The well
This week's Bibley goodness comes from Genesis 29:2-11:
I was reading these verses this morning, and the bit about the large stone reminded me of the large stone blocking Jesus' tomb. Then I started to meditate on the similarities between the two situations. In both cases there is an obstacle blocking a source of life. The flocks are gathered waiting for it to be opened up. And when it is opened, it marks the beginning of a great love affair, Jacob and Rachel, or Jesus and The Church.
There's enough in common that I wonder if God sent Joseph to give his tomb so that Jesus could make that statement to us. Like "See? This is what's going on right now. You guys are my bride and my flock will now be watered." Jesus knew the church was his and traveled to meet us. When he saw us, he was delighted and loved us. He chose us and suffered for us. (I wonder sometimes, if it had been Leah with the flock instead of Rachel, whether Jacob would still have moved the stone and watered the sheep!) The stone is moved and the bridegroom has arrived!
There's even the inside joke about timing. People were like "Hey Jesus, how come you can't just be king now? We don't want you to die!" and with Jacob he's like "Hey, why can't you just water the sheep now instead of waiting around?" We're naturally impatient and don't understand God's timing. God had all of history to bring Jesus to us. Why first century Palestine? Why under Roman occupation? Maybe it was the first time in history his people were mingled as equals with the Gentiles. The flocks were finally all gathered in one place. Or maybe it was something else. What matters isn't the timing but that it happened.
The thing this tells me is that God planned for a long time to bring us Jesus. He loves us. The earth shook when he finally made the formal introduction! How can we not appreciate what he's done? Mankind didn't know this was going to happen any more than Rachel did, but God knew and he'd waited a very long time. He probably bent history so that it could happen like it did. He knows what he's doing. How can we turn down a God so dedicated to us?
The Old Testament is full of little inside jokes and hints God left for us, barely able to keep the secret, which are fulfilled in Jesus. It's fun to read it and see a glimpse of God's love and devotion to us. No detail is insignificant. No historical event is without purpose. No prophesy goes unfulfilled. God has it all covered and he wants us to appreciate him. He did it for us.
There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?”
“We’re from Harran,” they replied.
He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”
“Yes, we know him,” they answered.
Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?”
“Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”
“Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”
“We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”
While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.
I was reading these verses this morning, and the bit about the large stone reminded me of the large stone blocking Jesus' tomb. Then I started to meditate on the similarities between the two situations. In both cases there is an obstacle blocking a source of life. The flocks are gathered waiting for it to be opened up. And when it is opened, it marks the beginning of a great love affair, Jacob and Rachel, or Jesus and The Church.
There's enough in common that I wonder if God sent Joseph to give his tomb so that Jesus could make that statement to us. Like "See? This is what's going on right now. You guys are my bride and my flock will now be watered." Jesus knew the church was his and traveled to meet us. When he saw us, he was delighted and loved us. He chose us and suffered for us. (I wonder sometimes, if it had been Leah with the flock instead of Rachel, whether Jacob would still have moved the stone and watered the sheep!) The stone is moved and the bridegroom has arrived!
There's even the inside joke about timing. People were like "Hey Jesus, how come you can't just be king now? We don't want you to die!" and with Jacob he's like "Hey, why can't you just water the sheep now instead of waiting around?" We're naturally impatient and don't understand God's timing. God had all of history to bring Jesus to us. Why first century Palestine? Why under Roman occupation? Maybe it was the first time in history his people were mingled as equals with the Gentiles. The flocks were finally all gathered in one place. Or maybe it was something else. What matters isn't the timing but that it happened.
The thing this tells me is that God planned for a long time to bring us Jesus. He loves us. The earth shook when he finally made the formal introduction! How can we not appreciate what he's done? Mankind didn't know this was going to happen any more than Rachel did, but God knew and he'd waited a very long time. He probably bent history so that it could happen like it did. He knows what he's doing. How can we turn down a God so dedicated to us?
The Old Testament is full of little inside jokes and hints God left for us, barely able to keep the secret, which are fulfilled in Jesus. It's fun to read it and see a glimpse of God's love and devotion to us. No detail is insignificant. No historical event is without purpose. No prophesy goes unfulfilled. God has it all covered and he wants us to appreciate him. He did it for us.
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