So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?” (v.25)
Wow! Jacob discovering he had married a different woman than he though had to be quite the “wake-up call.” Jacob was fine with "mistaken identity" when he tricked his father for Esau's blessing. But now felt differently when he was the one being tricked.
The story begins with Jacob in an unfamiliar position of servitude. If Isaac would have given Jacob some valuables for a dowry—or sent a servant to find him a wife as his father Abraham had done—Jacob would not have owed Laban a debt of service. But Jacob had not yet received any inheritance from Isaac's considerable wealth, and Laban took full advantage of the opportunity by striking an arrangement with Jacob to work seven years for him to earn Rachel’s hand in marriage…or so he thought.
When the days of the contract were completed, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife (Rachel), for my time is completed, that I may ago in to her” (v.21). But in Laban he met his devious match. On the wedding night, Laban slipped Rachel's sister Leah into the bed. The bride was veiled, it was dark, the groom may have had too much wine, and the trick worked. After Jacob's angry reaction and a week's wedding celebration, Laban allowed Jacob to marry Rachel in exchange for his promise to serve another seven years. The second seven-year stretch probably didn't pass nearly as quickly as the first.
There’s an old saying, “What goes around comes around” and Jacob was experiencing just that. It’s always easy to see the improper actions of another, never quit as easy to see them in ourselves. Yet when Jacob saw a mirror of himself in Laban's words and actions, his self-confidence must have been shaken - all part of God's plan.
May the LORD help us to be people of integrity, not selfish deceivers.
The Truth: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
