The Sins of the Fathers

UV 3477/10000 The Sins of the Fathers
So Jacob served Laban for seven years for the right to marry Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

Genesis 29 v 20

Jacob the deceiver was deceived at his own game by Laban. Laban promised to give him Rachel in marriage after seven years of working for him. Instead, he sent his older daughter Leah to him. Then Jacob was promised Rachel if he worked another seven years for Laban. When we read their life stories in Genesis, we find that every patriarch was either deceived or lied to someone else. Jacob’s deception by Laban led to an unhealthy rivalry between the two sisters, Leah and Rachel. But the Lord used even the rivalry to found the nation of Israel from the twelve sons born to Leah and Rachel. The Lord also uses the twists and turns in our own life stories to serve His sovereign will and purpose.

Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. The Lord saw the injustice done to Leah and opened her womb to be fruitful while Rachel remained childless. The Servant Leader , Jesus, the Son of God is born in the line of descent from Judah, the fourth son of Leah. From the line of Judah was also born the shepherd turned king of Israel, David. David had a lifestyle of praise, the meaning of the name, Judah. He praised God all the time. The Servant Leader Jesus also teaches and enables us to have a lifestyle of praise. As we use our lives to lift up the name of Jesus and of our Father Jehovah, He lifts us up.

After Rachel wrestles with Leah and with God for a long while her womb too was opened for her to bear two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, the youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob. God also keeps His promise to the servant maid of Abraham and Ishmael becomes the forebear of twelve sons who are the founders of the Arab nations of the Middle East. Today, the descendants of Ishmael are far more numerous than those of Isaac and yet, it is out of the fewer of Israel that the Lord gave a solution to mankind’s quest for eternal life. The Servant Leader Jesus was born in Israel. Unlike His forebears, He had no cunning in Him, to stay safe or to get ahead in life. He remained spotless, unblemished, perfect despite all trials and temptations in order to rescue mankind from eternal death and the penalty of sin. He remains the greatest of all born to women as He alone lived and died to serve all mankind. The serpent leader tried to thwart the plan of God but he failed and fell to the earth as a wasted bolt of lightning. The Servant Leader Jesus was resurrected to rule over all mankind as Eternal King.