Twisted Sisters & The Transcendent God
Genesis 29:30-30:24
November 16, 2014
Well, if you’re a person who likes all the intrigue and drama of a messed up life then I trust you are enjoying the life of Jacob.
Jerry Springer had nothing on the patriarchal families in Genesis.
• Abraham passing off Sarah as his sister (twice)
• And then Isaac doing the same
• Sarah giving her maid to her husband (and two sisters here following suit)
• One brother dressing up like the other to deceive his blind father
• A dad dressing up a daughter to marry off instead of the other
Here we have two sisters, married to the same man, scratching, clawing, manipulating, and bribing just to see which one can get him into their bed.
Just when you think you’ve heard it all.
And if that’s not enough, factor in the reality that during the 7 year span when all this occurred Jacob was between 84 and 91 years old.
If the only purpose was to reveal to you the lineage of Israel,
Moses simply would have said,
“And Jacob had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel.”
But just like all the stories of Genesis, Moses has a point to make,
And this story makes it to a “T”.
I’ve told you that presently Jacob is in “Laban’s University”
As we saw last week, he entered Haran as a fully self-reliant man.
Jacob was the type of individual
Who had grown accustomed to always landing on his feet.
• When he wanted a birthright, he made a plan and achieved it
• When he wanted a blessing, he made a plan and achieved it
• When he wanted a bride, he made a plan and achieved it (nearly)
God sent this self-reliant man into Haran to teach him that
Depending on his wits would get him nowhere.
For in Haran Jacob met Laban and literally met his match.
As I told you, Jacob entered Haran self-reliant,
But he’ll come out of Haran fully dependent on God.
In fact in chapter 32 Jacob will have Laban (who he cheated) behind him and Esau (who he cheated) in front of him and Jacob is going to grab ahold of God and refuse to let go until God blesses him.
In short, Jacob goes into Laban’s university dependent on self
And he comes out dependent on God.
And as we said last week, this is a work of grace in his life.
God is using this 20 years with Laban
To mold him into the father of a nation.
Now, with that being said we turn our attention to this peculiar story.
These two sisters are about to duke it out for Jacob and through this event God is about to teach Jacob two very important truths.
GOD IS TRANSCENDENT GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY
When you read this story, you have to notice that
The narrative flows through Rachel.
It is more about her struggles even than Leah’s success.
We have one futile attempt after another by Rachel,
And yet success just falls in Leah’s lap.
There is a divine reason for this.
Genesis 29:30-31 “So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years. Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”
Now I certainly don’t want to minimize the compassion of God here.
But honestly if you are reading this passage
As though God was making up for Leah’s marital troubles
By making her fertile then you are missing the point.
If granting children was merely an issue of God’s compassion then infertility would not exist, and to assume that the only reason Leah conceived is because God felt sorry for her does a severe injustice to women around the world who can’t have children.
There is a different reason why God opened Leah’s womb.
He did it because she “was unloved”
Again, not compassion, but rather because
She was the bride that Jacob wasn’t trying to conceive with.
This was all about Jacob, this was about God accomplishing His promise
In a way that Jacob would know it was God and not him who had done it.
Now what was God’s promise?
Genesis 28:14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
God had promised Jacob that he would make his descendants
“like the dust of the earth”
But it was important that Jacob know
That God was the one who did it, and not him.
And God’s means of teaching Jacob this lesson
Was to cause children to come through the wife he wasn’t trying with.
Of the two sisters, which one do you think Jacob tried to have kids with?
• Of course it was Rachel!
• Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah”
• In fact Moses says that “Leah was unloved”
Jacob wasn’t trying with her – that’s why God specifically chose her.
Jacob had to know this was God’s doing and not his.
You’ll see in a moment that Jacob will get the message loud and clear.
I want to show you Rachel’s failed attempts at child-birth,
And these are testimony to the absolute inability of man
To secure the promises of God.
#1 SEDUCTION
Genesis 29:30-35
Now really this is effort by Rachel is really just heavily implied,
But it is not specifically stated.
What we know is that Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah”
And thanks to the text last week we even know why.
Genesis 29:17 “And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.”
Jacob was captivated by Rachel very early, and while we certainly think that by now he loved other things about her, we’d be foolish to forget that she won his heart quickly.
She was always his choice
In fact he worked a total of 14 years just for the right to marry her
And it is obvious that when it came time to start having children
That Rachel was undoubtedly able to keep Jacob in her corner.
That is what Moses is talking about that “Leah was unloved”
And this is specifically why God blessed Leah.
God was purposely working in a manner in which Jacob was not.
And God’s plan is working perfectly.
Rachel may have Jacob’s heart, but Leah has his sons.
REUBEN, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.”
SIMEON, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.”
LEVI, “Now this time by husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.”
JUDAH, “This time I will praise the Lord.”
Clearly God did an amazing work through Leah (the unloved),
And Leah knew it.
The Firstborn
The Head of the Priestly Tribe
The Head of the Messianic Tribe
So despite Sarah’s ability to win Jacob’s heart,
It did not help her in her attempts to bear Jacob’s sons.
(It is a testimony to the weakness of human effort)
So, Sarah moves on to PLAN B
Seduction
#2 STRENGTH
Genesis 29:35, 30:15
Now by this I mean that Sarah “muscled” her will in here.
She became demonstrative, defiant, strong willed.
She pushed her desire and forced Jacob to adhere to it.
You will notice at the end of verse 35,
Moses says about Leah, “Then she stopped bearing.”
And the initial assumption is that Leah’s time had passed.
• Maybe she became too old
• Maybe she had some other complication
We don’t know, we just easily assume that nature
Has made her no longer able to have children.
But that wasn’t what happened.
Look down to chapter 30, verse 15
This is the bartering that Rachel and Leah do over Reuben’s mandrakes.
Genesis 30:15 “But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”
And of course if you read on, you’ll find that Leah’s womb was not closed, in fact she gave birth to two more sons and a daughter.
The question then becomes:
Why did Leah stop bearing children back in 29:35?
The answer is because Rachel cut her off from Jacob.
You will see in 30:1 that Rachel “became jealous of her sister”.
Rachel, who had Jacob’s heart, no doubt played the shame card
And kept Jacob away from Leah.
That is why Leah accused Rachel of taking her husband
And why Rachel had to give permission for Jacob to go back to her.
This is Rachel’s second attempt to try and get children for Jacob.
She hoarded Jacob all for herself in hopes
That eventually she would be the mother of his sons.
But of course you notice that this did not work.
She just wasn’t able to conceive.
She could stop Leah, but she couldn’t make herself pregnant.
So, let’s move to PLAN C
Seduction, Strength
#3 SYMPATHY
Genesis 30:1-13
It’s very important that you notice here
The conversation between Rachel and Jacob.
It is something that Jacob is learning.
“Now when Rachel saw that she bore no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
You recognize Rachel’s little pathetic fit.
She’s just going to die if she can’t get children.
That little temper tantrum was all part of the request she is about to ask.
She’s about to ask Jacob to go even further into polygamy and take her maid as a wife (a.k.a. Sarah and Hagar), and in order to get Jacob to go along with it she first has to prove to him how desperate she is.
But before we get to the point, we must recognize Jacob’s response.
Jacob recognized that the reason he couldn’t make her conceive
Was because he was not God.
This may just be one little sentence in the entire narrative,
But it is such an important lesson for Jacob to finally learn.
Last week we saw that Jacob was a self-reliant man and we saw that confidence absolutely crushed as Laban got the better of him.
Here we find Jacob learning that despite his efforts and despite his ability, he will always be at the mercy of God.
In short, there is a God and Jacob is not him.
I have no doubts that Jacob would have done everything in his power to give children to Rachel.
• He would live with Rachel
• He would cut off Leah
• He would even go in to Rachel’s maid if that pleased her
But Jacob wasn’t God and he could not make her conceive.
And again can I remind you that this is a very important lesson
That you must learn?
YOU ARE NOT GOD – in fact you aren’t even close!
• You aren’t as wise as Him
• You aren’t as strong as Him
• You aren’t as good as Him
• You aren’t as pretty as Him
• You don’t even smell as good as Him
And you must grasp this so you’ll quit trying
To earn by your efforts what only God can accomplish.
It is the flip-side to self-reliance.
You must learn you can’t, and that only God can.
You cannot, by your own efforts, secure any one of the promises of God.
• You can’t save yourself
• You can’t secure your salvation
• You can’t satisfy your soul
• You can’t bring in blessing
YOU AREN’T GOD
AND GOD’S PEOPLE ROUTINELY HAVE TO LEARN THIS LESSON
Take Job, who got a little big for his britches, and actually felt the need to call God to appear before him to answer for Job’s injustices.
From Job 38-41 God showed up to talk to Job
And over those 4 chapters God reiterated time and time again
The exact same point – YOU ARE NOT GOD!
And throughout those 4 chapters you’ll find God asking Job:
• Did you create the heavens?
• Can you restrain the oceans?
• Do you even know the depth of the sea?
• Do you watch over the mountain goat?
• Do you know why the horse is brave or strong?
• Can you teach the hawk to fly?
• Can you control the wild ox?
• Can you capture a Hippo?
• Can you tame a crocodile?
And all of these things that Job can’t do are easy for God.
Job learned that he was not God.
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
Consider Nebuchadnezzar, a man who also got too big for his britches.
God sent him a dream to warn him
That he was too arrogant about his own abilities.
Daniel interpreted that dream:
Daniel 4:24-25 “this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.”
Nebuchadnezzar didn’t listen – the dream was fulfilled
When God restored his sanity, Nebuchadnezzar said:
Daniel 4:34-37 “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘ What have You done?’ “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
Consider Peter
After Jesus pulled in a large catch of fish:
Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
Or after Jesus was transfigured:
Matthew 17:6 “When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.”
The word we are looking for here is TRANSCENDENT
It means that God is “beyond the range or grasp of human experience, reason, or belief”
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
It’s always been important that God’s people know their place before God.
He is transcendent
HE IS ABOVE US IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY!
Throughout Israel’s history one of the biggest sins they committed
Was the sin of forgetting this.
(They instead dumbed God down with graven images)
Isaiah 40:18-26 “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”
Through their graven images they robbed God of His transcendence.
They sought to bring God down to their level.
When you rob God of His transcendence, you only harm yourself,
For you end up with a god who looks the way you want him too,
But you ultimately end up with a god who can’t help.
It is essential that you come to the place in your life
Where you realize your weakness and His greatness.
Well Jacob is learning this.
As he witnesses Rachel’s struggles despite their efforts,
Jacob is figuring this out.
But obviously he hasn’t fully grasped it yet,
Because Sarah still has another plan for children they are going to try.
She wants to give her handmaid to Jacob, and because Jacob is in the mode of consenting to Rachel, he gives in and furthers iniquity by going in to Bilhah.
And to some extent the plan works.
DAN is born and Rachel says, “God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.”
Rachel’s statement is certainly a bit of a stretch.
God did grant the birth of Dan, but it was hardly as a reward for Rachel.
Then NAPHTALI is born and Rachel says, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.”
This doesn’t mean that she outdid her sister (she clearly did not).
Rather Rachel is saying, “I have wrestled the role of child-bearer away from my sister and I have won! Now I’m the child producer!”
RACHEL THINKS HER EFFORTS FINALLY WORKED
The problem is that two can plan at her game.
(9-13) “When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, ” Happy am I! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.”
GAD “How fortunate!” (I think you can feel her take a shot at Rachel there)
ASHER “Happy am I! For women will call me happy.”
Both of those names sort of look at Rachel with a sneer as though to say, “Oh, looks like you didn’t win after all!”
So Sarah has tried three tactics to have children and she is unsuccessful.
Let’s move to PLAN D
Seduction, Strength, Sympathy
#4 SUPERSTITION
Genesis 30:14-21
Little Reuben (4 or 5 years old) was out playing in the field and found some “mandrakes”.
The reason these were a hot commodity is because they were supposed to help with fertility. It was a superstition; a wife’s tale.
And Rachel sees another opportunity for a chance.
If she could get those mandrakes then surely she could conceive.
The cost for them would be to lift her sanction between Leah and Jacob.
Rachel did.
She received the mandrakes, but Leah had the children
ISSACHAR “God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.”
Again, God did grant the child,
But Leah is way off in her reasoning as to why.
ZEBULUN “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.”
Leah even threw in a daughter named “Dinah” who we will learn of later.
But the point is, that Rachel has tried every human effort imaginable to have children, but she can’t.
WHY?
BECAUSE GOD IS TEACHING JACOB
THE INABILITY OF HUMAN EFFORT.
You are supposed to read this chapter and see that the children Jacob had were only because of God and no one else’s efforts.
Notice all the references:
Genesis 29:31 “Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”
Genesis 30:2 “Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
Genesis 30:17 “God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.”
Genesis 30:22 “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.”
Clear isn’t it?
Not to mention all the times that Leah gives God credit for her sons.
And what is clear is that like Jacob, RACHEL FINALLY LEARNED THAT.
(22-24) “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” She named him Joseph, saying, “May the LORD give me another son.”
So when you read that story as a whole there is no doubt the point that Moses is making.
• God had promised to multiply and bless Jacob’s descendants.
• God was fulfilling that promise.
• God was doing it in such a way that no one but Him could receive
credit.
And it is the other lesson Jacob is learning.
Not only is God transcendent, GOD IS ALSO TRUSTWORTHY
God is doing what He promised.
And here is the part we have to love:
GOD IS DOING THROUGH AND IN SPITE OF SINFUL PEOPLE
And this has been true throughout the Genesis account.
• Abraham is leaving the Promised Land, passing off his wife, going in to Hagar, trying to hang on to Ishmael, and despite all that God still fulfills His promise.
• Isaac passes off his wife, ignores the divine oracle about his sons, tries to bless the wrong one, and despite all that God still fulfills His promise.
• Jacob cheats his brother, lies to his father, commits polygamy, and despite all that God still fulfills the promise.
And here is what we learn.
GOD IS FAITHFUL – HE FULFILLS HIS PROMISES
AND NOT EVEN SINNERS CAN THWART HIS WILL
This morning, I want you to read this story through Jacob’s eyes.
• A man who messed up his plan for a wife
• A man who couldn’t control who bore his children
• Caught in a web between two bickering women
BUT IF HE’LL STEP BACK HE’LL SEE
God is systematically fulfilling His promise in spite of Jacob.
Do you know what we call that?
GRACE
It’s the song Peggy sang last week
“Were it not for grace, I can tell you where I’d be; wondering down some pointless road to nowhere, with my salvation up to me. I know how that would go, the battles I would face, forever running, but losing the race; where it not for grace.”
Friend this morning I want to encourage you that
The God who promised salvation to you is a Transcendent God
Who is Faithful to fulfill that promise in spite of your mistakes.
Am I saying that mistakes don’t matter?
No
Throughout history God’s people have brought much grief and pain to their lives because of their sin.
Take Israel as the prime example.
They worshiped other gods, they forsook God’s law and as a result God raised up Babylon to destroy them and removed them from the land for 70 years.
But even as Israel marched to Babylon, God promised that He had not forgotten them and that His promise would still be fulfilled.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”
Or take Israel rejecting Christ and thus bringing upon themselves all sorts of pain and anguish, even being temporarily broken off.
And yet know:
Romans 11:28-29 “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
So I’m not saying disobedience or sinful living doesn’t matter – it does.
Those poor decisions can bring tremendous pain into your life.
But what I am saying is that the overall promises that God makes
Are never put in jeopardy by the weakness of His people.
Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
God will fulfill them in spite of you.
And that is easily seen here.
THAT IS GRACE.
It is the transcendent God at work on you, through you, and many times in spite of you, to faithfully fulfill all His promises to you.
So worship Him
So rest in Him
So trust Him
