Genesis 29

¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. ²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ²⁵ And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. ³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

Genesis 30

¹ When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” ² Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have childrenthrough her.” ⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷ Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali. ⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.  ¹² Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher. ¹⁴ In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”¹⁶ When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. ²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

We continue with our strange love story, this story that is more than just a story. It is more than just a story because it is also a foretelling, a shadowy depiction of the love that would arrive in Jesus in full splendor and glory. As such, this story of Jacob and Rachel (and, as we will see, Leah), needs to be read on two levels: the lower level—a fascinating, interesting, and strange story about a man who wanted to marry a woman and the upper level—a picture, oftentimes pale and muddled and marred by human fallenness, of the love of God in Christ.

True love is willing to suffer hardship for the beloved.

Jacob has arrived in Haran, the land of his Uncle Laban, his mother Rebekah’s brother. And in Haran he encounters Rachel, Laban’s younger daughter. After a month of Jacob staying with his mother’s family, Laban asks Jacob how he can compensate him for his work and labors. Jacob boldly asks for the hand of Rachel in marriage. Here we rejoin the story, and here we encounter one of the great relational twists and acts of deceits in Genesis…of which there are many!

¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. ²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ²⁵ And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

Wow! Again, this is one of the most shocking acts of deceit in all of scripture…followed perhaps, and not unironically, by Jacob’s own deceit of his father Isaac. Jacob served seven years for Rachel. As we saw last week, he did that ostensibly because he did not have a bride-price to give. And, as we saw, seven years was a more than generous time to serve and would have gone well beyond a standard bride-price based on what a laborer would have made in a year and based on what a standard bride-price was.

In other words, Jacob did not skimp. He was willing to go above and beyond to win his bride and honor her father and family. At the end of the seven years he asked Laban to give him “his wife.” The Archaeology Study Bible notes that “Jacob calling Rachel his wife prior to the wedding followed common practice—a betrothed woman had the status of a wife (Deut. 20:7; 22:23-24). The Mesopotamian Code of Hammurabi attests to this custom in laws 130 and 161.”[1]

Though the customs do not perfectly parallel, it would be fair to say that Jacob and Rachel were engaged, betrothed. They were intended for each other and Jacob worked hard to earn her hand! This makes Laban’s act of deceit all the more shocking.

Ancient weddings were oftentimes long and elaborate occasions of feasting and ritual. Laban gathers everybody for a feast. It would have been a grand party indeed. And there sat Jacob’s bride. Traditionally, following the festivities, a groom took his new bride to his father’s house where the union was consummated. That was not possible here. So Laban brings Jacob his bride and the marriage is consummated.

The next morning, to Jacob’s absolutely shock, he discovers that the daughter Laban had brought him in the night was not Rachel the younger but Leah the older! Genesis 29:25 captures this moment well: “And in the morning, behold, it was Leah!”

Immediately we might wonder how on earth this could happen. How did Jacob not know this was Rachel? The authors of The IVP Bible Background Commentary point out that,

[t]he bride would be veiled during these public festivities, and it may be assumed that the high spirits would have led to drunkenness, both factor in Jacob’s inability to recognize the substitution of Leah for Rachel at the feast.[2]

E.A. Speiser writes that the bride would have remained veiled “until the marriage was consummated.”[3] Well, there are the logistics of it: it is dark, they have been partying, and the bride remained veiled. This is shocking but not inconceivable.

Stunned, Jacob demands an explanation from Laban. Laban appears to casually trot out a technicality: “Oh, here we do not give the younger daughter first.” Then, as if to make it better, he tells Jacob to complete his week with Leah and then he could have Rachel in exchange for another seven years of service. Moses offers us no record of Jacob’s immediate reaction to Laban’s words, but does tell us how Jacob submitted to this plan in order finally to have Rachel:

²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

True love is willing to suffer hardship for the beloved. We may be sure that Jacob was flabbergasted and likely seethed with indignation at this. However, tellingly, we are not given a picture of Jacob ranting. Instead, we are given a picture of Jacob being willing to do whatever he had to do to have his beloved.

This is the nature of love: it is willing to suffer for the other. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul depicts love in these memorable terms:

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Jacob did not insist on his own way. Jacob was willing to bear all things. Jacob was willing to endure all things.

On the lower level of reading this we should point out to men and women who are looking for and hoping for a spouse that if you find a person who is not willing to suffer for you or who is not even willing to be inconvenienced for you, you should keep looking. Why? Because at some point in every relationship the two people involved will have to show if they are willing to endure hardship for the other person. Jacob was willing to do so for Rachel, such was his love for her.

In this we see a strong foreshadowing of Christ. Just as Jacob was willing to submit to abuse and misuse in order to have his bride, so too did Jesus. Jesus was willing to serve seventy-times-seven, to give everything He had, to win His bride, the church. In Hebrews 13 the writer of Hebrews links Jesus’ suffering with our sanctification.

² So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

We are bound to Christ in the bonds of love because Jesus was willing to suffer to win us. Jesus “suffered outside the gate.” See here the great love of God for lost humanity! In 1 Peter 3, Peter likewise makes this point:

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit

Jesus suffers, “the righteous for the unrighteous,” that he might “bring us to God.”

If you read this story of Jacob and Rachel and think, “I wonder if I will ever find anybody who would love me like that?!” rest easy: you have…or, rather, He has found you. Jesus loves you with a love that is willing to suffer, willing to endure, willing to give whatever He needs to give to win you and to bring you to God.

True love only has eyes for one.

As we have now seen, this story goes in strange directions. Even so, this much is clear: Jacob truly did have a great love for Rachel. There is, even in the midst of this strange dysfunction, a powerful love story. But now Jacob finds himself with two wives, one of whom he loves and the other he does not. This sets the stage, as you might imagine, for great conflict, but the conflict only proves the intensity of Jacob’s love for Rachel. Let us see what happens next:

²⁹ (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. ³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

Genesis 30

³ Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” ⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷ Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali. ⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.  ¹² Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher. ¹⁴ In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”¹⁶ When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. ²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

My goodness what a mess! First, let us note that while the word “hated” in 29:31, in reference to Leah, “seems to have emotional implications,” Robert Alter observes, “but it is also a technical, legal terms for the unfavored co-wife.” Speiser notes that the word is “[n]ot so much ‘hated’…as ‘rejected, unloved.’”[4] This is important because it lets us know that while Jacob did not love Leah there is no evidence that he had an active animosity toward her. After all, Leah was just a pawn in Laban’s game and was not to be blamed herself.

What we find in this house, in the midst of this strange situation, are the two women competing with each other to have babies. Unfortunately, Rachel, the beloved, is barren, so she gives her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob so that she might have babies through her. The Archaeology Study Bible notes that when Rachel asks in 30:3 that Bilhah give birth “on her behalf,”

The text literally says “give birth on my knees.” The act of placing a newborn on someone’s knees…was a well-known practice in the ancient Near East signifying legitimization, and perhaps even adoption.[5]

Leah, on the other hand, appears to be as fertile as the Tennessee River Valley (to quote the movie “Raising Arizona”)—that is, until she is not—and pitifully hopes that maybe, just maybe, these babies will make Jacob love her. They do not.

Then the sisters basically bicker over who gets to sleep with Jacob: Rachel or Leah or Rachel’s servant Bilhah or Leah’s servant Zilpah. Jacob, on the other hand, is pictured as being passed around like a pawn in the girls’ weird dysfunctional relational chess match and sleeps with them all and has twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Every so often people will scoff at the idea of marriage being defined as one man and one woman. They will inevitably point out that polygamy was practiced in the Old Testament. I have always thought this was an absurd argument and have always tried to respond, “Yes, polygamy was sometimes practiced…and look what happened when it was!” In fact, if you want a great argument against polygamy, read the instances of polygamy in scripture.

No, as Jesus said, marriage should be between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:5). This was God’s original design and intent as well (Genesis 2:22-25). And, true to this design, Jacob only really had eyes for one woman: Rachel. And this was why there was so much conflict.

We were made to give our hearts to our spouses alone. After all, the Bridegroom, Jesus, loves His church with a perfect love. Jesus is faithful to His bride. The Lord loves His bride!

In Zechariah 2:8, Zechariah says of God’s people, “he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.” You are the apple of God’s eye! He loves us and is ever faithful to His people.

True love points the other to God.

There is something else, and it is a truth that bookends Genesis 30. The chapter begins with Jacob becoming exasperated with Rachel over a theological issue.

¹ When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” ² Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

It is amazing the indignities that Jacob endures in Genesis 29 and 30 without complaint. But here, when Rachel asks him to accomplish something that only God can accomplish, Jacob has enough. “Am I in the place of God?” It is an important question. It is as if, exasperated, Jacob says, “Woman, I am not God and you should know this!”

Apparently Jacob did not mind being passed around and bartered over, but he remained something of a theologian yet.

One of the attributes of true love is that it points the beloved to God. Rachel, frustrated with her barrenness, demands a wife. Jacob, in turn, takes her to Sunday School: only God can do that. In other words, he pointed her to God.

I can honestly say that I have married a woman who consistently points me to God, who reminds me of the need to follow God, to trust God, to walk with God. This can be frustrating when I want to, say, vent my irritation or frustration with another, that is, when I want I “get in my flesh” to use a popular evangelical turn. It can be a hard thing to be married to a godly woman! Ha! But thank God for godly spouses who do what spouses are supposed to do: point the other to God.

Once again, our Bridegroom does this, does He not? Does Jesus not constantly point us to God? In Matthew 6:9, Jesus taught us to begin the Lord’s Prayer with, “Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.” Our very prayers should begin with a recognition of God’s presence, God’s relationship to His people, and God’s holiness.

Jesus, the Bridegroom, points His bride, the church, to God, just as Jacob pointed Rachel. It is fascinating to see, when one looks at the conclusion of our text, that Rachel in time comes to learn this lesson.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

By the end of our text, Rachel had grown in her understanding of the Lord, and at least part of this was her spouse her pointed her to the Lord.

If you are a young person (or old person!) and are dating somebody, let me ask you a question: does your beloved consistently point you to the Lord? Does he or she pray with you, read scripture with you, and encourage you to remember the Lord? When you fret and worry, does he or she speak the name of Jesus to you? If you do not have this, consider that you are missing something powerful and something that constitutes true love. If your beloved is a Christian, perhaps you could encourage him or her in the Lord and seek to foster this kind of important dynamic in your relationship.

Why? Because we follow a Jesus that models this very kind of love. He is ever and always drawing our hearts to God, whispering God’s name to us through the indwelling Spirit, and interceding for us before the Father.

See the imperfect love of Jacob the patriarch. Then look closely and see through it the greater love of the One who fulfilled the covenant given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

 

[1] John D. Currid and David W. Chapman, eds. Archaeology Study Bible. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), p.52n29:21.

[2] John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), p.62.

[3] E.A. Speiser, Genesis. The Anchor Bible. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964), p.225.

[4] Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses. The Hebrew Bible. vol. 1 (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 2019), p.105n31; Speiser, p.225.

[5] Currid and Chapman, p.53n30:3.