(Genesis) Genesis 29:15-22

And now, one morning at breakfast, and I think that's when this took place, notice verse 15. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldst thou therefore serve me for naught, tell me, what shall thy wages be? Now, Uncle Laban is pretty clever. Now, who has said anything about going to work? Jacob hasn't.

And Uncle Laban, in a very tactful way at breakfast, he says, Now, Jacob, my nephew, I don't want you to work for me for nothing. I'm going to pay you. Well, who said anything about going to work? Jacob hadn't, but Laban had.

And frankly, you don't live with Laban a month without making some sort of an arrangement to pay your board. Uncle Laban was clever also, and he now is going to deal with his nephew. And Laban had two daughters.

The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Now, we are introduced to another daughter here, Leah. And actually, Uncle Laban has been watching this boy, and he's noted that this boy, his nephews, become very much interested in his daughter, that is, in Rachel, the younger daughter.

You can understand why. The next verse tells us, verse 17, Leah was tender-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well-favored. And that means, again, here's another very beautiful girl, and that's Rachel.

But Leah was tender-eyed, and that's a way of saying she was not so beautiful at all. I remember years ago in college reading in Greek, and especially in some of the plays, for instance, Euripides, you find out that when the fellow wanted to say something very nice about his girl, why, the thing he said to her, that she was cow-eyed, that she had the eyes of a cow. Well, I always laughed at that.

I, to me, I would turn that over before I would decide that was a compliment. But have you ever looked in the eye of a cow recently? Well, the next time you meet a cow, take a look at the eye. They're generally very beautiful.

Now, I've never seen a cow that I thought had ugly eyes since I'd read that. And so the way that you would describe in that day a person, that is, a woman, she would be cow-eyed, that means beautiful or tender-eyed, mean that she was sort of an ugly duckling. So Laban had these two daughters, and it's obvious now that Jacob is in love with Rachel.

In fact, verse 18 reads, And Jacob loved Rachel and said, I'll serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And he was quite moon-eyed himself. And so that morning at breakfast, when Uncle Laban suggested he go to work, he had something in mind himself, and he knew the boy was in love with the girl.

And so he said, Now what shall your wages be? And Jacob said, Well, if you don't mind, I'd be willing to serve you seven years for Rachel. And this man Laban is for driving a pretty hard bargain. And that's what he does.

And Laban said, It's better that I give her to thee than that I should give her to another man. Abide with me. That'll be all right with me, if you'll serve me.

And this is about one of the loveliest things that's said about Jacob. Frankly, the only part of this man's life, in the early part of it, that has anything in it that's beautiful or fine or noble, is his love for Rachel. And that is outstanding.

Listen to this, verse 20. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to her. You can see this man working.

I tell you, Uncle Laban had him working, and he did many things. Worked out in the cold, out in the rain, out in all sorts of weather, but he always thought of that girl Rachel. And there she was to meet him and to greet him, and he's in love with her.

And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.