The Perfect Love Story

Oct 2, 2013 2323

One of the great love stories in the Bible is the way that Jacob loved Rachel. They had bumped into each other at a well, and that was it… love at first sight!

Jacob “was in love with Rachel” (Gen 29:89) and so he promised Laban, her father, that he would work for him for no wages for seven years, if Laban would let him marry Rachel. And so he did. He worked hard for all those years, but the Bible says that, “they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her” (Gen 29:20.)

But after the wedding, and in fact after the wedding night, Jacob discovered that Laban had tricked him; the person he had married was not Rachel, but Leah. I have to interrupt myself here to say that you have to feel sorry for Leah as well, but that’s another story.

You have to understand that in this culture, Jacob had few options. He was the one who had turned up at Laban’s door as basically a beggar. So Jacob agreed to work for another seven years with no wages if Laban would finally let him marry Rachel. Again, Jacob worked for seven years, and then Jacob and Rachel were finally able to be together. What a happy day that must have been, after fourteen long years of waiting!

If you read the rest of the story, with two wives, Jacob’s marriage relations leave a lot to be desired, largely because of the culture of the day. But at least we can say that there was no lack of love from Jacob for Rachel. And that is the part that I want to focus on.

In the Bible, the love between a husband and a wife is often used to represent the love between Jesus and his people (Rev 19:7–9). Jesus is the groom and we are the bride. Jacob worked for Rachel for seven years – twice! Seven is the number that represents God’s perfect work. You belong to Jesus twice, because he has two times done a perfect work for you. He made you perfect in the beginning, and then he redeemed you perfectly from sin. He paid a perfect price for you at Calvary. Rachel did nothing; Jacob did it all.

Jacob had to face bitter disappointment as he sought to be together with the one he loved. And you know, as well as I do, how much we have disappointed Jesus along the way. But you know what? Because of Jesus’ perfect work, the wonderful news is that love wins! The love of Jesus wins in the end! The love story of Jacob and Rachel is the love story of Jesus and you. All that remains is for you to say, “I do.” That’s the perfect love story.

Eliezer Gonzalez

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