Drash
Genesis 29:10-12
Blaine Robison, M.A.
Delivered 13 November 2021
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Journey to Destiny
"10
And it came to pass that Ya'akov saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban,
brother of his mother, and the sheep of Laban, brother of his mother,
Ya'akov went near and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and
watered the flock of Laban, brother of his mother. 11 And Ya'akov
kissed Ra-kale, and lifted his voice and wept. 12 And Ya'akov
told Rachel that he was a relative of her father, and that he was a son
of Rebekah, and she ran and told her father." (Gen 29:10-12 BR)
For an explanation
of this passage and its background see my commentary
here.
This parashah Vayetze ("and
he left"), which extends
from chapter 28 verse 10 through chapter 32 verse 3, tells of Jacob's
journey from Beersheva to Haran, the twenty years he lived there during
which he gained a large family and considerable wealth, and finally his
return to Canaan. When he left Beersheva Jacob was over 70 years of age and
considering his death at 147 he was in the prime of his life. Yet, he was
unmarried, even though his brother had married at the age of 40 (Gen 26:34).
Jacob's meeting of Rachel is
the second of three such stories in the Torah in which a man coming from a
distant land stops at a well, heroically draws water for a young woman and
afterwards a marriage occurs (cf. Gen 24:11–27; Ex 2:15–21). Jacob would
have known the story of his mother's well encounter and perhaps he realized
that this was more than just coincidence.
Many Christian commentators
have suggested that Jacob's trip to Haran was a punishment for his treatment
of his brother. Critics of Jacob treat Esau as a victim while overlooking
the fact that he was an immoral and godless man who almost succeeded in
stealing the covenantal blessing that belonged to Jacob, the one whom God
loved. Jacob actually went to Haran as directed by his parents to take a
wife from the daughters of Rebekah's brother (Gen 27:46; 28:1-2), so that he
wouldn't marry a pagan Canaanite like his brother. The triple mention
by Moses of the phrase "brother of his mother" emphasizes the obedience of
Jacob to the parental instruction.
In case you haven't heard me
speak about Jacob before I am a defender of Jacob. Christians like to
describe themselves as sons and daughters of Abraham (Gal 3:7). Of course,
you can't really be considered a son or daughter of Abraham if you just
believe in Yeshua and keep on sinning. Abraham was faithful in keeping God's
commandments. I like to consider myself a son of Jacob, because in this very
parashah Jacob is informed that God would make him an assembly of people
groups (Gen 28:3), which would eventually include the Gentile followers of
Yeshua. To present that perspective I wrote a biographical article called
"Our Father Jacob" which you can find on my website, blainerobison.com, a
shameless plug.
Back to the passage. The
parashah begins with Jacob en route to Haran stopping where Abraham had
built an altar when he first entered Canaan. In that place Jacob received a
powerful revelation from ADONAI
who confirmed that he was the chosen heir of all the covenantal promises
made to Abraham (Gen 28:13-15). The divine revelation given to Jacob
inspired an awareness of God's sovereign plan for his life. Upon arriving in
Haran, having met Rachel and having discovered her identity, he realized
that the desires of his parents and the will of God were completely
synchronized. Jacob concluded that his cousin Rachel was the wife God
intended. This was love at first sight. The "ah-hah" moment filled him with
wonder, and he became emotional.
In Scripture people weep for
a variety of reasons, whether from grief, humiliation, gratitude or joy.
Unlike laughing weeping conveys deeply personal emotions. It opens that
secret part of ourselves that we keep hidden from the world. Indeed weeping
reveals vulnerability. You can laugh at the trivial but weeping is reserved
for those moments that really matter to your life.
Rashi suggests that Jacob's
emotions were compounded by the realization that he had brought nothing to
present as a bride-price, so how could he achieve God's will? We know that
further in this parashah Jacob made a bargain with Laban to offer seven
years of labor as a bride-price for Rachel, but the trickery of Laban caused
Jacob to end up with both of his daughters and their maidservants as wives
instead of just Rachel.
From this plural marriage
arrangement God gave Jacob twelve sons. From those twelve sons came twelve
tribes that became the people chosen by God out of all the nations on the
earth to preserve the knowledge of the true God. Moreover it would be
through Leah, the one loved less (Gen 29:30), that God would continue the
Messianic line to bring forth the King of Israel and the Savior of the
world.
Many people in the Body of
Messiah are offended by the method by which the twelve sons and their
descendants came into existence. Woke Bible scholars would like to cancel
Jacob, but their opinion has no weight in heaven. The Bible contains no
criticism of the origin of the chosen people, but their beginning happened
according to the providence of God. In fact, God's approval of the outcome
will be celebrated for eternity with the names of the twelve sons of Jacob
inscribed on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:12). Get used to
it.
Barukh Hashem.
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Blaine Robison. All rights reserved. |