MORE THAN WE BARGAINED FOR—Genesis 29:1-30:24
The young man gets into the car, and hits the steering wheel with his palm. His girlfriend—the light of his life—has dumped him. How could God let this happen? He has loved her well, and honored God in his courtship. What has it gotten him?
The man closes his computer, and hangs his head in frustration. His business is a lost cause. From the beginning, he gave it all to God. He dreamed of all the good that he could do, when he was successful. He even promised God, that if God would bless his business, he always find time to serve God. Now, it seems that God has not held up his end of the bargain.
The parents sit in the dark, waiting for their teenage daughter to come home. They have done everything they could do, to raise her as a child of God. It is not going well. What happened to, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it?”
Do you ever try to bargain with God? Maybe you wouldn’t call it bargaining—but don’t we sort of expect…
…if we work hard and live ethically, God will bless us with success?
…if we invest time in our children, live godly lives, and do the best we can, we will have good kids?
…if we eat vegetables, watch our weight, work out and take care of our bodies, we will be healthy?
Doesn’t the Bible say things like, “Blessings crown the head of the righteous…” and (Pr. 13:21) “Prosperity is the reward of the righteous”?
We may think that if we commit our lives to Christ and try to follow his ways, he will reward us by giving us perfect lives and a perfect world. It doesn’t always happen! Sometimes, there is pain, failure, or grief.
So what happened? God always keeps his promises, but sometimes, if we try to strike a deal with him, we get more than we bargained for.
Jacob tried to make a deal with God. Because of his scheming and manipulation, his parents sent him away, to find a wife and make a new start. He stopped at a place he called Bethel, where he laid his head upon a stone, and dreamed of a stairway to heaven. God spoke to him, promised to be with him, and told him that he would never leave him. (Genesis 28:20-22 NIV2011) “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.’”
Jacob made a bargain with God. He wasn’t really asking for anything God had not already promised him, for God had promised to be with him, and watch over him, and bring him back to the promised land. But he was trying to make the promise into a deal, in which we would set the terms. He had a picture of how it would all work out. (Can you relate to that? You have it all planned out, for you and God.)
Read Genesis 29:1-14.
So far, everything is going according to plan, and God seems to be coming through for Jacob. Out of all the wells in northern Iraq, he comes to this one. (There was no GPS, and he couldn’t get directions from his phone. Did he ask people for directions?) It seems almost like a fairy tale: The dashing young hero comes upon the lovely lass at the well. She needs a stone to be rolled away from the well, and he seizes opportunity to impress her with his strength and kindness, while the other lazy louts wait around, to avoid moving stone more than once.
Can you see how Jacob is thinking the story will go? He will get the girl, and live happily ever after. Never mind that he doesn’t know first thing about a happy marriage. He found God, and he found the girl of his dreams. This is the fresh start he so desperately needed.
Rachel takes him home to her family. It only takes a month for Jacob to make his move.
Genesis 29:15-20.
This is Jacob at his best: He knows what he wants, and he goes for it. He makes Laban an offer he can’t refuse: seven years of work, for the bride-price, or dowry. The seven years fly by, as Jacob lives in hope and anticipation. God is with him now, and his bargain with God looks pretty solid. The rest of the story leads to a “happily ever after” ending.
But Jacob gets more than he bargained for: Laban, his mother’s brother, will be his father-in-law. It seems that deception runs in the family of Laban and his mother, for Jacob (whose name means “Deceiver”) has finally met his match.
Genesis 29:21-30. Imagine what Jacob is thinking: This wasn’t the deal I made. How can God let Laban get away with this?
“It’s not fair!” “My competitor cuts corners, and he prospers.” “She lies and manipulates, and everybody seems to love her. I’m a good person, and I am alone.” “I put my heart and soul into serving God, and all I get is trouble and stress.”
Life isn’t always fair, which is a good thing for Jacob, because if life had been fair, Esau would probably have killed Jacob for what he did. God is not fair—no, God is more than fair—God is love, and sometimes God’s love is revealed in the midst of stress, and in facing the unfairness of the world.
For Jacob, this is a time when God shows his love by discipline.
Hebrews 12:5-11 “Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves…God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
God disciplines Jacob by logical consequences; he lets him experience scheming and deception. Jacob has schemed and lied, and now is on the other side; he is the victim of Laban’s scheming and lying. How does it feel, Jacob? What are you learning about the relational consequences of dishonesty and manipulation? What is God teaching you, Jacob? Are you learning this hard lesson?
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Jacob’s lessons are painful. Yet through these hard lessons, God is saving Jacob, so that he can use him to accomplish his purpose for the world.
Jacob’s troubles are just beginning. Not only does Jacob have Laban as a father-in-law, but he has two sister-wives. What could go wrong with that?
Genesis 29:31-35. What’s wrong with polygamy? This! Yet in the midst of Leah’s pain and insecurity, God is keeping his promise, first given to Abraham: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.” Jacob was Abraham’s offspring, and Leah’s son Judah was next in line, leading up to Judah’s offspring David, and eventually Jesus.
Genesis 30:1-2. Jacob says, “Am I in the place of God?” Well, are you, Jacob? God knows you’ve been trying to play God! (birthright, blessing, manipulation) Are you in the place of God? Jacob is about to get his question answered—and it won’t be without pain.
Genesis 30:3-13. (You think your life is complicated!) “Am I in the place of God?” No Jacob, not even close—not when these women get done with of you!
Now it is Rachel’s turn to try to play God. Read 30:14-16. Don’t you love this? Jacob was the ultimate controller and manipulator—and now his two wives are trading for his services, like a prize bull.
Rachel is learning a lesson too. Look who turns up pregnant. Read 30:17-21.
Finally, after all of Rachel’s scheming, in God’s timing… Read 30:22-24. But Rachel’s words indicate that she has learned something—something in painful discipline of God: “May the Lord ([not Rachel] add to me another son.” Her prayer was answered, but in God’s timing, after they returned to the promised land.
What happens when we try to bargain with God? If we trust and obey, if we commit our lives to God, is that a guarantee of prosperity, success, and instant perfection? God does reward those who trust and obey, and he values the commitments we make. He gives us even more than we deserve.
Sometimes we get more than we bargained for:
We get to face our character flaws, and overcome them.
We get to confront our past, and finally forgive and leave the past behind.
We learn to cope with difficult people and thorny problems.
We grow in character, and we “reap a harvest of righteousness and peace.”
God’s doesn’t promise to meet all of our expectations. He does promise to be with us, to watch over us, and to bless others through us. In the end, his promise is perfect life we seek: (Romans 14:17) “The kingdom of God is…righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
God doesn’t promise to do make our lives just like we want them. Instead, God says to us, as he said to Jacob: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go…I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”
