The Deceiver Deceived (MP 27)

Jacob loved Rachel at very first sight,
And offered to work seven years for her;
Laban agreed, to Jacob’s great delight;
He desired her so, that short the years were!
The wedding took place, and they went to bed;
When Jacob awoke, Leah lay at his side!
“Where is Rachel?! Why is Leah here instead?”
Laban answered, “Our oldest must first bride!”
Jacob kept Leah, and added Rachel, too,
But had to work a second seven years;
One wife he wanted, but ended with two—
The trickster tricked, though Laban paid in tears!
Rachel stole Laban’s gods, and Jacob sheep;
The price paid for Leah’s swap was very steep!

Scripture Quoted: Genesis 29:25-28 (NIV)
“When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?’ Laban replied, ‘It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter’s bridal week, then we will give you the younger one, also, in return for another seven years of work.’ And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.”

Commentary on Genesis 29-31: Jacob’s 20-Year Stay With Laban

In his uncle Laban Jacob met one as great a deceiver as he was himself. He stayed with Laban in Mesopotamia 20 years, and during that time he accumulated two wives, many children, a great number of sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, and many servants. Laban’s wealth grew also, but the two men were constantly cheating on each other. God blessed Jacob, as He had promised at Bethel; Laban prospered from the overflow. When they parted on terms that were considerably strained but amicable, Jacob was a rich man.

The bridal customs of the people of the area made it relatively easy for Laban to trick Jacob into marrying his older daughter Leah instead of Rachel, whom Jacob truly loved. Their agreement at the beginning was that Jacob would serve Laban free for seven years as dowry, and receive Rachel’s hand in marriage. However, Laban substituted Leah without Jacob’s knowledge; the wedding took place as usual, with the bride heavily veiled; the bride and groom retired to their special nuptial tent after dark. The marriage was consummated, and it was the next morning when Jacob learned he had not slept with Rachel but Leah instead. They agreed, however, that he could have Rachel, too, after Leah’s bridal week was over;, provided he worked another seven years for her. The "bridal week" was seven years long.

As you might have expected, marital difficulties plagued poor Jacob from the first, but he didn’t seem to mind. Jealousy arose first between the two wives, because he continued to love Rachel and not Leah; so God blessed Leah, and she had four sons while Rachel was barren. Rachel begged Jacob to sleep with her maid, Bilhah, and the maid bore Jacob two sons. In return Leah offered her maid, Zilpah, to Jacob, and Zilpah bore him two more sons. After that, Leah bore him two more sons and a daughter; then Rachel bore one son. When Jacob left Laban, he had 11 sons and at least one daughter, two wives, and two concubines. Just because this account is in the Bible does not mean that anyone acted as God wanted him or her to act. Remember, not one man or woman that ever lived was righteous; everyone of us has committed sin.

Immediately after his weddings, Jacob made a new deal with Laban. He offered to work for no wages if he could start his own herd from the sick and weakly lambs and the spotted ones that were born. Laban agreed, but secretly he removed all his spotted rams to other pastures. Jacob countered by making frameworks of spotted limbs and placing them at the water troughs, so that when the female sheep were in heat they would see spots while conceiving lambs. God blessed Jacob’s share so greatly that Laban had to move his herds three days’ walk away from Jacob’s. Things got so heated between them that Jacob packed up and left secretly. It was three days before Laban knew Jacob had gone. Not only did it seem that Jacob had left with some of Laban’s livestock, but, unknown to Jacob, Rachel had stolen Laban’s household gods. Therefore, Laban was irate; he gathered a large body of men and pursued Jacob. When they met, Laban was allowed to inspect the livestock and search all the tents, and he couldn’t find anything that had been stolen. His daughter Rachel remained sitting on her camel-seat, saying she was having her period and could “not rise"; the household gods were in the seat under her. At any rate, they parted amicably, and Jacob continued his journey back to Canaan and his meeting with his brother Esau.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)