Date | Version | Reading Plan |
---|---|---|
January 29, 2025 | ESV (2016) | OT/NT Plan 2025 – 2027 |
Genesis 29
Jacob arrived at the land of the people of the east and had an interaction with some men at a well. When asked where they came from, the men told Jacob that they were from Haran. Jacob asked if they knew Laban and whether it was well with him. They responded that they knew Laban, that it was well with him and that Laban’s daughter, Rachel, was coming with the sheep. Rachel arrived with the sheep and Jacob kissed her and wept aloud. Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsmen and she ran to convey this to her father, Laban.
When Laban heard the news of Jacob and that he was his sister’s son, he ran to him, kissed him, brought him into his house and Jacob stayed for a month. Laban told Jacob that, because he is his kinsmen, he should not have to labor for free. As the TGCBC states, “In the ANE it was normal for a man to give a betrothal present (sometimes unhelpfully called a bride-price) to his bride’s father. Jacob, however, has nothing to give. Consequently, he offers to work for Laban for seven years to marry Rachel.” Laban agreed to the terms and Jacob’s seven years of service seemed to him only a few days because of the love he had for Rachel.
At the end of the seven years, Jacob requested that he be given his wife, so Laban gathered all the people for a feast. The TGCBC makes note that “The Hebrew term for ‘feast’ in verse 22 could be translated ‘drinking.’” Laban proceeded to give Jacob Leah rather than Rachel and Jacob went into her. The TGCBC poignantly illuminates that “When Jacob accuses Laban of deception, Laban indirectly reproaches Jacob for having taken the firstborn birthright and blessing from Esau. By replacing Rachel with Leah, Laban gives Jacob a taste of his own medicine.” In the morning, Jacob discovered that he had been given Leah rather than Rachel and asked Laban why he deceived him. Laban told Jacob that it was not done in his country to give the younger before the firstborn. Laban told Jacob that if he completed his week with this one (Leah), he would also be given Rachel. Jacob did so, was given Rachel whom he loved more than Leah and served Laban another seven years.
When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived by Jacob 4x resulting in the sons of Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. “Each of the sons born to Leah receives a name that involves a wordplay based on Leah’s comments. The names of Reuben and Simeon pick up on God’s seeing and hearing. By the time Leah gives birth to a third son, she is hopeful that Jacob will no longer disregard her. With the birth of Judah, Leah praises God. God figures prominently in three of the four statements made by Leah. As the mother of Levi and Judah, Leah’s descendants will include the Aaronic priests and Davidic kings, respectively.” (TGCBC)
Key Takeaways and Application
The deception exacted upon Jacob by Laban closely resembled Jacob’s own duplicitous character. Only a few chapters earlier, Jacob obtained Esau’s birthright through treachery (Gen. 25:29-34) and intercepted Esau’s blessing through trickery and deceit (Gen. 27:18-29). Now, Jacob was on the receiving end and felt wronged for being given Leah rather than Rachel after serving Laban seven years. We could easily look on these events and feel a sense of satisfaction in retributive justice, but we should instead be sorrowful in how these men conducted themselves. Their actions were neither truthful nor God-honoring, antithetical models of the aim to glorify God with every word and deed. What we should then draw from this are the damaging effects of sin and the great need to earnestly pursue our Lord and His righteousness.
Mark 1
The opening chapter of the Gospel of Mark focuses on the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance and preached that after him was coming he who was mightier, the strap of whose sandal he was unworthy to untie. It follows that Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptized by John the Baptist. The Spirit then immediately drove Jesus to the wilderness for forty days where He was tempted by Satan. He was accompanied by wild animals and the angels were ministering to Him.
Jesus then began His ministry, saying that the time was fulfilled, that the kingdom of God was at hand and proclaimed the need for repentance and belief in the gospel. Jesus called His first disciples, Simon and Andrew along with James and John, the sons of Zebedee. The group traveled through the region and Jesus healed many along with casting out demons and preaching.
Key Takeaways and Application
In the process of healing many sick with various diseases, we see recorded by Mark an instance in which Jesus did not permit the demons to speak “because they knew him.” (Mark 1:34). Particularly striking about this is that the demons fully acknowledged Jesus’s Lordship while so many would end up rejecting Him. Even the Pharisees—ardent students of the Word who should have known Him to be the promised Messiah—failed to receive Him. Not so with the demons. May it then be for us not to miss Jesus for who He really is, fully God and Lord of all.