20 Years in Paddan Aram (Genesis 29:15-28)

According to a Czech theologian, "The realization of human humanity is a successful assignment of God-given homework, a task that God has given to everyone." Possibility is just a possibility. It has no meaning unless implemented. It means that when we do the homework of life that God has given us, we finally achieve the purpose that God created us, and that we humans become humans. At this time, I would like to tell a story about a person who was born in this world and completed his homework from God.

There was a man. He happened to enter his uncle's house and live in love with his daughter. The custom of the time required dowry to get a wife, but this man had no money. So on the condition that he gets his favorite woman as his wife, the man promises to live as a servant for free for seven years in the house. According to ancient documents, the value of the man's wages is generally much larger than the dowry paid by the groom at the time.

The man would have looked forward to the day, the day, the day he got the woman as his wife. Finally, on the wedding day, we gathered all the villagers. Eating, drinking and dancing, having a grand wedding, that night, the bride's room was set up. He spent a dreamy time and woke up in the morning, what's going on here? The one beside him was not the woman he had so much admired that he had regarded seven years as a moment, but her sister. How, in what words, can we express this absurdity? At that time, the man said, 'How can my uncle do this to me? Then, the man's uncle and father of the bride speak so naturally.

"In my village, no younger sister gets married before her older sister, so if you want to take him, work seven more years at my house." What more words are needed? Jacob was completely beaten. Even though he didn't want it, he was doomed to live with his two wives.

It is the story of Jacob, his uncle Laban, and Rachel and Leah, whom we know well.

In the text alone, this is a twisted story of a man's life, but we can read in this story how a faithful God, who calls one person and makes his promises and makes his promises come true, trains him and eventually makes history of God's salvation.

There was a plan of God for Jacob. It was through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that the twelve tribes were formed through his clans and through them the kingdom of Israel. God had a grand plan through the country to show the world what kind of country he ruled and what its people should be like. This was neither Jacob's wish nor Isaac's offer. Moreover, it is not what Abraham wanted. Abraham was a man who did not know God. Then God chose Abraham and his descendants. The problem is, in order to be used in God's plan, whether he is Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or us who live today, all those who are called to him must be prepared, both personally and religiously, for God to use.

In the course of the history of God's salvation, Abraham's era has ended, and Isaac's time is drawing to an end. It was time for him to pass it on to his son Jacob, who was not religiously or personally enough to fulfill God's will for generations to come. From God's point of view, God has trained Abraham as well as dealt with Isaac, but wouldn't Jacob be a little special?! What is Jacob like? He seemed to be of a quiet disposition, but he was a man of cunning, greedy, and a man of desire, by all means, to get his hands on what he wanted. Perhaps he is the most similar person in the Bible to us.

In fact, the reason why Jacob left his hometown and came to his uncle's house was because of Jacob's ambition. Whether or not brother Esau took the rights lightly, the power of the eldest was to brother Esau. His father Isaac also remained unchanged in his mind that birthright should be handed down to Esau. Jacob was well aware of this. He was always envious of his brother's rights. So Jacob, looking at the opportunity, took away his brother's right of birth with a bowl of porridge. And that was not enough, so Jacob conspired with his mother Rebecca to intercept his father's blessing prayer to return to his brother. Knowing all these facts, tries to avenge his brother. I noticed this from my mother Rebecca. So it was Paddan Aram that she called Jacob to flee. No one knew back then that it would take 20 years to get back.

What would be the positive side of Jacob? In Jacob's story, which I heard from my grandmother and Sunday school teacher as a child, Jacob was a great man who knew that birthright was precious, unlike Esau, and was extraordinary in his passion for trying and striving to get his hands on it later. That's right, but no matter how God was determined to bless Jacob from his mother's womb, and no matter how reverent he was, his bad life cannot be justified. That's not to say he can't absolve himself of the wrong he's done. This is the basic message that today's text teaches us.

It was Jacob who had so much to be cut and polished to be God's tool for God to use. So God took extraordinary measures against Jacob: to drive him out of his warm and comfortable nest and drive him out to Paddan Aram. Jacob had no idea what would happen in his future. In fact, until then, Jacob did not know what process his family would be used as a tool for God. The first bitterness of Jacob's life, which he had experienced away from his hometown, was to be given away as he had planted and returned as he had been given.

Previously, Jacob deceived his father and deceived his elder brother, but now Jacob is forced to be deceived. It was a lesson from God. God quenched Jacob. The first seven years in Paddan Aram he was unilaterally deceived, and the next seven years he was forced to work for Rachel. No matter what his past behavior was, Jacob now thought he was too angry and unfair. So I hated Leah after getting married. In the Korean Bible, the expression “Jacob didn't love Leah” is purified, but the original Bible uses the word “Jacob hated Leah and hated her”.

A family life that hates his wife, what hell is this? In addition, Leah and Rachel competed for a son in Jacob's family, which they did not want but had to live with. Jacob's stress was overwhelming. In any case, God gave Jacob twelve sons, starting with the love of Jacob and Rachel, and these sons later become the basis for shaping the nation of Israel. In any case, God is continuing without stopping his plans for one man. In the midst of Jacob's hard life, which was lacking, but fierce. Jacob's troubles at Paddan Aram continued like this. Time has passed and it has already been 14 years since Jacob came here.

He had several sons, and Jacob thought that his brother might have been released. Without asking God, Jacob begged his uncle to send him home. The answer is ‘NO’. It was not yet the right time. Since then, Jacob worked in the house of his uncle for six more years, during which the uncle Laban has changed his wages twenty times. If God had not been with Jacob, as Jacob had complained to Laban, then Laban would have returned Jacob completely empty. For Jacob, 20 years in Paddan Aram was as nasty as he confessed just before the king of Egypt.

But as we read Jacob's story so far, we have some questions. 'How could Jacob, who was still faithfully and personally immature, have been able to handle the hardships of that time? In other words, how did God successfully finish his homework at Paddan Aram, given to Jacob? And what else did God expect from Jacob, training him?

The first question. How could Jacob, who was still immature in every way, have endured that arduous life in Paddan Aram?

Do you remember how Jacob came out of the house avoiding his brother's face? Jacob came out as if he were running away with a cane (Section 32:10 of Genesis). A little added to the preacher's imagination, how many slices of bread, how many chunks of cheese did Jacob take when he left the house, and maybe even a camel?

The Bible says that Isaac, Jacob's father, was rich. If Jacob needed money on his way, wouldn't his mother, Rebekah, who had taken him so much, have given him something? But there is no saying in the Bible that no one has given Jacob anything that makes money. Instead, Isaac gave a blessing to Jacob, who was leaving. This was something no one could take away from Jacob, nor could it be taken away from him.

This blessing prayer that Isaac gave to Jacob was a prayer confirming that, in its content, Jacob succeeded his grandfather and father to become the heir to the family of faith in the service of Yahweh God. Through that prayer Jacob would have experienced the spiritual richness he could have when he had long hoped for. Isaac's prayer was a great force that encouraged Jacob to take courage and leave.

This is something that we, who became parents today, should stop and think about. What are we preparing now for our children? Living in this era of the fourth industrial revolution, there are far more things our children need to prepare for than we used to live in. However, it is very limited that we, as parents, can teach our children both empirically and intelligently. Rather, we seem to have more things to ask and learn from our children to adapt to the new era. But through Jacob's story, we learn what is most important for parents to do for their children.

When Jacob left the street, what Isaac and Rebekah gave him wasn't a fortune for Jacob to eat and live for a lifetime, and it wasn't even a map to Paddan Aram. It wasn't a letter of recommendation to uncle Laban. Rather, it was a blessing prayer. Because Isaac's prayer for Jacob was incomparable to all these things. What does it mean? This is because the parents' prayer for their children is to entrust our children to God who has all of these things, and to hand over the children the source of the power that allows our children to be blessed directly from God.

However, it was not just his father's prayer that Jacob was able to overcome his arduous life in Paddan Aram. Jacob had a direct encounter with God. This was also Jacob's privilege and great asset that no one could take away from Jacob.

Let's go back to 20 years ago. He was on his way to Haran, leaving his hometown of Beersheba as if fleeing. It is about 800 kilometers from Beersheba to Batdan Aram, and it is said to take more than a month to complete the journey. The sun set as Jacob left home. He had to sleep somewhere because he had to walk hard all day. Of course it's homeless. He lay asleep in one place with a stone pillow, and in his dream he saw a ladder connecting heaven and earth, and the angels were moving up and down the ladder. And he looked again and there was God on it. This is what God said to himself.

13 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. 14 Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, 15 Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”

It was the moment when Jacob experienced a blessing prayer his father gave Jacob when he left home in a few days. And Jacob, who was so astonished, called the place "Bethel, the house of God." Why would Jacob be surprised? Above all, it was because the God that grandfather used to worship, the God that father always prayed for, showed up to Jacob in person and promised him. Now is the moment to confirm that he has succeeded his grandfather and father as heir to the family.

In fact, there is no story in the Bible that God spoke directly to Jacob until he came to Bethel. In fact, there is no story in the Bible that God spoke directly to Jacob until he came here. Until then, Jacob did not know who God was. That's why God did not say, "You, the God of Jacob," but "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of your fathers," when Jacob revealed himself in Paddan Aram. But when he left his hometown and was alone, God came to him himself. And, this time, he spoke directly to Jacob, not through his father. "I will bless you, for you and your descendants will be blessed, and you will be with you."

God is everywhere, and He is with anyone. But it seems that the time, place, and people are fixed when God speaks himself. The experience of Jacob, the God who met Jacob personally, must have been the driving force behind Jacob's 20 years of hard labor. Although Jacob was distressed, he was falsely accused, but in Jacob's spirit the place of God would have become wider and wider. God seemed to be silent, but he seemed to be hiding, but each time Jacob would have remembered the God he had met in Bethel. Whenever he was in trouble, he would raise your eyes and see with your heart the ladder that connects heaven and earth. And he would have prayed like this. "Be my God, the God of my grandfather, the God of my father, the God who has met and spoken to me in Bethel, and be my God."

The second question. Twenty years in Paddan Aram, It was a place to train Jacob, who was raw, as a man of God, and those 20 years were a minimum period of training for Jacob. If Jacob had not successfully completed the task he had given him, he would not have been used for the work of God at the next stage. In other words, Jacob, who has the spiritual authority to bless Pharaoh king of Egypt with the guidance of Joseph before his death, would not have been an ancestor of great faith with spiritual insight to bless the future of his descendants. Then, I wonder how that mean-hearted Jacob could have become such a great spiritual giant.

What did God train Jacob to expect from his 20 years in Paddan Aram? It would not have been to repent Jacob of his past deeds, and to make a man of noble character. So what was it? It was to make Jacob call God his own God, whom he knew through his grandfather and father. In a word, it was to make him a man of empirical faith who clearly confessed his faith in Jacob, God with Jacob, God with Jacob, and God with whom Jacob blesses.

Through his 20 years here, Jacob now knew that no one could harm him if God was with him, and that he could be assured that if God helped him in any dangerous situation, he would be able to get out of all that trouble. Of course, Jacob's life has been staggered since then. But from the time of Paddan Aram, God was not the God delivered to Jacob by anyone, but the God of Jacob who met and spoke to him. Jacob became more and more deeply experienced and confessed to the God. In order to face the God, Jacob asked him to meet him in the midst of a fierce life, sometimes on his own knees, and sometimes on his own, until he was entangled in a fight with God. Although there were times of failure, and times of lack of faith, and times of servility, Jacob went on to God in its appearance. He met Jacob and used him dearly in the history of his great salvation.

Dear brothers and sisters, we are now living in an unprecedented emergency in a world we have never experienced before. But in this chaotic and uncertain world, and in this strange COVID-19 situation, we are convinced that God is doing God's work. What is clear is that even if we are now in a time of training and suffering, there will be a good will of God, one for each of us, one for the Korean church, and one for this country and nation. And God will not leave us or abandon us until all of our wills are fulfilled, but he will lead us to the best place in his time without a single error. Bless in the name of the Lord that the good will of God will be fulfilled in your own people, in your homes, in the church of God, and in this country and among the nations.

Prayer of devotion

Praise God who bless us with the best and gave us a beautiful crown. Even though they are in the midst of weakness, we believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob becomes my God today and God of this nation. We know that the will of the Lord for us is good, Lord, we want your will to be done on earth and in our lives. Amen.