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15 Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?" 16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. 18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter." 19 And Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me." 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. ~ Genesis 29:15-20
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 29 where we find Jacob in the home of his uncle Laban, his mother's brother. In our previous study, Laban had said to Jacob, "you are of the same stock and therefore you are family." This is why Laban allowed Jacob to stay as a guest for an entire month. In doing that Jacob pictured for us the Lord Jesus who came to this earth in order to procure a bride for Himself.
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "Then Laban said to Jacob, 'Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?'"
When he arrived at Laban's home, Jacob had enough money to pay Laban for his daughter to be his wife, just as Abraham’s servant did about 100 years before. Laban, being a shrewd man who valued money more than he should have, looked for a way to get as much out of Jacob as he could. In order to accomplish his desired result, Laban made it sound like he was helping Jacob. In reality, Laban was just as much a deceiver as Jacob was, only time would reveal it.
God, throughout the Bible, tells us to not put our trust in money. In 1 Timothy 6:17 we read, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."
The prosperity of this world is okay as long as it is our servant rather than we it. Actually wealth is a common consequence of faithfulness. Paul didn’t tell the rich to feel guilty about being rich; he just urged caution. The abundance or lack of money will only be felt for one life, therefore we do well to not get tangled up in it. If we stockpile earthly treasures especially at the expense of heavenly treasures, we have demonstrated that we do not get what this life is really about. As we see throughout the Genesis narrative, God blesses us so that we can bless others with hopes that they will desire a personal relationship with Him.
In v.16-17 of today's passage we read, "16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance."
Over and over the Bible uses the number two to point us to contrast. Laban's two daughters were quite the contrast. The name of the first, Leah, means "wearied" and the second daughter's names, Rachel, means "ewe lamb." The two names of Jacob’s future wives are important to help us understand the contrast that is there for us on a daily basis. This contrast consists of being defined by this world or being defined by the Lord.
In v.17 we are given contrast between the two. Leah pictured the law. Her name means "wearied" and it describes our attempts to try to measure up to the law that wearies us. We are told that Leah eyes were "delicate" literally meaning "weak." In Hebrews 7, we are told that the law, like Leah’s eyes, is weak and useless to make us right before the Lord.
Also in v.17 we are told that "Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance." Rachel pictures for us the gospel which is pictured in the context of a swollen river which you’ve helplessly fallen into. Your head has gone down under the water several times and you're thinking that if it goes down again, well, you're a goner. Suddenly, from the shore, someone throws you a life preserver, which aggressively speeds toward you. Out of your desperation you grab hold of the preserver and you are triumphantly pulled to the shore. Rachel's name pictures for us this life-preserver. How beautiful is the One who came to rescue us from the torrential waters of sin? It was the Lord Jesus Christ who came to measure up to the law for us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news which tells us we’re saved by grace through faith and that our works are not involved in the process.
In v.18-20 of today's passage we read, "18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter." 19 And Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me." 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her."
Jacob was 77 years old when this story took place. He was the son of promise, the inheritor of Isaac’s estate, and he traveled to Padan Aram to purchase for himself a wife from among his parents people. Jacob was a man who made a commitment of seven years for a woman that he loved, even though he had only known her for a month. Laban was probably was very happy about the arrangements that Jacob offered because he got seven years of work out of Jacob and his daughter would be taken care of for the rest of her life.
Seven is the number of spiritual perfection. The seven years of work which Jacob agreed to as a dowry pictures for us the work the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross of Calvary. It was there while hanging on the cross that the Lord Jesus uttered seven statements. Within those seven sentences, the Lord Jesus summed up the Gospel which includes forgiveness, salvation, relationship, abandonment, distress, triumph and reunion.
