Trinity Church Spokane Valley
Genesis 29:1-30
We are in Genesis chapter 29 this morning. Genesis 29, I'd like to invite you to grab your copy of the Scriptures and stand with me as I read Genesis 29 verse 1 through 30, Genesis 29 starting verse 1 going down to verse 30, then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. As he looked he saw a well in the field and behold three flocks of sheep lying beside it for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large and when all the flocks were gathered there the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, "My brothers where do you come from?" They said, "We are from Heran." He said to them, "Do you know Laban, the son of Naor?" They said, "We know him." He said to them, "Is it well with him?" They said, "It is well and see Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep." He said, "Behold it is still high day, it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together, water the sheep and go, pasture them." But they said, "We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well, then we water the sheep." While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep for she was a shepherdess. Now, as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and water the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsmen and that he was Rebecca's son. And she ran and told her father. As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things and Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh" and he stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsmen, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?" Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were weak but Rachel was beautiful and form and appearance. He loved Rachel and he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel." Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man. Stay with me." So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife that I may go into her for my time is completed." So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast but in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob and he went into her. Laban gave his female servant Zilpa to his daughter Leah to be her servant and in the morning, "Behold, it was Leah." And Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?" Laban said, "It is not so done in our country to give the younger before the first born. Complete the week of this one and we will give you the other also and return for serving me another seven years." Jacob did so and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant. So Jacob went into Rachel also and he loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban for another seven years. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Have you ever had one of those days that started out perfect exactly like you wanted it to start out? Rachel was perfect, sun is shining, skies are blue. But by the end of the day, the day has not turned out the way you expected it to. Starts out in sunshine but ends in shadow, storm. For Texas morning, the account that we just read of Jacob's life couldn't have started out any better for Jacob. As we saw last week, Jacob has just had an encounter with the Lord at Bethel. He laid down to sleep and the Lord showed him this vision. He sees and hears from the Lord. The Lord commits himself to Jacob and Jacob says, if this is how the Lord is going to treat me, then he will be my God. The Lord will be my God. The Lord is going to keep him and do all that he has promised to do for Jacob, right? I will go with you. I will protect you and I will bring you back to the land that I promised to you and your fathers. I'm going to see it through all the way to the end, Jacob. So Jacob, here in chapter 29, is pictured after that encounter with God after God has given him great and precious promises. He's pictured here as a man who now has a renewed purpose and is ready to get on his way. Our text begins with the simple statement, then Jacob went on his journey, but in the original language, it says he picked up his feet. He lifted up his feet. The only time that language is used in the Old Testament. The idea is that Jacob is ready to go. He's ready to get on his way. The Lord is with me. He's going to go with me and protect me and provide for me. Let's do this. Let's go. And it couldn't have started out any better, right? As he is on his way, he comes to a land, the land that he's looking for, and he sees a well in a field, and then a familiar scene for us begins to unfold. Now you would have had to be keeping track with us, so if you're visiting with us or if this is the first time you've been with us in Genesis, maybe you don't remember. But back in chapter 24, back in Genesis 24, we had a very, very similar scene that unfolded. Abraham has sent his servant back to the same place, back to the same family. And his task, the servant's task was to go and find a wife for Isaac. And we see a very similar scene unfold here as Jacob has been sent back to the same family to obtain a wife. Jacob sees a well just as the servant back in chapter 24 saw a well. The reader has a cue here to say, "Huh, I think something good's about to happen." Jacob sees a well. Alongside this well, Jacob encounters some flocks of sheep just waiting there in the field, Jacob sees the issue for why the sheep are not being watered. There is a, the text tells us there's a stone, a very large stone, on the mouth of the well. Again, literally here, last week a stone kind of took a prominent position. Remember, he lays his head on a stone to sleep and then after his vision, after he sees the Lord, he takes that pillow, that stone for a pillow and erects it as an altar. Well here he encounters another stone and this stone is in the way. This stone is an obstacle that keeps the water from watering the flocks. This stone is so large that the shepherds have to gather together and wait until everyone has come so that they can together roll it away and water their flocks. Jacob decides to start asking some questions to see if any of these shepherds know the place, Haran, which is where he's headed, and if so, whether they know Laban or not. His uncle that he's trying to find, his mother's brother, turns out these guys are actually from Haran. Wow. These guys are from the place I'm looking for, how fortuitous, what a fortune I've had. They also know Laban, what are the odds? Is there exactly the guys that can help me? And then here comes the daughter, boom, boom, boom, it's just all lining up, unbelievable. This comes to an exact right place, at the exact right time, he talks to the right people, and the daughter of Laban herself shows up. Now we know that this isn't fortune or chance, this isn't coincidence. The Lord is directing his steps just as he directed the steps of the servant of Abraham back in chapter 24. The Lord is directing his steps. It's chapter 24 all over again. But do you remember what the servant, do you remember that servant back in chapter 24? If you remember that servant, chapter 24, that servant is a godly servant. That servant has given himself wholeheartedly to the sovereign plans and promises of God. Do you remember what the servant in chapter 24 was doing? As he went, the servant of Abraham there in chapter 24, that servant was praying. He was seeking the Lord in the Lord's direction. The servant was yielded to the purposes of the Lord, but the servant knew, Lord, I don't want to take a wrong step. I don't want to go anywhere that you don't want me to go. Lord, you direct me. That's not what we see. We don't see that careful deliberation and trust from Jacob. What we see here in Jacob is a man of action. I'm going to get her done, I'm going to move. The Lord's with me, isn't he? Let's go. Let's do this, a man of action. So you see this? As he waits for Rachel to arrive, he's there. He's asking these guys, hey, you know, Horan, do you know, Laban, yeah, that's his daughter coming this way right now. Oh, good. He's waiting for her to arrive, and I love this part because you get a real sense for who Jacob is here. As he's waiting for them to arrive, he begins to critique the shepherds for waiting to water the sheep. He's in a foreign place, and immediately he starts telling the locals their own business. You ever met a guy like that? He just shows up and starts, you know, telling everybody they're doing things wrong. Who is this guy? Where does he come from? Well, that's what Jacob's doing. Hey, guys, why are you all gathered together? It's not the time to be gathered together, why don't you water the sheep? I can almost see the reaction of these shepherds as they are standing around, kind of looking at each other. Who does this guy think he is? It's his problem. Hey, that's not how we do it here, man. That's not how we do it here, buddy. We wait for everybody, and then we roll away the stone. Well, waiting around is not going to do for Jacob. Jacob doesn't like to wait. As he's talking to the shepherds, Rachel arrives, and he sees her, her father's sheep, and Jacob does something remarkable. What does Jacob do? Did you catch it the first time we read through it? What does Jacob do? Jacob goes over to this large stone, this large stone that can't be moved unless several men move it. Some might think that he's motivated here by the presence of a young lady. We've all known those moments, right? I'm going to, yeah, several guys, I can move the stone, so he goes over. He by himself, he removes, he rolls away this large stone that takes several shepherds to move it. He does it on his own. He does it on his own strength. He rolls it away by himself. Now here we see another difference between this account in chapter 24. In chapter 24, the servant in his interaction with Rebecca, remember, Rebecca is the one who waters his camels. He arrives and Rebecca serves him, Rebecca is hospitable, Rebecca's water, Rebecca is the one who waters all of his camels. She ministers to him. This had been a confirmation, by the way, remember, this is what the servant had been praying for. Lord confirmed that this is the woman, and this is what the Lord used to confirm that this is indeed the woman he's looking for. Jacob hasn't prayed. Jacob hasn't sought the Lord. Jacob is just moving. And here we see that it is Jacob, Jacob who moves the stone. It is Jacob who waters the flocks of Rachel. He's the one that waters. Jacob's going to make it happen. Upon the completion of watering the flocks, Jacob kisses Rachel and weeps. He's overjoyed. He's beside himself. Now this kiss is not a romantic kiss. Maybe you were reading that and he thought, whoa, whoa, whoa. Jacob kind of takes it upon himself. No, it's not a romantic kiss. This is a kiss of joy kind of signifying that he is her kin, the kinship that they share. In fact, that's what he tells Rachel after he kisses her. He says, "I am Rebecca's son. Your father's my uncle." He runs away to tell Laban that Jacob has arrived. Now again, up to this point, it would seem that the Lord has led Jacob, wouldn't it? I mean, this is all happening just as it should, starting out perfectly. Finds exactly the people he's trying to find. He meets Laban's daughter right off the bat. He evidences super strength to remove the obstacle to the water. He weeps with joy. This man is the Lord in this, or what? Now the marriages of the patriarchs, and that's why these accounts are really important. The marriages of the patriarchs, these moments where they meet their wives and the Lord provides a wife for a patriarch, these are really important moments. Why? because the Lord has made promises to these men that he is going to multiply them. He's going to cause them to multiply and fill the earth, and that requires a wife. That requires a marriage. So the marriages and the offspring become the focal point of the story. Who are these men going to marry? That's the big question. So it seems, with that in the background, it seems that in this story, it's obvious, isn't it? It's Rachel. Rachel's the one that the Lord has provided. It's all going so smoothly. It can be better. I hope I've built it up enough so that you can see the tension that's happening here, right? You're led to believe this is perfect, it's just like the Lord has planned it. It's all sunshine and blue skies, but there are storm clouds developing on the horizon, and his name is Laban. Laban, now we've seen this guy before, haven't we? Again, back in chapter 24. We saw Laban, that's who Abraham's servant dealt with. Remember, he was greedy and opportunistic. He was ready to make a buck. Laban, back in chapter 24, had gotten rich because of his sister being married off to Isaac. Remember, Isaac comes with all the, or the servant doing Isaac's bidding comes with all these camels, laden down with all these valuables and riches, and Laban benefits. He loves this family. He loves when this family shows up, right? Paydays come again, and so he runs to meet Jacob. The rich family has returned, but what does Laban find when he meets Jacob? Not somebody laden with a bunch of camels, right, and riches and wealth. He finds a guy with a staff, and that's it. Jacob is not rich, he's broke, he's got no money. So here is the first speed bump for Jacob marrying Rachel. There has to be a price paid, he's got to be some gift given from the groom's family to the bride's family, some price given, and he's broke, he doesn't have anything. So instead of going right from this great reunion to a wedding contract and to a wedding feast, we see that Jacob just stays with the family. He's there a month, and this leads to the next conversation between Laban and Jacob. Instead of being a rich man who can give Laban wealth, Jacob finds himself working for Laban, but Laban, because Jacob is his kinsman, allows Jacob to name his wages. Now these wages are going to feature prominently in the Jacob-Laban narrative, so that's what we've entered into. The chapter 29, 30, and 31, this is known as the Jacob-Laban narrative. It's really just one story, one account. I was tempted to just take all three chapters at once, but we won't do that because I'm merciful, but I was tempted. Here in the Jacob-Laban narrative, these wages are going to feature prominently. They'll come up again in the next couple of chapters. The prospect of marriage here hangs in the air, and the narrator tells us that Laban has two daughters. So Laban approaches Jacob and says, "Okay, it's not right that you should work for me for nothing. Name your wages, name your price." And the text is about marriage and about finding the Lord's fit for Jacob. And so it moves to us, naturally it moves to describe Laban's two daughters. He's got two daughters. We've already met Rachel, and she would seem to be the one lined up, right? She's the one, but there's another daughter as well. The older daughter, her name's Leah. Now, man, I've gone back and forth on whether I should say this because I don't want you to hear anything wrong in this, but I do want it because the names mean something. Leah, her name means cow. That's what her name means. And the text tells us that her eyes are weak. She's got dull eyes. Remember and I've said before, the eyes in the ancient world, the eyes are really where the beauty is communicated. She's got weak eyes or some debate about what that description implies, but when you see it contrasted with Rachel, what does it say about Rachel? What does the text say here about Rachel? Rachel is the opposite of Leah, and Rachel is beautiful in form and appearance. Rachel is beautiful in form and appearance. Leah is not. Rachel's name means you or you, Lamb. You've got the cow and you've got the lamb and even their names communicate. I hate to put it so bluntly, but this is what the text is telling us. Rachel is attractive in every way, and Leah was not. And then we have this line, "Jacob loved Rachel." Of course he did. Right? What do you guys do, isn't it? They look for the pretty one, and that's where their heart attaches itself. Why? Because of her godliness, because of her character, because she loves the Lord. Oh no, I just like the way she looks. See, we are too American in the way we read things. When we say, "Jacob loved Rachel," oh, isn't that so sweet? Jacob loves Rachel, it's a love story. Well, again, the text is setting you up here, "Rachel please Jacob very much," because Jacob is like every other man, led by his desires and appetites, just like his dad. So again, I'm going to challenge your thinking a little bit here, because we've read this a certain way. I'm going to challenge your thinking a little here. If you compare in contrast with chapter 24, and the reasons why the servant believed Rebecca was the one that God had chosen to continue the promise line, right, you will see that Rebecca was beautiful, but there was also more to it than that, right? There was more to the story than just the way she looked. Here it pictures Jacob as being a man just enticed by beauty, enticed by what looks good, shines and glitters. Again, he doesn't wait. That's not Jacob's style. He moves. So Jacob says then to Laban's offer, Jacob says, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel." Jacob has no money to offer for Rachel, and so he offers seven years labor, and this is quite a price. Think about seven years' wages, seven years' wages for Rachel. Laban agrees. Sounds good. It's better for her to go to you than someone else. Stay with me. Let's do it. So Jacob serves seven years for Rachel. Texas doesn't tell us anything about those seven years except that they seem but a few days because of the love he had for her, and again, everyone goes, "Aww, isn't that so sweet?" He loved her so much that seven years was nothing for him. I mean, Nicholas Sparks could have written this book. This is, you know? The term few days is exactly what Rebecca had told Jacob when she sent him away, go for a few days until Esau's anger goes away until he forgets what has been done. Well, the few days have turned now into seven years, and Jacob is so in love. His desire is so intense that the time was nothing to him. Years of servitude were nothing compared to his love for Rachel. And then with great abruptness in the text, Jacob says, "Give me my wife." That's just what he goes through next. "Give me my wife that I may go into her for my time has been completed. My time is done. Give me my wife. Give me what's mine." Jacob wants to consummate the marriage. He wants his bride, and he wants to go home. He's been here seven years. He intended to just be here a few days, but now he's been here seven years. He wants his bride, what he came for, and he wants to go home. So they've been agrees to prepare feast, and now this feast again would have lasted a week. It's not like the marriages and the marriage ceremonies that we have here in the United States. It would have lasted a week. The first day there would have been ceremonies that take place all day, and then dancing and feasting and wine is flowing and partying. Even on the evening of the first day, the bride is brought and given to the groom. This bride would have been heavily veiled, heavily covered. And they go then into the marriage tent to consummate the marriage. So all of this happens just as you would expect, but in the evening, Laban takes his daughter Leah and gives her a servant Zilpa as a wedding present, and then gives Leah to Jacob, and Jacob unknowingly. Now, maybe it's because he was drunk. Maybe it's because it was dark. Maybe it's because there was so much veil and covering, I don't know. But he goes into Leah and he consummates the marriage with Leah instead of Rachel. Leah is now his wife. And in the morning, behold, it was Leah. Now, he's waited seven years, he's worked, and they seemed like a few days because of his love for Rachel, and it comes to that night, and he is ready. He is excited. Can you imagine this guy and his insides and just how he feels? And then in the morning, he wakes up and behold, it was Leah. Man, if you've ever felt the pangs of love and love sickness, put yourself in Jacob's shoes. I mean, his heart has been ripped out of his chest. I mean, you cannot describe, words would not describe the surprise and the anguish, the devastation that he feels joy turned to sorrow overnight. And then Jacob says to Laban, "Man, Jacob comes to Laban and he says, 'What is this that you've done to me?'" Have we heard that question before in the book of Genesis? Have we heard that question before? What is this that you've done? This is the question that the Lord God asked Adam and Eve in the garden, "What is this that you have done?" This is the question asked of Cain when he kills Abel, "What is this that you have done?" This is the question asked of Abram when he deceives Pharaoh and Abimelech. What is this that you've done? Question asked of Isaac when he also deceives Abimelech. And it is the matter at the heart of why Jacob has to flee for his life, right, until Esau forgets what you have done to him. What is this that you have done? The irony, you catch it, right, the irony then of what Jacob says next, "Did I not serve you for, Rachel, why then have you deceived me?" You see the irony there? This is exactly what Jacob has done. This is exactly what Jacob has done to his family. And now the shoe is on the other foot. Look at what Laban says, this is furthered here when Laban says to Jacob, "Well, it is not done in our country, it is not done so in our country to give the younger for the firstborn." Whoa, why does he use that language? I don't know how you live over there, but over here in our country, we don't give the younger for the firstborn. We don't give the place of the firstborn to the younger one. This is exactly what Jacob has done. Jacob, the younger one, has taken the place of the firstborn. This is exactly how Jacob has treated others. He has deceived so that he can take the place of the firstborn and be in the place of promise and blessing. Now as we've gone through Genesis, you could almost start getting the idea that whatever these patriarchs do, it's all just going to turn out all right. Have you started to get that feeling, like whatever it is that they do, it's all just going to turn out okay. Not just all right, but sometimes even better. Like when Abram goes down to Egypt and he deceives Pharaoh, do you remember what happens? Not only does it turn out all right, but he gets enriched by it. You almost kind of get this sense like, you know, it doesn't really matter what these people do, lie about your wife, you get rich, deceive your brother, you get the birthright and the blessing, you get off scot-free, right? If you're the chosen line, then you can get away with sin and not only that, but everything works out better perhaps. You sin and you win, but that's not the way it works. And I think this text here, one of the major points is to show us that that is not how it works. We find this truth. Also in Scripture, Numbers 32, you don't have to turn there. Numbers 32, Israel's warned, "Be sure your sin will find you out." Galatians 6 also has this principle, God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. So Jacob here gets a taste of the suffering and pain that he has worked on others before you start feeling too bad for Jacob. Let's show what he's done, we'll return to that momentarily. Let's finish up the story. Jacob discovers that it's Leah, he goes and confronts Laban, Laban explains why he has acted this way, and Laban now has an offer for Jacob, he says, "Complete the week of Leah, go through this week of marriage festivities and we will give you then Rachel as well. As long as you promise to serve another seven years." Laban's crafty man, Jacob has met his match, Laban already knows what the answer is going to be. I mean, Jacob's heart's set on Rachel, right? He has taken this young man, he's now got 14 years of labor out of him. I'm going to get another seven years out of this guy. So Jacob does so and completes Leah's week. Then Laban gives Rachel to Jacob and another servant who will feature prominently, both these servants will feature prominently in the next text. Jacob consummates the union with Rachel also, and then I want you to look at the end of this text here, and just hear the sadness in this. So Jacob went in, this is verse 30, so Jacob went into Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. He loved Rachel more than Leah. It's the same favoritism that has ripped his family apart. The seeds of it here, he favors Rachel instead of Leah. And that favoritism, I'm telling you, that favoritism is going to color a good part of the rest of the story of Genesis. It's going to wreak havoc in this family. Now, what do you notice in this entire, we just walked through the entire story, hopefully you understand the story a little bit better, which is why we'll walk through the story like that, I want you to see what it's saying. What do you notice in this entire account? Well, there are a lot of things we could observe, but I want to make note of this. The Lord's name does not appear once in this entire account. There isn't any theological reference, or reference to the Lord's work, or will. Jacob is active, Jacob is moving, but it seems as if the Lord is absent. It seems as if the Lord isn't involved in any of this, but again, with its immediate context, if you go back to what immediately preceded this text, what did the Lord promise to Jacob, I will go with you, I will protect you, I'll provide for you, I will bring you all the way back to this land, I'm not going to let you go, Jacob, I'm with you every step of the way. So where is the Lord in all this? What's happened? Has the Lord already, so soon after committing himself to Jacob, has he already abandoned him? Well, you know the answer, no, the Lord is not abandoned, Jacob. In fact, and that's really what this story tells us. The Lord is accomplishing exactly what he has promised to Jacob. The Lord is with Jacob whether Jacob is cognizant of this fact or not. The Lord is with Jacob whether Jacob acknowledges this or not. The Lord is with Jacob whether he embraces this or not. The Lord is with Jacob in sunshine and in sorrow is with Jacob in every moment. And this is true for all of God's people. This is true for all of God's chosen people, all of us. I want to give you this morning three assurances that this text points to, three assurances for God's people, three assurances for each and every one of us who are joined with Christ. You want, be assured, be assured that the Lord will accomplish his agenda. Be assured that the Lord will accomplish his agenda. Why is this an assurance for us? Because like Jacob, I don't always have my heart set on the right gold or aims. Can you find that to be true of yourself? I'm distracted, I'm self-dependent, I move before I pray. I move before I've sought the Lord's counsel or considered his wisdom, considered his path. How do I like to wait? I mean it looks good to me. What's there to wait for? I think I know clearly what the path is to take, what decisions to be made, what course is best. I mean this just feels right, doesn't it? This just feels like the right decision. And I'm not so honest about my motivations, I'm not so honest about what really is grabbing my heart and my desires. I'm not honest with myself, my heart is so often drawn to things that are temporal, to things that are flashy, feel good. Jacob, his heart, and this again, this is going to challenge you, Jacob's heart is set on Rachel. But God's choice is with Leah. So this is not a love story about Jacob and Rachel. This is about God accomplishing his agenda. Even with Jacob, whose heart is so often drawn to the wrong things, this is the assurance we have. So how do we know it was Leah? Well, let's turn. I'm not going to turn there physically, because we would have to read. That's why I thought about putting them all together. The story of Genesis is the promised line. Who is it that inherits the promises of Abraham? Who is it that carries forth that line, that promised line? That's the story of Genesis. Who is it that brings the promised line? It's Leah, not Rachel. Leah gives birth to Judah. Judah will be the one whose line gives us David, whose line then brings us Jesus. Without Leah, the story doesn't get completed. Leah is the one that God is giving to Jacob for his agenda, for his purposes. So there's a real simple question here as God's people. We know that we have, we can be assured that we have a God who is accomplishing his agenda. What's the warning to us? What's the admonition to us? I think we could just ask ourselves a simple question. What agenda, what goal, what aim, is your heart set on and and why? What's your heart set on and why is your heart set on that agenda? What is it that is motivating you? Is it not true that the source of our disappointment and angst so often the source of our misery is this reality? We have set our heart on things that are not God's will for our lives. So often we are disappointed and despairing because our plans are not what God has for us. And I'm talking, listen, if you have ever experienced a closed door, that language, everybody uses that language of closed door. Well, the Lord just closed the door. If you've ever experienced that, you know what sorrow is, you know what despair is, you know what discouragement is. What are we to do at those moments? We need to step back and say, "Okay, Lord, this is obviously not where you're directing me." Why is this so painful for me? What was my heart set on? And why was my heart set on that goal? Is it not true that the source of much of our sadness is from setting our heart on things that God does not give us? We may even think at times that our life is ruined, but nothing's ruined, friend, because we can be assured that the Lord is accomplishing His agenda for His people. I was, I don't know if you're this way, but at our home, we usually have a bag of candy out in our living room or kitchen that we intend to use for other things, right? It goes away very fast. We have this bag of candy on our kitchen counter right now, and one of the kids asked me yesterday for some candy, right? And I thought, "What a loving father. I'm just going to be a loving father. I'm going to go over and give him a piece of candy, put the piece of candy." I just told you the sex there, him, yeah, so you can eliminate. So I just said, "Here's a piece of candy." I thought, "He's going to join him when I give him right here." And you know what? He literally said to me. He literally said to me. I thought it was so fitting. He looked at me and said, "That's not my plan." That's what he said. That is not my plan. He took his hand and he reached in the bag and God, God, the other piece of candy that was His plan. Here I thought, "I am giving Him so gracious and generous as a father." He was like, "No, that's not my plan, Dad. This is my plan." Oh, it was so funny. That's how we often are. Lord, Lord, that's not my plan. That is not what I had in mind. Here's what I had in mind. Even our prayers and everything. It's so shaped around our plans and our agenda and what we want to see happen. And when we say, "Oh, but your will, Lord." That's almost like just a token like, "Whew, at least I can get up because I've acknowledged the sovereignty of God here, but really, Lord, this is what I want." And if the Lord doesn't give it to us, maybe He's failed us. No, we can rest assured that the Lord is always accomplishing His agenda. No matter where you're at in life right now, no matter what is discouraging you or you're being deprived of, assurance number two. So we can be assured that the Lord is accomplishing His agenda always. Number two, be assured that our God is sovereign over the choices of men. It is true that we often find ourselves at the mercy of others. Our lives are impacted by the decisions, the choices, the behaviors of others. Our quote-unquote "fate" if you will. Our fate lies in the hands of someone else. That is not a comfortable place to be, is it? If you have ever, and we've been there right, I've been there, if you have ever gone to a man to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage, and you realize that your future is in this man's hands, right? That is not a comfortable place to be. How can I make sure he's favorable towards me? How can I get the right answer that I want? Beloved, we can be assured that our God is sovereign over the choices of men, that even when we find ourselves at the mercy of others, their decisions, whether or not they favor us, their behaviors, we as God's people can trust that God is in control of our life, and he is sovereign over men, and over the choices and behaviors and decisions that may impact our lives. God is sovereign. Proverbs 21, one says, "The king's heart is in the hands of the Lord, and like a stream of water, he turns it with or so ever, he will, and if this is true of kings, then it is true of every man. If the Lord directs the hearts of kings, he directs the hearts of every man." Our God intervenes and directs the hearts and plans of others for the sake of his people. Now, I think most of us are inclined to think this way or to believe this when the decisions of others and their choices impact us favorably, right? When you get the job, when you get the acceptance letter, when he says, yes, you can marry my daughter, yes, oh, the Lord is in this, praise God. God has done me well, right? We're inclined to think that when it's favorable, but how about when people sin against us? How about when people sin against us and treat us ill as Laban treated Jacob? Is God sovereign over that, too? Or is there a place in this universe? Do you think that there's a place in this universe? Do you think there's any place in this universe where God is not sovereign? God's sovereign over all the good things, but when it comes to the sinful actions of people against me or their choices that adversely affect my life, God's not sovereign over that. God's sovereign over everything else, just not that. What do we believe if we believe that? Now, I don't intend to open a can of worms. This theological debate that goes back and forth, we'll have opportunity as we go through the book of Genesis, we're going to have an opportunity a couple of places to nail down on this a little bit more. We'll have opportunity to deal with that very question of how God oversees and orchestrates even the wicked intentions of man to accomplish his purposes. But for now, let me just leave it with that question. Do you operate? Does your life operate as if God is not sovereign over the sinful choices of men? And if that's how you operate, if you operate, they've got a sovereign over everything except for those things that adversely affect my life, then I would just say to you, no wonder you are so anxious and scared of what others might do to you. I think Jerry Bridges in his book, Trust in God. If you ever read Trust in God by Jerry Bridges, you need to read Trust in God by Jerry Bridges. It's a very, very good book, a very helpful book for thinking through this. Listen how Jerry Bridges summarizes it in his book, Trust in God. God never allows people to make decisions about us that undermine his plans for us. God is for us. We are his children. He delights in us. And the scripture says, if God is for us, who can be against us? So we can put this, Jerry says, we can put this down as a bedrock truth. God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with his will for you. And his will is always directed to our good. And this is the sovereignty of God. Be assured that the Lord is always accomplishing his agenda. Be assured that our God is sovereign over the choices of men that affect our lives. Even those sinful choices or those choices that adversely affect us. And number three, third assurance. Be assured that our father disciplines those whom he loves. This is our assurance as his people, as his sons and daughters. We have a loving father. We have a good father. And as good fathers should, good fathers discipline their children. Not out of anger, not out of judgment, but out of love. Jacob the deceiver has been chosen. His choosing love has been placed upon Jacob. The Lord's choosing love has been placed upon Jacob. The fact that he ends up experiencing the effects of deceit upon his life is not accidental or coincidental. It's not karma, maybe you think that way. Well, what goes around comes around, the universe has got to balance itself out. You act that way, it's going to catch up to you. No. This is the Lord working in Jacob's life. And it's not so that the Lord can even the score with Jacob, right? You thought you would get away with it, Jacob? I'll teach you a lesson or two, right? I'm going to straighten you out, Jacob. That's not the attitude. No, Jacob, Jacob has the choosing love of Yahweh, the Lord placed upon him. And he's experiencing what it means to be loved by the Lord. He's experiencing what it means to be loved by the Lord. We like to talk about the love of the Lord a lot, don't we? We like to talk about the love of God a lot. But Jacob is experiencing what it actually means, what it actually looks like to be loved by the Lord. To be loved by the Lord means he disciplines us. What we read, Hebrews 12, he disciplines those whom he loves as a father does for his children. That's what we just read. Hebrews 12, "My son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives." He would do us some good to sit and meditate in that passage. This is an implication for all of us, of the gospel truth, the gospel truth that we have been united to Christ. His death is our death, his resurrection is our resurrection, his ascension. He has taken us with him and we are seated in him in heavenly places. With all the blessings, this is the implication. As we live here on this earth, our Father is bringing us to holiness in every area of our life. Does you know that? He's bringing you to holiness in every area of your life. In your affections, in your attitudes, in your desires, in your motivations, in your thoughts, in your behaviors, in your decisions, and on and on and on, he is bringing you to holiness. This is his intent for you. Why? Because it's good. In every aspect of our life, he wants good for us, which means complete conformity to the image of his son. Is there anything more good than his son, Jesus? That is what he wants for you, to bring you to the conformity of the image of his son. Our Father, your Father, is fully committed to that work. He is so committed that he will do for you what you would never choose for yourself. He will bring people into your life that you would never have chosen to be brought into your life. All of our difficulties and trials have been particularly crafted by our loving Heavenly Father for our growth, for our holiness. And we all continually need discipline and growth. And our Father, as only our Father knows, he knows best how to address our need. Maybe there's a Laban in your life. Maybe as we're walking through Laban, he's like, "I have a Laban in my life." You think that's by accident? Is the answer just to get a new job? Yeah, my boss is a Laban, and I'll tell you what, I'm going to start praying hard for a new job, because that must be what God would not want me to stay in this job with a horrible boss, right? But just doesn't seem like there's a job out there. Maybe there's a Laban in your life. Who if we're honest, if we're honest, looks a lot like us. Have you ever noticed that the people that drive you the craziest are the ones who are a lot like you? The Lord is so good. Our Father is so good to send these people in our life who they're going to rub us in ways that we need. Have you noticed a theme, maybe, to the difficulties that you experience? Have you noticed a theme in some of the trials and difficulties that you have? Do you only ever cry out? Why me? God, why me? Or do you have the attitude that your Father is seeking to teach you something, show you something, grow you in something. That's hard work, by the way. You ever find that about yourself? I find this in me all the time. I like shortcuts, I don't want the process of discipline, I just kind of want to get this shortcut. I'm kind of like Jacob. I just want the shortcut. I just want to get there, right? I don't want the process, but that's why Hebrews 12 tells us don't be weary in the discipline of the Lord. Embrace it because it's our good heavenly Father who loves us and is working in us. And this, again, is the implication, this is the outworking of being united to Christ. Are you quick to see your sin when that difficult person intercepts your life? Are you quick to see your own sin and your own need for repentance? Or are you just angry at the way others are treating you? If you're only angry at how you're being treated or the fact that you're not getting a fair shake, then you're missing the point. He has not brought this trial into your life for no reason. Are we angry about not having what our heart is set on? Are we angry but not getting what we want, when we want, how we want? Or are we trusting our Father in His work in our life? All of us, all of us need to hear that this morning, not one of us is accepted. This is an old song. I'm going to try not to do the dramatic thing because people are like, "You're a little over dramatic sometimes." Sometimes. This is an old song that has a place, I think, but I was thinking of this song as I was meditating on this passage. Listen to this song and it's in our hymnals called day by day, day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here, trusting in my Father's wise bestowment. I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto each day what he deems best, lovingly it's part of pain and pleasure mingling toil with peace and rest. Every day the Lord Himself is near me. With a special mercy for each hour, all my cares He feigned would bear and cheer me. He whose name is counselor and power. The protection of His child and treasure is a charge that on Himself He laid as thy days thy strength shall be in measure. This the pledge to me He has made. Help me then in every tribulation so to trust thy promises, O Lord, that I lose not faith sweet consolation offered me within thy holy word. Help me Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, air to take as from the Father's hand, one by one the days the moment's fleeting till I reach the promised land. That last line, one by one the days the moment's fleeting till I reach the promised land. Jacob loved Rachel and served for seven years when they seemed as but a few days because of the intense love he had for Rachel. See that's really important. When our hope is set correctly and our desire is upon Him, this, this is what makes these few days here seem as nothing. That's the secret. We can be assured that our Lord is accomplishing His agenda, that our God is sovereign even over the sinful choices of men that affect our lives and that our Father is disciplining us because He loves us and He has promised to bring us all the way home. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for this Word. We thank You for this text. There is much work in our hearts and minds that need to be done. We need to meditate on this, on these principles, on these truths, need to think. I pray that You would give us such a view of You, that we would see Your kindness and Your goodness, that You would see Your heart for us. And that we would set our heart. We would set our greatest desire and affection upon You, Lord Jesus, upon Your coming, upon You making all things right, upon Your kingdom. That this would give us the perspective we need as we endure trials and troubles as we endure in our call to strengthen ourselves in the discipline that You give for our lives. And for our holiness, we pray that You would do this work and complete it in us. We thank You for it. In Your name we pray. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]