Romantic Non-Fiction

“But they seemed like only a few days to him.”   Genesis 29:20

Harlequin should have been in Haran as Jacob found a home and lost his heart.  Her name was Rachel, and she was his first love as well as his first cousin.  (Being close kin was no concern back then.)  She was striking and he was smitten.  Big time.

The whole thing started at a well—must have been a wishing one.  Jacob arrived in the area as Rachel showed up with the sheep.  He watered the flock, kissed the girl, cried out loud, and revealed that he was related.  She rushed away with the info, and Jacob was welcomed into the family.

After just four weeks, Uncle Laban offered wages for his work, but Jacob was more interested in marriage than money.  “Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, ‘I’ll work for you for seven years in return for your younger daughter’” (Gen 29:18-19). “Better you than some other boy,” her dad declared.  “It’s a deal.”

Thus ensues the most romantic statement in all of Scripture. “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days because of his love for her”(Gen. 29:20).  Yes, the tale takes a twist and tying the knot turns into a tangle, but that’s tomorrow.  Today, pause and celebrate the passion of a captivated heart.

Seven years make up more than 2500 days.  That’s not a few, but “they seemed like only a few” for the prize was worth the price.  Jacob’s love made the long seem short, the hard easy, and the demanding delightful.  Ladies think, “He must have been so sweet.”  Guys think, “She must have been so hot.”  Both were true and are strong reminders that love brings out the best in us and the beauty in others. 

True love willing to sacrifice and wanting to serve is better than anything you can buy in a book, so don’t look on the shelf.  Look at your spouse.

Rachel was worth the work.

So is yours.

Stairway To Heaven

“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on earth, with its top reaching to heaven.” Genesis 28:12

Although we’re not Jewish, a few in my family must be kin to Jacob.  Blessed with the ability to sleep anywhere at any time, they can rest in the rowdiest or roughest of circumstances.  I’m not saying I’m jealous, but the certainty of a good night’s sleep, no matter the conditions, would be rather reassuring.

Noise pollution wasn’t Jacob’s problem in the middle of the wilderness, but his accommodations that evening weren’t exactly cozy.  On the run from his brother’s rage, he stopped at sundown to sleep.  He had forgotten to pack a pillow, so “taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down”(Gen 28:11).  This should be no surprise when we realize how hard-headed Jacob was, but it couldn’t have been comfortable!   However, no insomnia inflicted Jacob, and he soon dozed off and started dreaming.

He saw a stairway connecting heaven and earth with angels going up and down, and “there beside him stood the Lord”(Gen 28:13).  Jacob might have been in the desert doing his own thing, but God had an Almighty agenda for this deceiver.  In grace, God promised to give him the land on which he was lying, to go with him as he wandered, and to bring him home again.

Jacob awoke with a sacred scare.  “How awesome is this place!” he exclaimed.  “This is none other than the house of God”(Gen 28:17).  His stone pillow became a pillar—a place of connection and covenant with God, and Jacob vowed to worship.

Jacob’s ladder wasn’t so he could climb up.

Jacob’s ladder was how God came down—to comfort, to promise, and to bless.

What a good night’s sleep!

Double Trouble

“Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”    Genesis 25:28

The Battle of the Boys began as babies.  The twins wrestled in the womb and wrangled during birth as Jacob emerged grasping his brother’s heel in an effort to slingshot his way to the front.  But Esau arrived as the firstborn, a position which carried great privilege—Dad’s big blessing for life and double bounty at his death.

As the boys became men, the match continued with the parents picking sides.  Connected by their passion for the outdoors, Papa Isaac preferred the rowdy Esau.  Mom Rebekah was biased to baby Jacob.  Quiet and kind, he hung around the house, helping with the domestic duties. “Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”  And trouble was brewing.

It showed up first in a soup cauldron.  Esau, starving after a futile hunting trip, swapped his birthright for a bowl of Jacob’s stew.  In a moment of weakness, he gobbled the lentils and gave away his legacy.

The problems reappeared on a platter. Isaac, old and blind, wished to bless his eldest before he was buried, so he rang for Esau and requested a wild game dinner for the occasion.  Rebekah overheard the opportunity and wanted the best for her beloved.  While Esau stalked, Jacob schemed.  Dressed in his brother’s clothes for scent with his hands and neck covered in goat hair for feel, Jacob served his dad a deceitful dinner and stole the special blessing. Enraged at the ruse, Esau made plans to murder his brother after he mourned for his father.  Homebody Jacob had to run for his life and didn’t return for twenty years.  And nobody won the war.

In our families, favoritism and fraud fare no one well because deceit never wins the day and neither does a double-standard.  Our love can be expressed differently but should be shared equally.

Always be fair and never be false.  Your home shouldn’t be a combat zone.