What goes around comes around!! For the deception that Jacob performed in getting Isaac's blessings to first-born, he is finally tricked himself by his uncle.
To flee from Esau who wanted to kill him, Jacob went to the land of the eastern peoples, hoping to find his mother's brother (uncle), Laban. There he met Rachel the shepherdess. She brought him to her father Laban. Because Jacob loved Rachel, he agreed to work for Laban for 7 years in exchange of marrying Rachel. Finally when the 7 years was up, Laban gave his daughter to him... only that was Leah, Rachel's older sister!! (actually I don't really understand - how can one not know who he is having sex with... Leah's eyes were weak, but Jacob's shouldn't be!!) Anyways, Jacob then worked for 7 years more to get the wife he originally wanted - Rachel.
Because Leah was not loved, God opened her womb and she had four sons. Rachel was angry that she wasn't pregnant. Here we can see Jacob acknowledging that everything comes from God: "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"
Rachel then gave his servant Bilhah, who bore 2 children for Jacob; then Leah also took her maidservant Zilpah , who bore 2 sons too. Rachel, in exchange for mandrake (something that was superstitiously thought to induce pregnancy when eaten), let Leah sleep with Jacob - who then bore 2 more sons (and a daughter) for Jacob. Finally God remembered Rachel and she finally gave birth to her first son, Joseph.
Jacob wanted to go back to his homeland, so asked Laban to let him go. Jacob asked for all the spotted/speckled sheep as his wage, which Laban agreed to. Secretly, however, Laban removed all these sheep and let his sons to take care of these spotted/speckled sheep. However, Jacob also returned Laban's trick and led to his own flocks grow more prosperous.
Jacob has from the beginning been deceptive - first toward his dad and brother, then toward his uncle... but at the end God's blessings are so much on him. Sometimes it's really easy for us to wonder why God would let this happen... but no matter what, Jacob seems to truly know and recognize that God is the most powerful... from a God who's his father's God - Jacob came to realize that this God is also his God as well.
I don't understand why it says Leah had weak eyes but Rachel was lovely in form. Bad vision doesn't really affect your physical appearance unless she had like a lazy eye maybe?
ReplyDeleteBe very specific in what you ask for! Instead of saying "give me my wife", he should have asked for Rachel.
I suspect they made love in the dark so he didn't know it was Leah until he woke up. This happened in a Taiwanese soap opera once!
Yeah, I figured the same thing about making love in the dark!
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