In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Jacob from the book of Genesis. Jacob had deceived his father and brother, and now he finds himself deceived by his uncle Laban. He had agreed to work for Laban for seven years in order to marry Rachel, but Laban tricked him and gave him Leah instead. Jacob ends up serving Laban for a total of 14 years and acquiring two wives, Leah and Rachel. The preacher emphasizes that while the Bible records these events, it does not mean that God approves of everything that happened, including polygamy.

Now, if you have your Bible, turn there, verse 30 of chapter 29 of Genesis. And he went in also under Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. You see, this man Jacob, we saw last time, was totally deceived by his uncle. His uncle promised him that he would give him Rachel if he would serve seven years. And he served those seven years faithfully. And what did he get? Well, he got Leah. And believe me, he got the short end of the stick. Poor Jacob was certainly disappointed. And after all, you must recall that he put one over on his father, and he shortchanged his own brother. He pretended to be the elder when he was the younger. Now he's given the elder when he thought he was getting the younger. So he has to serve now seven more years. And he's learning that chickens do come home to roost, and that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Now, Uncle Laban made him serve twice as long as he originally agreed to, and that was long enough. But believe me, this is a long time. Fourteen years he served. And that gives him now two wives, somebody says. And that's right. And somebody else is going to say, well, it's in the Bible. God must approve of it. Now, God doesn't approve of everything that's in the Bible. That may startle some of you. But God didn't approve of the devil telling a lie. God didn't approve of David telling a lie. And God didn't approve of David's sin. He judged him for it. But the record is inspired. And the thing that's inspired here are not the thoughts. The thing that's inspired here is the record or the words. And this is an accurate record that he did have two wives. And this is the way it came about. And that's where inspiration comes in, friend. It doesn't mean God approved of everything that's in the Bible. God disapproved of this. And let me say this to you. This man had plenty of trouble in his family from here on out. And it all goes back, of course, to his own methods that he had used, which God could not approve. Now, in verse 31 and 32, and let me read them. And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and barren son, she called his name Reuben. For she said, surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction. Now, therefore, my husband will love me. And so Leah is a pretty sad person because she knows that her husband loves her sister more than he loves her. And now she becomes the mother of Reuben. And that must have brought joy to her heart because he's the eldest son. He was not the one in the line that was to lead to the Lord Jesus Christ. Actually, the one that's to lead to Christ will be Judah. And that was the last son that Leah had. You see, Leah had four sons. She had Reuben. And then in verse 33 here, she had Simeon. Verse 34, the record that she had Levi. And so actually, she had some of the outstanding boys of the 12 sons of Jacob. And the fourth son in verse 35 here is Judah. And out of Judah is the one that is to furnish the kingly line. David was in this line. And then later on, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. According to the flesh, he came in the line of Judah. And Levi was the priestly tribe. And Reuben lost his position as the firstborn, you'll recall, because of his sin. Now we have here these four boys that were the offspring of Leah. And when we come to chapter 30, why again? We begin to see that God is moving in spite of the man's sin, this man, Jacob. Not because of it, but in spite of it. And we find that this man, Jacob, now is disturbed.