Daily Devotion – July 27, 2020 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Genesis 29:15-28
29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”
29:16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
29:17 Leah’s eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful.
29:18 Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
29:19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.”
29:20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
29:21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”
29:22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast.
29:23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.
29:24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.)
29:25 When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
29:26 Laban said, “This is not done in our country–giving the younger before the firstborn.
29:27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”
29:28 Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.
This is a terrible and funny and fitting story. Jacob is a conniving man. He has been so from an early age. He loves making bargains and even cheating at bargains. So this story is a kind of comeuppance for Jacob. He who cheated his twin brother out of his inheritance now has to work double the time to get the wife he thought he had bargained for.
Apart from the humor and justice/karma of this episode of Jacob’s life (I wonder what Esau’s reaction would have been to this marriage bargain of his brother’s), this story is a testament to the depth of the importance of relationships to Jacob. He was determined to get Rachel, and he stuck with her father in order to do it. He wrestles with an angel through the entire night in another story and, when defeated, hangs in there and demands a blessing from the angel. He is tireless in his encounters and loyal to his cause in order to reach his goals.
Should it surprise us, then, that God hangs in there unfailingly with Jacob, just as he had done with his grandfather Abraham, and changes Jacob’s name to Israel (just as he had changed Abram’s name to Abraham)? When God gives a person a new name, God is claiming that person for God’s work and to be a blessing to God’s world. God is looking for human beings to be in relationship with. God’s favorites are often real characters. They are truly flawed, but they have something in their makeup which makes God trust them with holy work.
When we consider our own relationship with God, what does it look like? Is it just a passing thing? Is it completely passive? Or do we stalwartly wrestle with God? Do we care what God may be asking of us? Do we listen enough even to hear God’s requests of us? How responsive are we to God’s calling of us? What time and space do we create in our lives to be engaged in a relationship with God?
Dear Lord God,
As you chose Abraham to walk with on Earth and to bless, as you favored the crafty Jacob with your love and blessing, show us how we can better listen for your call in our lives. Help us not to miss it. Amen.
