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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 4 December 2024:
Genesis 30:1 – When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister.
Envy is a very powerful emotion that can cause a person to do terrible things to others as the Bible warns from beginning to end. In envy, Cain killed Abel, and envy was behind the crucifixion of Jesus – “For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.” (Mark 15:10) Envy is unloving (1 Corinthians 13:4), hateful and foolish (Titus 3:3), and the product of a “debased mind” (Romans 1:28). Many people who appear very successful and even religious are merely driven by envy, which only leads to self-destruction –
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 — Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Philippians 1:15 — Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.
Envy is a form of hate that is outwardly directed at others but inwardly is a deep resentment of God because God gave someone something that you think you deserve instead. Envy comes from deep within your heart. The Bible says, above all else, guard your heart. You cannot address what you are not willing to be honest about. Search your heart diligently for any envy. As God said to Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Gen 4:7)
The envy between Rachel and Leah and between Jacob and Laban caused immeasurable and needless pain and suffering as everyone sought to take from each other what only God could give. As James says, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:1-3) Don’t add sorrows to the blessings God has planned for you by struggling to get things your own way.
Genesis 30:3, 9 — Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” …. When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
Rachel, Leah, and Jacob did all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. All the while, they acted as if God was supporting them in their sin. In His grace, God would bless the family despite its disfunction, but we must be careful not to confuse God’s grace with His approval. While God will continue to bless Jacob’s family, the consequences of their sins will also cause much pain for many generations which never had to occur (Proverbs 10:22). Don’t just depend on God’s grace, grow in God’s grace and experience the riches of God’s grace through obedience. Don’t presume that God is ok with your sin just because it appears to be producing results. Walk humbly before the Lord with a penitent yet joyful spirit.
Wives giving their husbands their servants to have children was a common practice back then, but not accepted by God who created marriage to be between one man and one woman – “He [Jesus] answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4, 5) Sarah gave Abraham her servant Hagar, and we are still experiencing the consequences of that sin. We sin when we want what God hasn’t given us or when we try to rush what God has promised. Sin always robs us of God’s best. As someone said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” (R. Zaccharias) Sin will also always hurt those around you, even the ones you commit in secret isolation, but sin will at least change you and the way you view and treat others. There is no such thing as a victimless sin.
Genesis 30:24 – And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”
Receiving God’s blessing brings expectation and faith in God’s future provision and blessings.
Genesis 30:25 – As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.
Jacob constantly makes plans with no reference to God’s leadership. (See also Gen 25:23)
Genesis 30:42 – So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
Laban had been treating Jacob unfairly and taking advantage of Jacob for his personal gain, and now Jacob has become wealthy at Laban’s success. He was a conniver with a grudge, and he further contributed to family divisions. Both Laban and Jacob were acting selfishly and defensively rather that trusting in and obeying the Lord, again, causing life struggles which could have been avoided.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 4 December 2024: Don’t envy; don’t be disgruntled; don’t be anxious; and don’t be vindictive or conniving. Trust God in your current circumstances, with grateful and enthusiastic obedience; and trust God with your future, waiting patiently for Him to act according to His perfect timing. What He intends for you is immeasurably greater than what you could possibly imagine.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 