Sermonette: God even uses the love pentagon

“The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” That is how God is often referred to. He is the God that Jewish forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob called upon. The God who promised Abraham he’d be a great nation – despite Abraham only having one son of the promise. The God who promised Isaac he’d be a great nation – despite again, only one son of the promise. It’s Jacob where God finally begins to make a nation with Abraham’s family through the 12 sons of Jacob. But have you ever read the chapter when the first 11 sons are born? It’s chapter 30 of Genesis. Go read it.

You’d expect the chapter when God’s plan takes a huge step forward to be a chapter of blessing, faithfulness and piety, but it’s not. Genesis 30 is a relationship nightmare. Jacob is tricked into marrying the wrong sister, so he’s stuck with not just beautiful Rachel, but her sister Leah, too. So, Leah is popping out kids with a man who doesn’t love her to try and earn his love. It’s so bad Leah is purchasing bedroom time with her husband Jacob to make more children. Rachel has Jacob’s love, but only has one child while watching her sister have six sons and at least one daughter. As if that’s not bad enough the two women force their maids to sleep with Jacob so they can have even more children! And Jacob goes along with all of this. He ends up eventually having 12 sons: two with the woman he loves, six with her sister he’s stuck with, and four from two maids he basically raped. And here’s the kicker: Genesis tells us he had more than one daughter but doesn’t specify beyond that Rachel didn’t have any daughters and Leah had at least one. We have no idea how many daughters were born to Leah and the maids that just don’t get mentioned. Tada! God’s people. The beginning of Israel. The ancestors of Moses, David, Jesus and all 13 apostles.

Genesis 30 is the chapter where God’s people go from one family to 12 tribes and it is horrifying. It is an extremely heartbreaking story of love, neglect and abuse. And God used it to create his people. Other religious books paint their forefathers as great men and women but not the Bible. The story of the Bible isn’t “look at how great God's followers are,” it’s “look at how human they are, and God still used them.” If you’re a sinner, if you’ve made mistakes and have fallen far from being the kind of person God deserves, read Genesis 30. Bathe yourself in the fact that if God can use the “love-pentagon” of Jacob, Leah, Rachel and the two maids, he can use you. Leah’s third son: Judah, the ancestor of Jesus. Her fourth: Levi, the ancestor of Moses. Rachel’s first son: Joseph, the savior of the entire family. Our God uses broken people, broken choices and horrible situations to do amazing things. Moreover, our God is the kind of God who can make beauty out of the worst sin. Genesis 30 is proof of that. Saul/Paul is proof of that. Calvary is proof of that.