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Study No.7 : Jacob's Dream : Genesis 28:10-15

A. Find Out:

      

1. Where did Jacob set out for? v.10

2. What was remarkable about the stairway? v.12

3. How did the Lord identify himself? v.13b

4. What did he promise about the land? v.13c

5. What did he say about Jacob's descendants? v.14

6. What did he say about His presence? v.15

 

B. Think :

1. What contact had Jacob had with the Lord before this?

2. Was Jacob seeking the Lord?

3. How therefore would you summarise what has happened?

 

C. Comment :

       We find the Lord bringing the same promise to Jacob as He did to his father, Isaac, (Genesis 26:3,4) and his grandfather, Abraham (Genesis 12:2,7). The promise was clearly fulfilled, with the nation of Israel becoming a great nation that first took the land that eventually was used to be the home of Jesus, who was the blessing to all the earth.

  

      We should note in passing that Jacob's prior knowledge and experience of the Lord was through his parents and that there is no indication whatsoever that he was seeking the Lord. This is a sovereign act of God in choosing Jacob, not because he's good or worthy, but simply because he is Jacob, son of Abraham - chosen by God! Why does God choose one and not another? That is a mystery. Perhaps with His foreknowledge He knows who will respond and what He will be able to do with a particular person.

  

      Note how the Lord identifies Himself - by reference to the people with whom He has already had dealings. He is the God of history who acts within time and space within the lives of men and women, ordinary people like you and me.

 

D. Application?

1. Praise the Lord that He is Sovereign God Almighty.

2. Thank Him, if you are a committed Christian that He HAS chosen you,

     and that He has plans for you.

Study No.8 : Jacob's Response : Genesis 28:16-22

A. Find Out:    

       

1. Why was Jacob afraid? v.16,17

2. What did he do when he awoke next morning? v.18

3. Where was it that he had the dream? v.19

4. In his vow what did he want God to do? v.20,21a

5. What did he say he would do in return? v.21b

6. What else did he say he would do? v.22b

 

B. Think :

1. How is Jacob's response, first of all, good?

2. How is Jacob's vow self centred?

3. How is Jacob's understanding of God very limited?

 

C. Comment :

       When Jacob wakes with the dream still very vivid, his initial response is very good. He senses the awesomeness of God's presence. Proverbs 1:7 says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge". Fear or awesome respect is a good start to a relationship with the Lord, indeed without some sense of it we don't have a real relationship with Him. His next move is less clear. It seems he sets up a simple altar in the manner of the people of his day. However there seems an element of superstition in it, in that he uses the stone he had rested upon, as it seems special to him. He then calls the place " Bethel " which means "the house of God". He has yet to learn that God is the God of the whole world, not just some small location (or church building?).

  

      Finally his vow appears to be an understanding of God's promise in the dream and he responds with personal commitment. For each of us who have become Christians, it is because we have understood something of our need, and God's love for us through Jesus, and have responded to that wonderful truth. Being a believer is being a RESPONDER to God's initiatives of love, mercy and grace towards us.

 

D. Application?

1. Do I know the Lord as an awesome, almighty, holy God AND as my

     loving heavenly father?

2. Have I realised that my faith is a response to what the Lord has shown

     me? I need to allow Him to show me more and more!

 

Study No.9 : A Chance Encounter? : Genesis 29:1-14

A. Find Out:

       

1. Who did Jacob first encounter in this new land? v.4

2. Who arrived shortly after? v.6

3. What did Jacob do for her? v.10

4. How did he seem to feel about her? v.11

5. What did she do? v.12

6. How did Laban receive him? v.13,14

 

B. Think :

1. Why would flocks be important to the people of Haran ?

2. Why would water be so important to them?

3. How was Jacob's action in watering Rachel's sheep apparently a bold

    one?

 

C. Comment :

     Jacob has travelled many miles and now approaches Haran where he comes across a well, the watering point for the local shepherds. Rachel is a shepherdess and shortly after he arrives she brings her sheep to receive drink. A chance encounter? No, there aren't "chance" encounters with the Lord! Years before, Abraham's servant had come to this same area and had had a "chance encounter" with Rebekah, Jacob's mother, and he had recognised the hand of God in it then (see Genesis 24:10-27 esp. v.27)

  

     Jacob stands in stark contrast to the shepherds that were already there. They were cautious and would not remove the stone until all the flocks were there; there was a certain community spirit about them. Jacob, on the other hand, acts boldly and as a loner. Here is his possible cousin and he is going to bless her straight away with his help. It is as if he puts her at the head of the queue. As he reveals to her that he is her cousin he is deeply moved and weeps at having found her. This twister and deceiver reveals he can be moved emotionally, schemer though he may be.

 

D. Application?

1. Alert to "divine appointments" rather than "chance meetings"?

2. Ask the Lord to help you have free emotions that can weep for joy as

     well as in sadness.

Study No.10 : Jacob works for Laban : Genesis 29:15-30

A. Find Out:

       

1. What was Jacob obviously doing? v.15

2. How were Laban's two daughters different? v.16

3. How long did Jacob work to "earn" Rachel? v.20

4. Who did Laban give Jacob on the feast night? v.23

5. What did he say was the reason for that? v.26

6. So what did Jacob have to do then? v.27

 

B. Think :

1. What does this passage show about Jacob?

2. What does it show about Laban?

3. How long did Jacob work for Laban for his wives?

 

C. Comment :

     Our tendency today is if we want something, to want it instantly. In this respect, Jacob is a challenge to us, for he was prepared to work for seven long years to get his heart's desire.

     Laban is Rebekah's brother. She is a schemer. So is he! Without saying anything he lets Jacob work for seven years and then, presumably in the dark and when Jacob may be influenced by drink, he sends Leah to Jacob as his bride. The old man has a perfectly logical and right sounding answer, so Jacob agrees to work a further seven years to get Rachel. His perseverance must have made Rachel feel good, but what must Leah have felt like, being given and then rejected?

     It is ironic that Jacob, the twister, meets his match in his uncle, Laban. Very often the Lord confronts our sin or our failing by allowing us to be affronted by someone doing exactly the same to us as we have a tendency to do! God sometimes brings discipline or judgement in the same way as blessing, as Jesus said, "Do to others what you would have them do to you" so God sometimes chastises His children in this same way as well.

 

D. Application?

1. Do I have perseverance to keep working to achieve the goals of my

     heart? (see Psalm 37:4)

2. Ask the Lord to highlight any areas you need to deal with, rather than

     have Him have to deal with them through somebody else.

Study No.11 : Starting the Family : Genesis 29:31 - 30:8

A. Find Out:

       

1. What was Rachel's problem? v.31

2. Write down the names of Leah's first four sons & the reason she so named them.  

     v.32-35

3. How did Rachel respond to this? v.1

4. How did Jacob respond to her? v.2

5. What solution did Rachel suggest? v.3

6. Write down the names of the two sons from Rachel's servant girl & the reasons she so

     named them. v.6-8

 

B. Think :

1. Observing the footnotes, how do the names given by the two sisters

     indicate their feelings?

2. How did the one who was unloved become fulfilled?

3. How did the one who was loved come to a place of desperation? What

     perhaps should she have done (see 1 Samuel 1:10 )

 

C. Comment :

     We are seeing here the origins of one of the most famous nations in the world's history, and from a human point of view it's not a very good start! Note that the Lord steps in on the side of the unloved (just like Jesus when he came). The Lord is attributed as having enabled Leah to have children while Rachel remains barren. The names Leah gives the first two indicates her thankfulness to the Lord. With the third she hopes for her husband's love but by the forth she determines to praise the Lord despite the absence of that love.

     This state of affairs creates greater tension between Jacob and Rachel, who is now so desperate she is willing to get children even if it is via her maid. How amazing that God should have chosen THIS family to become His covenant nation. He takes what is humanly bent and makes something glorious out of it, but then that is what the Lord does with every one of us who becomes a Christian!

D. Application?

1. Can you praise the Lord even in difficulty? (see Habakkuk 3:17,18)

2. When it is not all working out well, do you seek the Lord or just use

     human wisdom and endeavour?

 

Study No.12 : The race is on! : Genesis 30:9-24

A. Find Out:

       

1. How did Leah "keep up" with Rachel? v.9

2. Write down the names of her servant's sons and the reasons for which they were

     given. v.10-13

3. How did Leah next come to be with Jacob? v.14-16

4. Write down the names of Leah's subsequent children & the reasons for which they

     were given. v.17-21

5. What subsequently happened to Rachel? v.22-24

 

B. Think :

1. How is the Lord seen to be working in this passage?

2. How would you describe the motivation in these two sisters?

3. How many sons have been born so far to Jacob?

 

C. Comment :

      First of all we have "If you can play this game, then so can I" from Leah as she seeks to keep ahead of Rachel, and allows Jacob to have children via her maid as Rachel had done. The competition is on in earnest! In all of this Jacob doesn't seem to take any lead in seeking to bring peace between his two wives! Jacob can hardly be called the "leader" of this new nation that God is forming!

      Then we have the strange episode of the mandrakes or "love apples" as they were sometimes known because superstition thought they increased fertility. Obviously it is because of this that Rachel wants them, to overcome her own infertility. Ironically it is Leah who benefits by giving them away and not Rachel. Leah has obviously been praying (v.17) and bears two further sons and then a daughter. Rachel also appears to have been praying (v.22) and eventually bears Joseph who gives her hope for further child bearing. Eleven sons have been born of Jacob so far, but in what an atmosphere!

D. Application?

1. "Keeping up" with others or are we secure in who we are with God?

2. Are we peace-makers or do we just let argument go on around us?

3. Do we present all our problems to God in prayer and keep on praying

     until answers come?

 

Study No.13 : Devious Dealings! : Genesis 30:25-43

A. Find Out:

       

1. What did Jacob now want to do? v.25

2. Why did Laban not want this? v.27

3. How did he propose to stop it happening? v.28

4. What did Jacob propose in reply? v.32

5. Although agreeing, what did Laban do? v.35,36

6. What was the result of Jacob's strategy? v.43

 

B. Think :

1. What sort of man is Laban shown to be here?

2. What sort of man is Jacob shown to be?

3. What is the Lord revealed as doing?

 

C. Comment :

      Jacob has the feeling it is time to return home but Laban recognises that Jacob is the cause of his being blessed. He find this out by occult means which should not be copied. It indicates in him the absence of a relationship with the Lord. Jacob, however, is clearly seen as being blessed in his work by God.

     Because of that they enter into an agreement whereby Jacob can actually get benefit from the work he does, as he looks after Laban's flocks. It is then that the deviousness of the two men starts to show itself in real earnestness.

  

     Laban immediately takes action to remove the possible source of Jacob getting rich, by removing the very sheep he says Jacob can use and keep. Jacob on the other side, puts all his efforts (which appear somewhat strange) into increasing his flocks with little concern for Laban's flocks. The method he used was the belief that offspring would reflect what their parents saw at conception. Whatever we may think, it worked, probably more because of God's blessing than because of his own cleverness, with the result that Jacob grew very rich.

 

D. Application?

1. Check today to see if you have a competitive spirit (which is stressful!)

     that is frequently vying with others to do better than them.

2. Declare your trust in the Lord alone for blessing on your work, and seek

    to please HIM first & foremost and achieve what HE wants.

 

RECAP No.2  "Jacob away from Home"  Genesis 28:10 - 30:43

SUMMARY :  

         

In these second 7 studies we have seen:

- Jacob setting out for Haran & meeting God in a dream

- Meeting Rachel & arriving at Laban's home

- Working for Laban for a wife (7 years)

- Marrying Leah & Rachel

- Working for Laban for a wife (7 more years)

- Eleven sons & a daughter being born to him

- Working for his own flocks (6 more years)

- Prosperity & success

 

COMMENT :

     In these studies we have seen devious Jacob meeting his match in Uncle Laban, who entices Jacob to work for him to earn Rebekah's hand in marriage, but then tricks him into marrying Leah, so that he then has to work a further seven years to "earn" Rachel.

     Eventually though, after he considers leaving, Jacob is persuaded by Laban to carry on working for him to earn his own flocks. This he does very successfully with the Lord's blessing for a further six years. It's been a long time for Jacob!

 

LESSONS :

1. God is awesome and holy and yet our Father

2. We are what we are as a response to what we have seen of Him

3. With God there are "divine appointments" not "chance meetings"

4. Perseverance is needed to achieve goals.

5. We are not to be competitive, trying to keep up with others, but to rest in God's

     plans for us

 

PRAY :

     Thank the Lord that as our loving heavenly Father, He has chosen us and will lead us to achieve the things HE gives us to do.

 

PART 3 : "Jacob Returns Home"

      In the next short phase of Jacob's life we will see how, on his way home, he meets the Lord again in a life changing encounter. Watch for the varying emotions Jacob has as he returns home.