HERE COMES THE BRIDE Genesis 29:1-18 New Living Translation (NLT) 1 Then Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east. 2 He saw a well in the distance. Three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field beside it, waiting to be watered. But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well. 3 It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing the stone and watering the animals. Afterward the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well. 4 Jacob went over to the shepherds and asked, “Where are you from, my friends?” “We are from Haran,” they answered. 5 “Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” he asked. “Yes, we do,” they replied. 6 “Is he doing well?” Jacob asked. “Yes, he’s well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock now.” 7 Jacob said, “Look, it’s still broad daylight—too early to round up the animals. Why don’t you water the sheep and goats so they can get back out to pasture?” 8 “We can’t water the animals until all the flocks have arrived,” they replied. “Then the shepherds move the stone from the mouth of the well, and we water all the sheep and goats.” 9 Jacob was still talking with them when Rachel arrived with her father’s flock, for she was a shepherd. 10 And because Rachel was his cousin—the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother—and because the sheep and goats belonged to his uncle Laban, Jacob went over to the well and moved the stone from its mouth and watered his uncle’s flock. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and he wept aloud. 12 He explained to Rachel that he was her cousin on her father’s side—the son of her aunt Rebekah. So Rachel quickly ran and told her father, Laban. 13 As soon as Laban heard that his nephew Jacob had arrived, he ran out to meet him. He embraced and kissed him and brought him home. When Jacob had told him his story, 14 Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!” After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month, 15 Laban said to him, “You shouldn’t work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be.” 16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. 17 There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. 18 Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.” Was Jacob at the right place at the right time? Was this mere co-incidence or was it destiny that Jacob was at this particular well on this particular day? Jacob had traveled for several hundred miles. Finally he arrived at Haran, his mothers hometown, for two reasons: to flee from his brothers wrath after deceiving and stealing the family blessing from their aged, blind father, and because his mother and father did not want him to marry a [pagan, ungodly] Hittite woman [like his brother Esau had]. Nevertheless during the first night of his journey, Jacob had a dream. In the dream he saw a vision of heavenly angels ascending and descending a ladder [or stairway] from heaven. Then Jacob heard an audible voice: Genesis 28:13-16 New Living Translation (NLT) 13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” The LORD thus prophesied to Jacob and gave him several promises: 1. The land on which Jacob was lying [the land of Israel] belonged to him and his descendants forever. 2. Although Jacob was single at the time, the Lord promised that he would marry and that his children, childrens children and their descendants afterwards would be numerous – “as numerous as the dust of the earth”. 3. His descendants would spread out all over the globe - to the west and the east, to the north and the south. 4. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 5. I will protect you wherever you go. 6. One day I will bring you back to this land. 7. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Although these promises were fulfilled or were being fulfilled during Jacobs lifetime, they are still applicable to the present times. One, for example, is the prediction that [Jacobs] descendants would spread out all over the globe –to the west and the east, to the north and the south. This took place in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. The Jewish people were then sent into exile and scattered into all the nations of the world. However, the LORD promised that one day I will bring you back to this land. According to Clarence Wagner: In 1887, Jewish leaders, moved by Theodore Herzl, formally organized the Zionist movement at the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland. They called for the restoration of the Jewish National Home in Palestine where Jews could have sanctuary, self-determination, and the renascence of their ancient civilization and culture...At the first Zionist Congress in 1897, Herzl predicted that in 50 years, the state of Israel would be a reality. Exactly 50 years later, in 1947, the United Nations voted for Israel to be a state (November 29, 1947), and on May 14, 1948, the new flag of Israel was raised. Wave after wave of Jewish immigrants from all over the world have slowly made or are making their way back to their homeland ever since. Moreover all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. The Jews have blessed the world through engineers, scientists (i.e. Einstein), agriculturalists, medical researchers, computer technology, business, entertainment, military technology and so forth. They have also stood for democracy and freedom for all of its citizens - Jews and Arabs alike. Yet the Jewish nation is under constant attack from their mortal enemies - the descendants of Ishmael [Arabs] and Esau [the Palestinians]. Nevertheless, the LORD promised Jacob, I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Jacobs destiny, therefore, began to be fulfilled at the well of Haran when he met Rachel, his bride-to-be. The ultimate fulfillment, however, will not happen until Jesus, the descendant of Jacob, comes to receive His bride [Spirit-filled believers who drink from a well of water springing up into everlasting life] called the Church. Revelation 19:6-8 New King James Version (NKJV) 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife [the Church] has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:16:27 +0000
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