Steven Furtick - Sister Wives (Unexpected Blessings) (06/15/2017)
From Genesis 29-30, the pastor preaches "Sister Wives" (or "Unexpected Blessings") on Jacob's deceptive marriage to Leah instead of Rachel, their rivalry, manipulation through servants and mandrakes, and the births that form Israel's tribes. Amid rejection, jealousy, and control attempts, God brings unexpected blessings—Leah's line produces Judah (leading to Jesus), Rachel's Joseph saves the family—showing redemption from human mess into divine purpose.
Introduction: Philosophy of Preaching and Series Context
I'm preaching today from Genesis chapter 29 and 30. We'll cover quite a bit of scripture, but we'll do it quickly and hopefully in a way that's engaging and even entertaining, but mostly enlightening. And I'm calling this message, Sister Wives. You'll see why, as I preach it, if you want to give it a more serious, studious, academic title, we'll call it Unexpected Blessings. Unexpected Blessings.
Touch somebody, say, you're about to get blessed in an unexpected way. Let me explain what I mean by that. First of all, a little background. Before we started Elevation Church, I was traveling around the country, speaking primarily to youth, young adults. That's my background. I retired from preaching to students, but I come out of retirement once a year to preach to our students.
And one of the things that was always difficult to me about speaking to students is the expectation often was to present sermons that were based around behavior modification. And I found that to be very unfruitful. It was effective in making students feel guilty, which made them cry, which made them come to the altar, which made them go home and promise to do better and never look at porn and I'm never going to hold a guy's hand. And it only lasted, though, a short time.
Jesus speaks about fruit that remains. And so when I preach to students or adults, it really doesn't matter. I don't really do the do's and don'ts thing because I find it to be, while effective short term, defective for the long term. It basically taps into willpower, which is a limited resource, but God's power within us is an unlimited resource. It's available in abundant supply.
So what we have to do then is speak to the issues of our hearts that cause our hearts to leak with issues if we're ever going to be whole. And that's a little bit of background on my philosophy. I, I challenge students. I don't dumb down my messages when I preach to students or adults. I try to put it in a plain way where you can understand, but I don't try to make it so simplistic. I don't treat you as remedial.
I think part of the reason a lot of young people don't live for God has nothing to do with the fact that it's too hard. I think they're under challenged by what's presented to them as the Christian life. And there's more to it. There's more to it than, you know, sex is dirty and sex is gross. So save it for your husband, which is basically... Come on, that's funny. You're going to have to work with me here.
There's more to it than don't smoke that. There's more to it than don't go there. There's more to it. And we've been studying through the life of Jacob in this series, Death to Selfie, and learning that God uses conflicted, complicated people. And hopefully admitting to ourselves that we are conflicted and complicated. And in all those ways, God loves us and still has a plan for us as he is in the process of making us more like Christ.
Jacob Meets Rachel – The Beginning of the Drama
What I want to do for the remainder of our time today, and I'll do my best to do it in an expedited fashion. I just want to take you through a story in Jacob's life. We're going to see him meet his wife. And then we're going to see him marry another wife. And then we're going to see those two women have babies. And we're going to try to discover what it all means.
Because in this cast of characters, everybody is trying to control their future and essentially manipulate their destiny. And we're going to look at how those tendencies play out in our own lives. So let's read in the Bible from Genesis chapter 29. And this is a highly fascinating passage to me. So if I jump in and interject, you'll understand. I just think the Bible is incredibly intriguing. And so I want to give you a little insight into how I read this passage as we read it. But we'll try to go quickly.
Genesis chapter 29, verse 1. And Jacob is leaving the place called Bethel where he just met with God. He's running away from his brother Esau because he stole the blessing from Esau, pretending to be Esau. We learned week one that God can't bless who you pretend to be. So now he's running from his brother because his brother wants to kill him. He's going to his uncle's house. He's never met his uncle. And he's on this journey. He's just met with God.
And we pick up in verse 1. Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. And 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. That's an important detail. You'll see why in a minute.
When all the flocks were gathered there, the Shepherds would roll away the stone from the well's mouth and water the sheep. So they had a system set up because the stone was so large, they would wait until they all got there and move it together. That's the way they did it. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
Well, when Jacob got there, he asked the Shepherds. And there's nothing like somebody who's new to a situation trying to tell other people how they ought to be doing what they do. Jacob's that kind of guy. He always knows how it needs to be done better. He'll even correct God if he has to. I should have been first.
Well, Jacob asked the Shepherds, my brothers, where are you from? We're from Haran, they replied, which was fortunate for Jacob because that's the place he was headed to. That's where his uncle lived, who he hadn't met yet. And he asked them, do you know Laban, Nahor's grandson? Yeah, we know Laban.
And then Jacob asked them, well, is he well? Because get it, they're at a well. That's so stupid. Why did I say that? Yes, he is, they said. And here comes his daughter, Rachel, with the sheep.
Now, Rachel was a looker. So, Jacob said, look, the sun is still high. It's not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture. In other words, you guys are wasting perfectly good daylight sitting around waiting on other people to move the stone from the well. Get them back out there where they can eat.
And then they replied, we can't 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. I love this part. While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, which was a sign of wealth, for she was a Shepherd.
And 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 all by himself and watered his uncle's sheep. There's no limit to the lengths that a man will go to impress a woman. All these dudes are waiting to move the stone together. Here comes hot Rachel and Jacob's like, oh no, I got this. Put another 45 on the bar and single-handedly bench presses the stone away when the hot girl walks in the gym.
Okay. And then verse 11, this is forward. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, just like, hey girl, did you see me move that stone? And then kissed her and began to weep aloud. Now there's a lot going on here. Some of it is cultural and customary, but some of it is highly emotional. And you don't see a lot of this in the Bible that on first meeting, they're kissing and Jacob has a thing for Rachel.
Now in the Bible times, it was not considered taboo for you to marry your cousin. Hopefully things have changed in your part of the country concerning that particular tradition. But we can't read the Bible like it was written in, you know, 2014. We can't read the Bible like it was written in Manhattan. We have to understand some of the cultural things here or else you're going to get really confused when Rachel ends up with two wives and sleeping with their servants. It's going to be confusing, but just suffice it to say that even though times have changed, truth has not.
So, so we're going to see this in the passage. Let's continue. He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebecca. So she ran and told her father. You with me so far? I'm just setting the context for the story.
Jacob is 76 years old and still single. And he meets his wife while he's on the run away from a situation that he himself created. Everybody say, unexpected blessings. God can do amazing things when you least expect it in places where you're not looking for it.
And verse 13 says, as soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him. Thank God that custom has changed. How many of you want to kiss your uncle? But this is just like, this is a picture of a customary embrace. It's just a sign of cultural politeness.
And Laban embraces him and kisses him and brings him to his home. I'm pointing that out because in just a moment in the story, you're going to see that Laban did not have good intentions for Jacob because everybody that hugs you and kisses you does not want what's best for you. And everybody who invites you into their life or invites themselves into your life. Let me put it this way. Everybody who's good to you isn't necessarily good for you.
So when people come into your life, you got to check what their real motive is. Now, as soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, he hurried to meet him, embraced him, kissed him, brought him to his home. And there Jacob told him everything that had happened up to that point.
Verse 14, then Laban said to him, you are my own flesh and blood. After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, Laban said to him, listen, man, just because you're a relative of mine, I don't want to rip you off. You don't have to work for me for free. Tell me what your wages should be. Name your price. You're a hard worker. You're a relative. What do you want out of this? Let's make a deal, Laban says.
Jacob's Deception and the Switch with Leah
Now, Laban had two daughters. We've heard about the first one. We've not yet heard about the oldest one. The name of the older was Leah. The name of the younger was Rachel. The next verse is a subject of a lot of different controversy in interpretation. It says, in describing Leah, Leah had weak eyes. No matter how you translate the phrase, weak eyes, it's not a compliment. It might be the Bible's way of saying she had a great personality. How's she look? Oh, she's got a good heart. Oh, not what you want to hear.
And to make it even worse, she's got a hot sister. Look, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. So I've been studying, trying to figure out what weak eyes mean. Some people say it means she was cross-eyed or lazy eye or whatever, wild-eyed or whatever. But it doesn't say her figure was lovely. So draw your own conclusions.
I'm going to walk delicately around this subject, because I understand that it could be offensive. But the Bible contrasts these two women. One of them was beautiful, lovely figure. One of them, weak eyes. You didn't do the math. But it says that Jacob, who was driven by the way things seemed on the surface, he's a very surface-level person, you know. He was in love with Rachel.
And he said, man, I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter, Rachel. She must have looked incredible. I mean, I would totally work seven years for Holly. But, you know, I'm kind of glad that the system has changed. Back in the day, you used to have to pay a dowry to the father of the bride to prove that you were serious and that you were capable and that you were responsible.
Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea, because I do have a daughter, and I kind of like that in the future. But Jacob said, man, I'm broke. When I left my father's house, I didn't take anything with me but my staff. I'm broke. I'm 76 years old. I'm homeless. But I'll work for you seven years in return for your daughter, Rachel.
And Laban said, well, it's better that I give her to you than some other man, so stay here with me. So, Jacob served seven years back-breaking labor. Seven years, cold at night, hot during the day, extreme climates, extreme conditions. Jacob worked seven years to get Rachel.
And this is like the sweetest verse in the whole Bible. But they seemed like only a few days to him, because of his love for her. All right. But read the next verse. It'll tell you where Jacob's mind was really at. Then Jacob said to Laban, give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her. Tell us how you really feel, Jacob. Don't you love the Bible? I have to make the Bible come alive. It is alive. Just read it. Just really read it. This is an amazing book.
But then Laban got an idea. Jacob had served his time. He had done the deal. He had paid the price. He had his eyes on the prize. Her name was Rachel, and she was fine. And he was thinking about his honeymoon. And the wedding happens. And the feast happens. And Laban brought together all the peoples of the place and gave a feast.
And there must have been a lot of alcohol at the feast. I'll prove it to you by what happens next. But when evening came, Laban took his daughter, Leah, and brought her to Jacob. And Jacob accidentally made love to the wrong woman on his... How drunk do you have to be?
And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendants. But the next verse is hilarious. When morning came, there was Leah. Hey, Jacob. Hey, big fella. Hey, good looking. I can't even do it. There was Leah. You ever worked really hard for one thing, but woke up next to something else?
You ever been disappointed because what you saw in the light of day didn't look like what it looked like at nighttime? I want to say something not only to every student, but I want to say something to anybody who has ever worked seven years for something and tried to trick your way into something.
And see, Jacob is in a situation that is kind of his fault and is kind of not. He was deceived, but it kind of serves him right. because he was a deceiver. So watch this. Jacob, verse 25, ran out of the tent, buck naked. It doesn't say that, but you know he did when he woke up next to Leah. You know he left in a panic.
And he said to Levin, hey, what is this? Have you ever opened a present. expecting one thing. and had to pretend like you knew what it was supposed to be. in front of the person that you opened it in front of? Jacob said, what is this? Uncle Laban, why do you want to do me like that? I served you for Rachel, didn't I?
And here's a pivotal moment in Jacob's life. Why have you deceived me? Well, maybe, Jacob, you're simply reaping what you sowed. Because the whole reason you're at Laban's house, Jacob, is because you tricked your brother by pretending to be him. You wanted to take the place of the older brother and you ended up on the run and now the trick has gotten tricked and now the one who has fooled everybody has gotten fooled himself.
Here's the announcement I want to make. If you live a lie, you'll eventually wake up lying next to Leah. You sure will. Mark it. Remember it. Bet on it. God will not be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. And if you live a lie as Jacob had, pretending, posturing, fooling people, but not fooling God, eventually, you'll wake up next to Leah.
See, for seven years, Jacob thought he had gotten one over on God. And God will let life happen to you for a little while. He won't just step right in right away and stop you from your lies and stop you from your wandering. He won't just step in right away and stop you from making mistakes. And for a while, it can be fun. And for a while, it seems like I'm getting away with it. But eventually, when morning comes and you look over and see Leah, you realize the immutable truth of this principle that God will not be mocked.
And if I may, I just want to warn you, if you live a lie, telling your parents always that you're one place and you're another, if you live a lie, pretending to be one thing when God has called you to be another, if you live a lie, chasing after stuff. that you've already been, you've already been shown is destructive to you, if you live a lie, you might get away with it for seven years, but eventually, morning will come.
And God's grace will be there, but so will certain consequences. And you might fool your parents, but you will not fool your God. And you cannot fool yourself. And so a lot of students go out and start experimenting with stuff, experimenting with stuff and trying stuff, but seven years later, they wake up with an addiction that they can't break. And it started out as an experiment and I was just dabbling and everybody was doing it, but then morning comes and here's Leah.
And it looked so fun and I thought it was Rachel and I thought it was so sexy and I thought it was so cool and I thought it was so normal, but now it's like chains and fetters on me and I can't break free because morning always comes. And so Jacob. meets up with his match. He was pretty good at tricking people, but Laban was even better.
I told my sons the story and I know it's cheesy and I know you've heard it, but I told them the story because I wanted them to understand not to take shortcuts in school, which I unfortunately did a lot of the time. And they were asking me, why not? Especially Elijah, my oldest son, why not? And I told him that old story about the builder who had an employee who had, you know, worked for him for many years.
And he told him that he wanted him to build one more house before he. finally retired and he gave the man the specifications for the house. This contractor gave his builder the specifications for the house and it was magnificent. And I was telling my boys the story how everything in the house was ornate and everything in the house was detailed and everything in the house was just so specified.
And I told him how the man who was building the house got frustrated He was frustrated with all of the details of the plan and started cutting corners and he started cheating the process. And so he didn't build the foundation correctly, he didn't establish the pillars correctly, he didn't follow the blueprint exactly, and when he had finished this half-built house, he turned to the man that he had built it for, that he'd worked for all of his life, his professional life, and said the house is complete.
At which point the contractor threw him the keys and said, thank you for all that you've done for me all these years. This house is for you. You were building your own house the whole time. You were building the thing that you've got to live in the whole time. So all the shortcuts that you took and all the corners that you've cut, you've got to live in this house now. This house is my gift to you. Here's the keys. Build it well. Don't live a lie. Do it right. Get all you can out of God. Follow him wholeheartedly. Serve him diligently. It is the land that you are possessing. Come on, build this house well. You don't want to wake up next to Leah to have God throw you the keys and say, it's your life.
The Rivalry Begins: Leah Bears Children Seeking Love
Now, now, let's, let's, let's keep going. Is this good so far? Is this good? I think, I think this is good so far, but I want to talk for a moment about what, what happens next, because after Jacob comes to Laban and says, man, this isn't right. Laban replies, it is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.
Verse 27, finish this daughter's bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one also in return for another seven years work. And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah. He got through it, did what he had to do. And then Laban gave him his daughter, Rachel, to be his wife.
Verse 29, Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter, Rachel, as her attendant. Don't worry if you follow all these names. Doesn't matter. Verse 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.
Quick insert. When Jacob worked for Leah, he worked seven years and then got his bride. When he worked for Rachel, he got his bride and then he worked seven years. What does it matter? Leah is a picture of the law and religion, which says, if you work really hard and do things right, then you get God at the end of seven years. Seven is the number of perfection and completion.
Rachel is a picture of grace in the gospel that says, you get God, you get grace, you have Christ. Now, out of that love, you work seven years and it seems like only a few days because you love God so much. We're not challenging you to serve God because you got to. We're telling you, you can serve God, you get to. It's a privilege out of love, not law, out of grace, not guilt. And Jacob served another seven years.
Leah's Struggle: Seeking Approval Through Achievement
In this process, in this process, the Bible says some pretty tender things about Leah and Rachel. I'd like you to write down on the page where you're taking so many notes. I want you to write down these two words, approval and achievement. Approval and achievement. These are the two foundational things that drive most of our lives and we never even know that we're being driven by them. Approval and achievement.
We're going to see both of them quickly now represented in the lives of these sisters. First, Leah, verse 31 says, when the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, you know, I'm grateful that God sees unloved people. When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive. But Rachel remained childless.
When the Lord saw that Jacob had no interest in Leah, when the Lord saw that Jacob had rejected Leah, when the Lord saw that Leah was crying herself to sleep at night because she knew that she was the ugly one, the unwanted one, the Bible says that God himself took action and initiative.
Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why. Because God selects what man rejects. I'll take a moment today to speak to every unloved Leah in our church. Everyone who has known the pain of being unwanted at times. Every son that's growing up without a dad. because he made the decision that it wasn't worth it for him to stay around.
For, for, for everyone who was rejected in a marriage and somebody chose something else over you for everyone who has been rejected or ostracized or isolated by groups of people. I want to speak to a moment for a moment to every unloved and lonely Leah. I'm not just talking about women here. I'm talking about every, every man, every woman, every boy, every girl who doesn't get invited to most of the parties on Friday night.
Who doesn't have a seat saved for them at the table at lunch. Who doesn't get included all the time. Who doesn't get asked out all the time. Who doesn't really feel like many people light up when you walk up. I want you to know that God has this way of selecting. the ones that people end up rejecting.
He just, he just has a way of doing. It says, when he saw that Jacob didn't want Leah. He said, I want Leah. And I'm going to enable her to do something that her sister can't do. Because I am the God who selects what others reject. I am the God who will find a good use for what other people wanted to throw away. I am the God who will make the most out of a situation that other people have given up hope on.
I am the God of the widow and the orphan. I am the God who selects the rejected. I am the God who chooses the unchosen, the last chosen. I am the God, this is a word now, for a lonely, unloved Leah. Wondering, when's my time? God says, I see you, Leah. I see you lying there unwanted at night. I see you being picked over, skipped over, and left out.
I see you, Leah, and I know Jacob doesn't love you, but Jacob doesn't even like himself. See, Jacob is a fool, and if he knew what was in you, Leah, he'd choose you too. I choose you, Leah. All of us will deal with rejection from time to time. You know what rejection is? It's not a dead end, it's a redirection.
When people reject you, it's a sign that they weren't the right one for you anyway. When groups of people reject you, sometimes it's a sign that they're flying too low, and you don't have any business in their altitude anyway, and God is taking you higher. I'm going to set some teenagers free from a popularity contest in this church.
Y'all can all look at me crazy, but there's some really stupid things you've done in your life, because you are trying to get acceptance. And if you would have known that God chose you before the foundations of the earth, and you don't have to win the approval of a committee of jacked up Jacobs who are trying to find their own way too, but the perfect God has declared his righteousness as a banner over your life, it might have saved you.
Come on, find seven people and tell them, I'm chosen. I'm chosen. I'm absolutely chosen. I'm God's first-round draft pick, baby. I didn't get cut. I'm chosen. I'm here, because I'm chosen! So Leah is chosen. I feel something happening in somebody today. It's going to be a whole different school year for somebody, because you know you're chosen.
You're chosen. You're chosen. And yet Leah, even being chosen by God, still has something to prove to others. So she starts having babies. Nothing wrong with having babies. Having babies is a lot of fun in certain ways. Having babies is productive, as fruitful as God's plan to replenish the earth. It's helpful for church growth. It's in so many ways. It's good to have babies, but why are you having babies, is the question.
Like it's good to achieve, and it's good to succeed, but why are you succeeding? Look at verse 32. We have a hint here. It says, Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, it is because the Lord has seen my misery. That's true. But look at her conclusion. Surely. my husband will love me now.
I wonder who you're trying to get to love you today by something that you can produce. Well, apparently it didn't work, because then she conceived again. Next verse says, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, because the Lord heard that I'm not loved, he gave me this one too. So she named him Simeon. Simeon means the Lord hears.
That didn't work either. So again, she conceived. And when she gave birth to a son, she said, now at last, my husband will become attached to me. because I born him three sons. So he was named Levi. Again, she conceived. And then she gave birth to a son and said, this time I will praise the Lord. So she named him Judah, which means praise. And then she stopped having children for a minute.
But what we see here in Leah is a picture of so many lives. producing things that we hope will win us approval. Can I tell you that until he is enough for you, it will never be enough either. Leah is popping out babies like Michelle Duggar and still can't get Jacob's attention. And I'm telling you, you can pop stuff out and make A's and do stuff and be fast and all. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great.
But there comes a time where you've just got to decide to praise God for who he made you to be.
Rachel's Frustration: Jealousy and Manipulation
Look, look, because check out Rachel. She's the pretty one, right? And you would assume that Rachel, who is so beautiful and so loved and so wanted by her man, would be happy.
But watch Rachel. It says, verse 1, chapter 30, when Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children. So Jacob is a picture of the woman who has got it all going on on the outside, but is unproductive on the inside. She's loved by Jacob, but she's not able to give Jacob what he wants the most. She's wanted by Jacob, but she's unable to get what she wants.
And so she became jealous of her sister and she said to Jacob, give me children or I'll die. See, both sisters are miserable. One of them weak eyes, one of them with a hot body, both miserable. And this made Jacob mad. Look at verse 2. Jacob became angry with her and said, am I in the place of God who has kept you from having children? In other words, you know, this is your problem. My stuff is working fine. Just, you know, look at Leah.
I wish you could see the uptight people in church. You are hilarious. Those of you, you're uptight people. You're great. I mean, this is so dramatic, right? Give me children or I'll die. So she's got the approval, but she doesn't have the achievement. She's got the approval. Jacob loves her, but she can't produce what she wants to produce. And she's miserable about it.
Let me tell you something, students. Some of the people that you're jealous of are miserable on the inside. Some of the most popular people that you go to school with cry themselves to sleep at night. And if you're not careful, you'll spend all your life trying to imitate people who are barren inside. Just because your life looks beautiful on the outside doesn't mean it's fruitful on the inside.
And Rachel has a beautiful figure. And Rachel has a low body fat percentage. And Rachel has the attention of a man, but she can't have children. Leah can have children, but she doesn't have beauty. Why are we all so drawn to see what we don't have? God was working in both of their lives, but it wasn't enough.
Leah's having babies saying, oh, if Jacob would just love me, if Jacob would just accept me, if Jacob would just notice me, if that crowd would just invite me. Rachel's trying to have babies saying, if I could just have a son, if I could just bear a child, if I could just, if they would just, if I could just, if they would just, if I could just, if they would just, and God says, when are you going to look to me? Because I already have. I already have.
But Rachel can't accept this. So what does she do? She tries to help God out a little bit. Verse 3. She said, here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so she can bear children for me. And I too can build a family through her. And Jacob was like, alright, if you think I ought to do it, I'll take one for the team. I mean, whatever you want, baby doll.
So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. And Jacob slept with her. And she became pregnant and bore him a son. Now, I'm going to read this all real fast. It's all real crazy. Don't try to keep up with it. I just want you to see how dramatic it got. And that the confusion and issues in the world are nothing new. I mean, this is better than an episode of Pretty Little Liars. The Bible is so full of drama.
I should have called this sermon The Real Housewives of Paddan Aram. Because what's about to happen right now will freak you out. Then Rachel said, God has vindicated me. He has listened to my plea and given me a son. Because of this, she named him Dan. Verse 7. And Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
And then Rachel said, I've had a great struggle with my sister and I've won. So she named him Naftali. And when Leah saw that she has stopped having children, she stopped praising the Lord and went back to trying to have some more kids. Because now she's comparing herself to Rachel. Because Rachel has a child now. Well, not really. It was through her servant.
But Leah doesn't like the fact that Rachel has now been able to do something that approximates what she was only able to do. So now in an effort to do it again, she gives her servant to Jacob. And Leah's servant bore him a son. Verse 10. Verse 10. Verse 10. And now verse 11. Then Leah said, what good fortune. So she named him Gad.
Verse 12. Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, how happy I am. No, I don't think you are, Leah. How happy I am. The women will call me happy. By the way, anytime you tie your happiness to another person's appraisal of you, you'll never be happy.
Now she's gone from maybe Jacob will love me to maybe the women will see what I've done. And maybe they'll, maybe, now maybe, maybe they'll envy me. Maybe that'll make me happy. So she named him Asher. Verse 14. During wheat harvest, crazy little subplot, Reuben went out into the fields, that's Leah's son, and found some mandrake plants which were thought to help with fertility and also known as an aphrodisiac, which he brought to his mother, Leah.
And Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes. But she said to her, wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too? Very well, Rachel said. He gets sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes.
So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. You must sleep with me, she said. I hired you with my son's mandrakes. So he slept with her that night. Maidens and mandrakes, all representing our attempts to control our future, which ultimately only God can steer.
You see all this manipulation? Oh, okay. If they wish I could just serve the mandrakes and the maidens and the... But God listened to Leah. And she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. See, God is working in your life, even when you're going about it the wrong way.
Then Leah said, well, God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband. So she named him Issachar. Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor because I've worn him six sons. So she named him Zebulun.
Sometime later, she gave birth to a daughter and her name was Dinah. Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and enabled her to conceive. See, all this stuff that Rachel was doing to try to achieve. was eclipsed in one moment when God remembered her.
Because one moment of receiving from God. outweighs a lifetime of what you try to achieve without him. Isn't that true? Isn't that true? All of you who have tried mandrakes and maidens and everything else to try to get what you wanted out of life, but then you woke up and you didn't even want what you had.
And she became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, God has taken away my disgrace. And she named him Joseph. And said, may the Lord add to me another son. Now, stop there. I pick up next week, talking about that other son. Next week's message is going to be the best of the whole series. I've already got it written. It's so strong in me. I almost preached it this week, but the Lord said to save it for the close.
Because next week, we're going to talk about that other son named Benjamin. And you'll never forget him.
The Bigger Picture: From Family Drama to God's Redemption Plan
But I kind of find myself wishing here that I could sit down with Leah. Leah, who so badly wanted approval. Rachel, who so badly wanted to produce. One who was unloved. One who was unfruitful. One who was rejected. The other who was frustrated.
And you kind of want to say to them and say to Jacob, see, because we have the whole Bible. They didn't have the whole Bible. We have the book of Matthew. They didn't have the book of Matthew. In the book of Matthew, when it starts out, it gives what's called the genealogy of Jesus Christ. It tells all of the different generations through which Jesus was born.
It traces it all the way back to the top. It's like Jesus' version of Ancestry.com. And if we could show Leah Matthew chapter 1, I don't think she would have been as frustrated. You know why? Because in Matthew chapter 1, I'm getting ready to blow somebody's mind in the back of the room. Okay? In the back of the room. Get ready. This is going to freak you out.
Matthew is telling us how Jesus came into the earth. And he said, This is the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac, the father of Jacob. Jacob, the father of Judah. Wait a minute. Judah was Leah's son. Leah was the one Jacob never even wanted to marry.
And if you keep reading Matthew, I'm not going to do it because it's got a lot of names that I don't know how to pronounce. But it says, So-and-so begot so-and-so begot so-and-so begot so-and-so begot so-and-so and it goes for 14 generations and then 14 more and then 14 more and it's just a long list and normally I would skip over it.
But it says, we need to think about this, it says that. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac begot Jacob. Jacob begot Judah. Now skip all the way to verse 16. After all of the so-and-sos and the begots and the so-and-sos and the begots, it says, And then there was Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. And Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Now here's why I said it was going to blow your mind. Because Jesus came from the line of Judah. Judah came from Leah, the one that Jacob never even wanted. The savior of the world was born out of the rejection of a woman who was unloved by Jacob.
Now I want to tell you, if you're feeling rejected today, feeling like a failure today, today God has a plan to bring forth Jesus in your life. Out of your rejection. Out of your frustration. Out of your failures. Out of your defects. Out of your flaws. So, so, isn't that cool? Isn't that amazing?
Stand up, I'm closing. Isn't that amazing? Isn't it amazing that God will turn rejection into a blessing? The one that Jacob never even wanted gave him the child that would ultimately produce the one who would save the world. You're chosen, Leah. You're chosen, Leah. You're chosen, Leah.
I'm looking for unloved Leah, so I want to tell you, you're chosen to give birth to Judah a praise that comes from your pain that will produce. the presence of Jesus in your life. But let's not leave Rachel out either. Rachel had that that baby named Joseph. He went on to be. the second in command in all of Egypt. He ended up saving the whole family.
I'll preach a series about him some other time. but he summed it all up at the end of the book of Genesis in the 50th chapter of the 20th verse. He said, what man meant for evil, God used it for good and for the saving of many lives.
So, Rachel. .. Oh, so good. I'm so sorry. I'm out of time. I've got to quit, but I'm not done. Rachel, the one who could not produce, produced the child that saved the whole nation in the end. And see, sometimes, if we could just get the big picture to see that sometimes rejection is a blessing that leads us to God's acceptance.
Sometimes frustration is a blessing that leads us to finally depend on God who was the only one who could remember us and bring forth Jesus all along.
The Tribes of Israel: From Chaos to God's Promise
Because if we could just show... If we could just show Rachel and Leah this chart. .. Check out my chart real quick and I'm done. I'm done.
This is all those babies they were having. All that stuff I read that I was reading so fast and couldn't follow it because I was too fast. You don't have to memorize it. There will not be a quiz. But see, there's Jacob. There's Leah. Jacob's name changed to Israel. There's those two concubines. There's Rachel. Rachel had two babies. Benjamin will talk about next week.
There's all the kids. You see them. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Bath, Shudah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin. Then there's the ones that came from them. We're not looking at that. We're just looking. That's what... That's what Jacob and Leah and Rachel saw when they were. having all this conflict, all this drama, all these babies, right?
That's what they saw. That's all they saw because all we can see is what's happening to us. But what if we could show them this? What if we could show them this? Now, if you look real close, you'll see all those same names that were on that first chart of those people. are the names that are on this map of the nation of Israel, God's chosen nation.
You see, it started at the south. It's Simeon. It's Judah. It's Reuben. It's Benjamin. It's Dan. It's Ephraim. It's Gad. It's Manasseh. It's Issachar. It's Zebulun. It's Naphtali. Because the names of those children became the names of the tribes that became the nation through which God would bless the whole world.
See, what's the problem for you today is God's promise to bless the world tomorrow. And if you can ever get past what's happening to you and see what God is doing through you, I promise there's some unexpected blessings about to burst forth from your heart today.
Come on. Can we praise Him, Judah? Come on. Praise Him for those unexpected blessings. Praise Him that what man meant for evil, He meant for good.