Slices
Prepare
Think of a time when you were in unfamiliar surroundings. Did anyone welcome you and try to help you feel at home? If that was a positive experience, what was good about it? If it was a negative experience, what might have made it better?
Bible passage
Jacob arrives in Paddan Aram
29 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. 2 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. 3 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.
4 Jacob asked the shepherds, ‘My brothers, where are you from?’
‘We’re from Harran,’ they replied.
5 He said to them, ‘Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?’
‘Yes, we know him,’ they answered.
6 Then Jacob asked them, ‘Is he well?’
‘Yes, he is,’ they said, ‘and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.’
7 ‘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.’
8 ‘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.’
9 While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. 10 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. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. 12 He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father.
13 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. 14 Then Laban said to him, ‘You are my own flesh and blood.’
Explore
Here we see God delivering on his promise to look after Jacob: what were the chances, in a world without satnavs, maps or even roads, of him turning up at the right well just as Rachel got there (v 9)? We worry about so many things – how will we make ends meet, how things will work out etc. Matthew 6:25–34 tells us not to worry: God looks after birds and flowers; how much more will he provide for you!
This passage provides an interesting cameo of the nameless shepherds. Three flocks (and presumably at least three shepherds) had already arrived and were waiting for others to come so that they could work together to remove the stone that protected their well. Sometimes, I feel it might be easier to do something by myself, but when I work with a team there are always so many benefits and blessings. Rather than showing suspicion towards Jacob, a stranger, the shepherds welcomed him and answered politely, even when he tried to tell them how to do their jobs (v 7)!
Respond
Hebrews 13:2 encourages us to be hospitable. What does that look like in your context? Thank God for his provision for you and ask him to show you ways to share that with others.
Deeper Bible study
'Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me.’1 As you think through your plans for today, envisage them all in the light of these words.
Well-side encounters play a noteworthy part in God’s purposes. Such a location played a part in Jacob’s father and mother’s coming together and in Moses finding a wife.2 Most famously, Jesus’ encounter with the woman of Samaria at Jacob’s well helped her discover a genuine love amidst many failed attempts.3 Now, Jacob’s life and relationships will be moulded by another chance encounter at a well. Except, of course, we don’t believe in chance encounters when God is at work. Some meetings in everyday places may seem less pivotal in the purposes of God, but for the believer they carry significance borne out of the belief that whatever we do is done ‘as working for the Lord’.4
Psalm 121 tells us that God watches over our coming and going. The explanation for Jacob’s tears when he meets and kisses Rachel is doubtless multifaceted, but partly it’s a sense of relief and thankfulness that God has brought him from his home, going ahead to prepare the way and bringing him right into the middle of his extended family – and into the company of a beautiful woman to boot! It is very similar to, although less voluble than, the words of Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24:26,27, spoken in praise of the God who leads. God fulfils his intentions through people who believe he will lead them and who press on regardless of adverse circumstances. Jacob is not thrown off course by the thinking of the Haran shepherds. Their negativity will not ‘make him once relent’.5 Of course, it is vitally important that we remember that God’s leading does not mean plain sailing. The next part of the story will knock that idea on the head. Meantime, here is a family at peace.
As you visit routine places today – the bus stop, the train, the water cooler, the supermarket, the toddler group – what is the Lord leading you to say or do?
1 From St Patrick’s Breastplate 2 Gen 24:11–25; Exod 2:15–17 3 John 4:1–26 4 Col 3:23 4 John Bunyan, 1628–88, ‘He who would valiant be’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Job 5,6; Luke 15
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the staff team in the north as they meet today, asking that God will give them wisdom as they look for the best ways to reach the 95 with the good news of Jesus.
