RACHEL – Part 1
Learn: Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Read: Genesis 29: 1-35
1. After Jacob had been met by God at Bethel, and received God’s promise, what did he do? v 1
2. Upon his arrival in the land of the people of the east, what did Jacob see? vv 2- 4
3. When he inquired of the men that were at the well concerning his family, what was Jacob told? vv 4-6
4. Jacob being a hardworking man and an excellent shepherd, what surprised him about that place? v 7
5. What was the reason that the sheep were not yet out a pasture at so late a time of the day? vv 8-9
6. What did Jacob do that showed his conscientious, hardworking character? v 10b
7. Describe Jacob and Rachel’s meeting. vv 10a, 11
8. Use verse 12 to explain how Jacob was related to Laban? To Rachel?
9. How did Laban, the father of Rachel, treat Jacob at the beginning of their relationship? vv 13 -15
10. Describe the daughters of Laban. vv 16, 17
11. What wages did Jacob ask of Laban for his service to him, and WHY? v 18
12. Did Laban agree to Jacob’s terms for serving him? Explain. v 19
13. How did Jacob feel about Rachel? v 20b
14. How did Jacob’s love affect the time that he served Laban? v 20
15. In verse 21 we learn that Jacob fulfilled his part of the bargain in order to gain Rachel for his wife. Did Laban seem to notice that it was time to give Jacob the wife that he had been promised?
16. The preparations for the celebration of Jacob and Rachel’s wedding were made. Was Laban honorable in his dealings with Jacob concerning the marriage? Explain. vv 23, 24, 25a
NOTE: Leah was veiled, and the two sisters were no doubt sufficiently alike in stature and general mien, probably even in tone of voice, so that the deception was fairly easy to accomplish on the unsuspecting Jacob. It was dark, and Leah certainly would have been dressed in Rachel’s clothing and would have been perfumed in Rachel’s perfumes. THE GENESIS RECORD by Dr. Henry Morris p 461
It is doubtful that either daughter would have wanted to participate in Laban’s plans, but the women of those times would have obeyed the father regardless of their own desires.
17. What did Jacob do when he learned that he had been tricked by Laban? v 25
18. What was Laban’s answer to Jacob for his trickery? v 26
19. What did Laban gain by his trickery? v 27b
20. What was Jacob’s answer to the plan of Laban as the means of gaining Rachel for his wife? vv 28,29
20. Though Jacob loved Rachel and she was his choice for a wife, does that mean that he did not love Leah? v 30
21. In this marriage arrangement forced on Jacob we see the evil doings of Laban. But in spite of how things appear what do we know about God’s provision for his own? Romans 8:28
22. According to Romans 8:28, what 2 things are required in order that all things should work together for good?
23. Jacob looked at the outward appearance of Rachel and saw her great beauty. God looks at the heart. Leah was God’s choice for the honor of carrying the seed of the Redeemer, and she was the first wife of Jacob. How is God’s work seen in the life of Leah? vv 31, 33a, 34a, 35,a
NOTE: Verse 31 uses the word “hate” concerning how Jacob felt toward Leah, from verse 30 we know of course, that it was not an evil hatred, but rather that Jacob preferred Rachel over Leah.
24. What word in verse 31 shows that the LORD observes the lives of his children?
25. Leah loved Jacob, but she knew that Rachel was Jacob’s favored wife, and this caused her sorrow. What did she name each of her first four sons, and WHY? vv 32-35
26. What was different about the name of Judah as compared to the names of Leah’s first 3 sons?
27. How do the names that Leah chose for her boys reflect her relationship to the LORD?
28. Those first years of Leah’s married life must have been difficult in many ways. How does the name Judah that Leah chose express an understanding of Romans 8:28?
29. Relate Philippians 4:11 to our ability to praise God.