All right, so we are picking it up in Genesis 29. Jacob has been told by his father that he needs to get his butt out of there. And as we talked about last week and, uh, uh, Maddie, I was very, very happy that you pointed out the fact that, you know, he was actually out there with nothing. And that was, that's an important, important aspect of this whole thing. Uh, the other thing you need to understand is that Jacob is not 27 years old. when this is all happening. I was trying to get really a good handle on it. I tried to do the math myself. It's really hard to do, by the way, because it's like, you know, someone is, you know, and then did this happen at that time? What happened before that? And stuff, you know, stuff like that. But just to put it in perspective, he was probably around 75. based upon everything that I've been able to figure out. He was not younger than 50. That we know for a fact, because it's just the math doesn't work. And he probably wasn't much older than 75. So he's in that range, somewhere between 50 and 75, maybe 80 somewhere, but still unbelievably old, relatively speaking, for someone who has never been married, who has been living with his parents, It's kind of an interesting thing. I mean, even obviously in that day and age, that was not customary. We read about Esau, of course, was married at least for the first time, but possibly when he married the Hittite girls, that may not have even been the first time he wed. He was 40 years old when that happened. So it's kind of an interesting idea, but he works his way by himself over to the east and somehow directionally gets to Heron. I looked on a map just to kind of get an idea of just how we're talking about probably close to a 60 mile walk. 60 mile walk. Okay, so I don't know if you all have ever done a 60 mile walk. Has anybody ever done a 60 mile walk or anything even remotely close to something like that? I did a bike ride back when I was racing that was a fundraiser and we went from the Florida border down to Miami. And it took us three days to do that by bike. And it was right at 300, I forget what it was, I think it was 320 miles total. It was basically three straight centuries, we call them, you know, a hundred plus mile. And I thought to myself, this is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life. I'm serious, except when I was done. But while I was doing it, I remember when we hit Daytona Beach, I think was where we got to the first day, and I remember turning to one of my buddies who was with me and saying, is this the dumbest thing that we have ever done? And he went, the single dumbest thing we have ever done. It was just crazy. And of course, what everybody forgets is it's even worse when you're heading into the wind. And the whole entire time we're on this ride, the wind was out of the south. It never came out of the east, I don't think. At least not that I ever recall. And it certainly never came out of the north. So we're like into the wind the whole entire way. But the point is is that, I 60 mile on a 60 mile walk. First of all, to be able to stay on the right compass heading, you know, because all he's got is basically the sun, right? So he's just going by the sun pretty much and where it is and working his way and so forth. But it says that Jacob went on his journey. This is verse one. Jacob went on his journey, came to the land of the sons of the east. And he looked and he saw a well in the field and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it for from that well, they watered the flocks. Okay, so not only did he walk 60 miles across desert, basically, all by himself, but he hits a pinhead on the map, basically. So if there isn't some kind of miraculous God thing going on here, maybe I'm missing it. But that's the thing that to me is the most impressive about this whole entire story, is God takes him and just draws him a line and says, okay, boom, and he actually walks right up to the well where these guys all you know, do their sheep. Now, it says, he looked and he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it. Now, the stone on the mouth of the well was large. Now, what you have to understand is that what they would do is they would actually cover the well so that it wouldn't evaporate. That was the idea behind it. And we're not talking about a boulder the size of this room. because the wells back in those days were no more, the openings were no more than a couple of feet. That's basically what we're dealing with here. Those wells were not, you know, were not super wide. Randy can tell you what it's like digging down in dirt. You know, it's not easy. And so the wells are relatively small, so the stone is not that big, but it's there to protect against evaporation. It's basically the idea that's going on. So there was this, The stone on the mouth of the well was large, which would indicate that this well was bigger than most of the others that he had seen. And when all of the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep and put the stone back in its place at the mouth of the well. So this is a job. to do this. This is not just something you just walk up and say, hey, take a drink, girls. No, it doesn't work that way. So Jacob said to them, my brothers, where are you from? And they said, we are from Haran, which is, by the way, the place he knew he had to go to. And he was like, wow, this is incredible. This is cool. So Jacob says, my brothers, where are you from? And they said, we're from Haran. And he said to them, he says, do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? And they said, yes, we know him. And he said to them, is it well with him? Basically, he's asking him, is he alive? Is this guy still around? And they said, yes, he is well. Literally, that it is well, he is alive. That's basically what they're saying. Yes, he's alive. And behold, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep. Now, Rachel, of course, is the younger of the two daughters, and that was, I guess, her job, is what it's gonna tell us here later. And it says, behold, it is still high day, and it's not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, go and pasture them. But they said, we cannot until all the flocks are gathered and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and then we water the sheep. In other words, we do this together. Everybody kind of chips in. We all do this when we work together. And he says, and while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherd. And it came about when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went up, rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flocks of Laban his mother's brother. And then Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted his voice and wept. I remember the first time I read that and I thought to myself, that's the most bizarre thing I think I maybe have read in the Bible. That this guy just doesn't, has never met this girl, has never met these people, goes over, rolls away the stone by himself, carries out all the water, drinks, waters all the flock. Everybody's gotta be sitting there like, and this, by the way, doesn't take like a second. And then he kisses this girl, And then he starts crying. I don't know. It's just one of those situations that you sit there and you kind of look at it. So in my notes, what I wrote is he is crying. He's doing this, he arrives at the well, he's brought directly to the well. There's no indication that he's been praying for divine guidance, but I'm guessing he probably was. Lord, show me the way, what do I need to know here? It doesn't really tell us that, but you can presume that he's doing that. Jacob finds out that this is Laban's, this is where Laban is, that he's okay, his daughter is the shepherd, and it's kind of like love at first sight. And then it tells us a little bit about Rachel. It says, and Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative, that's actually Meshpucha, the family, that he was a family of her father and that he was Rebekah's son. And she ran and she told her father because of course she had heard about the exploits of Abraham. and Rebecca and Isaac and all the different things and so forth, I'm sure. And so it came about when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet him. He embraced him and he kissed him, different kind of kiss, obviously, than what he would have given to Rachel, brought him into his house. And then he related to Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, surely you are my bone and my flesh. And he stayed with him. a month. And then Laban said to Jacob, because you are my meshvucha, my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be? So now basically what they're doing is he's saying, look, you're going to stay here. Remember, he's got nothing. Guy's got the clothes on his back, basically. That's what he's got. And he's come in there with nothing. He's got nothing to give to Layvin except for his you know, ability to work. And so he's obviously worked for him for a month and he's realized, Laban that is, has realized, hey, this guy can work, man. This is not necessarily a bad person to have working, you know? And he obviously was strong. He was able to roll the stone away by himself at the well and so forth. So he's clearly someone who Laban wants to have working for him. And so he says, okay, well, what do you want? And then, Laban had two daughters the name of the older was Lear and the name of the younger was Rachel and it says Leah's eyes were Well that my Bible says weak and Yeah, that's the idea there was no light actually is the idea there it actually is the word Ray with a no in front of it. So there was no Ray is basically the idea behind this. By the way, Ruben's name starts out with Ray. And the idea is Ruben, this is a sight to the sun. So interesting. So it's like, There was no, so did that mean she couldn't see real well? Maybe she just didn't have any spark? We don't really know, okay? But Leah was definitely not the prized daughter. Let's put it that way, okay? And it says, but Rachel, Notice whenever this Bible says, but, it's really, they're trying to tell you that this is really a different situation. So, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face. Now, again, most expositors believe that this whole entire section was originally written by Jacob. So this is Jacob's perspective, actually. Remember that, because that's important for you to understand as we go through this, that you're reading this really from Jacob's perspective. and you're not reading it from anybody else's perspective. This is Jacob basically telling you what's going on. So obviously, Jacob really didn't have a whole lot going on for Leah, but he was head over heels over Rachel and wanted her more than any other thing. And we're gonna see that right here. It says, now Jacob loved Rachel. That word love there is important because we're gonna see that throughout this whole entire section, that word used about the fact that Jacob didn't love Leah. And so it's kind of a crazy, I'm telling you, as I said in my notes, this is bringing fun back to dysfunction. It really is. This is one of the most dysfunctional things in families that you're ever going to run into. And he's telling it from his perspective, which is probably the best perspective. So it could very well have been worse than what we're actually reading in reality, but we'll go with that. But it says, now Jacob loved Rachel. So he said, I will serve you for seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel. I'm like, wow, that's a pretty interesting bargain. And what was really interesting was he didn't get her at the beginning of the seven years. He's gonna get her at the end of the seven years. So he's gotta work for seven, wait, and then he gets the love of his life. So Laban said, it is better that I give her to you than I should give her to another man. Stay with me." So Laban says, this works for me. I get it. Okay. And the question that always came to my mind was, did Laban already know he was not going to give him Rachel up front? I've often wondered about that because the one thing you're going to see here in this whole entire story is Laban is not a nice person. Laban will do anything for a buck. Laban will do anything to get his own way. Laban will do whatever Laban needs to do to solve Laban's desires. This is the same brother of Rebecca that didn't want Rebecca to leave because he hadn't gotten enough from the survey. Correct. He didn't get enough money. He didn't get enough payment. from Abraham's servant, exactly. And so this is a guy who's got a bad history, and now, of course, it's just he hadn't changed. It was funny. I was watching a comedian yesterday, and she was so funny. And what I loved about this girl was she understood men and women so well. And she was talking about men and how, to the women, she was saying to the women, if you really wanna win a man, you have to understand two things about a man. Number one, he ain't gonna change. And number two, he doesn't change. So, It was really great. People don't change. The tears were coming out of my eyes. It was so funny. She's doing this. That's kind of what we got going on here with Laban. He was that way before, he's that way now because men don't change and yes, they never change. Laban, it is better I give her to you than some other man is kind of an interesting expression. Jacob served seven years for Rachel. Now you can see where this is coming from Jacob's perspective, by the way. They seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. That's a beautiful statement. This is approximately a 75-year-old Jacob. And this is his first cousin. So she must be, if not in her 70s, her 60s. She's not super old, but she's not super young either. She can't be. So this isn't a 22-year-old Jacob and a 17-year-old Rachel. No, and I think that's important that everybody understand and that it makes a lot more sense when you get into them giving the maids to Jacob that we're gonna see in a little bit. Okay, so and by the way, Leah is even older. Okay, so how much older is she? Who knows? She could be older than Jacob. Easy. Okay, so Let's keep going, this is great. So then Jacob says to Laban, give me my wife for my time is completed that I may go into her. In other words, all right, look, I've done my seven years and so forth, time to pay up. So Laban gathers all the men of the place, they make a feast, so they have this big wedding. And now it came about in the evening that he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him and Jacob went into her. Now, I have read all sorts of crazy things about how in the world could he have not known this was Leah, you know, not her and so forth. But my guess is, and this would be true of that time as well as now, she was veiled. She was completely veiled. This is not a real, I'm trying to say this politely, but this is not really an encounter kind of thing. This is just basically we're doing the deed. and we're getting it over with, and let's go. That's kind of what's going on. It's not romantic. This is a contractual obligation. It's not even romantic. Maybe there's a little wine in the mix. Yeah, there could be a little bit of wine in the mix. I don't know. The point is, is that- We've waited seven years. I don't think it was wham, bam, and done. Well, whatever. But at the end of the day, who knows? We've waited seven years. It probably was. It's hard to say, okay. Yeah. And I'm trying to bring it back. All right. So let's get back into the text. Okay. So. So then in verse 24, it says, Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. And that is actually the word, as her helper or whatever. And so it came about in the morning that behold, it was Leah. And he says to Laban, that being Jacob, what have you done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me? But Laban said, it is not the practice of our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. Well, why didn't you tell me that seven years ago? But no, he tells him that after the fact, you know, and okay. That's the fun in dysfunction. This is the fun in dysfunction. But now listen to this, this is great. So he says, complete the week of this one and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve for me for another seven years. Now, at least in this case, he's now giving her, or giving him, excuse me, Rachel, after just seven days, so he doesn't have to wait another seven years, which I don't think Jacob would've hung around for another seven years, I'm just thinking, okay? But he just basically figured another way to exploit this guy for another seven years. Now, what you have to understand is that Jacob still really doesn't have any place to go. Because even after seven years, he's been working for Laban, but his wages have been just that he's waiting for Rachel. He hadn't got anything. So it's not like he's got any flocks. It's not like he's got any money. It's not like he's got any property. He's got nothing. He's still basically at Laban's bequest, or behest, excuse me. So he's got really no other place to go. But nevertheless, it says that You complete this week and I'll give it to you. So Jacob did so, completed her week, and gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. So now he's got both of them. And this is where it gets really interesting, okay? So listen to what happens. So Jacob did so, completed that, so Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. So again, these are just slaves, okay? These are just people that they've taken into their home and whatever and so forth, and that, you know, that's the way it's going. And so Jacob went into Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years. Now the Lord saw that Leah was not loved. the Lord saw that Leah was not loved. And that to me has always been kind of an interesting statement because it kind of makes the whole thing, it's really the most important part of this whole entire story, is that Jacob not only loved Rachel, but he didn't love Leah, excuse me. And what's fascinating is when the Bible says, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated, that's the word. It's the same word. So that's the same Hebrew word. So what he's saying here is that in the same way that God despised Esau, that's kind of the same way that he despised Leah because Leah stood for everything that he didn't want and Rachel stood for everything that he did want and the predicament that he was in. And I'm just thinking at this point, Jacob is not a happy man. He really isn't. As we go through this story, the one thing that you can see about Jacob is that he is already starting to try to figure out how he's going to get out of this thing. But nevertheless it says, the Lord saw that Leah was unloved and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Now, if you think about this logically, these are older people, that was probably not that, you know, that wasn't really that unexpected. It should have been, frankly, it should have been expected. And so it says that Leah, excuse me, Leah conceived and she bore a son and she named him Rabban. Ra meaning see, bain meaning son, see my son. That's kind of the idea there, you know, see my son. Now, what I also think is interesting is, as we read all of these kids that are now born to Jacob, and there's 13 that are named, there's the 12 sons and the one daughter that's named, there's possibility, by the way, he had more daughters, too. There's no reason to believe that he only had the one daughter, but nevertheless, we don't know that. We just know that the one that's named is Dinah. But the first one was called Simas. And each one of these kids are named by their mother, specifically by Leah or by Rachel. That's who does the naming. Even the children that came as a result of him sleeping with the concubines were named by the mother. or excuse me, by Leah, or well, in this case, always by Leah. So Leah names this one, Rabban, Reuben, C, my son, C, I have a son. And for, yeah. Just for a second, I think this, when we talked about the age of these people, within this little text, it gives us a little glimpse of what's actually happening here in an aging process. if they're bearing children, you know, older, he's ages, obviously the aging process as we know it is different. Sure. And, and, and clearly, uh, Abraham lived to be 175. Uh, if you go to Genesis 35, I believe it is, or maybe it's 36, 35, 36, something like that. We read that Isaac died when he was 180. So, and by the way, everybody thought he was going to die 40 years before that. So that's how we know that he was 140. He's a good looking people. Yeah. I mean, yes. Yeah. It's pretty incredible if you think about this. Okay. So Don, I'm sorry. I, yeah. Before we get too far on, I kind of want to crawl into a little bit, the whole, It's just that, so Leah is, she'll be the matriarch of the Messiah line, right? So Rachel's not, right? And so Jacob is getting into this marriage. He's now marrying two women instead of one, which is opposed to the divine plan. He's chosen one based on the beauty of the world. Correct that she's beautiful to look at and whatnot and yet God has this vision for Leah and or Leah and and then opens her womb to ensure his Like I mean, I'm assuming that's why he's doing it but to ensure that his plan Is going to happen is such a classic example of, my thoughts are not your thoughts, sayeth the Lord. I mean, just it really, I mean, we come back to that on a regular basis, but it truly is. I mean, this is not what Jacob wanted. Jacob wanted Rachel. He wanted his kids to come from Rachel. He didn't want his kids to come from Leah. God wanted his kid, the most important kid, which is Judah, as it turns out, to come from the one that was unloved, the one that was despised, basically. And I think it's interesting because in Isaiah, it says that he was despised, same word again, He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Speaking about the Messiah. So this idea that this whole line is basically outside of what everybody wants to have happen is such an interesting part to me. You know, the natural thought would have been, well, Isaac, Isaac wanted, did he want Jacob? No, he wanted Esau. Did Jacob want any of the sons of Leah? No, especially when you look at what he does later on, and we're gonna see that, he adores Joseph, and I think even more adores Benjamin. But they're not the selected one, even though they are the one in the world's eyes, Joseph, that is, the one in the world's eyes who was the most important of all of his sons. But that's not who God said the Messiah's gonna come through. I love the scripture, and I appreciate you just saying that, Matt, because that put a different flavor on it for me. Because in the New World Scripture, it says that the Lord opened up her womb. So it's identifying that who's actually in control. And the Lord closed Rebecca's womb. He's always in control. It's so true. And I mean, that's the point. I mean, I love the way you put this word, the world, and Godliness. And it's just showing that God is always in control, even though they think they're in control. God has everything in His hand. And so I love the fact that it lays out that the Lord, because everything that God does, He let us know in Scripture. what his plans are. Yeah. And you can see that kind of clearly if you look at it, you know. There's no doubt. I mean, it just, it just keeps on going too. So let's look at the second born. Now it says, uh, or she says the reason she called him, uh, Robin, uh, Ruben, as we would say in English, uh, Robin, uh, for, uh, for, she said, because the Lord has seen raw, uh, has, has seen my affliction. Uh, surely now my husband will love me. Isn't that interesting? She's like her heart, her heart's desires for this guy to just to love her. That's what she wants more than any other single thing. She wants Jacob to love her. Uh, but Jacob doesn't, and it doesn't ever appear to me that he ever did. or ever does, which is really a tragedy. But look at what she says. Then she conceived again. She bore a son and said, because the Lord has heard, Shema, the Lord has heard that I am unloved, despised, He has therefore given me this son also, and she named him Simeon, which is the possessive of Shema. It's the noun version of that same word. It means to be heard. So whenever we say Shema, which, you know, hear, obey, that's a verb. The noun version of Shema is Simon, which is what she's basically naming him, to be heard. And so, or one who hears, basically, is the idea behind that. And so, therefore, she names him Shema, or Simeon, and she conceived again, and she bore a son, and said, now, this time, my husband will be united, or become attached, but the word there is actually united, will be united to me. In other words, She's thinking now, okay, well, she's familiar with God had said to Abram, or excuse me, to Adam in the very beginning, because everybody basically knew the oral tradition that the two shall become flesh and they shall become echad, they shall become one. And so she's saying, okay, I'm sure this is now gonna do it. First one didn't do it, all right. Second one didn't do it, but now I've got this third one. Yeah, this is the one that's gonna unite us. Because I have born him three sons, therefore she named him Levi. And Levi literally in Hebrew means to be joined together, united, that's what it means. means to be joined together. And so she conceived again and she bore a son and said, this time I will praise the Lord. This is great. So she's now gone from, I'm going to make this happen. Now I'm going to ask God to make this happen. So, and isn't it interesting that that's the one that God used for the line of the Messiah. So she says, so she's conceived again and this time she'll pray. So what does she call him? She calls him Judah. Yehuda, which is basically to praise the Lord. It means, you know, it's the root of hallelujah, by the way. So we see this incredible thing, and then it says, then she stopped bearing. Hallelujah, she stops bearing, okay? Wow. Just for a little bit. No, it's just for a little bit. Yeah, exactly. We're going to get to that. Okay, so keep on going. It says, and when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became envious or jealous of her sister. And she said to Jacob, give me children or else I die. I'm thinking Jacob at this point is going, are you kidding me? That's the only thing I've ever wanted. You think I'm happy about this result, that this is the way God has done this? This is not what I asked for. So it says, then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel. And he said, am I in the place of God who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb? And she said, here is my maid Bilhah, go into her. Now, I want you to see something that's interesting, because you remember that scripture that says the sins of the father, you know, pass from generation to generation. These guys are doing the same things that their fathers and grandfathers had done. I mean, and they're just messing up over and over and over. It's just like it's a perpetual issue. And it also shows that that was not considered a problem in those days to give your maid, the person that is the slave actually of the women of the house, to her husband. That was apparently something that was done all the time. And so again, and by the way, this is important, this is kind of an interesting little sidebar when I was reading about this. In America, a couple hundred years ago, one of the justification of slave owners for having children with their slaves was this section of scripture. Isn't that crazy? This is the very section of scripture that they would go to and say, look, the Bible says it's okay to make children with your slaves. That's a bizarre thought, but nevertheless, that's where people go. And so that's just a little sidebar, little thing over here that I think is kind of interesting. And sad, frankly, very tragic. But again, you can see the dysfunction of this family. It gets even more interesting. So now it says, Jacob's anger burns against Rachel, where am I doing this, blah, blah. And so she suggests, here's my maid, go into her, that she may bear on my knees. In other words, the idea is that she'll bear the child Rachel will be the person that catches her. That child will become Rachel's. And so she gave him her maid and Jacob went into her. And so you see this thing bearing itself out. Bilba conceives and she bears Jacob a son. Rachel says, God has judged me, or judged on behalf of me, has vindicated me, is basically the idea. God has listened to me. He's saying this is okay. That's her take on it, at least. And has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son. Therefore, she named him Dan. Dan means to judge. for the judge, actually. And so, this fifth born is Dan. And then she says, and Rachel's maid, Bilba, conceived again. She bore Jacob, another son. And so Rachel said, with mighty wrestling, I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed. So she named him Naphtali, which means to fight. So she names this child after the fighting that she's having with her sister over this whole entire issue. And when Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid. This is like, so interesting. She takes her maid, Zilpah, and she gave her to Jacob as a wife. And Leah's maid, Zilpah, bore Jacob a son. And then Leah said, how fortunate, so she named him Gad, which means good fortune. Okay, we're just gonna keep right on going here, it just doesn't even slow down. And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And then Leah said, happy or blessed, actually the word there is literally blessed. Blessed am I. For the woman will call me blessed. So she named him Asher, which means bless and or happy. And it's a little different than the religious word for blessed, which is Baruch, and which is where you actually are blessing someone. The act of being blessed is Asher. So if I bless you with Baruch, if you accept that blessing, it's Asher. And so she is accepting the blessing, is what she's saying in his name. Now, in the days of the weed harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field. and brought them to his mother Leah. And then Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes. Does this sound familiar again, going back to Esau and Jacob? Okay, this is fascinating. But she said to her, it is a small matter for you to take my husband, and would you also take my son's mandrakes also? So. Like pumpkin. Yeah, basically, yeah. So Rachel said, therefore, therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son's pumpkins or for your son's magic. This is nuts. I'm sorry. It's just so interesting to see how Jacob is telling the story, okay? Okay, so yeah. When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Jacob's been out working all day, okay? He's been out doing his thing. He's tired, he's hot, he's miserable, he's sweaty, he's all, you know, not appealing at all. Then Leah went out to meet him and said, you must come in to me for I have surely hired you with my son's pantry." So now Jacob is like, what did I just hear? Let me unplug my ears here. This has got to be something. There's something bizarre going on. So he lay with her that night, because that's what he did, all right? And so Jacob gave heed to Leah. She conceives, and so now all of a sudden, now she's back in business. And Jacob bore her a fifth son. And Leah said, God has given me my wages. This is an interesting one. Actually, the word there literally is a reward. It's not just, it's not for what you earn, it's actually a gift. The idea is that the word is actually, that he's given her a reward. And it's interesting because it's a very common word, shechar, in Hebrew. It's a word that's even used today. And she named him Ish Shechar, which means my reward. So she was possessing this as her reward. So she named him Ishachar. He paid me my reward. And Leah conceives again, and she bears a sixth son to Jacob. Leah said, God has endowed me with a good gift. So again, this idea of this gift is passed on to this next child as well. Now, my husband will dwell with me. So she's no longer saying he'll love me. He'll now live with me because he's not dwelling with her. He's dwelling with Rachel. That's who he's dwelling with. And now he'll dwell with me because I have born him six sons. And so she named him Zebulun, which means to dwell. And this is getting even more bizarre, okay? And afterwards she bore him a daughter and she named her Dinah, which means justice. So this is, you know, she's now got all sorts of kids. She's got at least seven that we can, six sons and at least one daughter. And then God remembered Rachel and God gave heed to her and opened her womb for, I'm sorry, and opened her womb so she conceived and bore a son and said, God has taken away my reproach. Actually, the word there is emptiness completely. That's the idea. So she's, God has taken away my emptiness. Why? Well, because she's seen all these people having children and she's not part of it, you know, the deal. And so she names him Joseph, which is a crazy, crazy word because Joseph means to add to myself. means to add to myself, and it's a, personally I would have a hard time naming my child Joseph, frankly, because this is actually a really, almost a self-centered kind of, thing that she's doing here, but she names him Joseph, which means to add to me, not add to the house, not add to Jacob, no, just adds to me. May the Lord give me another son. And so she's not only in that name saying that this was added, but that God is going to add to her another son. which by the way actually does happen when she gives birth to Benjamin. Now, it came about that when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, send me away that I may go to my own place and to my own country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served for you and let me depart for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you. Now, remember, He still has nothing. other than his children and his wife. There's no evidence that he's been given any property. There's no evidence that he's been given any, in fact, we're gonna see here, he certainly hasn't been given any flocks because he basically figures a way out to try to get a flock. And that's a whole nother interesting story that we probably are not gonna have time to get into today, because there's too much to go over in the whole speckle thing. I really wanna spend some time on that. But he says, And Laban said to him, if now it pleases you, stay with me. And this is really interesting, the word here in Hebrew. It says, I have, and my Bible says, divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account. The word divined there is actually the Hebrew word for witchcraft. Yeah, it's actually the idea of witchcraft. So he's saying that this is done by some kind of supernatural. In other words, he's saying it's supernatural, but it's not really like he believes that God has done this. It's kind of like it's a religious thing. It's almost a supernatural kind of thing and so forth. We see this crazy kind of deal with Laban, and that's important that that's introduced because we're going to see that he is really upset later on in this chapter, or maybe it's the next chapter, where he talks about the terrafem. which is the divining rods and all that kind of stuff. So this guy is really into this whole mystical kind of thing. And by the way, this is something that historically stays with Israel. This idea of trying to find the supernatural without actually having a relationship spiritually with God. And that's something going on even to this day, the Kabbalah and all those types of things and so forth that are going on within Israel. But listen to what he says. He says, name me your wages and I will give it. And he said to him, you yourself know that I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. For you have had little before I came and has increased to a multitude and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turn. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also? In other words, he's saying like, when do I get my part of this? And remember, Laban's got his own kids. Laban's got his own people. And we're gonna see that too as we get into this. And so he says, well, what shall I give you? And Jacob says, you shouldn't give me anything. And so this is where Jacob is actually being very, very intelligent. He's like, no, I don't want you to give me anything. I want to earn it. I want nobody to be able to say that I stole it from you. I don't want anybody to say that I took it from you or that I maneuvered or that I negotiated. No, I just want to somehow earn it. And so he comes up with this idea of the spotted lambs and so forth that we'll talk about next week. But I want you to look at the sons of Jacob real quick. And I want to end on this because I think there is a, There's an order here which makes it very interesting. And I think there's an order in the sons, but there's also some other things in this thing. First of all, Jacob has a messed up conception of love. That's the first thing you pick up right away. He falls head over heels over Rachel. He'll do anything he possibly can to get Rachel. And while he's doing that, he ends up despising Leah. And that's a very, very challenging situation because God obviously loves Leah. which is another piece of this. It's like the men don't pick up in this family what they're supposed to pick up. But God loves Leah and is gonna bless Leah and has totally blessed Leah. Now he also remembers, isn't that interesting? He remembers Rachel. It never says that God necessarily thought Rachel was this prized possession. She was of the world. And we have this picture of worldliness versus spiritual that I think is a huge issue, a huge issue. Jacob was falling in love with the things of the world. He was, it's just a fact. And I think it's not by accident that John says, love not the world. He doesn't say it in another way, he uses that word, love not the world. Neither the things that are in the world, that would be the Rachel's of the world. For even though they're beautiful, they're going to pass away. They're not going to last. And so God doesn't necessarily pick the earthly beauty for his servants, for the people that he chooses. He chooses them because God has a plan for them. And it's not an earthly plan. It is an everlasting plan. That's the point that Jesus is always making. It's all about where are you going, not where you are. Are you paying attention to your spiritual destiny? Are you paying attention to where you're going ultimately? Or are you just focused on what's going on right now? Because the problem with the world is it's very attractive. Just like Rachel. It's very attractive. And the things of God are not necessarily as attractive. Like Leah, she had weak eyes. She didn't have that sparkle or whatever it is that we're looking for. The other thing that I think is important here is that for all of this craziness, Jacob is a person of integrity. He honors his word. Every time he says he's gonna do something, he actually does it. which is fascinating to me because most people, when they talk about Jacob, they talk about him being a deceiver and being this awful human being, and he just, you know, he's always, you know, scheming and conniving, but the truth of the matter is, I don't see that. I mean, maybe I'm just missing it, but I don't see it. The guy is an amazing work ethic. What I love about Jacob more than any other single thing, and we are going to see this all the way up until the day the man dies, is if he says something, that is his bond. He does not break his word. It's fascinating how that gets him in trouble a lot. Actually, even in this case, it gets him in trouble. I also think it's interesting that there's a picture of Jacob here of that when he was reviled, he doesn't revile back. He doesn't try to get payback. He's not looking for his piece of flesh or a pound of flesh or whatever that expression is. But then I wrote something here and I think it's really important. However, through this period, Jacob never calls on God. Did you pick up on that? You don't see Jacob once, not even once, saying, hey God, what do you think about all this? Now remember, this is a man who God speaks to more than any other person in the Bible. 16 different, I think it's 16 or it's nine, I forgot, I had it written, but I don't remember. It's a bunch of times. In fact, when he was on his way, he spoke to him. You know, at Bethel, I mean, and I think clearly for him to hit that spot on the map that's nothing more than a, you know, than a needle in a haystack, God had to be speaking to him the whole entire way, had to, even if he didn't know it. He started him on the journey. I'm sorry? He started him on the journey. Exactly. God tells him exactly what he, but he doesn't, there's no, there's, There's no evidence here that during this whole entire 20-year period that he's with Laban that he's doing much praying or that he's asking God much of anything. But the evidence is the reward that Jacob is given when Nathan, when Laban, increase everything that Jacob touches. has increased everything. And that's what he recognized. But he don't recognize God because of where he's at in this country. But everything that Jacob touches, God have blessed and prospered. And so that's the evidence that God was with, because God don't have to speak. Oh, there's no question. That's exactly right. And so we see this picture of Jacob going through this whole entire situation and he's just going along, it appears to me. And unfortunately, he does things along the way that may or may not be the right thing to do. Who knows? but he's not asking God. He's not letting God give him the kind of direction and so forth. So God just basically does it himself, which is really cool to me. So even though he's not asking, God just does what he needs to do anyway, and I think that's really important. It's fascinating because one of the things that makes magic work, magic shows work, what makes it work is they think, they make it seem like you're making the choice when you're not really making the choice at all? Well, no, it's not necessarily deception. It's really just more, you know, they basically put certain illusions there that make you think, oh, well, yeah, I gotta step this way. Well, because you've been basically kind of... told to do that, you know, kind of thing. And I'm sure there's a name for this. I have no idea what they would call it, but nevertheless, I'm sure there is. But nevertheless, we see this kind of happening with Jacob. God does certain things, and he probably thinks he's making these choices when, in fact, it's God that's making all these choices, which is really fascinating to me. And so we see that kind of thing. But there's also one final thing, and then we'll talk about the whole thing about him gaining his wealth next week, but there is no way that anybody will ever convince me that polygamy makes any sense. I'm sorry, it just doesn't make any sense. It is insanely one of the dumbest things. I have a whole thing in your notes if you want to read it about my thoughts on polygamy and so forth. I didn't get into it, but I'll let you guys look at it. But polygamy and all kinds, I don't care if it's modern polygamy or polygamy in those days, whatever. But I think that it always engenders strife. It just does. It creates jealousy. It creates all sorts of challenges and so forth. It could have something to do with why he didn't pray much for 20 years. He's got four women. I think I'd be praying more too. But the other thing about what you said, Don, is the mere fact that Jacob had no bitterness in his heart. He had no envy. it's like it's almost like joseph when he went down when his brother sold him out to slavery it was all part of god's plan and you don't see nowhere where joseph had any type of get back yeah you know what i'm saying and jacob the same way it just shows some from my perspective a characteristic of god so i want to do I want to do one final thing, and that is, this is in your notes, and what I called this was the typological significance of the names of Jacob's sons, kind of the order. Listen to this, this is really interesting. The first was see a son. And so the first thing that we learn about Jacob's family was that it's about sonship. And the Bible tells us right at the very beginning of John that we needed to understand that our relationship with God comes through His Son. It doesn't come through any other form. It goes through His Son. Simeon means to hear and to listen. And of course, that's the first thing that Jesus says to us is that he wants us to listen to his words and listen to what he says and listen to the son. Levi says then that we are united. And so we end up with a situation that if we listen to him, we become in Christ. You become united with him, which of course allows us to Judah, which is to praise. And so it's because we're in Christ that we can actually praise God. And then Jesus says, but once you're in this relationship with God, be careful how you judge, because in the way that you're judged is, or excuse me, the way you judge is the way in which you will be judged. And so be very careful about judgment because judgment is a spiritual discernment. And, of course, we see that in 1 Corinthians 2, where it says that he who is spiritual is not judged, but he judges all things because he is, in fact, spiritual. Well, of course, the fifth son was called Dan, who was to judge. But the problem that we have as believers is that throughout our entire existence and throughout our entire lives, we wrestle with this whole thing of spirituality. That's Romans chapter 7. This whole idea that we know we're supposed to go in one direction, but we don't go in that direction all the time. And so we end up fighting. with ourselves as much as, and with the spirit that dwells within us. And of course that's Naphtali, because we wrestle with God. But the Bible tells us that we are overcomers. that we're going to overcome that. And John, of course, tells us that in 1 John 2, that we are going to overcome. And, of course, that's what gad means. Gad means to overcome. And, of course, the effect of that, that when we are, in fact, overcomers, we are blessed of God. And so Asher means that we are blessed. And then of course, when we are blessed, God promises to every single one of us that in our eternal, when we get to be with him, he's going to give us rewards. And those rewards are what Ishgar means. And that's the thing that God promises for our time. And when we're with him, we're going to dwell with him. We're going to live with him. We're going to reside with him. And of course, that's exactly what Zebulon means. It means to reside, to rest in the Lord. And of course, that's the beauty of the scripture, tells us that we ultimately can enter into his rest now, but forever we're going to enter into his eternal rest. By the way, that's one of the reasons why the expression, may he rest in peace came from. is from that idea that we rest in the Lord. And then, of course, God gives us the final two sons, which are Joseph and Benjamin. And Joseph, of course, means that God is going to add two. And this we see because once we enter into that place, God is going to add two. us. He's going to always add to the family of God. He wants us to be sharing our faith so that we're bringing others to this relationship with him. And then Benjamin is the final son, which means son of my right hand, when the Bible, of course, tells us that our final reward is sitting at the right hand of God. Ephesians chapter two tells us that we are positionally seated at the right hand of God right now. but the revelation tells us that we're going to be there everlastingly. So I think the names of the children of Israel are fascinating. that you can actually draw that picture. So anyhow, that's it. We're gonna go and we'll get into the sheep and so forth as we go forward. And then we'll get back to where Jacob has to deal with Esau. So lots in this and I think it's pretty interesting. So let's end in a word of prayer and get out of here.