January 22, 2021 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Friday, January 22, 2021
Chapters: Genesis 29-30
Message: Crazy In Love

Hello My Friend,

I never tell this story because it happened before I truly found and dedicated my life to Christ, I was engaged to a man who cheated on me, and he actually married her after I told him that I was not going to help him get out of the trouble he was in. Now, here is the most ridiculous part, he got arrested, I took her in, and for one reason only, to drive a wrench between them so that he would divorce her and return to me. Well, it was during that mess that Jesus came to me and reminded me that I am His, that was when I finally understood what my salvation meant and dedicated my life to Him. I am not going to say that it was not a struggle to get that man out of my life, who lost both of us by the way, but praise God. He got me through it. Let me tell you, people will do some crazy things for love, and will go to great lengths to get their love in return. There is no greater love than the love that God has for us, [John 3:16,18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.]

Now, if you think the sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau was bad, it is nothing compared to Rachel and Leah. Jacob left home and headed to his mothers brothers house, in which he came upon a well that shepherds would bring the sheep for water all at once, [Genesis 29:1-6 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.]

[Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.] Now, as soon as Jacob saw Rachel it was love at first sight, he not only just ran over to her, he even rolled that by rock away from the well, and kissed her.

[Genesis 29:9-13 And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.]

[and lifted up his voice, and wept.] I imagine that on his journey he felt quite displaced, ashamed, and unsure of where he was going, but little what he did know was that God was with him and had brought him to the right place. And if you think that Jacob was quite the schemer, you have not seen anything yet, Laban was quite the schemer himself. Laban had another daughter besides Rachel, her name was Leah, and Jacob got the attention of both women, while he cared for Leah, he could not take his eyes off Rachel, and fell in love with her instead, and wanted to marry her, and worked seven years for her, [Genesis 29:15-18,20 And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.]

[and they seemed unto him but a few days,] When God sent His Son it had to be at the precise time, but those who truly loved Him had faith that, even if they did not see Him in their lifetime, He would still come. When we truly love someone we are willing to do anything for them, no matter how long it takes, with that hope of knowing that they will be ours. God loves every soul that He created, there is not one soul, not even the reprobates, that He wants to be in hell, He would have saved them all if they only believed while they were alive in the flesh. God is longsuffering in that He is not willing to send His Son back until the very last soul to receive Him does, [II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.]

[but that all should come to repentance.] Repentance, perhaps that is what we need so we do not have to work so hard in this time of our lives before we get to go home to Jesus. Our salvation may not be based on our works, but to receive God’s blessings it is important that we maintain good works, and anytime we mess up, we need to repent so that we can continue receiving those blessings. While God did promise Jacob that He was going to use him to fulfill the promise that He made to Abraham, He did not promise him that there would not be any consequences to his actions for all his schemes that he never repented of. Now, the seven years were up, and Jacob eagerly sought his wife, only things did not go as Jacob instead of giving him Rachel, it was Leah.

[Genesis 29:23-27 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.]

[behold, it was Leah:] I know, how was it possible that he did not know that it was Leah? There were two reasons, one; she had a veil over her face throughout the feast, and two; Laban waited until it was dark when he allowed them to go into the tent. Can you just imagine a bunch of people gathered around a tent that a couple would enter in to consummate and that would mean they were married? Well, in God’s eyes, intercourse makes a man and a woman of one flesh, meaning they are one with each other for life, and this is why it is so important that we choose the right mate, [I Corinthians 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.]

Although Laban deceived him, he worked seven more years for Rachel. And while Leah was part of the deception, she did it because he fell in love with him also. She was married to Jacob for seven years, think how she must have felt that Jacob loved her sister and chose her, and worked so hard to make her his wife. God saw this and blessed Leah with several sons, [Genesis 29:28-31 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.]

[And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated,] Jacob never got over the fact that Leah deceived him, although he had no problem being with her. God saw this and blessed Leah with children, but that caused an even bigger wrench in this love triangle because Rachel could not get pregnant. [Genesis 30:1-3,6 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.]

[Rachel envied her sister;] This is exactly why a man needs only one woman, especially sisters. While this was a very strange circumstance, perhaps things would have gone a little better had Jacob been more considerate to both their needs. Bilhah was not the answer, but Jacob did not seem to care, he did whatever these women wanted, it was only sex to him at this point. Leah envied Rachel because Jacob actually lived with her after they had gotten married. So, Leah took every opportunity she could to get Jacob to spend a night with her. Mandrakes were plants with fruit on them, often called the devil’s apple because they not only stimulated the body sexually they also caused people to fall asleep. Leah’s son found some and brought them to her.

[Genesis 30:9-10 9,14-17 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, andfound mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.]

[and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also?] Eating the mandrakes is said to excite love, provoke lust, and help with conception, which was why Rachel was so desirous of them. As I said at the start of this, people are willing to do some crazy things for love. In the thirteen years that Jacob was married to these women both of them did some crazy and ungodly things to vie for his attention, but the entire time he lived with Rachel. You cannot make someone love you, sex, money, children, drugs, none of these things can change what is in the heart. Now, after all this, Rachel had finally come to the decision that her ability to have a child of her own was in God’s hands, God saw her pain, and she did conceive and had a son of her own, [Genesis 30:22-24 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.]

[And God remembered Rachel,] Between four women, Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter, God certainly did not condone any of this nor did He need Jacob to have four women for him to have so many children, and you will see later on why this will cause problems in itself, but He did use this crazy love triangle to make a nation, one in which Jesus would descend in the flesh. Love truly does make us do some crazy things, there is no greater love than the love that Christ has for us, He gave His life for us, the least we can do is to love Him back with all our heart, and if we truly do love Him, we will not only accept Him, we will allow Him to live in and through our lives, and that is not crazy at all, [I John 4:18-19 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Genesis 30:24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.]

Today’s Prayer: God, There is no greater love than what You have done for us in sending Your only begotten Son to not only save our soul, but to also live with You forever. We truly love You because You first loved us. We do not need to receive eternal life, just believe in Your Son, and accept Him as our Saviour. Now, the life we live after we are saved, it is not actually obedience that gets Your attention, for You know we are sinners, it is repentance, and our faithfulness in coming to You confessing our sin with all our heart. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us Your mercy, grace, longsuffering, and let us not lean on our own understanding, or trust in our own flesh to get through this life, just trust You, Your Word, and follow it so that we can show Your love to the world. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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