Bible Text: Gene\u00adsis 29 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Wel\u00adco\u00adme Home | Many peo\u00adp\u00adle belie\u00adve that ever\u00ady\u00adthing will be fine as soon as they have found the per\u00adfect part\u00adner. If you put the who\u00adle bur\u00adden of your hopes and lon\u00adgings on your part\u00adner, you will crush him or her with your expec\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons. The sto\u00adry of Jacob, Rachel and Leah illus\u00adtra\u00adtes this point and shows us the way to freedom.<\/p>\n
People\u2019s lon\u00adging for true love has always been sung about and descri\u00adbed, but in our pre\u00adsent cul\u00adtu\u00adre this lon\u00adging is heigh\u00adten\u00aded to almost imme\u00ada\u00adsura\u00adble pro\u00adpor\u00adti\u00adons. The stages of our world are fil\u00adled with the year\u00adning sound of count\u00adless love songs. The dan\u00adger is gre\u00adat that we sub\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adte love and mar\u00adria\u00adge for God. Thus, we make love an idol, give our\u00adsel\u00adves over to it com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly and hope that it will give us a hap\u00adpy life. \tWhat does Jacob\u2019s beha\u00adviour have to do with his ori\u00adgin story? Bible Text: Gene\u00adsis 29 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Wel\u00adco\u00adme Home | Many peo\u00adp\u00adle belie\u00adve that ever\u00ady\u00adthing will be fine as soon as they have found the per\u00adfect part\u00adner. If you put the who\u00adle bur\u00adden of your hopes and lon\u00adgings on your part\u00adner, you will crush him or her with your expec\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons. The sto\u00adry of Jacob, Rachel and Leah\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[23],"wpfc_sermon_series":[53],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-matthias-altwegg","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-willkommen-daheim","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-2122","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"hentry","10":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nFal\u00adling for love
\nAfter last Sun\u00adday, when we loo\u00adked at Abra\u00adham, today we are loo\u00adking at the gene\u00adra\u00adti\u00adons after Abra\u00adham. Abra\u00adham had Isaac. Many years later, Isaac\u2019s wife Rebe\u00adkah beca\u00adme pregnant. She was expec\u00adting twins, about whom God said: \u00abThe first\u00adborn will ser\u00adve the second\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 25:23 GN<\/span>). With this, God declared that the Mes\u00adsiah would be des\u00adcen\u00added from the youn\u00adger of the two twins. Alt\u00adhough God had made his plan clear, Isaac loved Esau, the first\u00adborn, more and pre\u00adfer\u00adred him to Jacob, the second son. In doing so, Isaac made the very mista\u00adke God had saved his father Abra\u00adham from making. His affec\u00adtion for Esau was more important to him than God\u2019s words. The result was that Esau grew up to be a proud, sel\u00adfi\u00adsh and impul\u00adsi\u00adve man, while Jacob beca\u00adme bit\u00adter and cynical.
\nWhen the time came for Isaac, who had grown old, to pass on the first-birth bles\u00adsing to his son, he deci\u00added to bless Esau in defi\u00adance of the divi\u00adne plan. But Jacob put on Esau\u2019s clo\u00adthes, went to his almost blind father and obtai\u00adned the bles\u00adsing by fraud. When Esau lear\u00adned of this a litt\u00adle later, he swo\u00adre to kill his brot\u00adher. Jacob had to flee into the desert. His life lay in ruins. He had lost his fami\u00adly and his inhe\u00adri\u00adtance. When he set out on the long jour\u00adney to his mother\u2019s and grandfather\u2019s rela\u00adti\u00adves who lived at the other end of the Fer\u00adti\u00adle Cre\u00ads\u00adcent, it was a mat\u00adter of bare survival.
\nHis mother\u2019s rela\u00adti\u00adves kind\u00adly took him in. His uncle Laban employ\u00aded him as a she\u00adp\u00adherd and said to Jacob:
\n\u00ab \u00abYou shall not work for me wit\u00adhout pay\u00adment just becau\u00adse we are rela\u00adted. Tell me: What do you want in return?\u00bb Now Laban had two daugh\u00adters: the elder was cal\u00adled Leah and the youn\u00adger Rachel. Leah had lust\u00adre\u00adless eyes, but Rachel had a good figu\u00adre and was beau\u00adtiful. Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, \u00abI will work for you for seven years if you will give me your youn\u00adger daugh\u00adter Rachel in mar\u00adria\u00adge in return.\u00bb \u00abAgreed!\u00bb repli\u00aded Laban. \u00abStay with me. I\u2019d rather give her to you than to ano\u00adther man any\u00adway.\u00bb So Jacob work\u00aded for the next seven years, ther\u00adeby pay\u00ading the bri\u00adde-pri\u00adce for Rachel. Time flew by for him becau\u00adse he loved Rachel\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 29:15\u201320).
\nRahel had an excel\u00adlent figu\u00adre and was also very pret\u00adty. Jacob was down\u00adright smit\u00adten with her. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, he was wil\u00adling to pay an absurd bri\u00adde pri\u00adce \u2013 about four times what was cus\u00adto\u00adma\u00adry at the time.
\nAfter the seven years he said to Laban: \u00abGive me now my wife! For my days are ful\u00adfil\u00adled, that I may go in to her\u00bb (21 Elb). This sen\u00adtence is unu\u00adsual\u00adly direct in Hebrew. It was not com\u00admon to talk so blunt\u00adly about sex. Even today, no young man would pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly say to the father of his betro\u00adthed, \u00abI can\u2019t wait to final\u00adly make love to your daugh\u00adter.\u00bb Jacob is over\u00adwhel\u00admed by his infa\u00adtua\u00adti\u00adon and sexu\u00adal desire.
\nWhy was Jacob like this? His inner emp\u00adtin\u00adess had made Jacob recep\u00adti\u00adve to the exal\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon of ero\u00adtic love. In this sta\u00adte he met the most beau\u00adtiful woman he had ever seen. No won\u00adder he came to the con\u00adclu\u00adsi\u00adon that through this woman his life would final\u00adly gain mea\u00adning and signi\u00adfi\u00adcan\u00adce and he could beco\u00adme hap\u00adpy. He focu\u00adsed all his hopes for ful\u00adfilm\u00adent and affir\u00adma\u00adti\u00adon on Rachel. Ernest Becker calls this path, which many fol\u00adlow, the search for the \u00abroman\u00adtic cos\u00admo\u00adlo\u00adgy of two lovers\u00bb. Man hopes that through the phy\u00adsi\u00adcal and spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal fusi\u00adon with his love part\u00adner, his life will acqui\u00adre a mea\u00adning that will endu\u00adre bey\u00adond death.
\nOur socie\u00adty belie\u00adves that ever\u00ady\u00adthing will be fine once we have found the per\u00adfect part\u00adner. The bel\u00adoved per\u00adson then beco\u00admes our god. The ine\u00advi\u00adta\u00adble end of any love sto\u00adry that is over\u00adloa\u00added in this way is bit\u00adter dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adment. Love that takes the place of the almigh\u00adty God distorts per\u00adcep\u00adti\u00adon and des\u00adtroys life.
\nWhoe\u00adver mar\u00adries with the same expec\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons as Jacob and puts the who\u00adle bur\u00adden of his hopes and lon\u00adgings on his part\u00adner will crush him with his expec\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons. This ido\u00adla\u00adtry will des\u00adtroy one\u2019s own life as well as the life of one\u2019s part\u00adner and blinds one to mor\u00adbid ele\u00adments in a relationship.
\nDis\u00adap\u00adpoin\u00adted hope
\nThe uns\u00adcru\u00adpu\u00adlous Laban rea\u00adli\u00adsed how important the lon\u00adging for love was for Jacob and shame\u00adl\u00adess\u00adly exploi\u00adted this cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtance. When Jacob asked him if he could take Rachel as his wife, he only ans\u00adwe\u00adred eva\u00adsi\u00adve\u00adly. He did not say, \u00abIt\u2019s a deal, Rachel will be your wife,\u00bb but, \u00abI\u2019d rather give her to you than to ano\u00adther man any\u00adway\u00bb (19). Jacob was despe\u00adra\u00adte to hear a yes from Laban, so he unders\u00adtood the vague ans\u00adwer as a promise.
\nSeven years pas\u00adsed. Then a gre\u00adat wed\u00adding feast was arran\u00adged. At the cli\u00admax of the feast, Laban brought the bri\u00adde to Jacob, who had hid\u00adden hers\u00adelf under pre\u00adcious veils. Jacob reti\u00adred with her and final\u00adly had the sex he had wan\u00adted for so long. \u00abBut when Jacob awo\u00adke in the mor\u00adning, he dis\u00adco\u00adver\u00aded Leah bes\u00adi\u00adde him!\u00bb (25). What a rude awa\u00adke\u00adning! Jacob had con\u00adsum\u00adma\u00adted the mar\u00adria\u00adge with Rachel\u2019s unat\u00adtrac\u00adti\u00adve older sis\u00adter. To the furious Jacob, Laban repli\u00aded that it was cus\u00adto\u00adma\u00adry in his coun\u00adtry to mar\u00adry off the older daugh\u00adter first. Jacob thought he was going to bed with Rachel and woke up next to Leah.
\nThis recur\u00adring dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adment is found in all are\u00adas of human life, but we beco\u00adme par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly pain\u00adful\u00adly awa\u00adre of it whe\u00adre we have inves\u00adted a gre\u00adat deal of hope and expec\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon. No mat\u00adter what we put our hope in, the next mor\u00adning we always wake up next to Leah, not next to Rachel.
\nWhy was Jacob so nai\u00adve and gul\u00adli\u00adble? What he dis\u00adplays here is the typi\u00adcal beha\u00adviour of an addict. Ero\u00adtic love is like a drug that makes us for\u00adget the hea\u00advi\u00adness of ever\u00ady\u00adday life and escape from the rea\u00adli\u00adty of our lives. Rachel was not only to beco\u00adme his wife, but also to deli\u00adver him from all suf\u00adfe\u00adring. He desi\u00adred and nee\u00added her so much that he could only see what he wan\u00adted to see. Jacob\u2019s life suf\u00adfe\u00adr\u00aded becau\u00adse he put Rachel in God\u2019s place. By loving Rachel\u2019s sons more than Leah\u2019s child\u00adren, he hurt all his child\u00adren. Some were codd\u00adled, others embit\u00adte\u00adred, and the who\u00adle fami\u00adly atmo\u00adsphe\u00adre was poisoned.
\nBut it hit Lea the har\u00addest. She was unat\u00adtrac\u00adti\u00adve and spent her enti\u00adre life in the shadow of her sis\u00adter, who was an unu\u00adsu\u00adal beau\u00adty. Leah was the daugh\u00adter her father tried to get rid of, and now beca\u00adme the wife of a man who wan\u00adted her sis\u00adter. \u00abThen Jacob also slept with Rachel \u2013 and he loved her more than Leah\u00bb (39). She was the girl no one wan\u00adted. The emp\u00adtin\u00adess in her heart was no less than that in Jacob\u2019s soul. So it is not sur\u00adpri\u00adsing that she expec\u00adted from Jacob what he had expec\u00adted from Rachel and what Isaac had hoped for from Esau. All her hope was for Jacob\u2019s love. She hoped to find hap\u00adpi\u00adness and self-worth by uphol\u00adding tra\u00addi\u00adtio\u00adnal fami\u00adly values and giving her hus\u00adband many sons. This was the surest way for a mar\u00adried woman to gain reco\u00adgni\u00adti\u00adon at that time. Unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly, howe\u00adver, her dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adment grew with each child and she beca\u00adme more lonely and desperate.
\nGod as the centre
\nJacob is in search of the \u00abroman\u00adtic cos\u00admo\u00adlo\u00adgy of two lovers\u00bb. Lea com\u00admits hers\u00adelf to tra\u00addi\u00adtio\u00adnal values, has one child after ano\u00adther and tri\u00ades to find her self-worth in the role of wife and mother. Neither gets what they seek and remain dis\u00adap\u00adpoin\u00adted. One hears again and again that men fake love to get sex, while women put up with sex to get love. No mat\u00adter which way you look at it, the infla\u00adted expec\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons of sex and love will always be dis\u00adap\u00adpoin\u00adted. Lea had access to her husband\u2019s body, but not to his soul. His love and devo\u00adti\u00adon remain\u00aded denied to her. Yet that was exact\u00adly what she lon\u00adged for. Her life remain\u00aded emp\u00adty and sad. Women beco\u00adme easi\u00adly mani\u00adpu\u00adla\u00adted, vul\u00adnerable vic\u00adtims through their lon\u00adging for devo\u00adti\u00adon and com\u00admit\u00adment. Both forms of life blind us, pre\u00advent wise decis\u00adi\u00adons and des\u00adtroy our lives.
\nBut Leah is the only per\u00adson in this sto\u00adry who deve\u00adlo\u00adped spi\u00adri\u00adtual\u00adly and human\u00adly. Every time she was named, she refer\u00adred to God, to Yah\u00adweh. Elo\u00adhim, howe\u00adver, was the usu\u00adal word for God at that time. The name \u00abYah\u00adweh\u00bb refer\u00adred exclu\u00adsi\u00adve\u00adly to the God who reve\u00ada\u00adled hims\u00adelf to Abra\u00adham and later to Moses. Jacob must have told her what Yah\u00adweh had pro\u00admi\u00adsed his grand\u00adfa\u00adther Abra\u00adham, and Leah sought this God.
\nWith the first son Reu\u00adben she said: \u00abThe LORD<\/span> has noti\u00adced my need, now my hus\u00adband will love me\u00bb (32). With Sime\u00adon: \u00abThe LORD<\/span> has heard that I am not loved, and has also given me this son\u00bb (33). This was fol\u00adlo\u00adwed by the third, Levi: \u00abMost sure\u00adly my hus\u00adband will now give me his affec\u00adtion, for I have bor\u00adne him three sons!\u00bb (34). When her last son Judah was born, she declared, \u00abNow will I prai\u00adse the LORD<\/span>!\u00bb (35). For the first time she men\u00adti\u00adons neither her hus\u00adband nor her child. Her hope is now no lon\u00adger in the love of her hus\u00adband and in her child\u00adren, but enti\u00adre\u00adly in Yah\u00adweh. Laban and Jacob had rob\u00adbed her of the cou\u00adra\u00adge to live, Yah\u00adweh gave her back her life. Leah put God at the cent\u00adre of her life and found a home with Yahweh.
\nIn Gene\u00adsis 49 we read that from Judah the true king, the Mes\u00adsiah, would des\u00adcend. God made the unloved woman, whom no one wan\u00adted, the ancestress of Jesus. The Saviour did not come into the world through the beau\u00adtiful Rachel, but through the des\u00adpi\u00adsed Leah. God wri\u00adtes his histo\u00adry with weak peo\u00adp\u00adle who put God at the cent\u00adre of their lives!
\n
\nGod wants our lives to suc\u00adceed! His heart beats full of enthu\u00adsi\u00adasm for you. He is the one who can give our lives mea\u00adning, hap\u00adpi\u00adness, love and pur\u00adpo\u00adse. Whoe\u00adver ele\u00adva\u00adtes this God to num\u00adber one in their life and finds a home with him will expe\u00adri\u00adence how all their lon\u00adgings are satis\u00adfied. This also appli\u00ades to peo\u00adp\u00adle who can\u00adnot find their dream part\u00adner. And peo\u00adp\u00adle who are in a part\u00adner rela\u00adti\u00adonship will expe\u00adri\u00adence a new qua\u00adli\u00adty in their com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty \u2013 wit\u00adhout exces\u00adsi\u00adve expec\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons and needs. We are not to love our part\u00adner less, but to deepen our rela\u00adti\u00adonship with God and love him more. \u00abThe grea\u00adtest love is shown by the one who lays down his life for his fri\u00adends\u00bb (John 15:13). This is what the des\u00adcen\u00addant of Leah says. This love is the basis for a ful\u00adfil\u00adled life \u2013 be it with or wit\u00adhout a part\u00adner relationship.
\n
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nRea\u00adding the Bible text: Gene\u00adsis 29<\/p>\n
\n\tHow do you explain the deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment of Leah? Why did the fourth son get a name with a com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly dif\u00adfe\u00adrent meaning?
\n\tHave you ever had the impres\u00adsi\u00adon that you went to sleep with Rachel and then woke up with Leah? With which the\u00admes has this hap\u00adpen\u00aded to you?
\n\tHow can Jesus Christ become\/remain the cent\u00adre of your life? How can love for him grow?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"