Genesis

Genesis 29: God sees and shows mercy

Begin in prayer

Before we read about Jacob's marriage and Leah's sorrow, let us come to the God who sees trouble and grief. Please ask Him to show us Christ and teach us to receive His mercy with praise, while caring for those who are overlooked.

But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.

Psalm 10:14

Father, please help us understand Your care for the unloved and Your faithfulness through this troubled family. Show us Jesus, who saves sinners and gives a love they cannot earn. Make us more like Him in truthful words and care for the overlooked. Please bless our family with thankful hearts that hear Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Jacob arrives near Haran, where shepherds know Laban and Rachel comes to water her father's sheep. He helps her, identifies himself as Rebekah's son, and receives a welcome in Laban's house. Jacob loves Rachel and serves seven years for her, which seem few because of his love. At the wedding Laban substitutes Leah, then appeals to local custom when Jacob discovers the deceit. Jacob receives Rachel after Leah's wedding week and serves seven more years, loving Rachel more than Leah. The LORD sees Leah's hated condition and gives her Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, whose birth turns her speech toward praise.

As you read Genesis 29, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God keeps His promise through flawed people and sees the unloved, showing mercy that leads to praise.

Jacob reaches Laban's family after the LORD has promised His keeping presence, finding them through a well, shepherds and ordinary questions. Rachel is tending her father's sheep, and Jacob's service at the well leads to a welcome among his relatives. After a month, he agrees to serve seven years for Rachel, a marriage arrangement made through work rather than the gifts Abraham's servant brought. His love makes those years seem few, yet Laban substitutes Leah at the wedding and names a local custom only after Jacob discovers it. The man who deceived his father now suffers deceit, without making Laban's act right or proving that God has withdrawn His promise. Jacob receives Rachel after Leah's wedding week and then serves seven more years, bringing both sisters into one divided household. The LORD sees that Leah is hated and opens her womb, while Rachel remains childless for a reason the chapter does not give. Leah's sons carry her words about God's seeing, hearing and giving, while her fourth birth turns her speech toward praise. That son is Judah, through whose family Christ comes, bringing God's saving mercy to sinners who trust Him (Hebrews 7 verse 14).

How does Genesis 29 show us that God keeps His promise through flawed people and sees the unloved, showing mercy that leads to praise?

God's keeping promise continues through the ordinary work of a journey.

Jacob finds shepherds who know Laban, and Rachel arrives with her father's flock while he is speaking. He rolls away the stone, waters the sheep and tells her who he is. Laban runs to meet Jacob, embraces him and brings him into his home. God keeps Jacob on his journey, preserving the family through whom Christ will come to save sinners.

God's promise stands while human deceit brings pain.

Jacob works seven years for Rachel, and his love makes them seem like a few days. Laban gives him Leah instead, then appeals to the firstborn daughter's place and requires another seven years of work. Rachel is given after Leah's wedding week, and the further years of service follow. Two sisters now share one husband, and the rest of the chapter shows the pain of that divided home.

God sees Leah's affliction and gives her reason to praise.

The LORD sees Leah's hated condition and gives her children, while Rachel has none in this chapter. Leah hopes her husband will love her and become attached to her, yet the story records no fulfillment of that hope. Her words at Judah's birth name the LORD alone in praise, and his family will lead to Christ. These births promise no child to every childless woman, yet the Savior welcomes every afflicted sinner who comes to Him.

Memorise

This time will I praise Yahweh.

Genesis 29:35

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, whom have I overlooked, and how do I need Jesus to change me?

The LORD sees that Leah is hated and gives her children. She speaks of Him seeing her affliction and hearing her, and at Judah's birth says, “This time will I praise Yahweh.” The family remains troubled, yet God's mercy gives her reason to thank Him.

Jesus comes through Judah's family, the Savior who brings sinners into a love they cannot earn. He lived without deceit and willingly bore the punishment of His people on the cross. God raised Him, and His finished work is enough to remove the guilt of every sinner who trusts Him. The Son's saving love reaches people whom others pass over, and nothing can separate believers from that love (Romans 8 verses 38 and 39).

Please turn from your own deceit and favoritism, and trust the risen Christ. All who repent and believe in Him receive forgiveness and a lasting place in God's family. If you belong to Him, bring Him the grief you cannot repair and give your attention to someone others overlook. The God who saw Leah's affliction receives His people through the faithful Son, whose love will never end.

Parent's note

Tell your children how God sees Leah's affliction and continues His promise through a family harmed by deceit and divided love. Jesus carried His people's guilt at the cross and rose, so call each child to repent and believe in Him for forgiveness. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Pray that God would give them new hearts, and teach His design of one husband and one wife.

Pray together

Please thank God for seeing affliction and bring Him the person named in the heart question. Ask for forgiveness through Christ and grace to show loving attention. Invite each child to pray if they want to, asking comfort for someone or giving thanks for His mercy.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Father, thank You for seeing affliction and giving sinners mercy through Jesus. Please forgive our deceit and favoritism, and lead us to trust Him. Comfort the overlooked and grieving, and teach our family to care for them. Help us praise You for Your gifts while we wait for troubles we cannot repair to be made right. Amen.