: Jacob Learns that Every Commitment to God is Followed by the Opportunity to Prove it.
Jacob received a Mountaintop experience at Bethel. There he heard from God and built an altar, signifying his commitment to God.
Now, he is filled with excitement and joy over meeting Rachel. I can imagine that Jacob was saying to himself “things are really working out for me!”
But almost as soon as Jacob begins his journey with the Lord, trials and obstacles come into his life.
He is forced to work for Laban for 20 years. 7 years for Leah, the wife he didn’t want. Then seven years for Rachel, and then after telling Laban that his requirements were fulfilled, Laban entices Jacob to work for another six years to earn the flocks that Jacob had built on his own. Jacob’s reaction to all of this, and his twenty years of pent up frustration is revealed in Genesis 31:38-42.
He has been tricked by Laban
In a far away land
Deprived of his mother and father
There is a HARAN in the life of every Christian who desires to follow God
My own PERSONAL TESTIMONY in this goes back to the time that Kim and I were in our twenties. I distinctly remember telling the Lord, “I’ve never had to face an issue like so many strong Christians have faced. I’ve never lost a loved one, or faced an overwhelming trial. Would I really love God if any of these things happened? Was there a reason that my life had been so easy? THEN, seemingly instantly, we faced sever trials regarding Brittany’s health at the time of her birth. Then later, we faced our HARAN - a difficult church experience that caused us to face our willingness to stay in ministry and continue to trust God even after others mistreated us.
You see, there is a Haran for everyone who would desire to walk with God.
CHARACTERISTICS of HARAN PLACES in your life
They often come after making commitments to the Lord
They always include suffering.
Hebrews 2:10 "In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering."
1 Peter 2:21 "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."
They usually include an antagonist
They indicate that God has something more for you to accomplish for Him.
Jacob made a commitment to God, but it was followed by testing, not by ease.
God does this because He desires to be worshiped for who He is, not for what he does for you.
Bow to God at Bethel
Walk with God in Haran
