WHAT IS THIS THOU HAST DONE UNTO ME – Genesis 29:25
Genesis 29:25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? Did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguilded me?
God had blessed Jacob in bringing him to the house of Laban. Jacob stayed with Laban for about a month when Laban asked Jacob what his wages would be for helping him take care of his flocks. Jacob loved Rachel, the daughter of Laban and offered to serve Laban for seven years so that he might marry her.
Jacob was willing to serve seven years because that was the value he placed upon Rachel. Jacob was a poor man who had no dowry to purchase a wife. Solomon tells us that he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord. Jacob understood that Rachel had great value and because of the love he had for her, he was willing to indenture himself for seven years to Laban so that he might receive Rachel as his wife.
In just the first month of serve, Laban had seen that God was with Jacob and he desired to keep Jacob around knowing that as God blessed Jacob, God would be blessing him. Laban was willing that Jacob work for him seven years for the hand of Rachel. However, when the time came to give Rachel to Jacob, Leah had not yet been married to another man so Laban gave Leah to Jacob instead.
When Jacob confronted Laban, the reason Laban gave was because of the traditions of man. Laban was more concerned about the traditions than he was about fulfilling his promise to Jacob. If Jacob’s love for Rachel was so great that the seven years seemed like only days, then Laban knew about the deep love that Jacob had for Rachel. However, Laban was willing to sacrifice a wonderful marriage that Rachel and Jacob would have because of the traditions of man.
It is easy to make bad decisions that affect others when we take our eyes off loving the Lord with all our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Had Laban simply been a man of honor and kept his word to Jacob, it would be interesting to see how the life of Jacob and Joseph would have turned out. However, even though Laban did something bad, God was able to turn all of it into good.
As long as we are looking for the acceptance of our fellow men, we will make decisions that hurt others. Laban desired not to offend traditions and while those in the community may or may not have been impressed with Laban’s actions, Laban did great damage to the marriage relationship of Jacob and Rachel.
There is an important lesson that we can take from this passage. We need to be careful how we make our decisions. If we are more concerned about what men may think of us, then we are doomed to make bad decisions. Instead, we need to add temperance to our life so that we have the boldness to say no to the traditions of this world so that we instead focus upon pleasing God. We should be focused on God being honored by our actions.
Until we learn to say no to the pressures that the world places upon us, we are setting ourselves up to trample over others in order that we might get ahead. By pursuing the approval of man, decisions could easily be made that damage those who are closest to us, whom God has given to us to protect. Set your affections upon things above and desire to please HIM first.