Genesis-104-Self-serving Interpretation

Genesis 30:1–13:

 

"When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, 'Give me children, or I'll die!' Jacob became angry with her and said, 'Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?' Then Rachel said, 'Here is Bilhah, my servant. Go, sleep with her so that she can have a child for me and I can build a family through her.' So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, and she became pregnant and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, 'God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.' Because of this, she named him Dan. Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, 'I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.' So she named him Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Leah said, 'How fortunate!' So she named him Gad. Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, 'How happy I am! The women will call me happy.' So she named him Asher. Amen."

 

Leah, Rachel, and Jacob’s Marriage Story

We have been looking at some parables, but today, we will return to Genesis, where we left off. The book of Genesis has 50 chapters, and we are now entering chapter 30. As you know, the latter part of the book tells the story of Jacob and Joseph entering Egypt.

 

Let's read the Word together, as if we are reading our own lives, so we can see how God unfolds His redemptive history and draw closer to the Word.

 

Do you remember Jacob's wedding? Jacob waited for seven years to marry his beloved Rachel, but on the wedding night, his older sister Leah was brought to him. To Jacob's bewilderment, his uncle Laban said, "In our country, it is not customary to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn." This must have been a huge shock to Jacob, for whom it was a life mission to have the younger one, or the second-born, supersede the first-born. However, Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, so he agreed to work for seven more years to take both Leah and Rachel as his wives. The Bible says that Jacob only loved Rachel and not Leah. But God took pity on Leah and gave her four sons. After giving birth to her fourth son, Judah, Leah confessed, "I will praise the Lord," finding great comfort and receiving God’s promise in her pain and distress.

 

The Beginning of Envy and Greed

However, today's passage, Genesis 30:1, introduces another woman in distress: Rachel. She was loved by Jacob but had no children. At that time, children were the family's strength and a measure of blessing. Rachel must have felt that she had not contributed anything to the household. This was a problem not only for Rachel but also for Sarah, Rebekah, and Hannah.

 

Rachel, however, took a different path when she saw her sister Leah having children. While Hannah went to God in her distress caused by Peninnah's oppression, Rachel's distress did not come from external persecution. Seeing Leah having children, she first felt envy, and the Bible says that her envy grew even more. Rachel did not turn to God but plunged deeper into her envy.

 

This is similar to how we try to solve our problems. Instead of seeking solutions in the problem itself, we easily get caught up in our own emotions and thoughts. The more we ruminate, the more our resentment and anger grow, and we become trapped in our emotions, regardless of the problem. Rachel, who was loved by Jacob, also began to desire what she did not have. Envy is a feeling of wanting what others have while being unable to appreciate the value of what we already have.

 

Rachel says to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die." This is a terrifying confession, stating that her life has no value without a child. The desire to have children, rather than being a result of neglect or contempt, had become more than just envy; it had turned into greed. And that greed ultimately leads to idolatry. Idolatry is not limited to money or fame, but includes everything that stems from the covetousness within us.

 

Problems Arise When We Forget God’s Love

When we are not content with what we have and start to seek other things, we can easily fall into idolatry. While it is easy to make money, health, fame, or happiness our idols, Rachel's story shows us the starting point of idolatry: not valuing ourselves. When we forget how precious we are and how much we are loved, we start to value and desire other things, thus creating idols.

 

When we forget how much we are loved, what we have, and what we should cherish, that is where idolatry, envy, and jealousy begin. God created this universe with the words, "Let there be light," and yet, we often take the preciousness and weight of those same words that He has spoken to us for granted.

 

"I will be with you" and "I will rejoice over you with gladness" are words that carry their full weight. The Bible says that even in moments when you feel ashamed and sinful before the Lord, His words, which say that He loved us so much that He gave His Son and rejoices over us, are not at all weakened. The Lord calls you "My beloved" and "My bride." This is the truth and the fact.

 

Jacob showed his love for Rachel for 14 years. It was a long period of love, but when God says that He loves you, it is an eternal love. You are the one who has received that love. Of course, you may lose your health, worry about money, or struggle and suffer with unresolved problems. But all of this cannot be compared to God's eternal love.

 

There is nothing greater or more astonishing than God's promise to you as His "eternal bride" and that He "will be with you forever and rejoice over you." This is the first thing we need to contemplate deeply in Rachel's story. We must remember that envy is not just a simple emotion; it is idolatry that stems from greed, and it begins when we, as believers, forget the immense love we have received.

 

When you forget who you are and how precious you are, it is like forgetting the grace of God. This is a serious problem. Because we have forgotten His grace, we try to determine our worth based on our abilities or possessions. As we always say and sing in our praises, "I am what I am by the grace of God." The moment we forget that we are people who have received grace, we very easily encounter, create, and fall into idols.

 

When You Become the Owner of the Problem

When a believer forgets who they are and the love they have received, they eventually go out into the world and begin to compare themselves to others. Envy makes them forget God and focus only on their own circumstances. They forget the grace God has bestowed on them and get stuck in their own problems. The same applies to our neighbors. When I was preparing this sermon and thought of each of the congregants, I was ashamed because the Bible says that not a single one of them is not precious, but did I truly value and love them as such? If I had truly believed and known that, I would have loved them more, valued them more, and been with them more.

 

Their lives may have moments of difficulty, temptation, pain, and 고민 while on the journey of faith. But that does not diminish their preciousness in the slightest. You are truly precious. Jesus Christ gave up His life for you, and you are people who are full of God's grace. God created the entire universe for you and is still active in it. We so easily forget the fact that we are precious beings who have received such great love. Therefore, you must remember that your family and fellow congregants are truly precious people who live by the grace of God.

 

If we don't do that, we will very easily start to compare ourselves to the world and become disappointed. Rachel had her husband Jacob, but from the passage, it appears he was not of much help. The Bible records that Jacob became angry as soon as he heard Rachel's words. He said, "Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, 'Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?'" This is absolutely true. How could Jacob take the place of God and give her children? However, Jacob could have said, "Rachel, as you know, it is God who is in control of all these things; wouldn't this be in God's hands? How can I take His place?" If he had said this, the story would have been different.

 

However, he must have said in anger, "Why are you taking it out on me? What have I done wrong? What do you want me to do when God is the one who isn't giving you children? How can I take the place of God?" Please consider the emotions Rachel must have felt during this incident. And consider what Jacob was doing wrong. Jacob was saying the right thing, but he was not actually believing it. He spoke as if he knew God's sovereignty, saying, "All this is in God's hands and under His sovereignty, so what can we do?" But the truth is, he was using sovereignty as an excuse and not doing what he should have done.

 

If Jacob had truly believed in God's sovereignty, wouldn't it have been right for him to say to his wife, "The owner of all this, the one who is in control of all this, is God; let us go to that God together"? If he had truly believed that God was the sovereign one. However, he may have said that God was sovereign, but he did not believe it. Instead, he brought God into the matter to make an excuse for himself. "What did I do so wrong? It's not my fault. What do you want me to do when God isn't giving you children?"

 

Jacob knew the answer, but God is not pleased with just knowing the answer. He is not pleased with us giving the right answers; rather, He is pleased with every moment we spend working on the problem with Him, growing closer to Him, learning about Him. God is pleased with every moment we become more intimate with Him. God is not pleased when you come to Him with the right answer, asking, "God, what score did I get?"

 

We often get this so wrong. We have been told so many times that we are on the path of the Pharisees, yet we are only interested in how well we are doing before God and how many right answers we have. We think that doing so is a good thing. Of course, knowing the answer is not a bad thing. Did the Pharisees really not know the answer? Was the problem that they didn't know the Bible? No. The reason they interpreted the Bible according to their own will was that they did not truly know God. That is why they did not recognize Christ.

 

The Lord wants to enter into this problem with you, go through the difficulties together, and learn who God is. At the same time, God will want to get to know and love you, walk with you, and share in the true joy of life. But instead of wanting that, we want to get the answer quickly so we can have what we want.

 

So, let me ask you to think once more. What is God pleased with? Even if you struggle, fall, get exhausted, and collapse while walking with the Lord, the place where a believer must stand is to not leave the Lord and to walk this path with Him, learning more about Him, and not being lazy in bearing the fruit of Jesus Christ in your life through Him.

 

Faith is Not Like a Buffet

I want to call Jacob's faith a buffet faith. He said the right thing about "God's sovereignty," but he selectively used it only for his own benefit. If he had spoken of sovereignty, he should have prayed. He should have prayed with her, saying, "God, please resolve this and be with us." But Jacob did not pray. He picked one of God's words and ignored the rest.

 

That is why our predecessors in faith always urged us. They said to boldly preach the Word of God, but preach all of it. This means not acting as if we know everything by just holding on to one part of the Word, but always remembering the whole Word and thinking about what pleases God.

 

In any case, if a person does not go to God, they have no choice but to resort to their own methods and the ways of the world. Jacob's lack of true belief in God's sovereignty is also proven in this matter. Rachel's solution was to have a son through her maid. Jacob knew how big of a failure this would lead to but did it without a word. He must have known how much his grandmother Sarah suffered because of this. Rachel also must have known that this would lead to failure. Nonetheless, she could not suppress her greed for a child. This is the core of Rachel's second problem.

 

Rachel does not bring her problem to God but tries to solve it on her own, relying on her own methods. In church, we often hear sermons telling us to rely on God and not on ourselves or the world. While that is true, it is not so easy to do.

 

It would be nice if God gave us specific instructions, but He speaks vaguely, like "Love with all your heart and with all your soul." We can get confused as to what it means to love God with all our heart, strength, and mind.

 

The reason this problem is so difficult is that we want to get the answer quickly rather than asking for wisdom. As humans, we all like to get immediate results rather than deliberating and gaining something through life. That is why dramas and novels that have been popular throughout history often have events where the main character suddenly gets stronger or their love suddenly deepens, so they get results easily. We want such events.

 

In sports, music, and art, there are sometimes prodigies. They produce amazing results with little effort. But even prodigies work harder because they are good at it. They repeatedly practice the most basic things. Artists continue to draw basic shapes, and musicians repeatedly practice the most basic chords and scales.

 

For those who play golf, tennis, or badminton, what do you do every day? You repeatedly practice the same stance. That's difficult. But that's the same difficulty that becomes a problem for our faith as well. We forget that the things we face every day, experience every day, and encounter every day in our lives are the most important training. And that's why we often try to create separate discipleship training. Not that it is a bad thing. We want to undergo special training. Special training is not necessarily bad. But your real training is in every moment you face every day.

 

But we do not bring those moments to God; instead, we try to solve them with our own methods and ways of problem-solving. That's where the problem arises. Why is this a problem? It is a problem because of this:

 

The moment you try to solve a problem using your own methods, what actually happens? Originally, God was the owner of all your distress, problems, and health. When you work on that problem with God, God is the owner. But the moment you introduce your own method, you become the owner.

 

At that moment, you have no choice but to become the owner of the problem, the owner of the distress, and the owner of the pain. And this creates an even more miserable moment. That is why the Bible does not speak to you vaguely. It asks if you don't want God to be the owner of your pain, your tears, and even your health, and it tells you to come to the Lord.

 

A Faith that Interprets on its Own Terms

Rachel, by giving her maid to Jacob, declared that from now on she would solve all the problems with her own hands, that she would be the owner of the problem. And through her maid, she had two sons. But what astonishes us is Rachel's interpretation of those children.

 

Rachel named her first son "Dan." "Dan" means "to judge" or "to make a decision." Rachel interprets this as, "God has vindicated me and heard my plea." This means that God has taken her side and said that she is right compared to Leah. She said, "God has now begun to do this for me," and she made her own interpretation.

 

But this is completely different from the truth. Rachel was trying to solve this problem with her own method, not God's. The moment God responded to Rachel's problem was much later, in Genesis 30:22. It was only then, when it says, "Then God remembered Rachel," that God finally thought of her. Even though everything was going according to Rachel's own methods, she interpreted it as "God has done this."

 

Rachel, after doing everything herself, said, "God has done this," interpreting the events that happened to her on her own terms. This is called "Ajeoninsu" in Korean (我田引水). This phrase, which means "drawing water into one's own field," describes a self-serving interpretation of a situation. This is a Japanese-style idiom.

 

The most representative example of such a self-serving interpretation is the story of Baeksa and Myeongbo, that is, Oseong and Haneum (Lee Hang-bok and Lee Deok-hyeong). The story of the two of them who constantly joked and argued, "I am your father," reached King Seonjo's ears. The king prepared two pieces of paper, one with the Chinese character for "father (父)" and the other for "son (子)," to decide who was the father and who was the son.

 

Each of them picked a piece of paper. Lee Deok-hyeong (Haneum) could not hide his joy and laughed, saying, "I am the father." But to King Seonjo's surprise, Lee Hang-bok (Oseong) was also laughing. When the king asked, "Why are you laughing? You have the character for 'son,'" Lee Hang-bok placed the paper on his lap and said, "I have gained a son today, so why wouldn't I be happy?" This is one of the greatest examples of a self-serving interpretation.

 

Our actions are similar to Rachel's. We do everything with our own methods and then interpret it as "God has done everything." This kind of behavior is familiar to us as well. When we say, "God did everything," we act as if we have faith, but how often do we say that after we have made all sorts of mistakes?

 

Many of the events and problems in the church are no different. This is perhaps the most serious Achilles' heel in our faith life. We do everything according to our own will and then cover it up by saying, "It must be God's will." This may be a form of self-justification, but it is not a genuine act of faith.

 

Look at Rachel's case. She says, "Look, I gave birth to a son, so I must be right. God is with me, and He has done this for me." The scariest thing is that our feelings and thoughts are above the Word of God, but we are not even aware of it. We are under the illusion that we are speaking according to the Word of God.

 

In Peter's words, this is interpreting the Word on one's own terms. We do not understand the Word in the context of the Word itself, and our emotions and thoughts precede the Bible, yet we are not even aware of it.

 

During the Protestant Reformation, which we all know well, Martin Luther tried to point out this problem most accurately. He insisted, "Let us think according to the Word of God." At that time, people said, "Peasants don't even know how to read, so it's right that we learn the Bible and teach it to them." This seemed to make sense, but it was something that should not have been compromised with the command to teach God's Word to all people.

 

The saying, "If you serve, work hard, and give to God, won't He hear your prayers?" also sounds plausible. However, the Bible correctly teaches that God does not look at how fervently and earnestly we pray, but whether we pray by relying on the name of Jesus Christ. We ignore the Word of God because of our emotions and thoughts.

 

The Source of Victory and Joy: Jesus Christ

Rachel not only named her first son "Dan," but also named her second son "Naphtali." "Naphtali" means "to win in a contest," meaning, "I have won against my sister Leah." In the same way, we often interpret a situation as a blessing from God when things turn out the way we wanted them to.

 

Think about the prayers you made before the college entrance exam in the past or the SAT today. How many times have we prayed to get better grades than we studied for, for the answers to be seen clearly, and for our pencils to choose the right answers? These prayers reveal a facet of our faith.

 

We prayed, "My child did not study hard, but please help him get good grades," and we never thought that such a prayer was unjust. We never prayed, "Please make us reap what we sow." Our prayers have always been so desperate to package our own will as God's will. As a result, instead of walking on the right path of faith, we have made God our servant.

 

The reason this problem plunged deeper into the mire was because of Leah. She had four sons already, and she could have told Rachel, "It's okay; don't worry." But Leah was probably most angry that Rachel said, "I have won." Thinking, "Why would you win? I have won," she also had two more sons through her maid.

 

She then gave her sons amazing names. The first son's name was "Gad." In the Korean Bible, it is translated as "blessed," but in the English Bible, it actually means "fortune." Leah was expressing her superiority, saying, "I fall backward and my nose doesn't break; a blessing has come to me." She boasted that she had children easily, while Rachel had to use her maid to have children.

 

The name of the next son was "Asher." This means, "All the daughters (women) will call me happy." Leah's perspective was also on how others saw her. Her heart was filled with the thought, "They will see me, not you, and know that I am the blessed woman."

 

Leah also could not escape this competition and fell into the mud. This messy situation is also common in our lives. We start with problems that can be easily resolved, but as our emotions get involved, we start to hate the person, and most of the time, our pride becomes more important than the problem itself.

 

The reason why we cannot forgive someone is that although the problem ended a long time ago, our pride refuses to give it up. This is a problem we all face. Nevertheless, we sometimes make our lives a mess like Rachel and Leah.

 

The House of God Established by Christ

How is it that the messy story of Rachel and Leah is portrayed differently in the Bible? Can you guess where this verse comes from?

 

"Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, 'We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have a thriving life in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.'"

 

Here, "the woman" refers to Ruth. The people told Naomi and Ruth, "May you be like Rachel and Leah, who built up the house of Israel." How could their lives, which were filled with envy and jealousy, be a blessing?

 

There is only one reason: because of the child to be born in Bethlehem, that is, because of David, who would be born from Ruth's house, and Jesus Christ, who would come from David. For this reason, the story of Rachel and Leah could become a blessing.

 

The Bible praises the story of Rachel and Leah, which we see as a ridiculous "makjang drama," as "Rachel and Leah, who built up the house of Israel." It is an amazing thing that Ruth was told to be like them. This is possible for one reason alone: Jesus Christ.

 

Christ was different from Rachel, who gave everything to her sons to satisfy her greed, and Leah, who hung on to her husband. He was the Son of God who loved us, sinners, so much that He was even envious of us.

 

Christ did not interpret the Word on His own terms but gave up His own will and went to the cross to fulfill God's will. He is the one who, before the judgment seat of "Dan," made us righteous. He became our "Gad" by giving His life for us. He is not just simple good luck but the source of all our blessings. He is our "Asher," our joy, and our "Naphtali," our victory.

 

Because of Jesus Christ, who made the names of the sons not meaningless, Rachel and Leah were able to become the ones who built up the house of Israel, and Ruth was told to be like them.

 

Only because of Jesus Christ is all this possible. Without Christ, our lives would be a complete mess and like a muddy pit. When we look back on our lives, we have many regrets and are often not satisfied. But because of Jesus Christ, we can say, "I, too, have become the temple of God, the house of God." And we can tell others that we want them to believe in Jesus Christ as we do.

 

I Have Overcome the World

We are in that place. While Rachel and Leah built the house of Israel, Jesus builds us as the house of God. In this absurd reality, where wars don't stop, prices keep rising, we have to worry about money every day, and we feel anxious about what will happen to our jobs, Jesus Christ is still fulfilling and will continue to fulfill the promise He made to us in this world full of greed and selfishness. For He will keep all the promises He made to us and Himself.

 

Remember this verse from the Gospel of John: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He becomes our "Gad," giving us blessings, and our "Asher," giving us joy.

 

Let me conclude with these words from the Apostle John, who wrote the same letter, from 1 John 5:4. "For everyone born of God overcomes the world." The name "Naphtali," or "victory," becomes yours because of Jesus. The name "blessing" and the name "joy" become your names because of Jesus. "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith in Jesus Christ."

 

Prayer

Lord, thank you. We are in this place because of you, and we thank you and rejoice because of you. Because you are my Lord, and your name has been fulfilled in my life. We are not the house of Israel but have been built up as the house of God, and we are the ones who have built up this house.

 

Lord, may everyone come into this house and eat and drink together and rejoice together. May we weep and suffer together in this place, and may there be a revival where we cherish each other, those precious saints, even more in this place. Lord, pour out your grace and love. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.