This lesson is compatible with the "Jacob" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 29:15-28

“(SIGH) Wow!  Rachel is so beautiful.  I could sit and look at her pretty face all day long.”

Jacob was working in the fields, watching over some of his uncle Laban’s herds of animals.  All he could think about was Rachel, Laban’s daughter.  She truly was a very beautiful young lady.  Everyone who met her thought so.  And Jacob was in love.  He had been at his uncle’s house for about a month.  He voluntarily did chores and work around the house, even though he was a guest.  And each night at dinner, I imagine he got to know his family a little better.  Rachel was beautiful, but Leah, her older sister wasn’t as pretty.  She was just a plain young lady.  I don’t think she was ugly, but there was just nothing special about how she looked.  Her eyes didn’t sparkle like Rachel’s pretty eyes.  And Jacob just couldn’t stop thinking about Rachel’s pretty eyes.

One day, Laban called for Jacob to come speak with him.   He had noticed that Jacob was a hard worker.  He had probably seen how his herds seemed to look healthier since Jacob arrived.  God was blessing Jacob.  He wanted some of that blessing!  When Jacob entered the tent, he said  “Jacob, you are my family.  It’s not right that you should work so hard for me and not get paid.  What do you want in exchange for your work?”  [Visual 3.2]

“This is the chance I have been waiting for!” he thought.  “I will work for you for 7 years if you give me your younger daughter Rachel as my wife.”

“Well, Jacob, I guess it’s better to let you marry her than some other man.  It’s a deal!  You can stay here and work for 7 years, and then you can marry Rachel.”  Laban could hardly believe his luck!  At that time and place men had to give money to the family of their future wives before they could marry them.  It was called a “bride price”.  Jacob had just agreed to pay almost TWICE what most other men paid for their “bride prices”.  And Jacob was a hard worker, too!  Laban knew this was going to be a good thing for him.

For seven years Jacob worked for Laban.  He worked hard, but he didn’t mind.  The years passed quickly for him.  He was in love!  He got to know Rachel more and more, and she just seemed to get even prettier as the years passed.  I imagine Jacob began to count down the days before he and Rachel would be married. 

Finally, the day arrived!  He was going to marry Rachel!  “I will have such a beautiful wife!  Everyone will be jealous of me when they see how her eyes sparkle when she laughs.  They will be jealous that she is so pretty.”

Jacob was forgetting something, though.  He had never asked God who he should marry.  Jacob was only looking at the outside.  But the Bible says that while we look at a person’s looks, God looks at a person’s heart.  Rachel looked very good on the outside.  But what did her heart look like? 

We know Jacob thought a lot about her beauty.  So, he let his heart take over his thinking.  “I am in love with her!  She is the woman God wants me to marry, because God wants me to be happy!  And she is so pretty, I will always be happy.”  Maybe Jacob thought something like this.  So many people think this very thing.  They listen to their heart, and not God’s leading.

The Bible says that our hearts are easily fooled.  We should listen to God and His word, and He will guide us in who we should marry, what job we have, what we study in college, etc.  But so many people follow their heart, thinking that that is the way to be happy.

Jacob just knew he was about to be the happiest man ever.  They were having the marriage celebration, most likely with a nice big dinner after a long day’s work.  Rachel had her veil over her face all night, as was the custom.  Now it was late, and dark. Jacob married Rachel, and they were ready to move into their very own tent and make a happy home!  That’s what Jacob thought, anyway.  Rachel kept her vail on, even in the tent.  In the morning, it was time to remove the wedding veil. 

Jacob couldn’t believe his eyes!  His heart sank…It was Leah!  He had married Leah, not Rachel!

The day before, Laban had told Leah to get dressed in the wedding clothes.  “Leah, you have to marry Jacob before Rachel can.  The oldest must get married first.”  I wonder if Leah objected to her father’s wishes.  “Do as I say, and don’t question me!  I’m your father!” said Laban.  Leah was stuck in a very hard place.  She knew Jacob loved Rachel, but daughters didn’t have a choice in those days.  She obeyed her father.  Jacob thought it was Rachel all evening and night.  It didn’t help that it was dark by the time they began to celebrate the marriage.  Jacob had been fooled by Leah in disguise.  Hmm…this kind of sounds familiar!  Can you think of someone else who was fooled by a disguise?  Isaac was fooled by Jacob himself!  The Bible is right.  We reap what we sow.  And Jacob was angry!  He rushed into Laban’s tent that morning. 

“What have you done?! You tricked me!  How could you do this to me, uncle?” he asked.

Laban said “I had to give you Leah to marry.  It’s our custom that the older daughter has to marry first.  Spend your wedding week with Leah, and you can marry Rachel.  If you promise to work 7 more years for her.”  Laban was definitely taking advantage of his nephew!  He knew how much he loved Rachel.  He knew he would agree to anything.  So, he made him promise to work 7 more years!  And Jacob agreed to this.

He spent a week with Leah, as was the custom.  As soon as it was over, he left their tent and married Rachel, her sister.  He and Rachel moved into another tent of their own.  Jacob spent almost all of his time there with her.  Leah was heartbroken.  Her husband didn’t love her, and she knew it.  She had to share him with her own sister. 

The saddest part is, I believe that Leah was the one God really wanted Jacob to marry.  God knew Laban would deceive Jacob on his wedding day.  God saw Leah’s heart was better than her looks.  God saw Rachel’s heart wasn’t what it should be.  God knew that Rachel would cause Jacob many problems in the future.  We will see some of these problems in the next few lessons.  But God was going to use LEAH to keep His promise to bless the world.  God was going to use the women Jacob didn’t love…yet.  Because he was too busy listening to his heart that could only see the outside of Rachel and Leah.  But God is good and keeps His promise.  Even when Jacob messed up and married TWO women when he should have stayed married to Leah, and told Laban he couldn’t marry Rachel, even though it was because of a trick.  He should have given his heart to God, and God could have changed it to love Leah, as I believe He did many years later.

Come back next week to find out all the trouble caused by being married to two sisters!

Right now, let’s pray and ask God to help us listen to His word, and not our hearts.  Let’s ask God to help us not believe the lies of the world that tell us when we follow our hearts, we will be happy.  Only when we follow God can we have true happiness.