One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Thursday, January 13th Jacob Goes Back to Paddan Aram and Meets Rachel, Jesus Heals in Response to Faith!
Jacob Goes Back to Paddan-aram
It was critical for Jacob to marry a woman who was not a Canaanite, as Esau did. The seed of Jacob would be the seed of the Messiah, and it needed to remain pure. Issac blessed his son with the same blessings his father, Abraham gave him. This included many Jacob having many children, who would multiply into many nations. It also included the Promised Land.
Meanwhile Esau tried to please his father by getting his next wife among the Ishmaelites, Issac's other son's offspring. Both brothers were off to an uncle's house. Though they both belonged to the bloodline of Abraham, but they were headed to two different destinies.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
As Jacob went on this journey, he encountered the Lord during a powerful dream. In Jacob's dream, a ladder was revealed that came down from heaven. The angels went up and down the ladder, and at the top of the ladder stood the Lord. Jacob was now closer to God than he had ever been before.
God reiterated the promises he gave to Abraham and Issac to Jacob. The promise that Jacob's descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. His family would extend in every direction to the ends of the earth. Importantly God would never leave or forsake him and bring him back to this land safely. Jacob had access to the Father through these angels, foreshadowing the role of Jesus who would open for us the gate to eternal life.
Jacob realized that he had met God in a special way. Though God is everywhere all the time, he manifested himself to Jacob in a specific time and place. Jacob wanted to remember this special moment with something tangible. So he took the rock he used as a pillow (ouch!), and built an altar. He poured oil over it to anoint it. He called this place "Bethel", which means house of God.
"The city of Bethel would play an important (though not glorious) role in Israel’s history. Among the cities of Israel, it is second only to Jerusalem in the number of times mentioned in the Old Testament." (Guzik)
Jacob then made a vow to God, that if God protected him and brought him back safely, he would give God a tenth of everything he had acquired. As we have seen before Jacob is not always the most upright of characters. God still used Jacob despite his deceitful nature. Even in this case Jacob tells him he will return a tithe, ONLY IF God protects. God had already told him he would protect him, so his response is not a great example of faith.
Jacob Arrives at Paddan-Aram
As Jacob heads east, he spots a well in the distance. As we have read and commented up to this point, wells were an important part to the well being of the family and their most precious resource, their flocks. Jacob knew he was near the homeland of his mother Rebekkah and grandfather Abraham. So he inquired of the shepherds who came to the well and asked them where they were from. When he learned they were from Haran, he asked if they knew his Uncle Laban.
Jacob had hit the jackpot on two levels. One, he had run into the shepherds who worked for his Uncle Laban. Second, he was about to meet the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, Laban's daughter, Rachel. Jacob moved the stone away from the well, perhaps to show Rachel how strong he was. LOL. Then Jacob KISSED Rachel. So much for a first date! Jacob reacted emotionally after realizing this was his cousin. I guess they were the first, "kissing cousins".
Word gets back to Laban that his nephew had come, so he runs out to meet him. The last time this had happened Issac had come to meet his sister Rebekkah. After Jacob tells Laban his story, he realizes this is his own flesh and blood and warmly invites him into his home.
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
So begins the betrothal process. Laban assumes that as his daughter's suitor, Jacob should work for him, so he asks him how he can pay him for his work. What a dream for Jacob. He gets paid to be next to the girl he just fell in love with. So Jacob, ever the negotiator, tells Laban he will work for him for seven years, if he will give him his daughter Rachel in marriage.
"Seven years was a very generous offer, far above a normal dowry. Jacob didn’t want to risk a refusal. When Laban saw how badly Jacob wanted Rachel, he knew he could take advantage of him." (Guzik)
Jacob thought he had it "made in the shade", but after seven years Laban was not quite ready to part with Rachel, as he still had his oldest daugther Leah. So after the seven years were over (which seemed like a day to lovestruck Jacob), Laban threw a wedding party for Jacob and Rachel. But Laban had a dirty trick up his sleeve. On honeymoon night, he switched his two daughters, and Jacob ended up sleeping with his older daugther Leah. Laban agreed to also give Jacob Rachel as his second wife, but only if he worked for him for another seven years.
It must have been a shocking morning for not only Jacob and Leah, but also Rachel. Before we feel too sorry for Jacob, he had in effect done the same thing to his brother Esau. What goes around comes around.
Jacob’s Many Children
Leah knew of her husband's preference for her young, beautiful sister, so perhaps she could win his heart over by providing boys for him. The Lord heard her prayed and bore four sons to Abraham through her. Each son would be one of the 12 tribes of Israel one day.
Jesus Heals in Response to Faith
Jesus heals many people in many different ways and each instance gives us insight into his character. The leader of the synagogue approached Jesus, as his daughter had just died. He shows his faith when he says, "You can bring her back to life is you just place your hand on her." Meanwhile another woman, who suffered from constant bleeding, snuck up behind him and touched the hem of his robe. She thought if she just touched his garment, she could be healed. Jesus sees her great faith and heals her instantly.
Meanwhile when he gets to ruler's house, there is a huge group of mourners and a noisy crowd.
"These were probably paid mourners, who in the custom of the day offered an ostentatious display of mourning for a price, and not out of sincere sorrow. When we notice how quickly they moved from wailing to ridiculing Jesus, it showed their lack of sincerity." (Guzik)
Jesus went inside took the girl by the hand and she got up. The news of this healing spread throughout the countryside.
Jesus Heals the Blind
Two blindmen spotted Jesus and said, "Son of David have mercy on us." Son of David was a Messianic title. "This is the first time Jesus is called ‘Son of David’ and there can be no doubt that the blind men were confessing Jesus as Messiah.” (Carson)
Jesus asks them if they believe he can heal them. When they answer him in the affirmative, he touches them and heals them saying, "Your faith has made you well!"
In all three cases, the people who needed healing believed in Jesus' power to heal.
Finally, a person came to him who didn't have the ability to express his faith in Jesus, for he was demon possessed and the demons had made him unable to speak for himself.
"In the Jewish understanding of demon possession, this man could not be helped. This was because most rabbis of that day thought that the essential first step in exorcism was to compel or trick the demon into telling you its name. The name was then thought of as a handle by which the demon could then be removed." (Guzik)
When Jesus heals this man purely out of his goodness and mercy. When the Pharisees see this, instead of praising Jesus, they somehow conclude that Jesus is casting out demons through demons. They make no sense in this argument.
Jesus continued his journey and healed all those who came to him. He became aware that not only were these people physically sick, but they were spiritually sick, and they had no one to guide them. They were like "sheep without a shepherd".
When Jesus saw the great spiritual need and the great lack of spiri1tual leaders, he was moved with "compassion". The word takes on deeper meaning, as we examine its meaning in Greek.
“The word which is used for moved with compassion (splagchnistheis) is the strongest word for pity in the Greek language…it describes the compassion which moves a man to the deepest depths of his being.” (Barclay)
As Jesus sees such a great need, he calls on God to send more workers into the harvest field. The harvest is ripe with spiritual fruit but the workers are few.
Today's Psalm reminds us that God sees everything. He is all seeing and all knowing. We say God is "omniscient" and "omnipresent". As such, he sees both the good and evil which happens on the earth. Though we sometimes think evil people are getting away unpunished, God sees their deeds and there will be a day of recompense. If it were not for Jesus, we too would be getting what we deserved for deeds done in the body. Pray for those who do evil to repent before it is too late and they will have to account for these deeds before a holy and righteous God.
Today's Proverb says, "The Lord disciplines those whom he loves". Just like a good parent disciplines their child in love, so the Lord does so for us. Oftentimes God allows the consequence of our bad behvaior as our discipline. Other times he will create the situation in which we can learn from our errors. God loves us as we are, but loves us too much to let us stay that way!
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