The Hand of God

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE HAND OF GOD

Gen 29:21-30

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her." 22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. 24 And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant. 25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?" 26 Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work." 28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. 30 Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

NIV

The deception is complete. We ponder why Laban did not tell Jacob of their custom of not giving the younger daughter in marriage until the older daughter was given in marriage. Of course, we may never know the reason for this deception other than Karma because Jacob’s name means supplanter, or substitute, taking the place of another, like he deceived his father, taking the place of his brother Esau. So here Laban gives Leah as a supplanter to Rachel. However, Jacob gives Laban a piece of his mind in the morning after he wakes up next to Leah. We do wonder why he did not know it was her in the evening when she came into his tent, or vice versa, he went into her tent. Perhaps during the great feast, Jacob drank too much wine and was so drunk he did not know he was laying with Leah. Yet, we know there was a difference between the two women, although the only thing we know about Leah is she had soft or weak eyes. In the darkness of the tent, her eyes would not matter, but still, we would wonder if Jacob would know the difference between Leah and Rachel. We also know Leah could not be ugly as Jacob lays with her many times because she bore him four sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Still, now he is committed to working another seven years, but He does have Rachel in marriage. So the scene is set, Jacob has two wives each with a maidservant. Is this the providence of God? It certainly looks like God’s hand was at work in the life of Jacob so that the lion of Judah would come into the world. Once again we see the first covenant that installs the sons of Levi as the priestly line yet Jesus came through the line of Judah, installing a new covenant as a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Everything is in accordance with the hand of God, or His will. This is our story as well. We are living in accordance with the will of God. That does not mean we are living a perfectly obedient life free from all sin. However, we are free from the penalty of sin because we have accepted the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross. This is also not to say that we are the only ones. We know it is God’s will that all come to Jesus, it is just that some refuse to submit to his will. We might also consider whether we have fully or completely submitted to his will in every aspect of our lives. Do we still want some control over our lives? Did Jacob have any control regarding having Leah first? This was the hand of God, and we know Jacob had that vision or visit from the Lord and committed himself to the covenant. We have committed ourselves to God’s new covenant through Jesus as it is by faith we are saved from the destruction of hell. We also know God’s hand has been at work in our lives from the beginning, as he knew us when he formed us in our mother’s womb, and He has always had plans for our lives. Let us make sure we always check with him first before making any plans of our own, for we know we live by the hand of God.