The Switch

Let's hear the word of the Lord. Genesis chapter 29 verse 31 to 35.

Genesis 29:31–35

! When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb.

! But Rachel was barren, and Leah conceived and bore a son.

And she called his name Reuben.

For she said, Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction, for now my husband will love me.

She conceived again and bore a son, and said, Because the Lord has heard that I am hated,

he has given me this son also. And she called his name Simeon.

Again, she conceived and bore a son, and said, Now, this time my husband will be attached to me.

Because I have borne him three sons. Therefore his name was called Levi.

And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, This time I will praise the Lord.

Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

This is the word of the Lord.

Praise be to God. Thank you, Joe. Please take a seat.

So we continue through the book of Genesis.

And this story is getting juicier and juicier as it goes.

This is the historical breakdown of what happens to this family, from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob.

And honestly, it's been nothing but messy, plus messy, plus messy.

Christina and I, we love watching TV shows, after we've read the Bible, of course.

Maybe our favorite one more recently is called Slow Horses.

Has anyone watched Slow Horses on Apple TV?

It's a very dry, British kind of TV show.

Another one we've watched is The Pits, that we watched with Sarah while she was hanging out with us as well.

That's also good.

And as I was reading this journey that this family goes on, I can't help but imagine that this is just a TV show about a dysfunctional, ancient family.

It just, actually, if I've never been more convinced right now as looking at this, that God's perfect plan works through imperfect people.

Works through all the dysfunction.

Works through all the mess.

And yet here we are, still recipients of grace.

Recipients of the blessing.

And let me just rewind your mind a little bit about this guy called Jacob.

He steals his older brother's blessing.

Okay, remember, he mocks his dad and says, oh, I am Esau.

And then he says, the Lord your God blessed me to go and get this very quickly, so it is me.

Last week, though, Gabe shows us a little bit of a turnaround.

The turnaround here is that actually, Jacob goes from saying, this is the Lord your God, Dad, to now, this is the Lord my God.

But he encounters God himself in the dream.

And, of course, he doesn't do anything to deserve this.

He is still just as messed up.

He's running away from his older brother because he stole his blessing and because his older brother wants to kill him.

So his mom, who has been plotting with him, sends him away to uncle.

And on the way to uncle, he has this dream and he encounters God.

And he's like, surely, surely, chapter 28, verse 16, surely the Lord is in this place.

And I did not know it.

Wow, God has been with me.

I just wasn't aware of it.

And then he carries on later.

Then the Lord shall be my God.

No longer my dad's God.

He is now my God.

And just when we think, oh, maybe the TV show can end here in the happily ever after, it does not.

Even though he encounters God, even though he declares this is my God now, he still goes on a journey.

And we unravel a really interesting part of the story.

I've had Joe read a little bit of it because we're actually going to go through 29 and 30.

So we're going to fly through this story, which is why I didn't ask him to read all of it.

But let me set the scene.

So he runs from his brother.

He heads towards Uncle Laban.

He sits at a well, still figuring out his life.

Remember, at this point, he doesn't know this, but he's never going to see his mom again because of the deceit that they started.

And he sits at a well.

And then when he sits at a well, he sees a group of shepherds come over.

These shepherds are here to hang out and wait for more shepherds to come.

When the more shepherds come at this well, there's a big rock covering the well that they need the water to.

So, but custom and tradition dictates that they wait for everyone to come together.

They push the rock out together.

And so they all have access to the water together.

So it's fair.

So he's sat there waiting and he talks to these guys.

And this is where chapter nine, if you're following in scripture, you can follow me here.

He says this, verse four.

My brothers, where do you come from?

They said, we are from Haran.

He said, oh, I know someone from Haran.

Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?

They said, we know him.

He said, is it well with him?

Is he doing okay?

They said, it is well.

See, Rachel, his daughter is coming with the sheep.

So you call it coincidence, but we call it here that God is continually paving the way for this deceiver, this messed up deceiver.

God keeps pouring out blessing.

It doesn't seem fair, but this is how God works with all of us.

And so they say, yeah, Laban's doing all right.

Oh, there's his daughter coming.

As soon as Jacob sees Rachel from afar, it is love at first sight.

He sees her from afar and actually he tries to get rid of them.

He's like, hey, haven't you guys got jobs to do?

Go, go, do something.

And so he wants to hang out with them.

And verse nine, while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

Now, as soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock.

He's showing off.

So they're supposed to wait for everyone to come and move the rock together.

The moment he sees the girl, he's like, guys, stand to the side.

I will push this rock myself.

Do you not know that I do high rocks?

And so I pushed the rock myself.

Look how strong I am, Rachel.

Fall in love with me now, please.

And so he tries to impress her and he's very excited to see her.

Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud because he realized, I am so messed up.

I've just lost my family.

And how good is it that I'm sat at this random well in the middle of the day.

And yet God would send me a relative.

God would send me family.

And he's relieved to the point where he's so excited.

And Jacob then tells Rachel that her father's kinsman, actually, they're related, that he was Rebecca's son.

And she ran and told her father.

As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house.

Jacob told Laban all these things.

So he breaks down to Uncle Laban.

This is exactly what happened.

Now, he's a deceiver, remember.

So I'm not here under any delusions that he's telling the full accurate story of what happened.

He's probably putting himself in a decent light here.

But Laban is very, very excited to see him.

And Laban said to him, surely you are my bone and my flesh.

You are my family now.

Pause.

Just before you think that Laban is a good guy, we need to remember who Laban was.

Actually, Laban is super excited about seeing Jacob because it wasn't that long ago when he met another servant a few chapters before where Isaac sends his servant out to find his son Jacob's wife.

Sorry, Abraham, Isaac.

And so that's when he meets Rebecca, when the servant meets Rebecca.

Do you remember that?

And actually, Laban gets really rich from that interaction.

What happens is in order to get Rebecca's hand, they pay a dowry and actually get lots of ornaments.

And so Laban gets very, very rich from this.

And so he sat, suddenly hears from Rachel that that family has come again, that rich family has come again.

And what do you think he's doing?

He's licking his lips.

He's like, here we go again.

And so he goes out, greets him, and he says, you are my family.

Come and join me.

And you know straight away that something is wrong because straight afterwards, verse 15, when Laban said to Jacob, because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing?

He hears the story about Jacob and he realizes something.

He's like, okay, I probably stand a chance to get rich from this again.

But this guy, he's just ran it from his family and he actually doesn't have much money.

How can I take advantage of this situation?

I know.

I'll bring him into my family and I'll make him work for me.

And so then what he says is, tell me, what shall your wages be?

Very quickly, without anyone realizing, Jacob turns from family to servant.

Turns from someone who was supposed to be bone and flesh to suddenly, I will pay you and you'll work for me.

You will become mine.

I will own you and you will work for me.

Isn't this what happens when we go out and chase things and take matters into our own hands?

Because very quickly, things can turn on us.

And we turn from something that we think will complete us, but then owns us and corrupts us and turns us into servants instead.

He knows he doesn't have money, but he does know.

Remember at this point now, verse 14 tells us, Jacob stays with Laban for a month.

And he sees, Laban sees that Jacob is smitten over his daughter, Rachel.

So he's like, look, how can I pay you?

And so what happens, they come into an arrangement.

Now, Laban had two daughters.

The name of the older was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel.

Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

It's a really interesting way to describe two sisters.

Leah's eyes were weak.

People don't really truly know what that means, but it may be means that she has poor eyesight.

But on the whole, we can just take from this that she just wasn't the prettier one out of the two.

Just like how my brother is not the prettier one out of the two of I, what we see here is a very similar thing.

And that's easily understood for you guys.

But Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

She was not only good looking, she was actually attractive, sexually attractive.

And so Laban knows what he's doing.

And so he asked Jacob, well, how can I pay you?

And then Jacob here says, well, I love Rachel.

I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel.

Bearing in mind, that's a lot of money.

The average would have been one to two years, but he loved her so much.

I will be willing to stay for seven years to work for you in order for me to be able to marry your daughter.

Laban says, well, it's better that I give it to you than to anyone else.

So, OK, stay with me.

And so Jacob stays for seven years.

And this is so romantic, verse 20.

And they seem to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

And then it comes to the wedding night.

It comes to the wedding night.

They have a big festival.

They have a lot of fun.

And from there, it's time to give his daughter to Jacob.

But instead of giving him Rachel, he gives him Leah.

Jacob doesn't realize because they've spent a whole week celebrating.

It's pretty dark.

He's pretty drunk.

So he gets given Leah.

He doesn't know it until he wakes up the next morning.

And verse 25, it says this.

Can you see how much of a TV show this is?

And it's Jacob said to Laban, what is this you have done to me?

Did I not serve you with you for Rachel?

Why then have you deceived me?

Oh, the irony in all of this.

The deceiver is deceived.

And the deceiver is outraged that he was deceived.

The audience just sits and goes, serves you right.

What comes around, God goes around, comes around.

Laban is a very smart man.

He says this, verse 26.

It is not so done in our country to give the younger before the firstborn.

Remember, he knows what Jacob did.

He knows that Jacob stole the blessing from his firstborn.

So he's kind of going to him, Jacob, Jacob.

You know what I did here.

You know what this is about.

Don't you start telling me about deception.

Don't you start telling me about firstborn.

You know what's happened here.

Jacob knows this.

And so he says, fine.

So actually, Laban then says, complete the week of this one.

And then we will give you the other in return for another seven years.

So what turned out to be just trying to marry one person, he has to give up 14 years in order to be able to marry both of them.

Just in case you're wondering, if you're not familiar with the Bible, you're like, wait, does the Bible condone people, polygamy?

Does the Bible condone this kind of deception?

Does the Bible condone marrying two sisters?

The answer is no.

It is simply just documenting history here.

And actually, if you were to look at this, you will be able to see and deduce very quickly that marrying more than one wife, especially if they are sisters, is a terrible, terrible idea.

No one should do this.

I don't know why you want more than one wife.

Here he has two, and he chooses sisters.

And for the rest of his life, I can tell you he is going to be in pain.

So just a side note here.

But here's where the main topic that I'm going to focus on today is verse 30.

So Jacob went into Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban for another seven years.

14 years he gives his life, and now we reach the passage that Joe read for us.

When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

There are 12 tribes of Israel.

What we're about to see is how this came about, how the 12 children came.

And I wish I could tell you it was through prayer and meditation and devotion and holiness.

No, it is from complete chaos, dysfunction, envy, and mess.

St. Augustine talks about this idea of disordered loves.

You look at the problems in the world right now, it's because we have disordered loves.

We've put things in the wrong place.

We have prioritized the wrong things.

God tells us to love him and only him, but we prioritize all these other things,

and we have all these disordered loves that come in, and now we have the consequence that we have in this world.

So those disordered loves we can see here, and I'm going to use another term here, which is just misplaced desire.

When you desire the wrong thing, this is what comes about.

When you desire the wrong thing, when you yearn for the wrong thing, this is what happens.

What is that called?

It's called idolatry.

Which now to a Chinese culture is quite a familiar word.

It's like, well, don't have statues in your house.

Don't kind of, just don't worship all these other things.

But actually, idolatry, yes, is those things, but it is actually way more.

An idol is something that just isn't God.

It's something that you put all your attention and your focus and your worth on.

Tim Keller says, your idol, if you want to find out what your idol is, wherever your mind wanders to aimlessly, that's your idol.

The thing that your mind wanders to when you have a moment of space just to reflect and just to think.

What are you most consumed by?

Is it a relationship?

Is it the stock market?

Is it your job?

Is it your social life?

What is it?

We all have these idols.

John Calvin says, the human heart is a factory of idols.

We can't help but desire.

We can't help but want.

But it's those misplaced desires that cause us problems.

And what you find here is misplaced desires all over.

Laban has a misplaced desire because all he wants is profit and personal gain.

Jacob's misplaced desire is now he's found all his hope in this one woman.

Leah and Rachel is what we're going to study a little bit more today.

You see that they also have their misplaced desires.

Here's the problem when you have misplaced desires.

You put all your hope in one thing, hoping that you're going to get satisfaction and contentment from it.

But actually very soon it turns against you.

Tim Keller has this thing that when he's talking about this passage, he says,

you go to bed with Leah.

You go to bed thinking that it's Rachel, but you wake up in the morning and it's Leah.

And he asks the question to all of us is, what are the things that we go to bed with,

that we put all our hope in, thinking that it will be perfect for us,

thinking that it will bring us complete and utter satisfaction,

thinking that it's Rachel, but we wake up and actually it's quite the opposite.

It's not what we expected.

It's not what we wanted.

But before you know it, you've made decisions and you've gone down this slippery slope

and you know where you want to be.

You thought it was Rachel, but it turned out to be Leah.

Misplaced desires is what we're going to focus on today.

Verse 31, when the Lord saw that Leah was hated,

unloved is another translation, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

It's really interesting.

This covenant family that was going to bless nations.

Every generation there seems to be infertility.

Almost just to show us that it's not going to be them that is going to do it.

It's only going to be God that does it.

It's only going to be God who opens the womb.

It seems to be God's MO also,

that he seems to choose those who are despised and rejected and unloved.

He seems to choose those.

And so he sees late Leah.

He opens her womb and Rachel was barren.

And Leah conceives her first son and called his name Reuben,

because the Lord has looked upon my affliction.

For now my husband will love me.

It's interesting.

So she has a baby.

And yet what she really wants is her husband's affection.

So she's like, finally.

I mean, this is easy for us to identify,

because I think there's traits of this even now in modern society.

But especially back then in the ancient world,

a woman's sole purpose is to bear children.

That is it.

If you don't bear children, you are ashamed of the family.

So for her and for Rachel, there's this race now to have babies.

And so Leah starts off first.

It's 1-0 to Leah.

She has a baby.

She hopes that this baby brings her husband's love.

It does not.

She conceives again and bores a son.

2-0.

Because the Lord has heard that I am hated.

He has given me the son also.

And just before halftime, she called his name Simeon.

Again, she conceived and bore another son.

And this time my husband will be attached to me,

because it is now 3-0 to Leah.

She's like, I'm good.

I'm in a good place.

Surely now, with three children, my husband will love me.

Doesn't happen.

Doesn't work.

All right.

We'll try again.

And then she conceived again and bore a son.

And this time I will praise the Lord.

Therefore, she called his name Judah.

4-0 to Leah.

It's halftime.

Then she ceased bearing.

Can you just imagine the dynamics and the relationship

between these two sisters right now?

Leah and Rachel.

One.

Remember, it's not even just about Jacob.

Because Rachel would have been the prettier one from the beginning.

So actually, this is what Leah would have had to put up with

the whole of her life.

Being overlooked.

Being unloved.

Being unchosen.

To the point where, when it's the wedding day,

your father sneaks you in to a man's bedroom

because he realizes, he thinks,

that you won't ever get married.

So this is the only way you're going to get married.

Imagine the heartbreak.

Imagine the resentment.

Feel how Leah is feeling.

And yet the Lord sees and gives her babies.

And you'd have thought of Rachel.

Well, the pretty one.

Everyone would have been just praising her for the whole of her life.

Wow.

And yet, is she happy?

No, she's not.

Because why?

She also has misplaced desires.

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children,

she envied her sister.

She said to Jacob,

give me children or I shall die.

We're going to stop here and talk a little bit about the topic of envy.

This dangerous, dangerous topic.

Charles Swindle says,

envy is the great enemy of peace.

It makes me think about all of us who are struggling through anxiety to some degree,

whether it's a low-grade hum of anxiety,

always thinking that you're not quite enough,

or you're wanting something that someone else has.

This is it.

In a city, we're surrounded by it.

We're constantly being told what we don't have.

Constantly being told what other people have that we should try to have.

But envy is the great enemy of peace.

Roosevelt was the one who said,

comparison is the thief of joy.

Where does envy come from?

It comes from comparison.

It comes from looking at someone going,

wow, that guy has a head full of hair.

And it's just such a waste.

He just doesn't do anything with it.

It's just so annoying.

In fact, if I can't have it,

neither should he.

And now I'm just stripped of joy

because people are misusing God's blessings to them.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

John Tyson said that comparison is the assassin of contentment.

Do you feel content?

As you look at your life, do you feel content?

Gab, you're shaking your head not fully.

How many of us really do?

Isn't that the battle?

Paul says godliness leads to contentment,

but how many of us are truly content?

Or how many of us are actually just looking somewhere else?

Going, oh, I want that.

I need that.

If I don't have that, what does Rachel say here?

Give me children or I shall die.

So even though Leah wants affection and attention,

Rachel just wants babies.

Idolatry is when you have something so high in your priority list

and if you don't get it,

you feel as though it's not worth living your life anymore.

That's what we see here.

Reminds me of another story in the Bible

when David and Saul,

they beat Goliath.

We know David and Goliath.

So even if you didn't grow up in the church,

you probably have heard that story.

And what happens?

They beat the Philistines.

They go home and everyone's just celebrating.

Saul's celebrating.

David's celebrating.

Everyone's celebrating.

And then there is a chant.

And it's in 1 Samuel 18 where they say,

Saul has killed people by the thousands.

And he's like, yes, I'm the man.

And then turns out that's just the first line of the verse first

because the second verse is,

but David has killed people by the ten thousands.

And so even though Saul was like celebrating,

yeah, thousands.

And he's like, wait.

Wait.

You say thousands for me and ten thousands for him?

It's just a story.

It's just a song.

It's just a poem.

But he took it personally.

He took it very personally.

And from that moment on,

Saul does not look at David in the same way.

What is that?

That is comparison, stealing, joy.

That is the assassin of contentment.

That is the enemy of peace.

It makes me think what we have.

As you look elsewhere,

as you look constantly elsewhere,

what is the thing that you are holding on to?

What is your idol?

Jacob is funny.

So Rachel says,

give me children or I shall die.

Blames him completely.

Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel and said,

am I in the place of God

who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?

What he's saying is,

don't blame me.

I'm doing the same thing.

It's 4-0 this side and there's nothing here.

I'm not doing anything different.

And it tells me something else.

When we put all of our hope in the idol,

when we put all of our satisfaction and contentment,

our hopes for it onto one person,

we will always, always fail.

We experienced,

and some of us got to see Trevor and Teresa

get married yesterday

and it was the most beautiful of weddings.

But one thing that we like to say a lot

to couples getting married

or even those who are married

is practicing the sentiment

of looking your spouse in the eye

and saying,

you will never be enough for me.

In fact,

if a wedding couple ever asked me

to preach from Genesis 30

for their wedding,

this is what I would say.

No one's ever asked me to do it in the past,

but maybe one day they will be.

I would say,

your wife will never truly satisfy you.

Your husband will never truly satisfy you.

Your spouse will never truly satisfy you.

If you think that they will,

what will happen is they won't

and then you'll be disappointed

and then you will crash.

You cannot put a human being

in the place of God.

God is the only one who can truly satisfy.

So it's actually a beautiful thing

when a couple romantically in love

can look each other in the eye

and go,

you will never satisfy me fully.

Only God can.

What we see here is Leah and Rachel

were both putting their hope

in this one stupid man

that is called Jacob.

And you see how stupid he is

because the story continues.

Remember, it's 4-0.

Keep track.

Then she said,

here is my servant Bilal.

If I can't have a baby,

let me give my servant to you

so then she can have a baby on my behalf

so at least I can catch up.

And so Jacob's like,

yeah, sure, whatever.

So she gave him her servant Bilal

and Jacob went into her

and guess what?

Bilal conceives.

So it's 4-1.

Kind of.

Not really,

because it's not really Rachel's.

But she's trying to put matters

into her own hands.

She's like,

look, the camp of Leah

is doing too well.

Let's try and figure out

another way, guys.

This is the new strategy.

We're going to use servants.

And so that happens.

And then Rachel said,

God has judged me

and also heard my voice

and give me a son.

Therefore she called his name Dan.

Rachel's servant Bilal

then conceived again

and bore Jacob a second son.

Then Rachel said,

with mighty wrestlings,

I have wrestled with my sister

and have prevailed.

So she called his name Naphtali.

It's 4-2.

Leah's getting a little bit nervous

because the score's getting

a little bit tight.

And remember,

her womb is now closed

because she has seized bearing

at the end of 29.

So then she goes,

okay, well,

if you're going to do that,

then I will do that too.

Subs,

bring in my servant too.

Let's go.

And so what happens is,

verse 9,

when Leah saw that she had

seized bearing,

she took her servant Zilpah

and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

And Jacob's like,

sure, whatever.

Then Leah's servant Zilpah

bore Jacob a son.

And Leah said,

good fortune has come.

So she called his name Gad.

Leah's servant Zilpah

bore Jacob a second son.

Whoa, 6-2.

Happy am I,

verse 13.

For women have called me happy,

so she called his name Asher.

You can see the ugly side of envy.

You can see the ugly side of idolatry

when you put someone

in the place of God.

Someone who will never be able

to satisfy you.

We've all done this before.

We've all thought that job

would give us

the ultimate satisfaction.

We've all thought that relationship

will help us feel better

about ourselves.

And time and time again,

it does not.

And then we wonder why.

This story sounds ridiculous.

But yet it is the story of us.

It is the story of our hearts

putting our hope

in the wrong things.

The misplaced desires.

And there's a really

interesting story.

In the days of wheat harvest,

Reuben went and found mandrakes

in the field

and brought them

to his mother, Leah.

Reuben, at this point,

was about 5-6 years old.

If you're interested,

this whole thing

happens in the space

about 10-14 years.

In my head,

I was just like,

the amount of nappies,

the amount of sleepless nights,

I don't even know

how this is possible.

So at this point,

the firstborn, Reuben,

is getting a little bit older.

He's out in the field,

just hanging out,

and he finds mandrakes.

Mandrakes,

which is actually

a fertility plant.

It's an aphrodisiac.

People would take it

hoping that they would

get pregnant from it.

And so,

little boy Reuben

runs around in the field,

finds mandrakes,

and brings them back home

to his mom, Leah.

Then Rachel said to Leah,

please give me

some of your son's mandrakes.

Remember,

they're living

in the same house together.

And you imagine

just the drama.

And so,

Rachel sees

little Reuben

come in

with his fertility plant,

and she's like,

I want those mandrakes.

And then,

Leah completely overreacts

in some ways

and says,

is it a small matter

that you've taken away

my husband?

Would you take away

my son's mandrakes also?

So you've already

taken my husband.

Leave the mandrakes alone.

The mandrakes belong to us.

Why would you do that?

Of course,

Rachel is desperate

because Rachel

is 6'2 down.

So she's trying to think,

how can I do this?

Bear in mind here

that Rachel is actually

the head of the harem.

She's in control.

Why?

Because she's the loved one.

She's the favored one.

So she actually gets

to decide

where her husband

goes to spend the night.

Interesting,

because it's the

overreact

because she's

the younger one.

But anyway,

they strike a deal.

Would you take away

my son's mandrakes also?

Rachel said,

then he may lie

with you tonight

in exchange

for your son's mandrakes.

So they make a deal.

Mandrakes for the husband.

Some wives are like,

a plant for a husband?

Good deal.

Jacob comes home

from work

and he gets told,

Leah went out to me

and said,

you must come in to me

for me,

for I have hired you

with my son's mandrakes.

And Jacob says,

yeah, sure, whatever.

And so he goes in

with her.

Rachel's happy

because now she has

a plant.

So she's turned it

into a soup

and she's drinking it

and she's just

bathing in it.

She's doing whatever

she needs to do

to pull the score

back even.

And yet,

the most twisted thing

happens here.

She gives away,

she takes the mandrakes,

but actually,

the fifth lady

goes to Leah.

Leah's womb

opens again.

And even though

she takes matters

into her own hands,

God listened to Leah,

verse 17,

and she conceived

and bore Jacob

a fifth son.

Seven,

two.

God has given me

my wages

because I gave

my servant

to my husband.

So she called

his name Issachar.

And Leah conceived

again and she

bore Jacob

a sixth son.

God has endowed

me with a good

endowment.

Now my husband

will honor me

because I have

bore him

six sons.

She called

his name

Zebulun.

Afterwards,

she bore

a daughter

and called

her name

Dina.

the sad story

of when we go

chasing after idols,

the sad story

of us being

engrossed in comparison

that leads to envy,

that kills

contentment,

kills peace,

robs joy.

How often do we

have that as

children of God

ourselves,

not happy with

what we've been

given,

looking elsewhere

thinking,

if only I had

that,

I will be happy.

And yet here

we see what

happens,

what are the

consequences of

that.

Then something

interesting happens

and we're near

the end of this

story.

Then God

remembered Rachel

and God

listened to her

and opened

her womb.

The word

remembered there

isn't God

saying,

oh,

sorry,

I totally

forgot about

you,

Rachel.

Did not

remember that

you existed.

That's not

what it is.

It's the same

remembered when

God remembered

Noah.

What that

remembered word

means is

is that he

acts on the

promise that

he had given

before.

So he

activates the

promise.

That's what

he means.

So when God

remembers someone

he's activating,

he's putting

into action

what he had

promised in

the past.

So then God

remembered Rachel

and God

listened to her

and opened her

womb.

She conceived

and bore a

son and said,

God has taken

away my

reproach and

my shame.

This is her

first one,

remember,

even though it's

seven to eight

two now,

but actually this

is her first one

because the

years was from

the servants.

And she

called his name

Joseph,

which is a

familiar name

to us as we'll

find out in

later Genesis.

And you think,

oh,

finally,

she's got what

she wants,

right?

Don't we have

that moment when

we finally get

the job that we

went,

finally get the

girl,

finally get the

guy,

finally get the

thing that we

want?

And you're

like,

now I am

completely

satisfied.

You imagine

Rachel going,

I have now

completely found

contentment,

God,

I trust you

for the rest

of my life.

Is that what

she says?

It is not.

What she says

is,

may the Lord

add to me

another son.

She can't

get enough.

She realized

even though she's

got what she

wanted,

it still doesn't

give her the

true satisfaction

that she needs.

She needs to

keep going.

Isn't that the

same as us?

We get,

we finally get

what we want

and actually we

just keep wanting

more.

Comparison.

Envy.

Leads us down

this path,

leads us to

utter destruction

and sad to say,

this other son

that she asks for,

she eventually

does get a few

years later,

but it leads to

her death

because as she

bears Benjamin,

Rachel dies.

these misplaced

desires,

they will mess

you up.

They will lead

you down a path

that you can't

come back from.

What is this?

This is choosing

the flesh.

This is choosing

to not trust God.

This is sin.

And what that does

is leads to our

destruction.

But just before,

actually let's just

catch a breath.

We've got the 12

kids coming up now.

Israel is sorted.

The tribe is ready.

But my goodness,

how did it happen?

We should take no

pride in how we

have the 12 tribes

of Israel.

It happened

because two

sisters were

trying to find

contentment in

purpose,

in a person,

and they end up

in this very

horrible war

that leads to

death.

The question is,

what hope do

we have?

as we

battle with

envy,

as we

battle

with comparison.

Let's put

ourselves in

the shoes of

Leah once again.

Henry Nouwen

says this,

self-rejection

is the greatest

enemy of the

spiritual life

because it

contradicts the

sacred voice

that calls us

beloved.

Imagine if Leah

just knew that,

that she was

loved.

all of this

comes from a

place where

she was

not loved.

Bring it down

to where we

live right now,

some of the

actions that we

see around the

world, the

consequences of

pain and death.

How much of

that can we

trace back to

the fact that

people just

don't feel

loved?

I would say

a high chance.

Henry Nouwen

continues,

the world

tells us we

are only as

good as our

performance,

our beauty

or our

popularity.

God tells us

our value

was settled

before the

foundation of

the world.

Why do you

come to

church?

Why do you

come and sing

some songs and

sit here and

listen?

We have the

gathering statements

and those are

all true, but

I was to boil it

all down.

If every single

person who comes

into this room

and sits in the

presence of God

and hears the

word of truth

uttered over them

that they would

experience one

thing and that

they are loved.

Imagine if you

walked out of

here, head to

the elevator,

wait there, go

down for lunch,

but you're just

filled with this

profound sense

that my goodness,

I am loved.

I don't need to

go searching for

this.

I don't need to

go chase after

this.

I don't need to

envy.

I don't need to

compare because I

am deeply loved

and fully known

by God.

Wouldn't that be

beautiful?

But instead,

Dorothy Sayers

says this,

envy is the

religion of the

mediocre.

It comforts

them, it

responds to

the worries

that gnaw at

them deep

down, and

if it does

not calm

their hearts,

it offers a

surrogate peace

by allowing

them to

project their

own spiritual

poverty onto

others.

Envy is the

religion of the

mediocre.

I think the

message today is

to stop

envying.

Do not

covet.

Do not look

at someone

else and go,

I want that,

or if I can't

have that,

neither should

they.

That goes

directly against

the heart of

God.

It goes

directly against

what he desires

for you.

If he knew

that you were

truly loved,

if you knew

how loved you

were by him,

that is the

key to all

of this.

But there are

moments of hope

as you look at

this story.

Verse 22,

before Rachel

has her first

own baby,

then God

remembered Rachel

and God

listened to her

and opened her.

What does that

mean?

She stopped

taking matters

into her own

hands.

She's gone to

God.

He listened

to her,

which means

that she

spoke to

him.

The woman

who offered

her servant

as a way,

the woman

who tried

to get

a fertility

plant to

help her,

the one

who took

matters into

her own

hands,

finally realizes

the only way

to this

is to God.

She's not

perfect by

any stretch.

She still

doesn't fully

get it,

but she's

starting to

get it a

little bit.

There's another

example that

Leah,

even though she

is engrossed

in this battle,

she also

starts getting

it too.

If we go

back to the

end of 29,

she has

three kids.

Each time,

she puts

all the

hope in

that kid

to bring

her husband

back to

her,

and it

doesn't

happen.

But by

the fourth

one,

something

changes.

Remember,

after Reuben,

because the

Lord has

looked upon

my affliction,

my husband

will now

love me.

That's

number one.

Simeon

comes because

I am

hated.

He has

given me

this son.

And then

now this

time my

husband

will be

attached

to me.

But by

verse 35,

and she

conceived

again and

bore her

son.

This is the

fourth son.

This time

I will

praise the

Lord.

The first

three times

I hope

this does

it.

I hope

this brings

him back

to me.

And it

doesn't work

time after

time after

time again.

By the

fourth time

she starts

to get

it.

This

time I

will

praise

the

Lord.

God

still works

through

dysfunction,

misplaced

desires,

and you

see it

happening

right here.

This

time I

will

praise

the

Lord.

Therefore

she

called

his

name

Judah.

What

is the

significance

of

Judah?

Leah,

this

unloved,

ugly

woman

that was

passed

over time

and time

again,

ends up

being the

mother of

the Levites,

ends up

being the

great,

great,

great,

great

grandmother

of King

David,

ends up

being the

great,

great,

great,

great,

great,

great,

great,

great,

great,

great

grandmother

of Jesus

himself.

Can you

see woven

into this

story so

subtly is

you see when

someone finally

chooses to

trust in

the Lord,

when someone

finally chooses

to surrender

the idols

that they

battle with

and they

choose to

give praise

and trust

to God?

Salvation

comes.

Down this

line,

not Rachel's

line.

Growing up,

the uncles

and aunties

would have

been like,

well,

Rachel's

definitely

the one

who's

going to

be going

places.

Leah has

weak eyes,

she can't

even see

properly.

So you'd

have thought,

oh,

this covenant

of family

is definitely

going to go

through Rachel,

it's going

to be the

strong,

it's going

to be the

highly

accomplished,

it's going

to be the

beautiful.

But time

and time

again,

God says,

the way of

the world

is not the

way of

the kingdom.

In fact,

I'm going

to choose

exactly what

you don't

think I

will choose.

The way of

the kingdom

of God

is upside

down.

And yet,

we still

rely on the

things of

this world.

We still

try to

accumulate

and collect

as many

rewards

and awards

and certificates

and letters

after our

names as

possible,

thinking those

are the

things that

are going

to earn

us

recognition,

those are

the things

that are

going to

earn us

love,

and yet

what we

see here,

the tables

turn time

and time

again,

and what

you see is

God chooses

the unchosen.

Jesus himself,

coming from the

line of Judah,

ends up being

despised and

rejected.

Isaiah 52

says this,

our savior,

you could not

even look at

because he was

not much to

look at.

how much do

we put our

hope in the

things that

we think

look great

will help

us further

our lives

and our

accomplishments,

and yet in

the midst

of this,

we see

someone breaking

the cycle

of sin,

of envy,

of comparison

because he

who had it

all emptied

himself taking

the form of

a servant,

he breaks

the cycle.

Jesus breaks

the cycle.

I'll finish

by going

back to

Saul and

David.

Remember,

Saul takes

it personally.

This song,

he doesn't

like the

lyrics to

this song.

But

interestingly,

Saul has

a son,

and in the

same chapter

in 1 Samuel

18,

just before

the song,

you see

his son

Jonathan

having just

this beautiful

relationship,

friendship,

with David.

To the point

where there's

one moment

when Jonathan

sees David

and cares

for him

and brings

him in,

Jonathan

actually takes

off his

own robe

and puts

it around

David.

Remember,

David is a

shepherd's

boy.

Jonathan

is the

heir apparent.

Jonathan

is going

to be king.

And yet,

in that

moment of

selflessness,

of love,

without a

hint of

envy,

just imagine

a second

from where

Jonathan

sits.

Everyone knows

he's going

to be king

in the future.

And then

this David,

this young

boy,

walks in.

And people

are singing

this song

that are

saying how

this David

is actually

better than

your dad.

What do you

think is going

through Jonathan's

mind?

What if we

were Jonathan?

We were like,

whoa,

this guy's

going to

take my

job.

This guy's

going to

take my

kingdom.

But what

does Jonathan

do instead?

He takes

off his robe

and gives

it to David.

Breaks the

cycle of envy,

breaks the cycle

of comparison,

breaks the

cycle of

jealousy.

We sit

here today

as recipients

of a robe

that belongs

to a king

but has now

been placed

around us.

Can you just

imagine for a

second?

I know that

we're all in

just casual

gear here,

but just imagine

for a moment

that you have

a robe

placed around

you that you

do not

deserve.

how silly

that feels,

but yet

this robe

is the most

expensive thing

that you'll

ever touch.

You don't

deserve this.

You can never

afford this

robe,

and yet

it's yours.

Can you

imagine wearing

this robe

and being

filled with

the gratitude

of having

this,

yet looking

across and

going,

well,

I wish

I had

that.

Oh,

the robe

looks better

on that

person than

on me.

you won't

care because

you realize

you did

nothing to

deserve this

robe that

you've got

on you.

Just like

Jonathan,

as the

prince gives

up his

robe for

David,

the prince

of heaven

himself gives

up his

robe for

us and

breaks the

cycle of

envy,

of discontentment,

of comparison.

We're going

to finish

now by just

asking ourselves,

asking the

Holy Spirit

to show us

what are the

misplaced

desires in

our hearts.

And we all

have them.

They're not

bad things.

Honestly,

every parent

in the room,

one of the

biggest

misplaced

desires is

what?

Our

children.

We want

what's best

for our

children.

We want

them to

do well.

But we

put them

above God.

And then

when things

don't go

well,

we can't

sleep at

night.

We put

our

trust

in

something

else.

Maybe

it's

your

work.

Maybe

what keeps

you up

at night

is your

work.

Because

you're

afraid that

if you

don't do

what you

need to

do,

you won't

climb up

as fast

as you

want to

climb up,

or you

may even

lose the

job that

you believe

that God

gave you

in the

first place.

And if

God

gave it

to you,

then

he's

the one

who's

in

control,

right?

Or it's

a

relationship.

Maybe

there's

a

relationship

that you're

just

terrified

of

losing,

or that

you're

just

desperate

to want

to have.

Well,

I would

sincerely

ask you,

is that

a misplaced

desire?

Is that

a disordered

love?

Let's

spend a

moment now

just to

reflect

on that.

I can

invite you

just to

close your

eyes,

bow your

heads,

whatever

posture

that you

feel is

appropriate

for you.

And let

me lead

us in

a

prayer.

God,

we keep

running in

circles.

we keep

chasing

after

things

that we

think

will

give

us

true

contentment.

We

keep

keeping

score,

comparing

what we

have to

what others

have.

But we

can see

from your

word how

ridiculous

that looks.

we

who

were

orphans,

who

were

blind,

lost,

and

dead,

now sit

in the

most high

place with

a robe

that does

not belong

to us.

How sad

it is that

our hearts

would even

try to

covet and

envy.

love

love

enough.

But we

confess that

it comes

from a

place of

not knowing

your love

enough.

So,