Jacob has fallen in love with the beautiful Rachel and it appears that God’s promise and plan are coming together without a hitch. As we saw in Genesis 29, Jacob offered to work seven years for Laban in exchange for his younger daughter Rachel. Jacob served Laban for seven years and “They seemed like only a few days to him because of his great love for her.” Genesis 29:20. What a beautiful love story!
But as we’ve seen in our journey to this point concerning God’s plan and promise, things don’t always go as they should and God patiently works through and around bad choices people make. God has chosen Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be the progenitors of a nation through which all the peoples of the earth will be blessed. This was God’s plan and promise but not everyone is concerned with God’s plan.
Jacob saw Rachel as part of God’s promise to him at Bethel. While Laban readily agreed to Jacob’s offer to work seven years for Rachel, he had another plan in mind and used Jacob’s desire for Rachel to deceive him. As the story goes, Jacob finished the seven years and told Laban it was time for him to have Rachel as his wife. Laban had a celebration and on the conjugal night managed to substitute Leah somehow into the marriage bed without Jacob knowing until morning. I don’t understand how this could happen but it did. Jacob may have been a bit drunk, I don’t know. Here are some options as to why this happened.https://www.gotquestions.org/Leah-and-Rachel.html
Jacob is a man undergoing tremendous spiritual change and is so in love with Rachel that he is a bit naive about who he’s dealing with. Considering what Laban did, it would be reasonable to think Jacob inherited some dishonest character traits from his mother’s family. Jacob has been a scoundrel but now is “getting a taste of his own medicine.” The medicine is bitter and hard to swallow. He is the victim of the “bait and switch,” the unethical practice of promising one thing but delivering an inferior substitute.
What does Jacob do when he realizes he has been tricked into marrying Leah? He confronts Laban and agrees to maintain the marriage to Leah. Like most cheaters, Laban maintained his right to do what he did because “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.” Genesis 29:36
Knowing Jacob’s deep love for Rachel is so strong gives him an advantage in negotiating with Jacob. You can almost see the sinister, crafty plotting in Laban’s brain. “Get everything you can out of this situation.” And he does. “Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” Genesis 29:27
Jacob agrees and after Leah’s bridal week Laban releases Rachel to him. As promised, he worked another seven years for Laban. Here is something you don’t want to miss, ” Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah.” Genesis 29:30. The last part of Genesis 29 and a large part of chapter 30 deal with the contentions between the sisters and the births of most of the male children whose names will be used to identify the future tribes of Israel, i.e. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, etc. God’s plan is moving forward despite all the wrangling, dishonesty, jealousy, and dysfunction.
Soon after Rachel gives birth to Joseph, Jacob tells Laban he plans to leave Haran. Laban talks him out of this by saying, “What will it take to get you to stay?” Jacob counters with a proposal to increase Laban’s flocks while taking only the animals born with certain markings. Laban, thinking this to be a great deal readily agrees. As it turns out, God blesses Jacob and he becomes very wealthy, to the point that Laban’s sons contend that Jacob is stealing from their father.
As this trouble is brewing, God tells Jacob it is time to go home, ” Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Go back to the land of your fathers and your relatives, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31:3. After working twenty years for his crooked uncle, Jacob gathers his family and all the wealth God has given him and begins the 450-mile trip toward Beersheba.
What will his return home involve? How will Esau deal with him? What will happen when he revisits Bethel?