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This week’s Parasha is Vayetze and covers Genesis 28:10 – 32:3. In last week’s Torah portion, Jacob had deceived his father, and taken the blessing intended for his brother.  Then, fearing for his life, he had to flee his parents’ home, getting the opposite of what he sought in obtaining his father’s blessing.

A recurring theme in this Parasha is reaping what you sow. In chapter 28, Jacob has traveled a full day’s distance, and he comes to a certain place where he rests for the night. He has to use a stone for a pillow (that must’ve felt really good, don’t you think?). That night he receives a vision from God of angels ascending and descending a staircase or ladder stretching between Earth and Heaven. I believe it is a representation of Messiah, who is our Mediator, reconciling man to God.  Yeshua affirmed this Himself in John chapter 1 verse 51.

In the vision, the Lord tells Jacob that the land will be given to him and his descendants, who will be too numerous to count, and spread out to the four corners of the earth. Jacob’s offspring will be blessed and the Lord will be with them.  I think we should note that God chose Jacob, not based on his works, but simply because Adonai is gracious. Even after getting this blessing, Jacob tries to negotiate with God. He tells Adonai that if He does everything He promised, then Jacob will be loyal to Him. He still has a long way to go from being Jacob the deceiver to becoming Israel who follows God.  Adonai sometimes allows us to suffer the consequences of our own foolishness so that we might learn from our mistakes. It builds character. It certainly helped build Jacob’s.

In chapter 29 Jacob reaches Haran and rests by a well. He encounters shepherds there and he asks if they know Laban.  They respond “yes” and tell Jacob that Laban’s daughter Rachel is now approaching.  Jacob, no doubt wanting to impress this beautiful maiden, goes to the well and removes the large, heavy stone by himself, and proceeds to water her father’s sheep.  He is then brought to their home to meet her father Laban, and is invited to remain with them.

After Jacob has been living and working there a month, Laban asks him what kind of wages he wants.  Jacob is in love with Rachel and asks for her hand in marriage. Laban agrees to give Rachel as his wife in exchange for seven years of work for him. The years pass quickly and pleasantly. Finally the big wedding day comes and after much celebration, including plenty of wine, Jacob takes his wife into his tent to consummate his marriage. It was the custom at this time for brides to wear a full veil. In the morning when Jacob sees his wife, he realizes it is not Rachel, but Leah her older, less attractive sister.  Jacob, the trickster, has been tricked.

I said earlier that the theme of this parasha is that we reap what we sow.  Jacob the deceiver finds himself up against an even bigger deceiver – his father-in-law.  I wonder how much time Jacob spent contemplating how he deceived his father by pretending to be his brother, only now to be deceived into marrying the sister.

The crafty Laban agrees to also give Jacob Rachel, whom he loves, in marriage in seven days if he consents to work for another seven years. Jacob agrees to this new contract – one which Laban will ultimately change ten more times before Jacob leaves. I am reminded of Galatians 6:7-8 where it says that whoever sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction, but that anyone who sows to please the Spirit will reap eternal life. At this point, Jacob and Laban are sowing to their sinful nature; but praise God that Jacob will soon see the light and, over time, will become a new man with a new name.

Now the Lord blesses Leah and she has four sons by Jacob, and the fourth one is named Judah, from whose line our Messiah would come.  All this time Rachel is beside herself because she is unable to conceive, so she gives her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob and Bilhah bears two sons . Leah in turn gives her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob so that he may have more children from her, and Zilpah also bears two sons.  Again, Leah has two more boys and one daughter by Jacob. Then God has mercy on Rachel and she gives birth to a son, Joseph, whose name means “He increases”, and about whom we will learn more in the weeks to come.

After some years Jacob tells Laban that he wants to return to his own country.  Laban realizes that he has been blessed because of God’s favor on Jacob, and persuades Jacob to remain. Jacob agrees to stay and they work out an agreement whereby all the choice animals (those that are solid in color) will be Laban’s and all the speckled, spotted and striped animals will be Jacob’s. Meanwhile, Jacob has learned a lot from his father-in-law and now employs some “creative animal husbandry” resulting in the birth of far more speckled, spotted and striped animals, so that Jacob’s flock grows larger and larger while Laban’s flock dwindles.

In chapter 31, God comes to Jacob and tells him to return to the land of his fathers. This seems to be just in the nick of time, because Laban and his sons have grown resentful towards him since he is now wealthier than they.  So now, Jacob, who once fled from his brother, whom he deceived, now flees from his father-in-law, whom he also deceived. Oh, the tangled webs we weave!  There is a direct correlation between Jacob’s deception of his father, his brother and his father-in-law, to what will happen to him in years to come when his own sons deceive him with his favorite son Joseph. Remember, we reap what we sow.

So Jacob grabs Rachel and Leah and tells them that they’re leaving at once to go back to the land of Jacob’s fathers.  As they prepare to leave, Rachel goes back to her father’s house and steals some of his idols.  Jacob and his family leave Haran, and reach Gilead, were Jacob pitches his tent. After three days, Laban realizes that Jacob has left Haran with his family and flocks, and Laban rushes after him and catches up to him at Gilead.  God comes to Laban before he reaches Jacob and warns him not to say anything to Jacob, good or bad. Laban fears Jacob’s God but does not consider him his own God, as we see from the fact that he owned idols.  It is clear that Jacob knew nothing of  Rachel having stolen her fathers idols. After much heated discussion, Laban and Jacob make a contract to leave each other alone.

I believe the Lord wanted Jacob to return to his homeland largely because the people of Haran were all idol-worshipers and Adonai didn’t want the children of the promised line brought up in that unrighteous environment. Israel was to be a people set apart to worship and serve Adonai, and Him alone.

So Jacob has made peace with his father-in-law. But he is about to be put to the test, when his brother Esau comes to meet him, which we will read about in next week’s parasha.

So what can we learn from this Torah portion?  Jacob continually took matters into his own hands, deceiving others, and being deceived himself.  How much are we like Jacob?  We try to make deals with God, saying that if He will just do this or that thing for us, we will do something for Him.  We connive to get the things we want, and we deceive ourselves into believing that the end justifies the means. We are no better than Jacob, but we do have the Holy Spirit who constantly nudges us back onto the path of righteousness.  We need to listen when the Holy Spirit speaks to us and convicts us of our sin.  Hebrews 12:6 says that the Lord disciplines those He loves and He punishes those whom He accepts as sons. Brothers and sisters, what I want you to remember most today is that we reap what we sow.  Sow honesty, and goodness, and bless others, and the Lord will bless you. Sow trickery and deception and the Lord may have to make an example of you.  Pray that the example that others see in us leads them to the path of righteousness – the path of our Messiah Yeshua. And let’s be grateful and praise God that He has so much mercy, grace and forgiveness for us, His chosen followers, when we return to Him time and time again.