Waiting real good...
This week's bit of goodness is on Genesis 29:15-30:
This is another story that flies in the face of the whole easy Christian life thing. Jacob is the ancestor of all of the tribes of Israel, blessed by God. But if you compare the matchmaking between Adam and Eve to that between Jacob and Rachel, Jacob's got a pretty horrible deal, and it takes forever.
For Adam and Eve, when Adam needed a wife, all God required of him was that he sleep. When he woke up, poof! There was Eve. Perfect! OK, so it cost him a rib too, but I'm sure it was worth it. For Jacob, he enslaves himself for fourteen years and is in constant strife with his father in law. And because of his father in law's trickery, his descendants live in strife with each other because of the two marriages.
Imagine being engaged for seven years. I have a hard time just waiting for my tax refund! I can only imagine Jacob's position. What if Laban gets a better offer halfway through and his work is for nothing? What if he and Rachel get sick of each other before the seven years labor is complete? Try to think of how many things you've been able to happily wait seven years for. And then, imagine once you think you've finally got it, you find out that you've been sentenced to another seven years hard labor! And that's not even getting into the situation where Jacob wakes up after his wedding night and realizes that the woman he's married to isn't the same woman he fell in love with. It's a whole bunch of nightmares rolled into one.
The first part of Jacob's life seems to me to be a great illustration of life under the curse. It's constant striving and labor. The law of the jungle rules: trick or be tricked. It's a tragedy of character flaws, struggles, and disappointments. The stuff he gains he has to fight for, either by buying at a bad price, by stealing through trickery, or by being the last to give up the fight.
In a lot of ways, you can look at this phase of Jacob's life as the course ours sometimes takes before we know God, or when we're away from him. Jacob didn't really get serious about God until he encountered him while fleeing from the consequences of his scheming. At that point he put away his idols and his character changed. But I think that was still part of God's plan. And I think good Christians still have periods of raw living like this as God shapes them for a new phase of life, or helps them to mature. Read about the life of Paul, if you still think Christians live a comfortable life.
If you're in a raw phase of your life, and it seems like you have to struggle for everything, you're not the first. It doesn't mean God doesn't like you. If it seems like everyone is out to get you, and that you're constantly on the run, look forward to what Jacob found, which is a fresh encounter with God. His whole life led up to that point. This is the guy Israel was named after. But he started off as a fairly unlikeable guy, with hard luck, and an exhausting and disappointing life. Things get better...way better. God is great!
Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.”
So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.
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?”
Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.”
And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.
This is another story that flies in the face of the whole easy Christian life thing. Jacob is the ancestor of all of the tribes of Israel, blessed by God. But if you compare the matchmaking between Adam and Eve to that between Jacob and Rachel, Jacob's got a pretty horrible deal, and it takes forever.
For Adam and Eve, when Adam needed a wife, all God required of him was that he sleep. When he woke up, poof! There was Eve. Perfect! OK, so it cost him a rib too, but I'm sure it was worth it. For Jacob, he enslaves himself for fourteen years and is in constant strife with his father in law. And because of his father in law's trickery, his descendants live in strife with each other because of the two marriages.
Imagine being engaged for seven years. I have a hard time just waiting for my tax refund! I can only imagine Jacob's position. What if Laban gets a better offer halfway through and his work is for nothing? What if he and Rachel get sick of each other before the seven years labor is complete? Try to think of how many things you've been able to happily wait seven years for. And then, imagine once you think you've finally got it, you find out that you've been sentenced to another seven years hard labor! And that's not even getting into the situation where Jacob wakes up after his wedding night and realizes that the woman he's married to isn't the same woman he fell in love with. It's a whole bunch of nightmares rolled into one.
The first part of Jacob's life seems to me to be a great illustration of life under the curse. It's constant striving and labor. The law of the jungle rules: trick or be tricked. It's a tragedy of character flaws, struggles, and disappointments. The stuff he gains he has to fight for, either by buying at a bad price, by stealing through trickery, or by being the last to give up the fight.
In a lot of ways, you can look at this phase of Jacob's life as the course ours sometimes takes before we know God, or when we're away from him. Jacob didn't really get serious about God until he encountered him while fleeing from the consequences of his scheming. At that point he put away his idols and his character changed. But I think that was still part of God's plan. And I think good Christians still have periods of raw living like this as God shapes them for a new phase of life, or helps them to mature. Read about the life of Paul, if you still think Christians live a comfortable life.
If you're in a raw phase of your life, and it seems like you have to struggle for everything, you're not the first. It doesn't mean God doesn't like you. If it seems like everyone is out to get you, and that you're constantly on the run, look forward to what Jacob found, which is a fresh encounter with God. His whole life led up to that point. This is the guy Israel was named after. But he started off as a fairly unlikeable guy, with hard luck, and an exhausting and disappointing life. Things get better...way better. God is great!
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