Genesis 29: The Deceiver Will be Deceived

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You'll find more and see more than I can ever articulate. Welcome to Chapter by Chapter and today's chapter is Genesis 29. I can tell this story because the man has passed away some years ago. It happened at a church at a midweek service. A friend of mine told me to come and hear this special speaker for their conference. I was so excited because there was a buzz around the nation and how God was using this man. I got there late because we had church that night too. When I arrived he was just being introduced and I was on the edge of my seat and then the unimaginable happened. I was extremely busy because I was doing graduate work at a theology school and was just finishing up my third Greek course. It was rigorous but rewarding. I saw this evening as a reward also for the hard work until I was blindsided by the sermon that night. The man's speaking started stirring up the standing room only crowd by overwhelming them with Greek words. I thought to myself humorously that I was trying to get away from the ancient language and here's a lot more and then as I listened the man was making up definitions of these words to gain a shout and a pause even a reaction was dumbfounded. I knew the words he was saying from the New Testament. I even whispered to my wife and said he's not telling the truth. This is not what that word means. He made up definitions for trusting listeners who most had no idea the real meaning of those words. I felt like the only person in the room that knew what was happening was a sophomoric theology student. It was happening that night. I couldn't believe my ears. After service I went backstage to my friend, the pastor of the church. I remembered the whispered conversation clearly. I said in a low voice be careful of this man. He did not tell the truth that night. He made up a number of things in a sermon and then I said these words to him that deceiver will be deceived. The deceiver will be deceived. I never used that phrase and I have to believe it came that moment from the Holy Spirit. Some 30 years later this story comes up between me and my friend because it did happen. This popular preacher started going down a dark path theologically. He lost everything because he started to believe deceptive theological lies that eventually shriveled up every part of his life. The deceiver became deceived. I don't say that vindictively. I'd say it soberly. Genesis 29 is the deceiver being deceived. Jacob, the man who deceived his brother, Esau, twice is now running for his life and ends up in Iran and he will meet his new wife, Rachel, but he will also meet his match. He will encounter a greater deceiver, his uncle, Laban. The deceiver is about to be deceived. It always happens. Jacob is running away from his brother Esau who wants to kill him for stealing both his birthright and his blessing. The second deceitful moment when Jacob dressed up like Esau to get his father's elderly sudden prayer was the last straw. Rebecca says for him to run away to their uncle's village and Jacob does, he meets his future wife, Rachel, and falls in love. He tells his uncle he would work for seven years for him and then asks at the end for the blessing on their marriage to which his uncle agrees. I would put agrees in quotation marks. What happens next is the beginning of two decades of Jacob being outwitted. He worked seven years that on honeymoon night, Jacob finds out that the woman in his bed is another woman. Laban switched out Rachel and put in his older daughter, Leah. Listen to verse 21, then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go into her." Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. Now in the evening, he took his daughter, Leah, and brought her to him and Jacob went into her. Laban also gave his maid, Zilpa, to his daughter, Leah, as a maid. So he came about in the morning that, "Behold, it was Leah." And he said to Laban, "What has this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?" But Laban said, "It's not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve me for another seven years." When verse 25 says, "So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah, it made me think about the birthright and the blessing that Jacob stole." It made me think of Esau's reaction to what was taken from him. Deceitful people will eventually be deceived and find out you've been lied to and wake up to a Leah in your bed. Deceit is different than lying. Lying is making a false statement. It is saying something that is just not true. Deception is deeper and more diabolical. To deceive involves lying, but much more. It involves misdirection, manipulation, and creating a false impression. Lying may be mere words, but deception is false creation. You're wanting people to believe something about you, not just about your words. Lying is about the statement. Deception is about the person that is lying. The book of the New Testament that has the most about Deceit comes from a deceiver. The writer is Peter. If anyone knows the consequences of Deceit, it's the Apostle Peter. He says this three times. 1 Peter 21, put aside all malice and all deceit. He says in 1 Peter 21 to 21, "For you have been called for this purpose since Christ suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin nor was Deceit found in his mouth." In 1 Peter 310, "For the one who desires life to love and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking Deceit." I realize very clearly that Spurgeon's words are true. Be aware of no man more than of yourself. We carry our worst enemies within us. I can be a deceiver too. When I heard that man deceive from a pulpit many years ago, I have to tell you the truth. I was more scared about me and my heart entering into that kind of darkness than about his consequences. Someone said it this way. When we cease sin, we are close to the light. Only when we don't cease sin, we should be suspicious of our hearts. I want to be close to the light. Show me my heart, Lord. Thank you for joining chapter by chapter. Every chapter from the greatest book, The Bible, the Word of God, seven minutes a day, seven days a week. We'll see you tomorrow.