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Genesis chapter 29, continuing 
in the larger section, the story of Isaac, but specifically we're 
in the life of Jacob. I know that may sound confusing, 
but in the book of Genesis, there are these statements. These are 
the generations of, and this one is still under Isaac, but 
it's concerning his family, specifically Jacob getting a wife. In accordance 
with his parents' instructions to go to Haran to see his uncle 
Laban, and from thence to find him a wife. So beginning in Genesis 
29 at verse one, So Jacob went on his journey and came to the 
land of the people of the east. And he looked and saw a well 
in the field. And behold, there were three 
flocks of sheep lying by it. For out of that well they watered 
the flocks. A large stone was on the well's 
mouth. Now all the flocks would be gathered 
there, and they would roll the stone from the well's mouth, 
water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the 
well's mouth. And Jacob said to them, My brethren, 
where are you from? And they said, We are from Haran. Then he said to them, Do you 
know Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. So 
he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well. And 
look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep. Then he 
said, look, it is still high day. It is not time for the cattle 
to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go and feed 
them. But they said, we cannot until all the flocks are gathered 
together, and they have rolled the stone from the well's mouth. 
Then we water the sheep. Now while he was still speaking 
with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a 
shepherdess. And it came to pass, when Jacob 
saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the 
sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near 
and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the 
flock of Laban, his mother's brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel 
and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he 
was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. So 
she ran and told her father. Then it came to pass when Laban 
heard the report about Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran 
to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him 
to his house. So he told Laban all these things. 
And Laban said to him, surely you are my bone and my flesh. 
And he stayed with him for a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, because 
you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? 
Tell me, what should your wages be? Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, 
and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were delicate, 
but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Now Jacob loved 
Rachel, so he said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your 
younger daughter. And Laban said, it is better 
that I give her to you than that I should give her to another 
man. Stay with me. So Jacob served seven years for 
Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of 
the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, Give 
me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go into her. And Laban 
gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. 
Now it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah his daughter 
and brought her to Jacob, and he went into her. And Laban gave 
his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as maid. So it came to pass 
in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, 
What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that 
I served you? Why then have you deceived me? 
And Laban said, It must not be done so in our country, to give 
the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will 
give you this one also for the service which you will serve 
me, or serve with me, still another seven years. Then Jacob did so 
and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter, 
Rachel, as wife also. And Laban gave his maid, Billa, 
to his daughter, Rachel, as a maid. Then Jacob also went into Rachel, 
and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with 
Laban still another seven years. Amen. Well, this is the marriages, 
plural, of Jacob. And then the following section, 
beginning in verse 31, all the way to chapter 30 at verse 24, 
are the descendants or the sons or the children of Jacob by both 
his wives and their maids. So we'll look at that, the Lord 
willing, next Wednesday night. But tonight I want to notice 
first Jacob's arrival at Haran in verses 1 to 8. Secondly, the 
meeting with Rachel in verses 9 to 14. And then finally, the 
marriages to Leah and Rachel in verses 15 to 30. Now, as we 
have seen in this particular book of the Bible, we have slowed 
way down in terms of family dynamics, interpersonal relationships, 
and the like. You start off with creation, 
and then you've got fall, and then you've got Babel, and you've 
got Noah, you've got all these sorts of things. going on, and 
now we sort of focus in on and hone in on the particular family 
from whence Messiah is going to come. Remember God makes a 
promise to Abraham, it's confirmed through Isaac, and now here to 
Jacob that through their seed the salvation of the world will 
take place. We know that seed, of course, 
is the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we move through this particular 
narrative tonight, it's tough at times to get a lot of practical 
lessons out of some of these narratives. We're probably going 
to end a bit early tonight, simply because I know that it's wrong 
to lie and we don't need to repeat that. We shouldn't ever be like 
a layman and offer the wrong daughter to somebody that's coming 
for her hand in marriage. So there's some obvious things 
that one doesn't do, but I think the overarching thing that I 
want to sort of focus on by way of application is God's providence. 
God's providence is obvious throughout these narratives. The way that 
he works in the midst of family dynamics, they're not altogether 
lovely. They're not altogether decent 
and orderly, and nevertheless, God brings to pass his perfect 
will in the midst of these crooked situations. But note first this 
arrival at Haran we see in verse 1. So Jacob went on his journey 
and came to the land of the people of the east. So he has arrived 
at his destination. He was told to go to Paddan Aram 
or Haran and there to go to Laban's house. He sees this well. This well was for the watering 
of the flocks, and if you notice there, there were three flocks 
present in verse 2. Now verse 3 says, now all the 
flocks would be gathered there, and they would roll the stone 
from the well's mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone 
back in its place on the well's mouth. Now the significant sort 
of thing in this brief section of scripture is that Jacob alone 
rolls the stone off of the mouth of the well. Probably the flocks 
all waited until all were present and then the men collectively 
would roll that stone away from the mouth of the well. But Jacob 
does it all on his own. I don't know how Jacob was built. 
I don't know what kind of things he ate. But he was certainly 
a strong young man. I mean, when we read the narrative, 
we see that he was more of the homebody. He was more of a mama's 
boy. And Esau was a man of the field. 
He was the mighty hunter. He was the one that pleased his 
father well. But certainly Jacob had some 
grit and determination. if at least, the least of it 
was to sort of impress Rachel, this bride-to-be. But that's 
an interesting thing in this particular section, that it's 
Jacob alone that does roll this stone away. It must have been 
a very heavy stone for these flocks to all stand by and wait 
till all the others were there. Now there may have been an arrangement 
that they wouldn't move the stone until all the flocks were present, 
so that nobody would be shorted from the water. You kind of get 
the idea that they were rolling the stone away. That's what the 
text says. And they would roll the stone from the well's mouth. 
So there was at least two and probably more men involved in 
this activity of rolling away the stone. So then Jacob initiates 
this conversation to try to figure out where Laban is and how Laban 
is doing. He calls them, my brethren, in 
verse 4, where are you from? They said, we are from Haran. 
Then he said to them, do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? 
And they said, we know him. So this is the point. of his 
travels. This was the point of his journey. 
This is why he came out east, was to find his uncle Laban, 
and from thence to take a wife. And then they said, he is well, 
and look, verse 6, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep. 
Then he said, look, it is still high day. It is not time for 
the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go and feed 
them. Now here's where they say, verse 8, we cannot until all 
the flocks are gathered together and they have rolled the stone 
from the well's mouth. Then we water the sheep. So it 
does seem to be that there was some sort of an agreement that 
you wouldn't just move that stone until all the flocks were present. 
But the text does seem to indicate it took a plurality of men. to 
move this stone. Verse 9 tells us, while he was 
still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, 
for she was a shepherdess. And it came to pass, when Jacob 
saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the 
sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled 
the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban 
his mother's brothers. This was a great act of strength, 
pretty interesting feat really that I think it's probably the 
case we can read right through that and sort of not ponder the 
implications that it would have taken a great deal of strength 
for one man to move this stone that had been moved by several 
previously. Now that brings us to his meeting 
with Rachel. In verse 11 it says he kissed 
her. Probably not a romantic kiss, 
a familial kiss. A kiss that is appropriate between 
cousins. He kissed her and then he lifted 
up his voice and he wept. The weeping here was not grief 
or sorrow or sadness. It was a weeping for joy. He 
had arrived at his destination. He had arrived with his people. 
He was now in the place that his father and mother had sent 
him. Remember, they were displeased with Esau's choice of brides. He chose from the the Hethites 
or the Hittites, and that really grieved his parents. And so they 
wanted, when Esau wanted to kill Jacob, Rebekah said, why don't 
you go to Laban to obviously avoid Esau's sort of intent to 
kill you, but also to find a woman, a wife that we will approve of. 
So this is a time of rejoicing. Now, I should tell you that in 
chapter 24, there is that account where Abraham sends his servant 
to find a wife for Isaac. And commentators and sermonizers 
have sort of drawn a contrast between that servant in chapter 
24 and Jacob here in chapter 29. That servant prayed, and 
Jacob doesn't pray. So Jacob's intentions aren't 
great. That servant was a man of purpose 
and obedience to his master, whereas Jacob was basically running 
for his life. I don't know that the author 
intends us to draw that contrast. I think when Jacob rejoices here, 
he's rejoicing in the Lord. He's met with God at Bethel in 
chapter 28. The Lord has said, I'm going 
to be with you. The Lord has said, I'm going 
to bless you. The Lord has said, I'm going to provide for you. 
So I don't know that we need to draw this conclusion that 
the servant of Abraham was really good and pious and Jacob himself 
wasn't really good and pious. Now, again, Jacob isn't the most 
sympathetic character in the Bible. He does some pretty dastardly 
deeds. But we'll see tonight in God's 
providence, there is this irony that happens or obtains in the 
life of Jacob. The one who had deceived his 
father becomes deceived by his father-in-law. And behold, it 
was Leah. So God in his providence has 
a way to sort of correct things and balance things and teach 
lessons that he needs to teach, but I don't think that Jacob 
should be viewed here in any less of a light than that servant 
of Abraham. Now certainly you might disagree, 
I'm just not compelled by the text to make that contrast. At any rate, we see this meeting 
with Rachel. She is a shepherdess. Jacob rolls 
the stone away. The kiss is probably not romantic, 
but familial. The tears were tears of joy. 
Now notice what Rachel does according to verse 12. Jacob told Rachel 
that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. 
So she ran and told her father. And now Laban gets wind of this 
and Laban invites Jacob to come and stay at his house. And verse 
14 is intriguing. Laban said to him, surely you 
are my bone and my flesh. Well, if that's how he treats 
his bone and his flesh, I'd hate to see how he treats his enemies 
because he's really not cool with reference to Jacob. Jacob 
has to spend 14 years in basically indentured servitude unto this 
man Laban. Remember that Laban is a man 
who quite likes costly items. Go back to chapter 24. This is 
not a stretch. When we see what the text says 
concerning Laban, we kind of get an idea about him so that 
now in Genesis 29, we're kind of working with some more information. But if you remember, when the 
servant comes to Rebekah's house, verse 29 in chapter 24 says, 
now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, And Laban ran 
out to the man by the well. So it came to pass, when he saw 
the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrist, and when 
he heard the words of his sister Rebekah saying, thus the man 
spoke to me, that he went to the man. And there he stood by 
the camels at the well, and he said, Come in, O blessed of the 
Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house 
and a place for the camels." Next is conspicuous, he sees 
the jewels, he sees the accouterments, he sees the goods. This man, 
this servant of Abraham comes with 10 camels loaded down with 
stuff. Laban's no dummy, he sees what's 
happening and he's willing to give food to those camels. He's 
willing to give an audience to this servant. He's willing to 
hand over Rebekah as soon as he can possibly do it, because 
if you look at verse 52, it came to pass when Abraham's servant 
heard their words, that he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the 
earth. Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry 
of gold and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave 
precious things to her brother and to her mother. Now, go back 
to Genesis 29, Jacob shows up. He doesn't have ten camels full 
of stuff. He doesn't have all of these 
jewels and all of this loot. What Jacob does have is his own 
sweat and his own hard work. So for Laban, that's good enough. 
If Laban doesn't get bracelets and nose rings and all that sort 
of thing, he's going to get some cheap slavery in his own home. And notice in verses 13 and 14, 
he told, verse 13, it came to pass when Laban heard the report 
about Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet him and embraced 
him and kissed him and brought him to his house. So he told 
Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, surely 
you are my bone and my flesh. And he stayed with him for a 
month. So that's the initial month of dwelling time with Laban. And now we move into the marriages 
to Leah and Rachel. Now, verse 15, Laban says to 
Jacob, because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me 
for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages 
be? So again, he realizes that there's got to be some quid pro 
quo involved in this relationship. Laban isn't in this for love 
and fresh air, and Laban wants to know what is it that Jacob 
is after. So verse 16, Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, 
and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were delicate, 
but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Now this whole 
idea that her eyes were delicate, commentators are somewhat bewitched 
on the meaning of the word. It could mean delicate or weak, 
as the margin reads, and it could indicate something about the 
fact that she wasn't very attractive. Conversely, some say it was her 
eyes that was the only thing attractive about her, that this 
is a positive statement in this particular passage. But the contrast 
is obvious whichever way we go with reference to defining the 
character of her eyes. It tells us about Leah, verse 
17. All it says is Leah's eyes were 
delicate. Either it's a bad thing or it's 
a good thing. But in contrast, Rachel was beautiful 
of form and appearance. So it couldn't be any starker 
in terms of the contrast between these two women. And then verse 
18 tells us that Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, I will serve 
you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter. Now this is 
consistent with the payment of a bride price. You see this. A man coming to court a woman 
would provide some sort of monetary gift. That's what happens there 
in Genesis 24. when the servant of Abraham comes with all of 
those camels. He provides that price so he 
can secure the family's blessing and thus, in that instance, marry 
Rebekah. Well, here he wants to do that 
with reference to Rachel. He doesn't have goods. He doesn't 
have camels laden with stuff. He has his own sweat. He has his own service. So he 
says, I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger 
daughter. And Laban said, it is better 
that I give her to you than that I should give her to another 
man. Stay with me. I love verse 20. I remember reading 
this early as a Christian thinking, it's kind of how it should be 
in terms of our service to the Lord. It says, so Jacob served 
seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him 
because of the love he had for her. The service that we render 
unto God, it's negligible. It's not the case that, boy, 
what a long and tedious life this is. No, it's a delight because 
we love the Lord. And that's the same sort of thing 
that we have in this particular instance. He served the seven 
years for Rachel. They seemed only a few days to 
him. because of the love he had for her. I mean, this is a long 
time, isn't it? Seven years. We read through 
texts, and I don't think we ever stop to ponder what this is. We know that he loved her. We 
know that he has sexual desires for her, because he wants to 
sort of move on that, according to verse 21. And yet, for those 
seven years, he faithfully serves Laban. He faithfully treats this 
woman. And now the time has come for 
fulfillment, or for fruition. And that's what we find in this 
wedding here. Notice in verse 21. Then Jacob 
said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that 
I may go in to her. It's a good request of Jacob. 
He's fulfilled his terms. He has satisfied his part of 
the agreement. He now wants Laban to deliver. And then Laban gathers together 
all the men of the place and made a feast. This is a wedding 
feast. Now a wedding feast in these 
times lasted about a week. It was not like what we do where 
it's a couple hours on a Saturday and then you come back in another 
couple hours or whatever. It was a seven day feast. You 
know, a time of great celebration, a time of great joy, a time of 
great rejoicing in the things of God Almighty. So that's the 
scene according to verse 22. Laban gathered together all the 
men of the place and made a feast. Now it came to pass in the evening 
that he took Leah, his daughter, and brought her to Jacob, and 
he went into her. Now we might be sort of curious, 
how could that have happened? Well, he would have veiled her, 
and he would have brought her to him in the hours of darkness. There wouldn't be lights and 
candles and all that sort of thing. It was an honest mistake 
on the part of Jacob. He really did not know better. 
Laban does, however, and this is fraud and deception and the 
instigation of sexual sin on the part of Laban with reference 
to his daughter. It's a terrible thing that he 
does in this instance. He takes his daughter Leah and 
brings her to Jacob and the agreement was is that Jacob would work 
seven years not for Leah but for Rachel. And so when the mourning 
comes, according to the parenthetical note in verse 24 and then in 
verse 29 about Laban giving his daughters these maids, that will 
come up when we get to the sons of Jacob. Those maids are going 
to be instrumental in helping Jacob be fruitful and multiply. When we get to the next chapter, 
there's a lot going on in that particular chapter that I do 
not doubt for a moment puzzles most 21st century Christian readers, 
because Jacob has two wives and two wives' maids, and it's from 
thence that he begins to be fruitful and multiply. So that's why these 
parenthetical notes in 24 and 29 about Laban giving these girls 
maids. That was a common gift at the 
particular time, a woman to attend upon the daughter. But in verse 
25, it came to pass in the morning that behold, it was Leah. Now imagine Jacob's surprise. Imagine Jacob's shock. Imagine that scenario for a moment. I can't really conceive of this. It came to pass in the morning 
that behold, it was Leah. OK, Isaac. Get it out. And then he said to Laban, what 
is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I 
served you? Why then have you deceived me? Again, we can't miss the irony 
and we can't miss sort of the reversal that has transpired. John Gill said, though Laban 
is not to be justified in the action, yet here appears in Providence 
a righteous retaliation of Jacob. He beguiled his own father, pretending 
he was his brother Esau. And now his father-in-law beguiles 
him, giving him blear-eyed Leah instead of beautiful Rachel. Robert Alter says the whole story 
of the switched brides is a meeting out of poetic justice to Jacob. the deceiver deceived, deprived 
by darkness of the sense of sight as his father is by blindness, 
relying, like his father, on the misleading sense of touch." 
So it really is poetic justice. It really is retaliation in terms 
of God's providence. Now having said that, It's not 
vindictive on the part of God, God's not just trying to get 
people, but God is showing something to Jacob in this particular instance 
that does comment on Jacob's previous escapade with his own 
father and with his own brother. So when he says at the end of 
verse 25, why then have you deceived me? I hear the incredulity in 
his mouth, but I wonder where that was when he was deceiving 
his own father and working off the back of his brother ultimately. 
And then notice the explanation in verses 26 and 27. Laban said, 
it must not be done so in our country to give the younger before 
the firstborn. Even if that was a custom, justice 
comes first, right? If that was a custom in the country, 
he should have made that clear on the front end. He should have 
told Jacob that before the first seven years. He should have been 
honest and said, Jacob, that's not the way we roll in our country. If you want things to go that 
way, you have to first take my daughter Leah. But he doesn't 
do that. Now he invokes the customary 
cultural practice. Now he invokes it after the seven 
years of service has been rendered and Jacob has gone into Leah. 
So it must not be done so in our country to give the younger 
before the firstborn. Sailhammer says Jacob was able 
to exchange the younger for the older, whereas Laban reversed 
the trick and exchanged the older for the younger. So Jacob really 
is getting his medicine sort of doled out to him by this man 
Laban. Now in verse 27, when it says 
fulfill her week, that probably means continue on, enjoy the 
celebration, don't ruin her week. In other words, Leah is married 
now too. Leah is engaged in this process 
as well, and you're supposed to fulfill her week, and then 
I will give you Rachel, and then you start another seven years. 
Laban is really not a good father-in-law, brethren. He's not one I would 
want to call my father-in-law. Fulfill her week, and we will 
give you this one, Rachel, also for the service which you will 
serve with me still another seven years. So this is the means by 
which Jacob is going to enter into another seven years of labor 
for Rachel. It really is a tough thing for 
him. Remember when Rebecca tells Jacob 
to go, she says you'll be gone a few days. He's actually gone 
a total of 20 years from his homeland of Canaan while he's 
with Laban in this particular setting in Haran. Verse 28 tells 
us, then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week, so he gave him his 
daughter Rachel as wife also. And Laban gave his wife, Billa, 
to his daughter, I'm sorry, gave his maid, Billa, to his daughter, 
Rachel, as a maid. Then Jacob also went into Rachel, 
and he also loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with 
Laban still another seven years. So he loved her more than Leah. That's something else that is 
reminiscent of their family dynamic. Remember, in terms of Jacob and 
Esau, Jacob was favored by his mother, Rebecca. Esau was favored 
by his father, Isaac. There was this disparity, there 
was this incongruity, there was this sort of disjunction in the 
family unit. And the same thing is happening 
in this instance. And when we get to him having 
his sons, there's a lot of tension and a lot of issues involved 
in this scenario. It is less than optimum, and 
it's seriously marred in terms of a legitimate sort of family 
structure from whence God is going to bring his Messiah. Now, 
all that to say, two things by way of application. First of 
all, let's not be labans. Laban's not a good fellow. He 
was obviously fond of money, according to chapter 24, and 
he was all for his bone and his flesh basically being his slave 
for a period of 14 years. I mean, all of that in verse 
14, surely you are my bone and my flesh. I'd like to think that 
we treat our bone and our flesh, and I'd like to think we'd even 
treat our enemies with a little bit more respect than what he 
shows to Jacob in this particular instance. It really is not cool 
at all. And as well, he engaged in fraud. He promoted sexual sin. Now, 
at this point, Leviticus had not been written, but in Leviticus 
18.18, there is this prohibition. nor shall you take a woman as 
a rival to her sister to uncover her nakedness while the other 
is alive. So you see, he's violating some 
crucial things that will come out later in redemptive history. Now, did he know all this? Should 
he have known all this? Even if he didn't know all this, 
he shouldn't have done what he did. It was deceptive, it was 
fraudulent, and it was just not a good thing to do. But in terms 
of the providence of God, secondly, When we look at the sort of situation 
that God works with, Ralph Davis has commented, God is not like 
a doctor that uses sterilized instruments. This world is not 
filled with sterilized instruments. This world is filled with messiness. 
This world is filled with dysfunctionality. This world is filled with labens. 
This world is filled with a lot of crooked stuff. And when it 
comes to, specifically, sexual ethics, there are three times 
in the book of Genesis that God works in the midst of a crooked 
and perverse situation to bring about good. Remember in Genesis 
chapter 19, Lot and his daughters. If there were no Lot and his 
daughters and his relationship with them, there would be no 
Moabites. If there were no Moabites, there 
would be no Ruth. If there was no Ruth, humanly 
speaking, there would be no Jesus Christ. So on the surface, horrific 
thing, Lot and his incestuous relationship with his daughters 
there in Genesis 19, God moves in the midst of a crooked situation 
and brings about the Moabites. So that Ruth will ultimately 
come and from her will ultimately come Messiah. In Genesis chapter 
38, we'll sort of save this one for last. Genesis 38, there's 
a man by the name of Judah. And Judah has some pretty disastrous 
sons, and they basically leave a daughter, Tamar, as a widow. And Tamar basically uses deception 
to have Judah lay with her, to impregnate her. Now again, this 
is terrible, it's horrible, but you know what Tamar does? She 
keeps the messianic line alive. If it was up to Judah, it would 
have stopped. So based on what Tamar does, 
and I'm not saying, go thou and do likewise. operate, sometimes it's going 
to be in very unsavory situations. The same thing obtains in this 
particular situation. It's Leah that gives birth to 
Judah. It's Judah that gives birth to 
David. It's David that gives birth to 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So behold it was Leah, as bad 
as that was for Jacob on his wedding morning, and as bad as 
that reflects upon Laban in terms of the worst father-in-law of 
the year, this was God's plan and purpose to bring about the 
Messiah. So you see, he works through 
unsavory details to bring about his good, to bring about his 
purpose. The Old Testament is filled with 
those sorts of things. The Old Testament is littered 
with those sorts of things. If God didn't work through unsavory 
and crooked and perverse situations, he would never work, because 
that's all we've given him to work with. We're not sterile, 
we're not polished, we mess up, our families look like this, 
and if good's gonna come, it has to be from sovereign grace, 
and not from the ingenuity or the wisdom or the perceived goodness 
of men. John Gill says the marrying of 
two sisters was forbidden by the law of Moses, Leviticus 18, 
18. And polygamy was not allowed of in after times. And yet both 
were disposed with in times preceding. And there seems to be an overruling 
providence in this affair, which oftentimes brings good out of 
evil, since the Messiah was to spring from Leah and not Rachel. So behold, it was Leah. As much 
of a shock as that was to Jacob, that is music to the soul of 
sinners who need the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God it was Leah 
because from Leah comes Judah, David, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, hopefully we will not be 
labans and hopefully we will stand amazed at the glorious 
providence of God who works in and through and by and with some 
miserable conditions to bring about his glory and to bring 
about the salvation of his people. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for this section of Scripture, and we thank you 
for your amazing providence. We know, God, that you are working 
all things according to your plan and your purpose, and this 
gives us great encouragement. And God, even in light of a federal 
election that perhaps didn't go the way we would have liked, 
We know that the King's heart is in your hand. We know that 
Christ is the ruler over the kings of the earth. We know that 
you possess absolute, unrivaled sovereignty over all things. 
And we want to find great comfort and encouragement in that. And 
I pray that you would just continue to steady and stabilize our souls 
and help us, God, to just muse upon and delight in your sovereign 
providence. We ask that you would go with 
us now. We pray that you would bless our local church, that 
you would strengthen each and every one of your people in this 
body, and that you would cause us to bring glory and praise 
and honor unto you. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.