Surprise!

Genesis 29:14b-30

Jacob and Laban seem to be hitting it off. In fact, Laban approaches him and says- I know you're my relative and all but let me pay you something for your work. Jacob's response was probably not quite what Laban expected- I'll trade you seven years of labor for your beautiful daughter, Rachel.

I think that Laban was attempting to be shrewd, and initially it bit him. He may have realized that Jacob was a good worker and thought, this working for free thing is probably going to get old for him fast- let me make an attempt to pay him- and then he'll stick around.

But Jacob was ready for him- I'll stick around- but it will cost you. And while this is all speculation, I think this is what sparks the Leah charade.

Jacob marries his dream girl, has his night of bliss, and wakes up in the morning and...it's the homely sister. It's like the old cliche about the drunk who takes home the beautiful woman who doesn't seem quite so beautiful when the sobriety of morning hits. Maybe Jacob was toasted after the big marriage celebration. There's nothing written about it, except that there was a big feast, but how could he not know? For seven years he's dreamed of Rachel, admired her, even kissed her- but he couldn't figure out this was someone else?

And maybe there's a subtle lesson about beauty tucked into all of this. Jacob couldn't tell it wasn't Rachel- he wasn't unhappy until the morning came. How important was the beauty of Rachel in the scheme of it all? Maybe God's lesson here is not to focus on beauty- it's not as important as we make it out to be.

And why the deception? Laban may have thought- OK- I got seven years for him- but if I give him Leah, I can get seven more. Plus my girls will still be local. I think that Laban is smart enough to realize that while his plan would get his less appealing girl married, it couldn't make for much of a happy life for her.

What girl dreams of her husband waking up the night after the wedding disappointed, disgusted, irate- and hungrier than ever for someone else. How would those seven years have been for poor Leah (well, poor in a sense, she was in on this deception)? I would think she knew even now that her husband desperately loved someone else. Ahh, what a honeymoon.

And in contrast, Rachel knows that this beau will work 14 years for her and will endure the homely sister if it means he can have her. The romanticism may have increased for Rachel, but at the expense of Leah. I wonder if Rachel was in on this- surely on some level she had to be, she knew she wasn't getting married.

And Jacob marries into a family as crafty as his own. Rebekah's blood flows strong through this crafty crew. Maybe the lesson here is what goes around comes around. Yeah, you got your dad- but you're plenty dupable too, pal.

This is also, I believe, the first OT reference to bigamy. It seems to be no big deal- I wonder when culturally that became okay- and again when it became taboo. I doubt it was ever smart.