Genesis 29

Under God's Wings

Having met with God at Bethel, Jacob continues his journey. He has his father Isaac's blessing, and he has the birthright which by rights should have belonged to his brother Esau. Although he forfeited that birthright, Esau was angry at the way in which Jacob had stolen it from him, and he was now pursuing Jacob, seeking to kill him. The effects of sin cut right into the family and home of Isaac, leaving these twin brothers estranged from one another, with one hunting the other to kill him.

Sin always has a negative effect in the lives of men and families. Its fruits are evident all around us. Broken homes, broken marriages, broken dreams - all these are the consequence of sin in human experience. There is nothing to be gained by disobeying God's law and by cutting across God's standards and God's principles. The way to blessing is along the road of obedience.

Yet in the middle of all of this, Jacob remained under the wings of Jehovah. He was kept, and guided and led by God all the way. In chapter 29 we see something about this care and love of God for Jacob in three areas.

God's Protection

We can easily read verses of the Bible without realising how much is packed into them. Verse 1 of Genesis 29 simply says that "Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east". But what a journey it was for him. He could not relax, knowing that Esau was after him. He could not drop his guard or cease to be vigilant, not knowing what was ahead. The way was unknown to him, and the journey he was on was full of unseen dangers and difficulties.

Our own lives can be like this sometimes. We may find ourselves facing situations we never expected, looking into a bleak and unknown future. We can find ourselves hoping that things will go well, yet we remain unsure as to how God's Providence will work out in our experience. The past can look messy and complicated, the future all unknown and full of foreboding.

Yet even in his journey, God is keeping Jacob safe, guiding him to a place where he will be welcomed into the family of Laban, his uncle. He has never been here before, but God guides his path until he is welcomed by Laban: "when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister's son ... he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house..." (v13). The care of God was evident and manifest.

And is it any less so for us? We have the sure promises of God in the Bible, and there he undertakes to keep us and guard us, to protect us and to look after us. If God looks after the grass, clothing the fields with the beautiful colours of nature, how much more will our heavenly Father protect and care for us? Let us learn the lesson of the Bible, and be "anxious about nothing, but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

God's Provision

Not only did God protect Jacob, leading him safely to his destination, but he provided for him in a remarkable way. We are told that Jacob dearly loved Rachel, the daughter of Laban, and was willing to work seven years in order to marry her. Laban agreed, but deceived Jacob and tricked him into marrying Leah, on the pretext that in this part of the world the older daughter should marry before the younger. He had to work another seven years to secure his bride.

This was only the first incident of deception that was to mark Jacob's path. Having deceived his father, he was himself deceived, and found himself in a situation which was the direct result of treachery and trickery. God is not mocked. What a man sows, he reaps. Although a prince of Heaven, Jacob was a man of the world, whose experiences were the consequence of his own deceptive actions.

Nonetheless, Jacob was given a wife, who was to mean more to him than life itself. Although the fact of his having two wives would itself cause problems in his household, God did not suffer him to be alone. God provided a wife for him, and set him in a family. The covenant love and care of God were manifest once again.

God's provision for his people is one of the Bible's greatest themes. He does not let them down, and never lets them go. He is constantly going before them, to make good their losses and to secure their peace and their protection. Out of his abundant fulness God meets the need of his people, with grace that is always sufficient for them.

God's Promise

We see in the midst of this, and in the wider context of the Bible, the outworking and unfolding of God's promises of grace. He had promised when man sinned that from the seed of the woman a Saviour would come. God is working through the experiences of his people, of the patriarchs and in their history to ensure the fulfillment of these promises in the coming of Messiah. It is evident, says Hebrews 7:14, that Jesus Christ sprang from the tribe of Judah. The birth of Judah is recorded in the last verse of this chapter. He was the son of Leah, whom Jacob had married through being deceived by Laban.

Even through the tangled web of Jacob's life, there is a silver thread running, the thread of God's great purposes of grace and salvation, that focus so clearly on the ultimate deliverance - the coming of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Judah's name means 'Praise', the coming of the Saviour is the ultimate ground of our praise, and of our confidence. Nothing is too hard for him. His word will conquer, and his promises will be fulfilled.

Praise the Lord!