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Q1. Decieving the Deceiver


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Jacob had a deceitful heart, willing to take advantage of others or masquerade and conduct shady deals in the dark in order to get what he wanted or thought he deserved. But he was now in covenant with Yahweh, and God had to deal with this sinful propensity. That may be the main reason God allowed Jacob to be tricked this way. Sometimes the most effective way for someone to realize how his sins hurt other people is to be on the receiving end of that same sin from someone else. Surely there had to be later times out tending his flock of sheep in the solitude of night when Jacob winced with the sting of betrayal and was shamed by the irony. God was teaching Jacob about integrity and honesty. He was teaching him about leadership. And perhaps about the high cost of true love that requires one to sacrifice whatever it takes in order to obtain it.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

Those who wickedly deceive others should not wonder if others deceive them, and they experience the evils of it through life.

Jacob had deceived his father, and now his wife's father deceived him.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

God wanted Jacob to get a taste of his own medicine-what goes around.....that type of thing. This way, Jacob would realize the ramifications of his actions, and see the wrong in being conniving and deceiving.

I think God lets all of us go through certain circumstances in order to teach us things that we wouldn't learn on our own. And, God knows how to drive a thought or concept home! Believe me-I know! :rolleyes:

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Our Lord has said,"I knew you before you were in your mother's womb".The number 12,and the 12 tribes of Israel (or the twelve tribes of Ishmael)has spirtual significance beyond anything that can be "learned" soley by man's attempts, to study our God.The TRUTH can only be known by revelation.As such,the full reason involved in the establishment of the "Nation of Israel" is yet in the process of revelation, to mankind.Note: Judah,"from whom the scepter shall not depart..." is Leah's son.The Name that God Almighty gives Moses for himself,in Exodus 34:7 includes the (KJV) phrase:"will by no means clear the guilty".The deception serves as part of Jacob's "cleansing".It also serves to reveal our Lord's compassion for Leah,and sets the stage for many aspects we can find in ourselves, that can be revealed through the examples(1Corinthians 10:11)that proceed.

(I didn't get a lesson,by e-mail, yet,so I navigated here by the index)

Vince

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

He is teaching him patience and that he can trust God to keep His promises to give him all the things He has told him He will give him and that He will make him a nation. God is teaching him that he not Jacob will build his family and bring him back to his fathers home land.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? Humble submission to Yahowah God's ways was not learned by Jacob at the feet of his parents. His lesson would now be learned in 14 years of service to a human master in that of Laban.

What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances? The lesson must be that Jacob must learn to respect the rights of the first born. This is Yahowah Gods teaching and not that of Jacobs parents. His parents however knew this but it seems that his mother did not understand its importance but yet Yahowah God is provident. I think too that his mothers impatience to see how Yahowah God would work out the prophecy of the two nations that had been told to her by Yahowah God about the movement in his mothers womb two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. She might have shared this information with Jacob somewhere along the way and if so, then his impatience would be tested too and brought through the hand of God. The only other thing I have learned here is that Jacob had deceived his father and now it would be a father like figure to teach Jacob the error of his ways. His father-n-law.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

I believe that God allowed Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives so that he could mature in spiritual things and be ready to assume the role that God ordained for him, to be the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. At Bethel, Jacob committed himself to serving God and placed his life in God's hands totally. The promise that God made to his grandfather, his father and to him, I'm sure, was ever before him as he toiled in the pastures of Laban. As Jacob toiled for 14 years, he accumulated quite a bit of cattle; he became a rich man, able to support his wives and his children. God will always supply our needs so that we can effectively carry out His plans.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

God is working on Jacob. He could completely change him in an instant but this is not how God does things. He teaches us, renews us, restores us, transforms us over time. Through those 14 years, Jacob was learning and growing. God's prupose was being served. Everything is for God's glory.

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rolleyes.gifQ1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

God often teaches us life lessons and patience by putting trials in our lives. As we learn to trust God and use all of life's circumstances for His glory, we grow and mature in our Christian life and become closer to the Lord and thus better servants for Him. I believe this trial of having to labor for 14 years was God's way of teaching patience to Jacob and perhaps giving him the opportunity to reflect on his deceitfulness toward his brother Esau. Certainly patience and chance to repent is being worked out and during this time God begins the Israelite people through the gene pool of 5 people: Jacob, Leah, Rachel, and the 2 servants girls named Bilhah and Zilpah.rolleyes.gif

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

It may be a lesson in character building, to understand what he had done to others. Finding out what Jacob considered valuable? For Jacob to realize his complete dependence on God only and not on himself.

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Jacob had a deceitful heart, willing to take advantage of others or masquerade and conduct shady deals in the dark in order to get what he wanted or thought he deserved. But he was now in covenant with Yahweh, and God had to deal with this sinful propensity. That may be the main reason God allowed Jacob to be tricked this way. Sometimes the most effective way for someone to realize how his sins hurt other people is to be on the receiving end of that same sin from someone else. Surely there had to be later times out tending his flock of sheep in the solitude of night when Jacob winced with the sting of betrayal and was shamed by the irony. God was teaching Jacob about integrity and honesty. He was teaching him about leadership. And perhaps about the high cost of true love that requires one to sacrifice whatever it takes in order to obtain it.

I agree. I can't think of a thing to add to this accept I find it interesting that twice Jacob deceived to get what he wanted (he deceived Esau for his birthright, and Jacob for his blessing) and twice Jacob had to serve to get what he wanted(which was to obtain Rachel as his wife). That's a powerful lesson in itself.

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The deceiver of Esau was now being deceived. How natural it is for us to be

angry when an injustice is done and we close our eyes to what we have done to

other people.

I think the purpose is to show Jacob as with all of us is to do unto others as we

have them to do unto us.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives?

God's purpose is not for us to question and why He does things, but by studying the Word, each of us can learn how God teaches us in His own way. In this case, Lahan tricked Jacob, just like Jacob tricked Issac. The irony is Jacob tricked his brother, Esau, in order to obtain the benefits of the firstborn and when Lahan tricked Jacob, Jacob received the firstborn daughter, Leah.

What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

I really like Pastor Ralph's commentary on the purposes and it is as follows: "God is building a character of integrity in Jacob and God needs to deal with this serious flaw of deceit. But this is more than character building. This is also a time of family building. God is raising up for Jacob the beginnings of the great people that he had promised, as many as the sand of the seashore and the stars in the sky."

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Q1. (Genesis 29)

Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labour for two wives?

What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

We see how God is keeping His promise by blessing Jacob with many descendants. We also see how God is disciplining Jacob and doing some character building on him, by teaching him patience.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

Why does God allow any of the things that go on? He gives man free will and man abuses it. Maybe in this case we can just say it was in the genes. Jacob had something in common with one of his relatives. Trickery but Laban had the advantage in being older and wiser in the ways of trickery. I suppose as Jacob served for 14 years he had many times to reflect on the home he left and how his actions hurt his brother and his father. He had time to reflect on his mother's encouragement of tricking her husband into giving the blessing to Jacob instead of Esau. Isaac trembled with anger and I believe Jacob probably trembled with anger when he realized he had been tricked. We can say what goes around comes around but it is a sad commentary on the human condition. The very wretchedness of our sin I believe has had God trembling with anger. So we are so much more indebted to His total and complete mercy. I wonder if God allows so much so that we can see for ourselves just how very despicable we are capable of being and would never believe it if we did not see it for ourselves. So it seems to me we can't be told much of anything either. We are blind to our own sin until it is done to us. And then we see ourselves for who we are.

It seems to take the hard lessons of life to mature us and I am sure God is maturing His child and teaching him His ways as he serves this man who seems to get away with anything while Jacob is fortunate to be under the heavy hand of God. After all who wants to be left in this dreadful and fatal condition called sin. It is interesting that Jacob's own sons deceived him most cruelly about Joseph years down the road. It seems so very tragic for this man but God had such good plans that came out of it all. In the end we can only thank God and praise Him for His faithfulness in the good and the bad. " We leave it to Himself to choose and to command. In wonder filled we soon shall see how wise, how strong His hand."

God Bless!

Jen

Numbers 6:24-26

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

Apparently God want Jacob to taste what is like of being tricked by other person and also serve as a punishment to him of being a deceiver to his brother and his father. At the sametime mould him to become a good servent of God and to fulfil God's promises to his forefathers.

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This is fun. The process by which Our Lord begins to mold the "children of Isreal" through the experience of the patriarch is revealed.In Numbers 6:27 God tells Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons to (KJV) "put my Name on the children of Israel and I will bless them",and sets a pattern for us to serve Him by serving each other.

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God wanted to build a character in Jacob. To let him learn lessons on his previous flawed character. He deceived others and also received the same treatment from Laban.

God was also bulding the foundation of the future family he had promise Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a nation through Leah, Rachael and their slave girls.

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I agree. Free will. Sin. God is faithful....even when we are not!

From Jen:

Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

Why does God allow any of the things that go on? He gives man free will and man abuses it. Maybe in this case we can just say it was in the genes. Jacob had something in common with one of his relatives. Trickery but Laban had the advantage in being older and wiser in the ways of trickery. I suppose as Jacob served for 14 years he had many times to reflect on the home he left and how his actions hurt his brother and his father. He had time to reflect on his mother's encouragement of tricking her husband into giving the blessing to Jacob instead of Esau. Isaac trembled with anger and I believe Jacob probably trembled with anger when he realized he had been tricked. We can say what goes around comes around but it is a sad commentary on the human condition. The very wretchedness of our sin I believe has had God trembling with anger. So we are so much more indebted to His total and complete mercy. I wonder if God allows so much so that we can see for ourselves just how very despicable we are capable of being and would never believe it if we did not see it for ourselves. So it seems to me we can't be told much of anything either. We are blind to our own sin until it is done to us. And then we see ourselves for who we are.

It seems to take the hard lessons of life to mature us and I am sure God is maturing His child and teaching him His ways as he serves this man who seems to get away with anything while Jacob is fortunate to be under the heavy hand of God. After all who wants to be left in this dreadful and fatal condition called sin. It is interesting that Jacob's own sons deceived him most cruelly about Joseph years down the road. It seems so very tragic for this man but God had such good plans that came out of it all. In the end we can only thank God and praise Him for His faithfulness in the good and the bad. " We leave it to Himself to choose and to command. In wonder filled we soon shall see how wise, how strong His hand."

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I think God put Jacob in the same situation that he was in with Easu to show him how

it will not work to be a deceiver. I think this made Jacob more mature. Now he had

more than himself to look after. I think Jacob realized that he had more at stake than just his hurt. Plotting revenge makes us unable to see from God perspective.

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Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives?

As the scripture tells me, it was Laban who had a plan of his own, he wanted to marry off his first daughter who was not yet married, as was the custom of Haran, when he saw Jacobs love for his daughter, he saw a way to take advantage of Jacob, he saw a way to hire cheap labor, for Jacob displayed to Laban, he was a man of good character, a doer, a decisive person, a strong man, a man who would keep his word.

I see it as a test, will Jacob stand strong on his word, his trust in the God of Abraham, even when Satan is out to trick him, or would he be like Esau, let hatred fill his heart? God promised Jacob, He would be with him.

What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances?

I think going through these circumstances was to show to Jacob, it isnt easy being a follower of God, there are adversities ahead by those who do follow the God of Abraham, and God is calling His people to be a people of good character, a people who will stand on their faith in their God, and on their word.

Jacob who supplanted Esau, displayed to me, Jacob was a man who had a calling upon his life and he was going to fulfill that calling, the word supplant usurp was used instead of deceive because - to deceive is to victimize another, Esau was not victimized, he had already sold his rights to Gods blessing.

I believe God is putting Jacob to the test, how would he handle being victimized taken advantage of, would he be a man of good character and follow through with what he agreed to, was he a man of good character, willing to fight the good fight for what he believes in? Jacob was in a land who served other gods, and yet he stood strong against adversities, and he stood strong on what he said he would do.

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