Last time, we looked at the life summaries of the key people in Genesis 29. This time, we are going to begin by looking at the keywords in the same chapter. The first keyword I noticed is the word "well." I counted nine times that "well" is used in this chapter. During Jacob's journey, he saw a well in front of him, near which three flocks of sheep were lying down. That well was their source for water because the flocks drank from that well. A massive stone covered the well’s opening. When all of the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the well’s opening, water the sheep, and return the stone to its place at the well’s opening. When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his uncle, and the flock of Laban, Jacob came up, rolled the stone from the well’s opening, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. Because "well" is a keyword, and because of the setting of these events, water is also noteworthy. That is, after all, what the well is all about, a place to get water. The flocks were there to be watered when Jacob met Rachel.
The word "stone" is mentioned five times in Genesis 29 because they had to roll away the stone from the well's opening to water their flocks. Just like there was a massive stone at the well's opening to get water out, a large stone was rolled at the door of Jesus' tomb. Then the tomb was sealed, and a guard was posted. But then an angel came to the stone, rolled it away, and sat on it to show everyone that Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus is referred to as the "living water" in John 4:10-14 and 7:38.
But perhaps the best keyword in this chapter is "love." Jacob loved Rachel so much that he agreed to work seven years for Rachel to be his wife and ended up working 14 years after her father Laban deceived Jacob. Though it was such a long time, Jacob's first seven years seemed like just a few days to him because he loved Rachel so much. He loved Rachel much more than Leah, Jacob's first wife given to him by Laban instead of Rachel at first to get Jacob to work for him twice as long. We also see the opposite side of this love, or the downside of it, for the unloved sister Leah. When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb. We see Leah's desperate sadness due to that lack of love from her husband in what their first son was named. She named him Reuben (See, a Son) because she said, "The LORD saw my harsh treatment, and now my husband will love me. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “The LORD heard that I was unloved, so he gave me this son too,” and she named him Simeon (Hear). This happened two more times until Leah said, "This time, I will praise the LORD." That's all the LORD wanted in the first place, but I guess Leah had to see how much he loved her before she would put him first. And that is how Genesis 29 ends.
If we don't follow the text's order carefully, we can become easily confused about when Jacob works and receives wages for his labors. First, Jacob leaves and heads for the land of the easterners. He arrives at a well and inquires about the whereabouts of Laban when he meets Laban's daughter Rachel. Jacob kisses Rachel. Then Rachel goes and brings Laban to meet Jacob, who stays with Laban and his family for a month before Laban finally says, "You shouldn’t have to work for free just because you are my relative. Tell me what you would like to be paid." Jacob loved Rachel and said, “I will work for you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.” Laban said, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. Stay with me." But when the time came, he gave her Leah, the older daughter, first. Jacob was willing to work for Rachel seven more years to marry her.
The irony of all this is that Jacob (Heel-Catcher; Deceiver) spent his entire life scheming and deceiving people, most notably his brother and even his father, at one point. Now he is the one being deceived and getting schemed by Laban. I quoted Galatians 6:7 in the last post, but it is worth repeating again. Make no mistake, God is not mocked. A person will harvest what they plant.
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