“Love at first sight,” is a term many use when they encounter someone that immediately captures their attention. They are so drawn to that person that it seems no one else is in the room. This is how Jacob felt when he first saw Rachel. However, it is a beautiful love story with twists, turns, and consequences.
Jacob had fled from his home to escape the wrath of his brother Esau. He had stolen his brothers’ blessing through a scheme his mother had plotted. In Genesis 29 the details are laid out of his journey. Rebekah, his mother had sent him to Laban’s, his uncle, in Haran. As he approaches the land of Haran he encounters men with sheep at a well. He asks where they are from, and they confirm he is in Haran. He asks if they know his uncle Laban, and they answer in the affirmative and inform him that Rachel, his daughter, is approaching with sheep. Jacob is overcome with relief that he has finally found his place of refuge.
Genesis 29:10-13 “And it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.”
The Bible tells us that Rachel was very beautiful. Jacob loved her from their first encounter. His uncle gives him a place to lodge and work to do. Laban asks what his wages should be, and Jacob agrees to work for seven years for the hand of Rachel in marriage. Laban agrees. This had to be deep love, for he worked for seven years and they seemed to him a few days. Wow, what a Hallmark movie that would make!
Genesis 29:20 “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had for her.”
At the end of seven years, the plan is made for Rachel to become his wife. There would be a feast, and a ceremony and Rachel would be given to Jacob. Laban cruelly deceived both of his daughters. The cruel deception of Leah, the older sister, was giving her to marry a man who did not love her. Rachel was deceived because it was to be her wedding night, with the one she had waited on for seven years. As Leah entered the ceremony closely veiled, according to their custom, Jacob received her as his wife. It was not until morning that he realized he was deceived. We do not know all the details of this deception, such as Rachel and Leah’s reaction, but we do know Jacob’s reaction. He speaks to Laban and the answer is, the younger cannot marry before the older. He must now work seven years more for Rachel.
I can’t help but think Jacob must have had flashbacks to the deception that put him in this place. Leah had stolen the blessing from her sister, through her father’s deceit. Jacob had stolen the blessing of his brother Esau, by deceiving his father Isaac. Deception must have run in the family. Laban had been the author of Jacob’s deception, and his sister Rebekah had been the author of Isaac’s deception. Rebekah had instructed Jacob to cover himself with hairy animal skin and venison-smell, to make himself appear as Esau. Isaac questioned his voice, but due to failed sight he used the sense of touch and smell to convince himself it was Esau, and he gave the blessing to Jacob. He had deceived his blind and dying father and now he was the receiver of deception, not the participant.
When I read about their lives in the Bible I remember the phrase, “what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive.” Truly this family could not see the value of honesty, integrity, sincerity, or truthfulness. Now Jacob was reaping what he sowed.
Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
What God says is the truth! We can try to change it, rearrange it, or ignore it, but God is ultimately in control, and nothing we can do can escape the laws he has put in place. While it is true he forgives us, we still suffer the consequences of our sins. Jacob must have thought he was free of the consequences of his sin of deception. He was enjoying the life he now had with his Uncle Laban and the company of his beloved Rachel.
Little did he know at this point what the future would hold for him. The deception of his father would forever haunt him. He now had a family of two wives that were jealous of one another. Leah was jealous of Rachel because Rachel was loved the most, and Rachel, of Leah because she could easily bear children.
God blessed Jacob with 13 children, 12 sons, and 1 daughter. Jacob was later renamed Israel by God. He is blessed as a patriarch of the nation Israel, but Jacob would forever be reminded of his sin of deception as he looked at his family he so dearly loved. Sin will always be found out and there is always a price to pay. You may think that all is well and you have gotten away with your sin, but look out, God says in Numbers 32:23 “be sure your sin will find you out!” We don’t know how, where, or when, but God does not lie.
