In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the story of Jacob and his love for Rachel. He highlights the unfortunate position of Leah, who was unloved by Jacob. However, God showed compassion towards Leah by opening her womb and allowing her to conceive a son named Reuben. Pastor Chuck emphasizes that Jacob, with his experience in husbandry, knew the processes of conception and reproduction. He acknowledges that it was God who blessed him with prosperity and wealth, not his own efforts. The sermon concludes with a reminder to join the next lesson on Jacob's journey and an invitation to order copies of the message.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you With His Spirit and His love Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul Oh, let Him have the things that hold you And His Spirit like a dove Will descend upon your life And make you whole Welcome to The Word for Today The broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith Of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse study Through the entire Bible And on today's edition of The Word for Today We'll once again be following the events surrounding Jacob's obvious love for Rachel As Pastor Chuck picks up today's lesson in Genesis, chapter 29, verse 31 Now when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved And that's a terrible position for a woman to be in Married to a man He opened her womb But Rachel was barren So Leah conceived and bore a son And she called his name Reuben For she said, the Lord has surely looked Upon my affliction Now therefore my husband will love me And that's pathetic It's sad I've born him a son, surely now he will love me Then she conceived again And bore a son and said Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved He has therefore given me this son also And she called his name Simeon Which means hearing So God has seen The first son, look The second son, God has heard my cry And so she called him hearing God sees, God hears And so the first two sons Named after the distress of her own heart For the lack of love that she is receiving From her husband God sees me God's heard me And she conceived again And bore a son and said Now this time my husband will become attached to me Surely, you know, he'll start living with me now Or he'll become attached or joined to me So she called him Levi, which means joined Again expressing that yearning For the love of her husband And she conceived again And bore a son and said Now I will praise the Lord Therefore she called his name Praise Judah Then she stopped bearing So in rapid succession Probably in a four year period of time She bore him four sons While Rachel remains barren Now in that culture The greatest thing that a woman can do Is bear a son for her husband In that culture If you are unable to give your husband a son Then you can actually be divorced If all you bear is girls He can divorce you If you cannot bear children He can divorce you Bearing him a son Just considered the greatest It's still that way in that culture today Having a boy is so important In that culture When a girl goes into labor Everybody would come over They'd bring the goodies, the band When the midwife came out and said It's a boy They'd strike up the band They'd have their dances They'd drink and have a big party If the midwife came out and said it's a girl They'd fold up everything and go home Leah was able to bear four sons In rapid succession That should put her at the top of the pile She was hoping that it would Now surely my husband will be attached to me And so every time she called Levi Come here attached Hoping that Jacob would catch on And become attached to her Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children Rachel envied her sister And so the problem between these sisters Of envy Jealousy And she said to Jacob She became sort of witchy She said give me children or else I will die The envy didn't really bring her much Comfort from Jacob Her attitude caused his anger to rise against her And he said Am I in the place of God Who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb You mean, you know, it's not me woman It's obvious that I am able to produce children Basically that's what he was declaring So she said Here is my maid Bilhah Go into her And she will bear a child on my knees That I also may have children by her And then she gave him Bilhah her maid as a wife And Jacob went into her And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son And Rachel said God has judged my case And he has also heard my voice And given me a son Therefore she called his name Judged Dan Which means judged God has judged my case Or judgment And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again And bore Jacob a second son Then Rachel said With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister And indeed I have prevailed So she called his name Wrestlings Naphtali Which means wrestlings And so interesting how that the children Were named after hopes, aspirations Or after circumstances Of their birth Now Leah saw that she had stopped bearing Look at the competition You don't read of Jacob complaining though When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing She took Zilpah her maid And gave her to Jacob as a wife And Leah's maid Zilpah Bore Jacob a son Then Leah said A troop comes So she called his name Troops And probably that's what she was hoping That she would have a troop of children And Leah's maid Zilpah Bore Jacob a second son Then Leah said I am happy For the daughters will call me blessed So she called his name Happy Asher Sounds like the seven dwarfs in a way doesn't it Happy, hire, dwelling, troop, wrestlings, judgment, praises Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest And at this time Reuben was probably Seven, eight years old And he went in the days of the wheat harvest And he found some mandrakes in the field And brought them to his mother Leah Then Rachel said to Leah Please give me some of your son's mandrakes But she said to her Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband Would you take away my son's mandrakes also So there's this You know there's a lot of bitterness Between the sisters It's sad, it's tragic It no doubt was not a happy, peaceful home Mandrakes were thought to be an aphrodisiac And they were considered To be sort of a Fertility kind of a drug within them Especially within the roots of the mandrakes And it is possible that Rachel was Hoping to take the mandrakes as an aphrodisiac And perhaps create fertility For they were thought to be a fertility drug And so when Reuben found the mandrakes in the field Brought them home to his mother Rachel said Oh, I'd like to have those mandrakes And Leah retorted Hey, isn't it enough that you've taken away the husband Now you want my son's mandrakes also And Rachel said to her I'll let you lie with him tonight For your son's mandrakes And so when Jacob came out of the field in the evening Leah went out to meet him and said Hey, you've got to come into my tent tonight I've hired you with my son's mandrakes And so he spent the night in her tent And God listened to Leah And she conceived and bore a son A fifth son And she said God has given me my hire Because I have given my maid to my husband So she called his name hired Ishkar Then Leah conceived again And bore Jacob a sixth son And Leah said God has endowed me With a good endowment Now my husband will dwell with me Because I have borne him six sons So she called his name dwelling Hoping that her husband would now dwell in her tent Because she was able to produce so many children Still the sadness persist After that she bore a daughter Puts her out of the ball game Called her name Dinah And imagine what it must have been for that little girl With all these brothers now Some ten brothers And so she no doubt Had a pretty good life The brothers loved her very much Very jealous for her As we will find later in the story Then God remembered Rachel And God listened to her And opened her womb And she conceived And bore a son And said God has taken away my reproach So she called his name Joseph And said the Lord shall add to me another son And so in hope and in faith She called his name adding God will add another son And indeed she did have one more son After they had returned to the land of Israel And were in the area near Bethlehem Her second son was born The twelfth son to Jacob And in the childbirth Rachel died And so as the child was being born And she was having such a difficult time In delivery She called his name Benoni The son of misery But Jacob changed his name to Benjamin the son of my right hand So it is true God did add to her one more son So she named him adding In hopes and faith That God would add one more son Now it came to pass When Rachel had born Joseph That Jacob came to Laban and he said Send me away That I may go to my own place and to my own country So now he has eleven sons And he wants to go back home Two wives and their two maids And he is asking Laban to send him away Give me my wives, my children for whom I have served you And let me go for you know my service which I have done for you So I fulfilled my obligation I put in the fourteen years Laban said to him please stay If I have found favor in your eyes for I have learned by experience That the Lord has blessed me for your sake The word translated experience there is the Hebrew word for enchantments And it is possible that he is saying I have learned by enchantments that the Lord has blessed me for your sake He was involved in the worship of false gods He had perhaps gone into one who was a diviner In divination or enchantments To try to learn the reasons for his success And he learned by it that Jacob was the reason For God's blessings That the Lord has blessed me for your sake Then he said name me your wages and I will give it Now earlier he had said that and he got a good deal You know I will serve you seven years for your daughter Rachel Your younger daughter And I am sure that was far more than what Laban was expecting And so knowing that Jacob is sort of a soft touch In the fact of naming his own wages He again says name your wages you know Stick around I have found that I have been blessed Because you are here and so name your wages And I am sure that he could hardly believe his ear When Jacob named his wages He said to him you know how I served you And how your livestock has been with me For what you had before I came was little And now it has increased to a great amount So Jacob is reminding him hey you didn't have much when I came And now you have got a lot The Lord has blessed you since my coming And now when shall I also provide for my own house You are a wealthy man now But I don't have anything for myself for my own labors So he said what shall I give you And Jacob said you shall not give me anything If you will do this for me I will again feed and keep your flocks Let me pass through all your flock today Removing from there all of the speckled and spotted sheep And all of the brown ones among the lambs And the spotted and the speckled among the goats And these shall be my wages So my righteousness will answer for me in the time to come When the subject of my wages comes before you Everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats And brown among the lambs will be considered stolen If it's with me Laban said oh that it were according to your word Alright that sounds like a good deal What he was saying is this You go through the flocks now And you remove all of the speckled and spotted Among the flocks and all of the brown lambs And the solid colors They become yours You take out now the speckled and spotted So that there is no chance for them To breed with the solid colors I'll take then just the solid colors And whatever are born from the solid colored animals They become my wages The speckled and the spotted ones Born from the solid colored animals So Laban took all of the speckled and spotted ones out And he gave them to his sons and he said Now stay at least three days journey away from Jacob Don't let the flocks intermingle He thought man I've got it made He's going to remove all the spotted and speckled There will be no interbreeding All he gets then is the spotted and speckled ones Born now from these solid colors And he really thought that he had a deal That Jacob's got to be a fool And man I've got this guy And he really figured that he had it made So he ordered his sons Now you always stay at least three days away Three days journey away from his flock Keep those spotted and speckled ones away So they can't interbreed with the solid colored ones So he removed that day the male goats That were speckled and spotted And all of the female goats That were speckled and spotted And every one that had some white in it And all of the brown ones from among the lambs And he gave them into the hands of his sons And then to make sure he put three days journey Between himself and Jacob And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar And almond and chestnut trees And he peeled white strips in them And exposed the white which was in the rods And the rods which he had peeled He set before the flocks in the gutters In the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink So that they should conceive when they came to drink So the flocks conceived before the rods And the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted Then Jacob separated the lambs And made the flocks face toward the streaked And all of the brown of the flock of Laban But he put his own flocks by themselves And did not put them with Laban's flock And it came to pass Whenever the stronger livestock conceived That Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock In the gutters that they might conceive among the rods But when the flocks were feeble He did not put them in So the feebler were Laban's And the stronger were Jacob's Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous And he had large flocks Female and male servants Camels and donkeys I mean he really began to be wealthy and prosperous As he was very skilled in the art of husbandry Now you must realize That this fellow has about 80 years of experience At least in husbandry In the observation of the processes of conception And all among the animals And the development of a species He knew that as the animals came in for the watering When the striped, white striped branches Were placed in front of them That somehow it caused them to come into heat And thus to reproduce And it was the Lord really Who gave him the strong spotted and speckled ones Because later on Jacob himself acknowledged That it was God who had prospered and blessed him As he was returning he said Lord I am not worthy the least of thy mercies That you have shown unto me When I passed over this river going Running away I had only my rod in my hand That's the only possession I had Was just my walking stick And now I'm coming back and look I've got so many sheep and oxen And camels and all That I have to separate them into two companies In order to travel And he was overwhelmed with the grace of God And the mercies of God towards him And he acknowledged that it was God Who had granted him the success and the wealth And not his own devices We'll return with more of our verse by verse study Through the book of Genesis in our next lesson As we find Jacob once again packing up And embarking on another journey And we do hope you'll make plans to join us But right now I'd like to remind you That if you missed any part of today's message Or perhaps you'd like to order a copy For that special 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Box 8000 Costa Mesa, California 92628 And be sure to include the call letters Of this station with your correspondence And now on behalf of the word for today We'd like to thank all of you Who share in supporting this ministry With your prayers and financial support And be sure to join us again next time As Pastor Chuck Smith continues His verse by verse study Through the book of Genesis That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today And now once again Here's Pastor Chuck Smith May the Lord bless you now Keep you in His love Fill you with His Spirit Guide you with His wisdom Anoint you with His love That you might share with others The glorious news of God's love and grace Towards man through Jesus Christ His Son The Bible calls Christians to be ready to give an answer And for this reason I encourage you to listen to Pastor Chuck Smith's prophecy update Find out the biblical perspective Concerning the Middle East, Israel And scriptures that relate to current world events Learn how you can give an intelligent And scriptural response to someone Who might be concerned about the future But what can we know for certain? Surely the Lord is in this place wherever I go And He will keep me He will strengthen me He's given His promises to me And I'm going to make it through That I know Because the Lord is with me Wherever I go For more information on how you can order Pastor Chuck Smith's prophecy update On DVD that includes a bonus CD Call The Word for Today At 1-800-272-9673 Or visit us online at thewordfortoday.org This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today In Costa Mesa, California