Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #12 of Genesis, chapter 29, and we are continuing to read Genesis 29:15-20:

And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? Tell me, what shall thy wages be? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

We are continuing to look at the deeper spiritual meaning concerning Jacob working and receiving a wage for a wife; that is, the wage he would receive would be a wife. The deal he made was for Rachel, who was beautiful and well-favored, and Jacob loved Rachel.

But as we know, Laban deceived him and gave him Leah, and Leah became Jacob’s wife first. Then Laban made another deal with Jacob to work another seven years, and he would also give him Rachel to be his wife. The way it worked out was that after working seven years, he received Leah, and then soon after, he received Rachel to wife, so he was already married to them when he worked the next seven years.

We can see Jacob as a type of Christ here, and we know he is a type of Christ because the Bible tells us that he kept sheep, in Hosea 12:12:

And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

Jacob did service specifically to obtain a wife: “for a wife he kept sheep.” He was a shepherd in order to obtain Rachel as the wife he would love. And God tells us that Leah was hated, so we can see the similar picture as we saw with Jacob and Esau. The Bible tells us that God said, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” And Jacob, in chapter 29, as he enters into marriage is a type of Christ. Rachel, he loved, but Leah, he hated, so it continues that Gospel picture that there is a specific people of God that are the “few,” the “remnant” or the “one third.” Rachel would bear two sons and her handmaid would bear two sons, so she claimed four sons because she claimed her handmaid’s sons as her own. Leah would bear six sons and her handmaid also bear two sons, so Leah had eight sons, or eight out of the 12. So Rachel had “one third” of the sons, and Leah had “two thirds,” and this is the spiritual picture that God is developing.

In our last study, we were discussing how Christ is married to the eternal church – all those He has saved. All those that became saved throughout the history of the world are the bride of Christ. Altogether, we form the bride, and we are the invisible and eternal church, the church that the Bible says the gates of hell shall not prevail against. Nothing can shake God’s relationship with His people, not even physical death. Even if we die and our bodies descend into the grave (hell), we are still married to Him, and we await that last day when our bodies will be resurrected.

So the picture of Rachel is a picture of the elect who enter into that marriage, and we are loved. We are favored. And while it is true that Israel entered into a marriage relationship, and God married “national Israel,” the outward body, He later divorced her and put her away. God had also entered into a very close, intimate relationship with the churches and congregations, and with all that were a part of that corporate body, but God never married the corporate church (the outward representation of God’s kingdom on earth) in the way that He entered into marriage with Israel in its day. It is very important we understand this because we know the church age ended in 1988, and if God had been married to the corporate church for the entirety of the 1,955 years of the church age, and then put the church away in 1988 by ending the church age, and if it were true that He also divorced the churches, that would mean the “law of divorce” was still in effect throughout the New Testament era. But Jesus rescinded that Law in Matthew 19 when He said, “What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder,” and it would contradict His statement. It would also mean that divorce was legitimate throughout all the New Testament era. So that is not a possible solution. God is under His own Law. He cannot divorce and be the only one able to divorce. If God could divorce, it would be because His Law, the Bible, allowed Him to do so because of the Law in Deuteronomy 24, and that Law was “on the books,” as it were. So God could marry Israel, and then put her away for her fornication or spiritual adultery and uncleanness, and He did so lawfully. But then in the first century A. D., Jesus laid down the Law: “What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” That ended the possibility of divorce as allowed by Deuteronomy 24. God rescinded it and made the change, and there was not to be divorce ever again, for any reason. And because that is the Law, God is under His own Law, and that is what gives tremendous security and comfort to the people of God because God can never divorce His eternal “bride,” the eternal church. It is not lawful for Him to do so, and that is why it is not possible that God was married to the corporate New Testament church, and then divorced her at the end of the church age. Although, it had been a close and intimate relationship, it was not a divorce.

But it is possible (and maybe this is more the focus regarding Jacob, a type of God, having entered into a marriage first with Leah, and then with Rachel, and Leah was hated while Rachel was loved) that it could explain why God arranged the circumstances and allowed Laban to deceive Jacob in this way in order to show that the unsaved, as typified by Leah (the hated, or the “Esaus”) are already in a marriage relationship with the Law of God, because the Bible tells us that man is married to the Law of God. Turn to Romans 7:1-4:

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

We become “dead to the law” in order to become married to another. And the word “another” indicates that there had been a previous marriage. The context of the verse lets us know that the previous husband is the Law of God. Mankind is joined together with God’s Law, and he is to be in submission, just as a wife is to submit to her husband, and just as the marriage between Christ and His (eternal) church requires submission. Remember what we read in Ephesians 5:22-27:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

As it continues, we read in Ephesians 5:30:

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Then it says in Ephesians 5:32:

This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Here, again, this refers to the eternal church that consists of every saved individual, and we are to submit to our “husband.” How do we know what our spiritual Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, wants us to do? We read the Bible. He is the Word, and as we read the Word, the Word commands, “Thou shalt not do this,” or “Thou shalt do this other thing.” For example, “Husbands, love your wives. Children, obey your parents. Sunday is the Sabbath – remove your foot from my holy day.” Verse after verse and scripture after scripture gives us direction, and every verse is a testing ground of obedience or submission within that marriage relationship. And, you see, this is why it is such an accurate “test,” because if we are truly born again and we have that new heart, we have an ongoing desire to do the will of God, and the will of God is revealed on the pages of the Bible. It is the doctrine of Christ, and as God opens up information from His Word to reveal a doctrine or teaching of the Scripture, then we are called upon to obey and submit in obedience. This obedience is what makes the spiritual marriage beautiful and wonderful, and we are happiest in our relationship with Christ when we obey Him.

That is why God set up the earthly marriage between the earthly man and woman, and then commanded the woman to submit to her husband. Of course, it is a test. Of course, it is a difficult thing to do. It can be difficult, even for the God’s elect, to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and to submit ourselves to the Word of God. So the earthly wife demonstrates and shows forth obedience, if she is doing this and she has the right mindset toward her role as a wife that God has assigned her, and she will delight in submitting to her earthly husband because it illustrates what ought to be happening between the elect people of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, our spiritual Husband.

But just as the elect children of God are in a marriage relationship where submission is required for there to be a beautiful and harmonious relationship between God and His people, so, too, mankind is in a marriage relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ because He is the Word. And the Word is the Law of God, and all human beings are married to the Law of God, so the unsaved people have the same husband as the saved people. We are both married to Christ, although in very different ways. 

So Leah was married to Jacob, just as Rachel was married to Jacob, but Jacob loved Rachel and hated Leah. In that hatred, we can see the anger and wrath of God, and this is the problem with mankind that has entered into a marriage relationship with Christ, the Law of God or the commandments of the Bible, because in that marriage relationship, mankind is commanded to obey and submit on every point. Yes – it is true that the elect are commanded to obey and submit to every point of the Law and every commandment. We are to be humble and bow down before the Word of God. But the problem with unsaved mankind being married to the Law of God is that when they violate the Law and sin against the Law of God, the Law of God pronounces condemnation: “For the wages of sin is death.” If you offend in one point, you are guilty of all, and they are subject to the Law’s condemnation and judgment, and as an adulterer, they must be “stoned to death.” They must die. And, of course, they are breaking the Law on more than one point. They are terrible in that marriage relationship, as they go their own way and do their own thing, and the obey practically everything and everyone except the One they should be obedient to, God and His Law, the Bible. Even if they are not aware of the Bible, God has written elements of that Law upon their hearts so that, intuitively in their subconscious minds, they will have some understanding of right and wrong, and they could at least adhere to those things. But man fails and, therefore, man comes under the wrath of God and he is hated of God because of his sins and his failure in that marriage relationship.

On the other hand, God’s elect enter into marriage (with Christ) and, yet, we do not submit perfectly and we do not humble ourselves perfectly in obedience to God and His Word, and we fail to bring every thought captive to Christ, and we fail in action or deed in the things we do or say or think. When we sin and break the Law, what does our Husband do? Is there furious wrath poured down? No – we are not married to that Husband, the Law of God. We are married to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour, the One of whom it says in Ephesians 5:25:

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

So the Husband the elect are married to is a forgiving Husband, even though He sees every wrong we have ever done. Sometimes we come to Him and we say, “I am not worthy. I have offended against you. I am probably not married to you, but I am probably married to my old Husband.” And we can be cast down in our souls and disturbed to no end because we have offended Him, but our Husband, the Lord Jesus says that there is no more condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. Or, how did that go regarding the woman that was caught in adultery? In this beautiful picture, Christ had saved this woman, an elect. It says in John 8:10-11:

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

This is what Jesus constantly says to His people, as it were. We come to Him and we say, “Lord, I have failed again. I did it again. I cannot believe how often I fail and sin and transgress your Law. I have not done as I should.” And Jesus is saying, “Does the Law condemn you?” We say, as it were, “No – the Law will not condemn me because you have had mercy upon me, and you died on my behalf and freed me from the Law. I am not in a relationship with the Law, and the Law has no say over me.” And Christ says, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” That is, Christ says, “Forget those things which are behind. I have answered that. There is no condemnation, so I will not condemn you for this thing you have done. It was wrong, but now go forward and sin no more. Do not be cast down. Do not mope about. Lift up your feeble knees, and press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. There is work to be done, and it is time to do it, and do not use your sin as an excuse, because there is now no more condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. Go and sin no more. Go feed the sheep.” If we say, “But, Lord, I fail, I am just so guilty.” But, no, guilt is what the Law does. You see, the Law of God brings the knowledge of sin and guilt to the sinner. But if you have been delivered from the Law and that Law has “released” you because of death (the death of the Lord Jesus), now you are married to another, so live as though you are married to another. You are not married to the Law that constantly condemns you and that constantly pronounces your guilt and demands payment. That has been settled. There has been atonement for all those things. You are married to the Great God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful King. You are married to the One who has bestowed grace upon you, washing you with the water of His Word, cleansing all iniquity. He washed you in His own blood that was shed on your behalf for all those sins. Those sins have been paid for, and it is not as though there has been “no answer” or no justice regarding those sins. There has been justice. The Law’s demand for death has been met, and satisfaction has been accomplished. 

Now go serve the Lord and obey Him. Then we say, “What if I go, but I fail?” The next time, again, it will be the same thing: “Has any man condemned thee?” “No man, Lord.” “Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” And if it keeps happening, there is forgiveness. All our sins have been cast into the depths of the sea, and are as far from us as the east is from the west. The Bible keeps testifying and declaring this, and our love begins to grow, a tremendous love for the One who has done this on our behalf, our most loving Husband. And our response is not one of trembling that we must obey, or we perish, but our response is that we must obey because we love Him because He first loved us.