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BIBLE STUDY LESSON

For the week beginning Sunday January 27, 2019

JACOB SENDS GIFTS TO ESAU

Genesis 32:1-21

   In Genesis 32, after meeting with Laban and entering into a peace treaty with him, Jacob and his family now began again, his journey on “faith” to Canaan. Along the way, Jacob is met again by angels of GOD, which gave him confidence and courage that he was doing the right thing (following GOD’s instructions). When he saw the angels he declared, “This is GOD’s camp!”, and he named the place “mahanaim”.

    At this time, GOD knew that Jacob was besieged with memories of his mistreatment of his brother, Esau, and, of Esau’s murderous anger and desire for revenge on him. In verses 3-8, Jacob reveals to us, “his own plan” to begin the healing and mending their damaged relationship. And so, he sent ahead messengers and gifts to Esau, even telling them to refer to Esau as “his master”, and to himself, as “Esau’s servant”. It was a tricky attempt to melt the heart of his assumed, hostile brother, before their actual encounter later on that day.

    In verses 9-12, we see the continued “earthly wisdom” of Jacob still being employed in his dealings with his brother Esau, whom he had previously hurt very badly with he, and his mother, Rebekah’s, schemes against him. Here we see though, that the mature Jacob is not just relying totally on “human ingenuity” as the old Jacob would have. Now, a more spiritually mature, but still slightly confused Jacob, decides to incorporate “prayer” to his “plan”. The only problem here is that “his plan” came before “his prayer”, and so, what he was asking GOD in prayer, in effect, was that GOD allow “Jacob’s will”, not “GOD’s Will”, to be done in his situation. And so now we can plainly see these “three great elements of wisdom” unfold, but not in the GODly order. In Jacob we see “Faith”, “Planning”, and “Prayer”, when it should have been “Faith”, “Prayer”, and then “Planning”.

    Jacob’s journey began on his “faith in GOD’s instructions, and he had already given legs to that faith by obediently returning to Canaan, which he had fearfully fled from, some twenty years earlier. And despite his fear of Esau, he continued to move forward to face the anticipated wrath of his brother, and we see here that he will correctly ultimately “fear GOD” more than he “fears man” (Esau), something that we should all learn to do at the beginning of our “Christian Walk”.

    In verses 13-21 Jacob puts “his plan” into action, his only flaw thus far in his continued struggle to trust GOD. That night he prepared his gift, called a “minhah” in the Hebrew tradition, and, “it is a gift that is given to a superior in order to gain their favor”. This offering of flocks of sheep, and herds of goats, camels, cattle, and donkeys (550 animals in all), which he planned to give to Esau (Vs.13-15) was indeed substantial.

    He instructed his men to lead the flocks separately with some distance between each group of animals because he sought to impress, or pacify Esau with a wave of five separate gifts offerings, thinking that maybe it would appease him, and help soften his heart and attitude about seeking revenge against him.

    Jacob was able to move forward despite his fear of Esau, because he knew deep in his heart that GOD would protect him from any danger that he might face from Esau or anyone else. This, in effect, was a misuse, or abuse of his blessings from GOD. Jacob understood that his gifts to Esau might not deliver him, but he fully trusted that GOD certainly would, because of HIS promised blessings to his ancestors, Abraham and Isaac.

    And so, Jacob’s newly-found largesse may have, at this point, been motivated by fear, however, there is also a “subliminal lesson” from the LORD being taught here about being concerned for the feelings of others (namely Esau), and the protection and welfare of others (namely his wives and his children).

A DEPICTION OF JACOB’S STRUGGLE WITH GOD

Genesis 32:22-32

   After sending his men on ahead with the minhah, Jacob went to bed there in the camp, but rose during the night and sent his wives and children on across the Jabok River to wait for him there. After they reached the other side he also sent all of his possessions across the river, and he himself remained at the camp alone. This was about to become a night where GOD would both, cripple, and bless Jacob, and would quite literally, change his walk forever.

    That night Jacob wrestled with a man that he didn’t know was GOD all the time. Here in this actual “physical battle”, GOD would make Jacob come face to face with his own “true spiritual self”, and he would, from then on, learn not to resist GOD, but rather, to cling to HIM with the greatest preservation and commitment possible. He would also learn that he would have to leave the “old Jacob” (making his own plans) behind, and completely embrace the “new Israel” (desiring to use GOD’s plans in the future).

    In verses 22-32, Jacob is attacked by an unidentified assailant who begins to wrestle with him fiercely. The scriptures tells us that when the man saw that he couldn’t win (in others words, GOD saw that Jacob wasn’t ready to put an end to his stubborn resistance of “self-will”, or insistence on doing things his way in  his dealings with people), he struck Jacob on the hip (humbled him and took away his “prideful strut”). Still Jacob struggled mightily to hold onto his old way of doing things, but in the end he decides instead, to hang on to the man (cling to the LORD) until he has received all of the blessings that HE had to give him (Jacob tells his attacker, “I won’t let you go until you bless me”).

    In those days, a lot about a person’s nature or character could be found in their name. In the name “Jacob” we find the description “heel catcher” because he caught on to the heel of his brother,Esau, at birth, and throughout his whole life, he continually tried to usurp Esau’s position in the family through trickery. And so here in verse 27 the man asks Jacob, “What is your name?” Here GOD is forcing Jacob to “face and confess his true self” as a conniving trickster, which is what his name actually reveals. Jacob would not be able to enter into the “promised land” of Canaan, unless he changed the way he dealt with his fellowman.

    And so the LORD, in this epic all-night struggle with Jacob, changed his nature and character into something that was more pleasing and compatible to HIM. He shows him that, although it may be acceptable to struggle with GOD in life, it is not a good idea to resist GOD’s plans for us in life. In verse 28, the man (GOD) changes Jacob’s name to “Israel”, which means “struggles with GOD”, or more properly “GOD fights”. It correctly signifies how Jacob had, throughout his life, “struggled with both man, and GOD.

    The name “Israel” would forever remind Jacob and the nations that, if we can win out in our struggles to obey the will of GOD, it only stands to reason that we can overcome our struggles with each other, and be able to live in peace with each other, and more importantly, at one and the same time, be at peace with GOD.

    GOD had visited Jacob many times in dreams. These dreams, unfortunately, did not serve to make him change his approach to how he dealt with man or GOD. In this physical encounter, GOD wanted Jacob to understand the true reality of how HE could interfere physically and directly into the lives of those whom HE chooses to use for HIS purpose.

    GOD wanted to, by doing physical harm to Jacob’s hip, impress upon Jacob that he must serve HIM HIS way, and not any other way (through human ingenuity) that he might choose. GOD not only has spiritual ways to deal with us, but HE also has physical ways by which HE can humble us, temporarily or permanently to show us who’s in charge. And HE won’t hesitate to use physical methods when spiritual methods, or the spoken word, has failed to penetrate our hearts (minds).

    Jacob named the place where he fought with GOD, “Peniel”, and it means, “face of GOD”. It was there that he ended his spiritual struggle with GOD and was spared his life, even though he had seen GOD (only spiritually), face to face. His prayer for deliverance was answered by GOD in this face-to-face encounter, and he was now blessed, humbled, and spiritually ready to enter into the land that GOD had promised his grandfather, his father, and himself, for all time.

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

                

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BIBLE STUDY LESSON

For the week beginning Sunday January 20, 2019

JACOB FLEES FROM LABAN

Genesis 31:1-21

   In Genesis 31 we see Jacob continuing to oversee Laban’s herds and flocks, but only now he is being compensated for his work. Jacob’s personal herds, with divine intervention from GOD, continued to increase, despite the cheating and conniving by Laban and his sons. And the more Jacob prospered the more hostility Laban began to show toward him. Even so, Jacob continued to work for Laban for six more years earning his flocks and herds, in addition to the fourteen years that he had already worked to earn the rights to marry Leah and Rachel (20 years in all).

    In the opening lines of this chapter we see that even Laban’s sons, who administered most of their father’s trickery and dirty deeds upon Jacob, had now began to grumble against Jacob. Noticing the attitude change that was now being overtly displayed even by Laban himself, Jacob begins to become concerned for himself and his family’s safety. It was at this time that Jacob receives a word from the LORD in a dream to return to the land of Canaan, the land that had been promised and given to his grandfather Abraham, and to his father Isaac. There he could live peacefully and securely among his closest relatives in the west.

    After hearing from the LORD, Jacob consulted with his wives, Leah and Rachel, and he shared with them the dream that he had had earlier. This passage (Vs.6-13) is significant, because, if we remember earlier, Jacob had tried to use witchcraft (that he probably learned from Rachel), to give himself an advantage over Laban, concerning the deal he had made with him regarding payment for his services (Genesis 30:37-43). He was probably thinking for a while that it was the witchcraft that brought him success, but here in this passage we see that GOD had later visited him in a dream, letting him know that it was HE, and not his “human ingenuity” or “witchcraft” that brought about his success in his dealings with Laban.

    Leah and Rachel both agreed to leave the house of Laban where there was nothing left for them as an inheritance (v.14). Their father had, by then, reduced their rights down to equal those of foreign women, and had already spent the dowry that Jacob had earned for him through his labor (14 years) as payment for the right to marry them (v.15). The ladies also knew that the riches that GOD had given their husband, Jacob, was also legally theirs and their children’s too.

    And so Jacob loaded up his family on camel’s backs, and left immediately, driving his herds in front of them. At that time Laban was away from home shearing his sheep, and Rachel, who was still enamored by Laban’s pagan god’s and witchcraft (remember the mandrake roots), took the opportunity to steal some of those gods on the way out, and take them with her. Jacob was unaware of what she had done. They left without telling Laban, or anyone else for that matter, and they crossed over the nearby Euphrates River traveling in the direction of Gilead.

LABAN PURSUES JACOB

Genesis 31:22-42

   Laban didn’t learn of Jacob’s departure until he returned home three days later, and he was very angered by the fact that Jacob had left without telling him, and had also stolen some of his idol gods called “teraphims”, which were “Semitic household gods”. And so he gathered up a group of his close relatives, and went after Jacob. He caught up to him seven days later in the hill country of Gilead, however, he had to show a lot of restraint because GOD had warned him in a dream the night before not to harm Jacob, and in fact, GOD cautioned Laban to be careful what he even said to Jacob (v.24).

    After confronting Jacob about taking his daughters away without giving him an opportunity to say goodbye (Vs.26-29), Laban finally reveals the real reason he chased so intensely after Jacob. In verse 30 Laban states, “I know you feel you must go, and you long intensely for your childhood home, but why have you stolen my household gods?” (NLT)

    Jacob did not know Rachel had taken Laban’s household gods for herself, and he unwittingly put the death penalty on her when he became very angered by Laban’s accusation. He allowed Laban to search his entire camp, but because Rachel was sitting on the idols, Laban didn’t find them. Rachel lied and told her father that she couldn’t stand up because she was in the midst of her menstruation period (v.35).

    When Laban failed to find his household gods among Jacob’s belongings, and ended his search, an angry Jacob lambasted him for old and for new. He ranted on and on to Laban about all the hardships that he had put him through over the last twenty years, particularly how he had constantly cheated him out of his wages (Vs.36-42).      

JACOB’S TREATY WITH LABAN

Genesis 31:43-55

   In verse 43 of this passage Laban responds to Jacob’s tirade by claiming that he had a legal right, so to speak, to take the position that he took. Here he claims his rights as a father, grandfather, and property owner, but he ignored his wrongdoing of Jacob over the years. He failed to see that, just because something is legal by man’s law, it doesn’t necessarily make it right or moral in the eyes of GOD, WHO he did not take into consideration. His spiritual ineptness did not allow him to understand that, the pursuit of his rights, does not excuse his wrongdoing, and trampling over others, in the process.

    However, fearing that an angry Jacob might later try to seek revenge on him for his mistreatments, Laban suggests that they make a peace treaty, and that each of them swear to live by its terms. So Jacob agreed and he took a tall stone and set it up as a “witness monument”, or, “a visible symbol” as a witness to their agreement.

    Jacob then told his men to pile up “a heap of stones” all around the taller stone, and the two men, Jacob and Laban, sat down by there and shared in a meal together. They named the monument, the “witness pile”, which is in Laban’s Aramaic tongue “Jegar-sahadutha”, and in Jacob’s Hebrew tongue, “Galeed”. The place was also called “Mizpah” because Laban said, “May the LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent, one from another” (KJV).

    Laban explains this quote further by saying in verses 50-53a that, “I won’t know about it if you are harsh to my daughters or if you take other wives, but GOD will see it. This heap of stones and this pillar stand between us as a witness of our vows. I will not cross this line to harm you, and you will not cross it to harm me. I call on the GOD of our ancestors, the GOD of your grandfather Abraham and the GOD of my grandfather Nahor to punish either one of us who harms the other” (NLT).

    This treaty between Jacob and Laban actually officially marked a split between Abraham’s old family in the east (Padan-aram) and his new family in the west (Israel). It also established lasting borders between them in the hill country of Galead. GOD’s earlier visitations in dreams to both Jacob (v.3) and Laban (v.24) were geared toward their coming separation, and interestingly enough, in the end, they called on the LORD HIMSELF to watch between them, and hold them to their agreement (v.49).

    To consummate the deal, Jacob, after taking the oath, presented a sacrifice to the LORD and invited everyone to attend a feast. They spent the entire night there in the hill country, and early the following morning, Laban arose and prepared to leave. He kissed his daughters and his grandchildren goodbye, and blessed them, and then, started on his way back home.

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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BIBLE STUDY LESSON

For the week beginning Sunday January 13, 2019

JACOB’S MANY CHILDREN

Genesis 30:1-24

   In Genesis chapters 30-31, GOD begins to set the stage for Jacob’s decision to return to the “Promised Land” of Canaan. Competition between Leah and Rachel for Jacob’s affections now intensifies as Rachael, who is down four babies to none, decides to get into the game by giving Jacob her maidservant, Bilhah to wed and bear him a son through her. Rachel, by now, had become so frustrated that she had begun to blame Jacob for her barrenness. This, of course, was ridiculous, and her silly accusations angered Jacob very much. He then reminded his beloved Rachel that only GOD has power over childbirth.

    And so her maidservant slept with Jacob and became pregnant, and bore him a son, and Rachel named the boy “Dan”, which comes from the Hebrew word “dananni”, which means “GOD has vindicated me”. Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son, and Rachel called his name, “Naphtali” from the Hebrew word “niptalti”, which means “I fought”, because she fought with her sister, Leah.

    Leah, now realizing that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, decided to use her sister’s strategy and she gave her maidservant, Zilpah, to Jacob to wed and bear him children in her stead. Zilpah became pregnant and bore Jacob yet another son, and she named the boy, “Gad”, which means in the Hebrew, “fortune”, because it expressed “how fortunate she felt she was” to have so many sons. Then Zilpah bore Jacob another son, whom she named “Asher”, which means “blessing”, and so the name expressed “the joy that Leah felt” to have given Jacob six sons.

    Now a “mandrake is the root of a plant, historically found in the Mediterranean region where Jacob and his family lived at that time. The plants from which the root is obtained are also called "mandrakes". Mediterranean mandrakes are perennial herbaceous plants with ovate leaves arranged in a rosette, with a thick upright root, that is often branched. It blooms bell-shaped flowers and ultimately produces yellow or orange berries.

    Because mandrakes contain “halucenogenic tropane alkaloids”, and the shape of their roots often resembles human figures, they have been associated with a variety of superstitious practices throughout history. For centuries mandrakes have been used in witchcraft and magic rituals, and, as a fertility drug, and in many cases, by ordinary people as an aphrodisiac. Even today mandrakes are still used in pagan traditions such as Wicca and Odinism.

    Here in this passage of Genesis it is both Leah’s, and Rachel’s obvious intent, to use mandrakes as either a fertility enhancement, or, at the very least, as an aphrodisiac so that they can bear more children for Jacob. Here in verse 14, we see Reuben stumbling upon some mandrake plants while he was harvesting the wheat fields. Knowing what these plants were used for, he brought some to his mother, Leah, as an offering to give her a leg up, if you will, on Rachel in the ongoing baby-making contest.

    When Rachel, who was more enamored by paganistic practices than Leah, saw Leah with the plants, she begged her to give some to her, but Leah angrily replied, “NO! Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrake roots too?” Not giving up that easy, a desperate Rachel offered Leah her appointed night with Jacob, if she would give her the mandrake roots, and it is on those terms that Leah finally agreed.

    That evening as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him to tell him that she had traded some mandrakes to Rachel in exchange for her appointed night with him. And so Jacob slept with Leah that night and she became pregnant with her fifth son, and she named him “Issachar” which is derived from the Hebrew word “skartika” which means “my hire”. This suggests that she felt that GOD had blessed her with another son because she gave her servant girl, Zilpah, to Jacob for a wife (v.18). However, GOD was actually trying to show her that it is “HE”, not “mandrakes and witchcraft”, that have power over the births of, not just all people, but indeed, as we shall eventually see in this chapter, over animals, and, all things that come into this world.

     To prove HIS point further that HE has power over childbirth, GOD allows Leah, who didn’t eat the mandrakes, to become pregnant again by Jacob, and she bore him another son and called his name “Zebulun” which means “honor”, because she felt that now Jacob would finally honor her the way she thought he should. Later she also gave birth to a girl, and she named her Dinah.

     Meanwhile Rachael, who ate the mandrakes, had not become pregnant anymore for about three years at that point, and it was because GOD was also showing her HIS sovereignty over childbirth. Apparently after she had learned her lesson by watching Leah give birth to three more children, without the aid of mandrakes and witchcraft, she repents and GOD, as a result of her repent, shows her mercy after she prayed to HIM for HIS help.  Here GOD finally allows Rachel to become pregnant and she bore her first son for Jacob, and she named him “Joseph”.

    And so GOD took away the disgrace of Rachel’s attempt to use witchcraft to produce children for herself, and, after she repented, GOD finally gave her a son of her own flesh. And the name “Joseph” which suggests “another son”, shows her faith in GOD that he would deliver to her, yet again, another son, in the future (Benjamin). 

  

JACOB’S WEALTH INCREASES

Genesis 30:25-43

   It was not long after Joseph was born that Jacob told Laban that he was ready to go back home to Canaan. However Laban, not wanting Jacob to leave, because of how rich he had become since Jacob had been there (Vs.29-30), begged Jacob to stay, and in fact, offered him to “name his own price”.

    However, despite the great offer by Laban, Jacob declined it, and then, he came up with a suggestion of his own, which actually has him going back to work for Laban for “a percentage of the gate” as we might say here in 21^st century vernacular. Here in this passage Jacob requests that Laban;

“Don’t give me anything at all (in other words “open up the door, I’ll get it myself”). Just do one thing, and I’ll go back to work for you. Let me go out among your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are “speckled” or “spotted”, along with all the dark colored sheep. Give them to me as my wages. This will make it easy for you to see whether or not I have been honest. If you find in my flock any white sheep or goats that are not speckled, you will know that I have stolen them from you”.

   

    Speckled animals and dark colored animals were much more of a rarity among sheep and goat, than white ones were, at least in those days, and so here in verses 34-36, we see Laban pounce on that offer, seeing only advantages for himself. Also, Laban, being the crook that he was, quickly came up with a scheme to cheat Jacob out of his newly “agreed to” wages. Here he greedily, and connivingly, sends his sons out into the fields to remove all of the existing speckled, spotted, and dark colored animals out of the flocks, and then, drive them three-day’s journey away from where they lived, so Jacob would not find them.

    However, Jacob, whether or not he realized it at the time, had come up with a plan that ultimately, can only be controlled by GOD. His plan relied solely on “birth”, something that I said earlier, “Only GOD can control”. And even though Jacob would use “witchcraft” (Vs.37-43) as a part of his plan, and may have thought at the time, that it was what was going to do the trick for him, later on (Genesis 31:7-12) we’ll see him confess that it was not his “human ingenuity” or expert use of witchcraft and tricky, and nor, was it his use of “selective breeding” (Vs.41-42), that caused his success, but rather, it was “GOD’s OWN Divine Intervention” that extricated him from Laban’s web of deceit. Stay tuned.

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

Larry Dell Alexander (1953–) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas

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BIBLE STUDY LESSON

For the week beginning Sunday January 6, 2019

JACOB ARRIVES AT PADAN-ARAM

Genesis 29:1-14

   After leaving Bethel, and being newly inspired by GOD through “a divine dream”, Jacob now hurried along briskly to Padan-aram. When he arrived there he saw, at some distance off, three flocks of sheep lying in an open field near a Well that was covered with a heavy stone. They were probably waiting to be watered, as it was the custom in the east to gather all of the flocks together first, before the watering began.

    Jacob’s Bethel experience had taken his mind off his problems for a while, and now he had turned his focus toward finding a wife who he could fulfill the Covenant promise of GOD through. There are striking similarities between the way Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, met Rebekah, while pursuing a wife for Isaac (chapter 24), and how Jacob now meets Rachel here in this chapter. We can also clearly see the divine leadership of GOD in both accounts.

    In Old Testament scriptures, particularly in these “Patriarchal Narratives”, Wells are often associated with the blessings of GOD on the person who finds them. Here in verse 4 of this passage, Jacob walks over to the shepherds who were standing near the Well and asked them, “Where do you live?” And the men replied, “Haran”, and so the next obvious question was, “Do you know a man named Laban?, and they replied that they did.

    As the conversation dragged on, suddenly Rachel, the daughter of Laban, arrived at the Well with her father’s sheep. Jacob then went over to the Well and removed the stone and began to water Rachel’s sheep first. Afterwards, he went over to Rachel and greeted her with a kiss, as he explained to her who he was. Rachel ran quickly to tell her father, and he rushed out to meet his sister Rekebah’s son for the first time. Her father, Laban, then invited Jacob to stay at his home, affording him with all the hospitality that the people of his day had to offer (Vs.9-14a).

JACOB MARRIES LEAH AND RACHEL AND STARTS HIS FAMILY

Genesis 29:15-35

   After Jacob had been living and working with Laban for about a month, Laban suggested to him that he didn’t have to work for him without pay, just because they were related. He then asked Jacob how much did he want for his services. We see throughout scriptures how GOD orders the steps of sinful people in an effort to set them right with HIMSELF. In verses 15-35 we’ll see just how that principle worked in the life of Jacob, as here he is allowed to set the terms of his own route to redemption.

    Now, Laban had another daughter whose name was Leah. She was his eldest, and she had very pretty eyes. Jacob, of course, had already fallen in love with Rachel, the younger daughter, who was pretty all over, from head to toe. When Jacob, requested as pay, the right to marry Rachel, it was quickly agreed to by Laban. Perhaps Laban, who adhered closely to Hebrew customs, just like his brother-in-law Isaac did, now saw an opportunity to get both of his daughters married off at the same time.

    Hebrew custom called for the eldest daughter in a family to be married off first, before any other daughter could be united in matrimony. Jacob, however, was so blinded by his love for Rachel, that he had forgotten that that was the correct procedure. Then too, he had never really held the custom of “the eldest comes first”, in high regard, and he had already grown accustomed to ignoring that principal, by his deceiving of his brother Esau, at least twice that we know of.  

    However, now the deal was set, and Jacob would work for Laban for seven years as payment of dowry, the price to marry the love of his life, Rachel. Time passed quickly for Jacob, and when the completion of his part of the deal had been realized, he excitedly ran to Laban to collect his bride and take her home for consummation. Laban set up a wedding feast and invited everyone in the neighborhood to attend. They all feasted and celebrated with food and drink until the night had come. Everyone was in very high spirits.

    When darkness had come, after Jacob was filled with wine and ready to receive his bride, Laban underhandedly places his older daughter Leah in Jacob’s tent, and he unwittingly slept with her, thinking that she was his darling Rachel. When Jacob awoke the next morning, much to his surprise, the woman lying next to him was not Rachel, but Leah. Laban had deceived him and he couldn’t imagine why! “I worked seven years for Rachel. What do you mean by this trickery?” Jacob lamented.

    Then Laban reminded Jacob of their custom of, “The eldest comes first”, which was also observed in his father Isaac’s house, even though he had blatantly violated that custom in matters concerning his brother Esau, over and over again. However, in keeping with his promise, Laban tells Jacob to wait until his bridal week was over and then he could marry Rachel too, if he promised to work seven more years as payment of dowry for both daughters.

    Jacob, who, probably at that moment was feeling convicted by how he himself had violated that custom concerning his brother Esau, then agreed to Laban’s offer. Laban also gave each of his daughters a maidservant; to Leah he appointed Zilpah, and to Rachel, he appointed Bilhah. Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah, yet he had to pay the same price for both, and so we see in this passage, that, he stayed and worked an additional seven years for Laban, to satisfy his debt of dowry to him for both of his daughters.

    As we close out this chapter, we see the expansion of the promise being realized with the beginnings of the first four of the twelve tribes of Israel coming into focus through Leah, “the unloved daughter” (Vs.31-35). Here she gives birth to the first four of Jacob’s children, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Judah is the line from which our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST would later come, and the name “Judah” means, “Let him be praised”.

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

Larry Dell Alexander (1953–) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas

LARRY D. ALEXANDER'S BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY

larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

            Larry D. Alexander's Books and Publications Spotlight

Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

                                 

LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website

Clinton Family Portrait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia