Genesis 29

The deceiver is deceived...

Previous post: Genesis 28

I’ll start with a brief synopsis of Genesis 29, Josh’s Revised Abbreviated Version. Jacob falls for Rachel and agrees to work 7 years for his uncle, Laban, in exchange for marrying her. After 7 years, Jacob finally marries. But, in a bizarre twist (the Bible is full of bizarre twists), he accidentally marries her lazy-eyed sister, Leah. Then, he works 7 more years in exchange for Rachel. Side note: as is often the case in the Bible, none of the main characters in this story take on the role of "hero.” All of the characters have flaws.

Do you know what I don’t remember as a kid? I don’t remember ever sitting in Bible class or listening to a sermon or reading my Bible and thinking, “Man, this stuff is incredibly messed up.”

Reading Genesis as an adult though, there are very few chapters where I haven’t had that thought. “Man, this stuff is pretty messed up.”

Genesis 29 is, well, another one of those chapters.

Jacob thought he was making a deal to marry Rachel, but when the light of day came, he realized he was with Leah. Was he drunk? If so, exactly how drunk was he? I mean, there’s “buzzed and over-celebrating a Dallas Cowboys touchdown” and then there’s “I got married and slept with the wrong woman” drunk. Maybe she was veiled as I’ve heard was the custom those days. Or maybe he was, in fact, just really drunk. Maybe both. Who knows? Anyway, talk about morning after confusion and regret.

I have a few thoughts here. First of all, I’m betting that Jacob would have most likely immediately realized the parallel between deceiving his father and being deceived by Laban. If you’ll recall in chapter 27, his father, Isaac, couldn’t see. Jacob convinced Isaac that he was with one person (Esau) when he was in fact with another person (Jacob). Laban pulled a similar trick. This time, Jacob finds himself in the dark. Instead of being old with weak eyes, he was unable to see for other reasons. Jacob was told he was with one person (Rachel) when he was, in fact, with another (Leah). Although I doubt Leah would refer to the act as receiving Jacob’s blessing, this is in essence the natural consequence of procreation…possible co-creation of your firstborn…who, traditionally, would receive your blessing. In other words, thanks to Laban’s deception, Jacob’s blessing could ultimately go to the wrong person…to Leah’s child rather than Rachel’s. I bet Jacob saw the irony.

In parenting and in life, the times I’ve been most frustrated with something or someone, God was trying to teach me something about my own flaws. Every time. Here’s a good habit: the times in life when you’re most frustrated with someone (as Jacob was with Laban), I think it’s good to pause and reflect. Is there something God is trying to show you or teach you? Nothing stinks more than that moment you realize you’re wrong in an argument or in life. But, what if God is trying to show you something about your own life in these moments of frustration…moments of high emotion…moments where someone has just pulled a fast one on you and you accidentally slept with the wrong woman?

I’ll give you an example from my life.

As all kids do, my kids love playing with empty boxes. Some years, the boxes get more play time than the Christmas gift they contained. Why didn’t we just wrap up empty boxes instead of spending money on gifts? I digress. Many years ago, one of my daughters—who was around 2-years-old at the time—was playing with a box that, when she stood in it, came up to just above her knees. For some reason she decided to put the box on her head and run around in circles. All of a sudden, she stopped and turned to face a wall that was 10 feet in front of her. Then, blinded by the box on her head, she proceeded to run full speed into the wall. SMACK. I wasn’t fast enough to stop her.

There she lay, moaning and sprawled out on the floor, with the box still somehow covering her head and shoulders. I hear a muffled and tearful “Daddy, I’ve got an owie.” from inside the box. Part of me was concerned about whether or not she was injured (She wasn’t. She was fine…just a bruise.). The other part of me was thinking, “Well, of course you’ve got an owie. You just stuck a box over your head and ran full speed into a wall. How was this possibly going to end well?!”

Later on, I asked myself the question, “What can I learn about myself from this situation?”

At the time I was incredibly stressed and exhausted. All the time. Most of my prayers went something like this: “God, please take away my stress. I’m so unbearably tired. Please grant me some rest.” In other words, my prayers were the grown-up version of “Daddy, I’ve got an owie.”

Then, I surveyed my life. Between my day job, side businesses, boards, church, family, home renovation projects, etc., I was absurdly over-committed. I’d said “Sure, I can help you with that,” to pretty much anyone who asked. Tip: saying “Sure, I can help you with that,” isn’t a blessing to anyone if you don’t have the time to do [insert name of task] well. In fact, you’re actually (while well-meaningly) becoming a roadblock to whomever you agreed to help.

The lesson: I was doing exactly what my daughter had done. I’d put a box on my head, ran into a wall, then whined about having an owie. I wasn’t hurting because God wasn’t granting me peace or rest or sleep or stress relief. I was hurting because I foolishly ran myself full speed into a wall. I kind of feel like God was just shaking his head at my prayers. “Well, of course you’re stressed and tired. You committed to 37 hours/day worth of work. How was this possibly going to end well? Try taking the box off of your head and not running around like a crazy person.”

So, that is one of my takeaways from Genesis 29. If I’m honest about the times in my life where I’ve been most frustrated with someone or something, there’s been an issue in my life that I needed to refine. Thanks for the painful reminder, Genesis 29.

Here’s my second takeaway from this chapter…

As we get to the end of chapter 29, Leah seems to put all her hopes on Jacob loving her. The text basically says, “If I can just have a child for him, he’ll finally love me. If I can just have a child, everything in my world will be right. I’ll finally have peace.” Three times in verses 32 through 34. Each time, she realizes that accomplishing her goal leaves her unfulfilled.

We all do the same thing. For some, it’s children. For others, it’s career. For others, it’s a relationship. For others, it’s money. “If I can just have _______, everything in my world will be right and I’ll have peace.”

Something in Leah changes though. In verse 35, her tone changes. “This time I will praise the Lord.” (verse 35, NIV) It’s as if she has made a mental shift to acknowledge where ultimate peace comes from. When she finally lays down her empty desires and opts to praise God anyway, she gives birth to Judah…the tribe of Jesus.

Perhaps that’s a good place to end this week and a good lesson to take away from Genesis 29. Is there something outside of Jesus in which we’re pinning our hopes for a bright future? Fame? Money? Power? Spouse? Kids? All those things will be found wanting. Don’t take my word for it though. I’ll leave you with two quotes from non-Christian, highly successful people and one short video of a highly successful Christian, Ryan Trahan:

Ash Ali: “If you pin your self-love and happiness to something external, you'll either keep moving the finish line and never be happy or you'll experience the most profound anticlimax in your life and get depressed when you realize that achieving your external goal does not fill the inner void.”

From an interview with Tom Brady:

Brady: “…There’s times where I’m not the person that I want to be. Why do I have three Super Bowl rings, and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, “Hey man, this is what is.” I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think: God, it’s gotta be more than this. I mean this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be. I mean I’ve done it. I’m 27. And what else is there for me?”

Interviewer: “What’s the answer?”

Brady: “I wish I knew. I wish I knew…”

Ryan Trahan:

This week’s AI rap summary:

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™