Bible in a Year… Day 50 (Genesis 28-31)

Week eight begins in Genesis again… chapters 28-31.

Notes follow:

In chapters 29 and 30 of Genesis, we get the sordid tale of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. It sure seems fit for the Springer Show, if you ask me.

First we find Jacob asking for the right to marry Rachel, and finding that her father will require seven years of work from him for the privilege. When the wedding day comes, somehow, Rachel’s sister, Leah, jumps into her place through her father’s deception of Jacob… and Jacob doesn’t find out until the next morning. Hello?

Then we find Jacob asking for the right to marry Rachel again… and getting it in exchange for another seven years work. So now he has two wives.

Next? Children. A bunch of them. Borne by Leah, Rachel’s maidservant (with Rachel’s permission), Leah’s maidservant (with Leah’s permission), and finally Rachel herself.

What is up with all of this? I know God hasn’t given Israel the Law yet, but still… isn’t God the same throughout all time? How then can He choose to bless any of this?

It’s things like this that confuse me in the Old Testament.

What about you?