Slices
Prepare
‘Aren’t two sparrows sold for a small coin? But not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father knowing about it already’ (Matthew 10:29, CEV). Who are the ‘sparrows’ (people considered worthless) in your community?
Bible passage
14 Then Laban said to him, ‘You are my own flesh and blood.’
Jacob marries Leah and Rachel
After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, 15 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.’
16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, ‘I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.’
19 Laban said, ‘It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.’ 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.’
22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. 24 And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.
25 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?’
26 Laban replied, ‘It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the elder one. 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.’
28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. 30 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.
Explore
I wonder when the conversation took place – and how it went. ‘Leah, that wedding dress that Rachel has been preparing – you’re going to wear it. You’re marrying Jacob!’
Was Leah a willing participant? Did she have any right to argue with her father or was she just a chattel to be disposed of as he wished? What was it like to go through the wedding ceremony and celebrations, knowing that he thought she was someone else? Was there a moment of triumph that the marriage was consummated without a hitch? (Was Jacob too drunk to notice?) What did it feel like when Jacob looked at her with horror the morning after (v 25)? And to be supplanted a week after her wedding day – what was that like? Where was God through it all? He is not even mentioned. Was it all a terrible mistake?
Jesus on the cross felt deserted by God, and cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46). Praise God that he hadn’t forsaken Jesus (or Leah) but is able to work out his holy purposes even through human treachery and deviousness.
Respond
Pray for people trapped in appalling situations the world over – and for organisations that work to share God’s love and help these people access their rights, such as www.stopthetraffik.org, https://jubileedebt.org.uk/ and https://www.ijmuk.org/.
Deeper Bible study
Through floods and flames he leads me safely on, / and daily makes his sovereign goodness known.’1 Trust yourself afresh into God’s safe keeping.
The reading today starts where we left off yesterday. Family harmony reigns. Kind Uncle Laban refuses to play on the family relationship to freeload on Jacob. Instead he agrees to pay him for his service. It is all going so well – but the storyline begins to go south very quickly, reflecting our messy and broken world. Jacob’s love and devotion are cynically manipulated by Laban for his own ends. Having been a master of duplicity, Jacob is now outschemed by Laban, who claims tradition as cover for his actions (v 26). Jacob shows remarkable faithfulness and perseverance in the circumstances, true love conquering a justified sense of injustice. Human love can have that transforming effect. But is there more? Jacob’s experience of God at Bethel had brought him to a point of submission that changed his whole perspective on his life. The hardships he faced were part of living out the vow he had made.2 God was watching over him, even in the unfairness of Laban’s underhandedness.
Is God really at work in the messiness of family life, the complexity of relationships and the deviousness of people who have authority over us? If God is truly the hero of the biblical narrative, then this is much more than the Jacob story. This is about God working out his promise through mixed motives, self-interest and frustration. Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached, even when motives were suspect.3 Without condoning such attitudes, we are entirely confident that God is at work. We remain confident even when the process drags on. Is it significant that the long period for which Jacob serves Laban breaks into two periods of seven, the number of completeness? In the very worst of circumstances, God carries out his work to perfection.
What’s your greatest frustration now? Could God be at work, not despite it but through it? Reflect on what God may be doing. Express trust even if no answer emerges.
1 William Gadsby, 1773–1844, ‘Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head’ 2 Gen 28:20,21 3 Phil 1:15–18
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Job 7,8; Psalms 81,82
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray that the LifeSpace prayer spaces run by the Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust will help secondary school students reflect on choices they have to make and to see the way that God might be involved in their lives.
