Proper 12
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
We find before us a very worldly story of love and deceit on the part of two very worldly men. All through these stories of Jacob and Laban we find two scoundrels who seem bent on trying to outdo the other in trickery. Far from dealing with only some ethereal, spiritual realm, the Bible throughout deals with the grubbiness of human life as it is actually lived. And it is in the middle of that sordidness, with its power-plays and pettiness, that the scriptures find God at work.
Jacob has fled toward his Uncle Laban's house in Mesopotamia to escape the wrath of his brother Esau, whom Jacob has cheated out of his birthright and blessing as the firstborn of Isaac. As Jacob nears Haran, he encounters a group of shepherds keeping their sheep, who point out Rachel, Laban's daughter, to him. It apparently is love at first sight. Rachel is "beautiful and lovely" (v. 17) and Jacob knows that he must make her his wife.
Because Jacob is going to stay with Laban for awhile and work for him, Laban asks what wages Jacob requires. Jacob, in an extravaganza of love, says that he will work for Laban for seven years if Laban will consent for Rachel to marry him (v. 18).
The clinker in the story is that Laban has two daughters, Leah, which means "cow," and who has "weak" eyes -- that is, her eyes are not dark and lustrous, but pale and shading toward blue. She apparently is not very attractive, but she is the older of the two sisters (vv. 16-17). Rachel, which means "ewe," on the other hand is lovely, and because Jacob loves her so much, the seven years that he works to obtain her seem to him like a few days (v. 20). His is definitely a relationship of deepest love with Rachel, not a commercial arrangement.
It is not proper for the younger daughter to marry prior to the older, however, and so when the wedding night comes, Laban substitutes a heavily-veiled Leah for Rachel in the wedding tent. Imagine Jacob's shock the next morning, after the marriage has been consummated, when he awakes and "behold, it is Leah" (v. 25). Jacob is furious, as well he might be. But Laban promises him that if he will go along with the week of wedding festivities and then work seven more years, he may have Rachel as a wife also at the end of the festivities. So Jacob gets his heart's desire and Rachel is his at the end of the seven days, but he must continue to work for seven years as the bridal price paid for her (vv. 26-30).
It is not a happy arrangement. Jacob hates Leah and loves Rachel, but Rachel is barren, while the Lord in mercy opens Leah's womb. God, it seems, always favors the despised, the outcast, and the helpless. And it is Leah who becomes the mother of the forbears of four of the tribes of Israel -- Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. With the birth of each son, poor Leah hopes, apparently in vain, that the child will cause Jacob to love her too (vv. 31-39). We never hear that such love is given, however, and indeed, the narrator's interest is entirely centered on the sons who are born.
What is such a secular story doing in the Bible? Other than revealing to us the mercy of God toward one despised, does it say anything to us about the working of the Lord? Well, yes, it does, because from Leah, the ugly and hated wife, later comes forth David from the tribe of Judah and Moses from the tribe of Levi. God has used, as he so often does, a seemingly distasteful situation to continue to further his purpose for his people Israel. God takes the most unlikely situation and turns it into a cause of blessing. Here he uses Laban's deceit, and Jacob's love, and Leah's pitiful longing to set the stage for the future deliverance of his people from slavery under Moses and for the coming rule over his people of their greatest king, David. Only a God whose purpose spans all time can do such deeds.
Perhaps that is a revelation to us of the fact that even what seems to us at the time to be the most dreadful situation may be an integral part of the ongoing purpose of God that he is working out through our lives. While we know only the moment, God knows the outcome, and he uses even our most desperate moments to work out his loving purpose.
Lutheran Option: 1 Kings 3:5-12
With this text we enter into the world of Deuteronomic theology. It has long been the view of scholars that everything in the books of Judges through 2 Kings has been edited about 550 B.C. by those who are known as the Deuteronomic editors. Typical of those editors in our text is the high estimation of the faithful kingship of David (v. 6) and of the initial wisdom of Solomon, around whose name many Wisdom traditions clustered.
Most important for our purposes, however, is the Deuteronomic view of the Davidic kingship that is found in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. The preacher should read that passage and note that its main requirement for a good king is that he not accumulate for himself the trappings of other oriental monarchs (Deuteronomy 17:16-17), but that he faithfully follow the Deuteronomic covenant law, walking in God's ways, cleaving to God, and loving the Lord with all his heart and mind and strength.
We are told immediately, therefore, in our text that Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the covenant statues, as did his father David (v. 3). Solomon does not yet worship only at Jerusalem, as Deuteronomy prescribes, because the temple has not yet been built (v. 4), but following our passage, Solomon does offer his thanksgiving sacrifice in that holy city (v. 15).
But in our passage, Solomon is granted a revelatory dream at the place of worship in Gibeon (vv. 5, 15) and because of his love for the Lord, is allowed to ask a gift of the Lord (v. 5). Rather than choosing long life or riches or military victories (cf. v. 11), Solomon asks for an understanding mind to discern between good and evil, to make judicial judgments rightly (which is the meaning of v. 11), and to have wisdom to rule his people. In short, Solomon chooses the pattern of kingship laid out by Deuteronomy. His request is framed in the most humble terms -- three times he calls himself God's "servant" (vv. 7-9), and he further states that he does not know how "to go out and come in," which is a general expression for leadership. In short, Solomon's desire is to have the wisdom which will prosper the welfare of his people. He wants not his own glory, but that wisdom which will allow him faithfully to fulfill his covenant duties to God.
Because Solomon has chosen thus, God grants him also, as a free gift, riches and honor (v. 13) and long life, if Solomon will continue faithful to the covenant law (v. 14).
In the brief space allotted, we cannot discuss Solomon's subsequent disobedience (cf. 1 Kings 11). But because governments are ordained by God to promote right among the populace (cf. Romans 13), we can point to the ideal for rule that this passage sets before us. A ruler, a leader, a president, who is concerned primarily for the welfare of his people, and who wisely promotes that welfare by discerning between good and evil and by knowing what is right -- surely in our day those are the qualities to look for in those whom we elect to govern us.
Jacob has fled toward his Uncle Laban's house in Mesopotamia to escape the wrath of his brother Esau, whom Jacob has cheated out of his birthright and blessing as the firstborn of Isaac. As Jacob nears Haran, he encounters a group of shepherds keeping their sheep, who point out Rachel, Laban's daughter, to him. It apparently is love at first sight. Rachel is "beautiful and lovely" (v. 17) and Jacob knows that he must make her his wife.
Because Jacob is going to stay with Laban for awhile and work for him, Laban asks what wages Jacob requires. Jacob, in an extravaganza of love, says that he will work for Laban for seven years if Laban will consent for Rachel to marry him (v. 18).
The clinker in the story is that Laban has two daughters, Leah, which means "cow," and who has "weak" eyes -- that is, her eyes are not dark and lustrous, but pale and shading toward blue. She apparently is not very attractive, but she is the older of the two sisters (vv. 16-17). Rachel, which means "ewe," on the other hand is lovely, and because Jacob loves her so much, the seven years that he works to obtain her seem to him like a few days (v. 20). His is definitely a relationship of deepest love with Rachel, not a commercial arrangement.
It is not proper for the younger daughter to marry prior to the older, however, and so when the wedding night comes, Laban substitutes a heavily-veiled Leah for Rachel in the wedding tent. Imagine Jacob's shock the next morning, after the marriage has been consummated, when he awakes and "behold, it is Leah" (v. 25). Jacob is furious, as well he might be. But Laban promises him that if he will go along with the week of wedding festivities and then work seven more years, he may have Rachel as a wife also at the end of the festivities. So Jacob gets his heart's desire and Rachel is his at the end of the seven days, but he must continue to work for seven years as the bridal price paid for her (vv. 26-30).
It is not a happy arrangement. Jacob hates Leah and loves Rachel, but Rachel is barren, while the Lord in mercy opens Leah's womb. God, it seems, always favors the despised, the outcast, and the helpless. And it is Leah who becomes the mother of the forbears of four of the tribes of Israel -- Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. With the birth of each son, poor Leah hopes, apparently in vain, that the child will cause Jacob to love her too (vv. 31-39). We never hear that such love is given, however, and indeed, the narrator's interest is entirely centered on the sons who are born.
What is such a secular story doing in the Bible? Other than revealing to us the mercy of God toward one despised, does it say anything to us about the working of the Lord? Well, yes, it does, because from Leah, the ugly and hated wife, later comes forth David from the tribe of Judah and Moses from the tribe of Levi. God has used, as he so often does, a seemingly distasteful situation to continue to further his purpose for his people Israel. God takes the most unlikely situation and turns it into a cause of blessing. Here he uses Laban's deceit, and Jacob's love, and Leah's pitiful longing to set the stage for the future deliverance of his people from slavery under Moses and for the coming rule over his people of their greatest king, David. Only a God whose purpose spans all time can do such deeds.
Perhaps that is a revelation to us of the fact that even what seems to us at the time to be the most dreadful situation may be an integral part of the ongoing purpose of God that he is working out through our lives. While we know only the moment, God knows the outcome, and he uses even our most desperate moments to work out his loving purpose.
Lutheran Option: 1 Kings 3:5-12
With this text we enter into the world of Deuteronomic theology. It has long been the view of scholars that everything in the books of Judges through 2 Kings has been edited about 550 B.C. by those who are known as the Deuteronomic editors. Typical of those editors in our text is the high estimation of the faithful kingship of David (v. 6) and of the initial wisdom of Solomon, around whose name many Wisdom traditions clustered.
Most important for our purposes, however, is the Deuteronomic view of the Davidic kingship that is found in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. The preacher should read that passage and note that its main requirement for a good king is that he not accumulate for himself the trappings of other oriental monarchs (Deuteronomy 17:16-17), but that he faithfully follow the Deuteronomic covenant law, walking in God's ways, cleaving to God, and loving the Lord with all his heart and mind and strength.
We are told immediately, therefore, in our text that Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the covenant statues, as did his father David (v. 3). Solomon does not yet worship only at Jerusalem, as Deuteronomy prescribes, because the temple has not yet been built (v. 4), but following our passage, Solomon does offer his thanksgiving sacrifice in that holy city (v. 15).
But in our passage, Solomon is granted a revelatory dream at the place of worship in Gibeon (vv. 5, 15) and because of his love for the Lord, is allowed to ask a gift of the Lord (v. 5). Rather than choosing long life or riches or military victories (cf. v. 11), Solomon asks for an understanding mind to discern between good and evil, to make judicial judgments rightly (which is the meaning of v. 11), and to have wisdom to rule his people. In short, Solomon chooses the pattern of kingship laid out by Deuteronomy. His request is framed in the most humble terms -- three times he calls himself God's "servant" (vv. 7-9), and he further states that he does not know how "to go out and come in," which is a general expression for leadership. In short, Solomon's desire is to have the wisdom which will prosper the welfare of his people. He wants not his own glory, but that wisdom which will allow him faithfully to fulfill his covenant duties to God.
Because Solomon has chosen thus, God grants him also, as a free gift, riches and honor (v. 13) and long life, if Solomon will continue faithful to the covenant law (v. 14).
In the brief space allotted, we cannot discuss Solomon's subsequent disobedience (cf. 1 Kings 11). But because governments are ordained by God to promote right among the populace (cf. Romans 13), we can point to the ideal for rule that this passage sets before us. A ruler, a leader, a president, who is concerned primarily for the welfare of his people, and who wisely promotes that welfare by discerning between good and evil and by knowing what is right -- surely in our day those are the qualities to look for in those whom we elect to govern us.
