Genesis 29:1-30:24 | Wants, Wages, and Wickedness

If you have a Bible, go and grab it and turn to the book of Genesis. Genesis is the first book in the Bible. We'll be looking at chapter 29 and reading all the way to chapter 30, verse 24. I'm not going to read all of it right now, but I'll be reading from chapter 29, verse 25.

If you don't have a Bible and are using a pew Bible, we're very glad you're here. Feel free to keep that Bible as our gift to you. We'd love for you to have a copy of God's Word that you can read for yourself. Again, we'll be looking at Genesis chapter 29, verse 1 to chapter 30, verse 24. I'll read from chapter 29, verse 25:

When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?” Laban answered, “It is not the custom in our country to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.” And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. — Genesis 29:25-30 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we pray that as we look at this long narrative of family dynamics and ties, that you would help us to be able to see reflections of our own heart. We pray, Lord, that you would expose our souls to the work of your Spirit through your Word, and that you would help us to pursue true righteousness, if it means that we get to gain you. We pray that you would demonstrate your faithfulness now this morning. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

What we are about to read in our text this morning is a two-chapter complete unraveling of family functions. I mean, it is hard to think of a more disastrous narrative. Genesis continues to go down its downward spiral. Jacob works, and based on what he sees with his eyes, his own uncle is deceiving him, essentially enslaving him to involuntary labor. And at the same time, you see two sisters vying for the affection of their husband and the love of God as they compete with one another to the point where, by the end of the story, they're almost ready to throw fists for the sake of gaining some flowers.

And yet, if you read a family dysfunctional story like what we're about to engage this morning, we'll see parallels not just with what they choose to do. I don't think anyone here has two wives that happen to be sisters with each other and making deals with their father for the sake of financial gain. But I do think all of us have engaged times in our lives where we get so tunnel-visioned on what we want that we end up doing anything that we think that we need to do in order to get it. So, at the heart of this story, everyone is serving their own god. And because they're serving their own god, it affects what they then do. So, we're going to look at three particular parts of this story and what these people are doing.

First, we'll look at Jacob's self-reliance. Second, we'll look at Laban's deception, the way he tricks Jacob. And third, we'll look at Leah and Rachel's envy.

Jacob's Self-Reliance

Let's start with point number one, Jacob's self-reliance. Read with me from chapter 29, verse 1:

Jacob resumed his journey and went to the eastern country. He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. But a large stone covered the opening of the well. The shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep when all the flocks were gathered there. Then they would return the stone to its place over the well’s opening. Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from?” “We’re from Haran,” they answered. “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” Jacob asked them. They answered, “We know him.” “Is he well?” Jacob asked. “Yes,” they said, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with his sheep.” Then Jacob said, “Look, it is still broad daylight. It’s not time for the animals to be gathered. Water the flock, then go out and let them graze.” But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.” While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep, he went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly. He told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. — Genesis 29:1-12 (CSB)

For the last several weeks, we saw Jacob journey away from the land of his father towards the land of his uncles where he could find himself a wife that isn't a Canaanite. We saw the dynamics that Jacob had with his brother Esau and his parents, deceiving Isaac, and everything is an absolute mess. And God in his providence is directing Jacob towards his great-grandfather's land so that he could find a wife that isn't like the women in his area. And while it's good that he's looking for a wife, the direction that he's headed towards doesn't bode well.

These directions carry significance. It says here in verse 1 that he went towards the east. He's headed eastward. And there's another character in the book of Genesis who travels eastward. His name is Lot. In Genesis 13, Lot looks out, he sees how nice the area is by Sodom and Gomorrah, how green the pastures are, how pleasant it seems to his senses, and he moves towards the east. Now, I don't think the point of Genesis is that you can't move out of California. I don't think that's the lesson. But as you know, after going through more than half of this book, the book of Genesis rhymes. It deliberately will overlap themes and overlap phrases on top of each other so that you can kind of feel the vibe of previous stories kind of overlapping into current ones. And what you see here is Jacob mimicking Lot's movement. He moves eastward. And as the story goes on, he also mimics Lot's motivations.

Jacob comes to his well, there's a large rock kind of covering the opening of it. And he asks the shepherds to roll the stone away and water the sheep, and they refuse. And then Jacob looks up and he sees Rachel. And suddenly everything changes. It's like those scenes in the movie, slow motion as Rachel's rolling down this field headed towards this well. And Jacob is down bad. I mean, have you ever been so infatuated that you've found yourself doing things that you never saw yourself doing? Jacob sees Rachel, and immediately he just gets up and he does it himself. He takes this large stone that probably takes multiple men to move and suddenly he finds himself turning into Hercules. Real time, rolls this giant stone away all by himself. And he sees and he kisses Rachel.

Now, I don't think this is him throwing himself up on her. This is not a dating lesson for any of you men. That's not what's going on here. A few verses later, her father Laban kisses Jacob. So, I don't think this is Jacob trying to do something and throwing himself on top of the one. That being said, Jacob is definitely being moved by his emotions. It's clear Jacob is being very emotional with everything he's doing. He's kissing Rachel, he's weeping loudly, his journey is complete.

Now, Rachel takes all that information, runs back to her dad to tell him everything that she heard from Jacob. If you remember from several months ago, this sounds a lot like Abraham's servant who left to find Isaac a wife. And now, the Lord is doing the same thing for Jacob here as well, except there are some noticeable differences. Not so much in the desire between Jacob and Abraham's servant. In both cases, they want to be able to find a wife. But in the disposition with which these two men had in obtaining the desire. You see all the words that the author of Genesis uses here to describe what Jacob does, that he goes and he rolls the stone away, he kisses Rachel, he moves. Jacob is a pushy man. Abraham's servant on the other hand, waits on the Lord. Jacob can't wait. Abraham's servant prays while observing Rebekah to see whether or not the Lord is going to answer his prayers. Jacob doesn't talk to God at all. He talks to the shepherds to try to control what they do. Abraham's servant waits for Rebekah to come down. Jacob sees Rachel and gets up to start acting himself. Abraham's servant silently watches to see whether or not the Lord made his journey a success. Jacob pushes and waters Laban's sheep himself. Abraham's servant waits on God. Jacob can't wait because self-reliance makes you do some crazy stuff.

When you tunnel-vision on what you ultimately desire, it will take things that could even be good desires and push you to microwave solutions. To rush, self-reliance pushes us to do things that we never saw ourselves doing. You may have good desires that get corrupted with evil pacing. You want your children to be well-behaved and love the Lord Jesus Christ, and so you yell at them because you're so frustrated by their disobedient behavior and you discipline them out of your anger. You desire to be able to use your resources for good things and then you end up going into credit card debt because you can't afford it. You desire good things in your relationship, but they may not be good right now, and yet you find yourself rushing and going ahead because you can't wait to get to the destination that you desire to pursue. Self-reliance pushes us to pursue desires that may have godly goals but to chase them with ungodly timing.

Jacob here is relentlessly pushy. He literally pushes the stone obstacle out of his own way for the sake of his own desires even if it's against the express advice of those around him. Beware of relying on yourself. It will push you to make godly procedures feel like burdensome obstacles. Jacob seems totally content steamrolling over anyone that gets in the way of getting what he wants. And a lot of times we don't even realize that that's what we're doing. We assume that because we have good motivations or good intentions, that that automatically makes our actions good as well. You know, one good way to gauge whether or not you're ultimately really just relying on yourself is whether or not people around you are capable of saying no to you. Can they actually slow you down? Do they actually feel comfortable pushing back on you when they see that you're fixated on something that you want? And if the people that you know love you do say no to you, what happens? Do you respond in love? Do you take a moment to stop and consider whether or not what they say is true, or do you vilify them? Do you assume that they don't know or they're simply ignorant, or are you able to let go or do you find yourself doubling down? How many times have people spoken to you, have you actually considered what they said and then changed directions, or do you find yourself acting like you're receptive while continuing to push forward and do what you actually want?

Jacob's emotional impatience makes him pushy and self-reliant because his idol is his control. Every step of his life so far, he has manipulated with his own will, with his words, even here with his own literal hands in order to get what he wants. Whether it's lying to his dad or tricking his brother or now throwing himself in front of Rachel, he is enslaved to his concept of his ability to get what he wants. That's not the only idol in this story.

Laban's Deception

Point two, Laban's deception. Look at verse 13:

When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened. Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month, Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. — Genesis 29:13-20 (CSB)

Sounds cute. Laban hears from Rachel all that had happened, leaves to greet his nephew. And the way he greets his nephew is similar to the way that he greets Abraham's servant. But again, this is where Jacob and Abraham's servant diverge. Abraham's servant gets up in the morning, the day after he meets Laban, and says, "I got to go. I got to take Rebekah and bring her back to Isaac." And remember what Rebekah told her son Jacob when he left, he said, "Be gone for a few days." Go get your wife and essentially come back. She's assuming that what Jacob will do is the same thing that Abraham's servant did when he came and got her. And yet Jacob doesn't do that. You notice that it says here, "after he had stayed there a month."

Laban invites Jacob over to his house. And suddenly his relentless pushiness grinds to a stop. His pushiness transitions into passivity. I mean, you can imagine all the different reasons that Jacob may have in his own mind for why he would want to stay with his uncle: all the inconvenience and anger that's waiting for him back home from his own father or from his brother; the convenience of being able to live in a land where there's already sheep and also some women that you're interested in. A full month just happens to go by without Jacob really doing anything before Laban brings up the idea of giving back in exchange for the work that Jacob had been doing.

And Laban has two daughters. The older, Leah, is described as tender-eyed. That's a really nice way of saying she was probably ugly. Either that or the eyes were the only pretty thing about her. It's like one or the other. Either she's tender-eyed in the sense of you will have tender eyes if you have the displeasure of looking at her, or she has tender eyes and that really the eyes are the only redeeming quality that she has. Meanwhile, Rachel is beautiful from top to bottom. It could be the reason why Jacob saw her coming down and suddenly puffed up his chest and found himself being able to find newfound strength. And so Jacob finds himself, you know, wanting to stick around probably longer than he initially anticipated.

So, it's no wonder that Laban, his uncle then offers financial compensation. "What can I do to employ you so that I can get you to stick around? Let's sign a contract. Let's make this official." When Laban asks for financial compensation or offers it, Jacob then offers to exchange his services for being able to marry one of his daughters. And in case you're wondering, don't do that. Don't look at someone's daughter and treat your daughter like an item in a trade deal. This kind of negotiation is more reminiscent of Lot giving up his two daughters in exchange for the safety of his guests than godly parenting. And I don't expect any of you to be trading off your daughters for profit. But using others for the sake of your own gain, for your own selfish desires, is more common than you and I would probably like to admit. Laban is consistently concerned with the bottom line. His offer to compensate Jacob turns out to be a negotiation. He's essentially turning Jacob into an indentured servant or a slave for the sake of serving himself. But Jacob doesn't care because he was down bad. He's willing to serve for seven years if it meant that he could marry Rachel. It's all a blur to him because he's so fixated on his own desires, and that sounds beautiful, doesn't it? That a man would be willing to work seven years for you. That he waited, that he labored as you wished. This man's so sacrificial, so loving. No. Jacob is being selfish the entire time. Even in his service, he willingly submits himself to an earthly master and follows that master's rules if it means that he can get what he wants.

After his seven years wrap up, he rubs his hands together, he thinks he's about to get what his heart desires. And his evil master had other plans. You see that in verse 21:

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Since my time is complete, give me my wife, so I can sleep with her.” So Laban invited all the men of the place and sponsored a feast. That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave. When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?” Laban answered, “It is not the custom in our country to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.” And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. — Genesis 29:21-30 (CSB)

Imagine that. You work seven years to marry one woman. Jacob did his time. And so they throw a wedding feast. Jacob's probably drunk and he receives the girl of his dreams. And he wakes up, he realizes it's the wrong woman. It's Leah. And it turns out that Leah's weak eyes were almost like a prophecy for the weak eyes that Jacob would have at the moment of his marriage. And Jacob's upset. He asks Laban, "What have you done? Why have you deceived me?" And that's exactly where Jacob's self-reliance led him. Jacob is getting a taste of his own medicine.

You know who else got taken advantage of because of their weak eyes? Jacob's dad. By Jacob. He deceives his dad in order to receive the blessing, and now his uncle deceives him in order to extort him for years of more work. And you can just see the evil dripping out of Laban's mouth. I mean, he says, "You know, it's not custom for us to give up the younger woman first." But you and I know that's not the real reason. You know when he could have said that? Seven years ago. Laban wanted Abraham's servant to stick around. You know, he tells him, "Why don't you stick around for another couple days?" And Abraham's servant was the one that had to put his foot down and say, "No, I have to leave right now because I know that if you get your grubby little fingers around me, I'm never going to leave this place." He wants Jacob to stick around as well. There's a huge difference between what Laban offers and what Laban gave. He offered Rachel. He gives Leah. He offered payment. He gives slavery. That's how idols work. They promise you things that they will not give you. They will offer you more than they can give and they will demand of you more than what you promise.

Eve is offered godliness and with the fruit she loses godliness herself. Lot is offered riches and loses everything. Jacob is offered Leah and he loses 14 years of his life. Jacob left to meet his uncle in the name of his own independence and his "might makes right" attitude and he ends up enslaved to a master for 14 years. And this master was more like Jacob than he initially saw because Laban wasn't doing anything that was outside of the Jacob playbook. He's doing exactly what Jacob did: deceived him with his words, distracting him with a meal, deceiving Jacob so that he could gain what he himself wants. Jacob is looking at the mirror image of himself and he ends up enslaved to it for 14 years.

And the same will happen to you. Your idols will be tailor-made to your sinful algorithm. It will strike the chords that resonate with your sinful heart. It will promise you things that sing to all of the evil desires that you have. It will match everything that you could possibly dream of. And everything in this world will squeeze every ounce of life that you have in exchange for empty promises. Don't bank on the earthly promises of tomorrow. Don't chain yourself to the rat race of a nicer home or prestigious work or exhilarating relationship or anything else that will convince you to cut yourself off, to cuff yourself to the Lord or to the world. Because idols deceive. Sin masquerades as a god, offering you everything that your evil heart wants.

You know the main difference between Abraham's servant and Jacob when it comes to this negotiation is that Abraham's servant trusted the Lord. He trusts God. It's the same trust that made him rely on God as he observed Rebekah and he waited. It's the same trust that leads him to push against Laban. He says, "Do not delay me since the Lord has made my journey a success." He's looking at Laban who he's supposed to respect and respect enough so that he can convince him to let his sister go. He says, "Don't delay me since God made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master." You realize what Abraham's servant is telling Laban? He's saying, "I have a master already. It's not you." If you want to be able to resist the allure, the seduction of idols, you have to remember that you have a master that has called you to do things already. Even Jesus quotes Scripture when refuting the temptations of Satan. Do you believe God's Word? Do you believe what the Lord, your Master, has told you?

Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. — Psalm 34:10 (CSB)

You realize how comprehensive that promise is? You will not lack any good thing. The Lord is the only Master who will make your journey a success and will dignify you and provide you everything that you could possibly want or need. And if you don't believe that, if you doubt God's goodness to you, you will turn towards the work of your own hands. You will be seduced by empty promises in the face of a mirage of success. That if you work, if you just apply yourself for seven years, you can obtain your dream. I mean, forget seven years. You and I all know of people that have been seduced by this promise for decades, wasting away at the promise of a life that they will never have. Trusting the Lord's will helps you obey the Lord's will. Those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. But Jacob's will drives him deeper into the darkness of his sin. He's stuck in this quicksand that Laban's laid out for him. And as Jacob gets dragged deeper into the darkness of his own desires, he also drags his wives deeper into sin with him.

Leah and Rachel's Envy

That brings us to point number three, Leah and Rachel's feud. Look at verse 31:

When the Lord saw that Leah was neglected, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive. Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now.” She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “The Lord heard that I am neglected and has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi. And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children. — Genesis 29:31-35 (CSB)

You can just imagine how difficult of a life Leah had knowing that her husband did not intend to marry her and did not love her. I mean, you can just see the pain saturating all the names of her kids. On one level, she's willing to recognize that God is the one that's providing for her. And that's absolutely true. You cannot ignore that. Verse 31 is making clear this is a work that God is doing on behalf of Leah. On the other hand, her eyes don't seem to be primarily fixated on what God has done. If anything, God's sight is made relative to what her eyes are focused on, which is what she doesn't have: her husband's love. You see that? She says, "God sees." You know who's not seeing her? Her husband. You know who doesn't listen to her? Her husband. You know who isn't attached to her? Her husband. I mean, these names permanently pronounced her husband's neglect. And having her fourth, she finally turns to praise the Lord. I mean, what a difficult life. What a miserable life. And this praise gets quickly overshadowed, not just with the strife that she has with the Lord or with her husband, but the conflict that she has with her sister. You see that in chapter 30, verse 1:

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” she said to Jacob. Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God? He has withheld offspring from you!” Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me so that through her I too can build a family.” So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, he has heard me and given me a son,” so she named him Dan. Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God, I have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” and she named him Gad. When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,” so she named him Asher. Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?” “Well then,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night. God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar. Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. “God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun. Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah. Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, and she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” She named him Joseph and said, “May the Lord add another son to me.” — Genesis 30:1-24 (CSB)

This is like going over the hump of a roller coaster. It is just down, down, down. It is a spiral of sin. Rachel acts like Sarah handing her slave to her husband. This triggers a proxy war where Leah and Rachel are using their slaves to fight each other, to bear kids, to compete with each other and drives them to fixate on these flowers, these mandrakes. And these mandrakes, according to at least superstition of the time, were believed to aid in fertility. And for Rachel, she's desperate for any means that she could use in order to be able to gain a child for herself. She's willing to resort to any remedy or strategy that may enable her to have a child. And her pain is so real. I mean, you can hear the desperation in her voice. She's even willing to negotiate giving up time with her husband that she's competitive for, for the sake of even the chance of being able to bear a child. That's real pain. But that real pain doesn't permit her real sin.

You think about Elizabeth in Luke. She trusted the providence of God even into her older age. Rachel, instead, decides to rely on her own sinful strategies. She places a weight on herself that she wasn't designed to carry. She's fixated on anything that will give her what she desperately wants: a child. And you know what both of these women lack in this petty fight that they're having with each other? Both of them lack love. You see the way that Leah fixates on her husband even after Judah, even after she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." What does she say? When she gives birth to her sixth son, she says, "This time my husband will honor me." I mean, how tragic is that? This time. Because none of the other times worked. Even Rachel, after having a child, what does she say in verse 24? "May the Lord add another son." Both of these women are so focused on childbearing. And yet, no matter how many kids they have, nothing is enough to fill the void that's in their heart.

And both Leah and Rachel's idols have driven them to attack one another in sin in order to grasp at what they feel they need. Not only are they so fixated on these idols and things that they think will fulfill them, they are willing to invoke the name of God in order to credit him for their sinful actions. "God has vindicated me." "God is on my side." "God has vindicated me for handing my slave over to my husband." You realize how crazy that is? And Jacob is demonstrating terrible passivity. His response removes any responsibility, lets his wives run him over while leading him into sin. This is like Eve in the garden corrupted with two different sources. And all the while he is neglecting their hearts. Don't get it twisted. The story is focused on Leah and Rachel. Jacob is a terrible husband.

You may be reading a story as it devolves, and you're hearing this story as they're handing slaves and fighting with one another and having kids and you have all these names and all these meanings. And you may feel like chapter 30, verses 1 through 24, is a jumbled-up mess. And I hope you feel that way because that's the point. That's what happens. That's what a godless, sinful life will give you. When the Lord isn't your master, you will find yourself enslaved to worldliness, sin, and fighting those who are closest to you.

The Lord's Faithfulness Amidst Sin

And there is only one person in this entire story who is good, and his name is God. Despite all the sin, God continues to be faithful. The Lord reveals himself to Jacob. The Lord sees Leah. The Lord remembers Rachel. God sees their needs and he answers not according to their demands, but according to his good plan. You realize that in the midst of this jumbled mess and fighting and war, God is providing every single son for the tribes of Israel. He's answering the promise that he himself gave to Jacob just earlier in the previous chapter. Despite this downward spiral of darkness, God is answering his promise to Jacob that his offspring would be like the dust of the earth.

You see what Jacob really needs, what Laban needs, what Leah and Rachel need, isn't their own desires. What they need is a true provider. A God who knows their real needs and provides real hope. Not just for their temporary needs, but one that can step into their dismal reality and offer a real hope that transcends their circumstances. God in his kindness provides children to these women. He hears their cries. He sees their mess. He doesn't respond with condemnation. He actually responds with grace by letting them have kids, by showing that he will be true to his word even when everyone's forgotten it. He will do that in more ways than just providing them kids, but by providing them a child that would answer the curse of sin itself. There's only one kid where there's like an eye in the hurricane, where Judah leads Leah to just praise the Lord and honor him. And it's from that line, from Judah, that Jesus enters into the world. Where Jesus answers our deepest need. Not by vindicating you and showing how you're right or by promising you the desires of your heart in exchange for some labor. Jesus answers our need by being a Master who lays down his life for us. He meets sinners at the well like the Samaritan woman in John 4, and says, "If you drink this living water, you will never thirst again."

He looks into our parched hearts and knows exactly what will fill that real void that we feel every day. He satisfies us with abundant love and provision. And on the cross, he pays the penalty for sin. So that when we submit to his authority, we don't have to be shackled to deceptive darkness, but we're free to worship God in a way that takes our disgrace away, where we don't have to be ashamed at anything that we lack in this life. We don't have to run the rat race of comparison and hatred or selfishness. But that Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death, to free us from the slavery to our sins. Are you sick of trying to figure out your own life? Are you sick of trying to build a shack of security for yourself? Well, if you want to let that go, the first thing you need to do is kill your idols. And that's exactly what Jesus does on the cross. He conquers evil and sin and death so that he can give us everything that we could ever need.

And the good news of the gospel is that God doesn't see you, hear you, provide for you by giving you mandrakes, or by giving you water for your sheep, or by promising you a woman. He gives you something so much greater than that. He gives you himself. We have a God who gives abundantly beyond anything we could ask for or think. And it's precisely that good news, that gospel, that we have a God who sees us, provides for us, that cares for us, that then frees us to be able to see and to care for others. I am so glad that God has been gracious to give us a church that doesn't fight over mandrakes, or the color of the carpet, what is or is not on the stage. You ever see churches that get caught up into petty fights like that where they get fixated on small things that don't matter? Those petty arguments, that dissatisfaction is almost never about the carpet. It's indicative of a deeper deficiency, whether it's a desire to be seen or heard. We fight because we lack. We fight because of the sinful passions that wage war within us. We trade the cross of Christ for the crown of our idols. We seek to advance ourselves even if it means putting down those around us.

And stories like this give us an opportunity as a church. Not to compete with one another, but to care for one another. To show one another that our idols aren't worth serving and that the Jesus that we serve is worth more than all of our petty preferences. You see a difference between a peaceful church and a petty church isn't whether or not they have disagreements. Disagreements are super healthy. It's whether or not they find their satisfaction in Jesus. It's whether or not Jesus is actually enough for you. Because if your heart is consistently thirsty or dissatisfied or looking for something else, you will project that dissatisfaction onto everyone else and on everything else. But if God has been good to you, if Jesus has washed you with his mercy, and you have the privilege of being able to see his Word live and breathe amongst a life of brothers and sisters in Christ that you love, what greater joy is there? No one complains when their toddler grandkid that they're loved knocks over a cup at the dinner table. Because it can't compare to the joy of being together. The good news of the gospel can't compare to the tiny discomforts that come. That's just the cost of living with sinners. But knowing that God has cleansed us from all our sin, has saved everyone here that's turned from their sin and trusted in Christ, that is good news that will overflow in a fountain of abundance in the way that we love and care for one another.

That love might look like lovingly pointing out a blind spot in a brother or sister. That might look like caring for them and showing them the rest that you can have in Christ. In all cases, it demonstrates the loveliness and the worthiness and the satisfaction that we have in him. It's no wonder that the foundation that we get to rely on, the physical symbol that we utilize to bind us together as a community, being the Lord's Supper, is simultaneously also the most tangible picture we have reminding us with our senses, with our eyes, with our nose, with our tongue, what Jesus has done. Because it's precisely the satisfaction and grace that Christ gives that then enables us, binds us together to love one another as one body in Christ. His body broken for you. His blood spilled for you, enables us to be united together in a way that we never could if we were serving all of our own petty idols. What kind of God do you want to serve this morning? There's only one that truly satisfies. Let's pray. We pray that you would help us to remember this good news, this satisfaction that we can have in Jesus. And we thank you, Lord, that you've provided us more than we could ever ask for, through the blood of your son spilled out for us. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.