The Deceiver Deceived

I'm Rod Carlson. My daughter is Allyson Martinez, which makes me your pastor's father-in-law.

You've been in this great series called The Life of Jacob.

If you're new, here's a quick recap.

Jacob is the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham.

Even if you're not familiar with the Bible, you've probably heard those names.

Those three men are a big deal.

Thirty-nine of the fifty chapters of Genesis tell the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their families.

They're stories of three flawed men whom God patiently transformed into the fathers of the nation of Israel.

Today our focus is Jacob.

Jacob and his twin brother Esau struggled even in the womb.

Later Jacob cheated his hungry brother, deceived his blind father with the help of his mother, and then fled because Esau wanted to kill him.

On that journey he stopped for the night and had an incredible encounter with God.

The next morning, he named that place Bethel—"the house of God."

Pastor Matt preached that passage so well last week.

Today Jacob arrives at his uncle Laban's home, meets his cousin Rachel, and once again we see a family pattern

Deception

If you've ever been tricked, you know how it feels.

Hurt.

Angry.

Embarrassed.

A while back I found what looked like a brand-new Toro lawn mower on eBay for ninety-nine dollars.

I followed the shipping updates.

I waited.

Nothing ever came.

Matt and Allyson still enjoy reminding me about that purchase.

But losing ninety-nine dollars on a lawn mower is one thing.

Finding out your father-in-law tricked you into marrying your fiancée's sister—that's deception on a completely different level.

So today I'd like us to consider three ways deception touches everyone’s life.

1. Deceiving others.
2. Deceiving ourselves.
3. Being deceived.

Turn with me to Genesis 29/Renovation Bible pp20

Let’s read verses 1-14

Deceiving Others

Jacob arrives near Harran and meets Rachel at a well. She runs home and tells her father Laban, who welcomes Jacob into his home.

The first words that caught my attention were these:

"Then Jacob continued on his journey."

Remember why he was on that journey.

Because of deception.

He had cheated his brother and lied to his father.

The text doesn't tell us what Jacob was thinking as he walked toward Laban's house.

Maybe he was afraid.

Maybe he regretted what he'd done.

Maybe he was wondering what his future would hold.

We don't know.

But we do know this:

He was journeying away from the place where he had deceived other people.

I recently heard a psychologist say something fascinating.

She said, "I certainly counsel people who regret what they did. But I counsel far more people who regret what they didn’t do."

People regret the career they never pursued.

The city they never moved to.

The relationship they never invested in.

The risks they never took.

Those are real regrets.

But Jacob reminds us there is another danger.

We can journey so far from our own deceptive behavior that we forget the hurt we caused other people.

Time has a way of softening our own memories while the people we hurt may still be living with the consequences.

One of the healthiest prayers we can pray is:

"God, don't let me simply move on from my failures. Help me become the person You are calling me to be."

This is what happened to Jacob at Bethel

That experience wasn't just about a better future.

It was about becoming a different man.

God doesn't simply forgive us.

He transforms us.

Deceiving Ourselves

Let’s read now together verses 14-21

Were focusing on three ways deception touches everyone’s life.

1st Deceiving Others

2nd Deceiving Ourselves

Jacob stays with Laban for a month.

Laban asks what his wages should be.

Jacob is deeply in love with Rachel and offers to work seven years for her hand in marriage.

The Bible says those seven years seemed like only a few days because of his love for her.

Then we're introduced to Rachel's older sister, Leah.

The NIV says, "Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful."

I've always been uncomfortable with the way most versions translate this because it sounds like the Bible is comparing the sisters and implying Leah wasn't attractive.

One Old Testament scholar points out that the Hebrew can also be translated, "Leah had tender eyes, and Rachel was beautiful."

In other words, the emphasis may not be that Leah lacked beauty.

The emphasis is that Jacob loved Rachel.

He did not love Leah.

In fact, the very next passage says, "When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved..."

That's the real tragedy.

Not that Leah wasn't beautiful.

But that she wasn't loved.

Not appearance.

Love.

We often say, "Looks can be deceiving."

In this story something much deeper was deceiving Jacob.

His own heart.

He loved one woman while withholding love from another.

That's where this story becomes very personal.

It’s easy to deceive ourselves into thinking the people closest to us don't notice where our real affection lies.

Proverbs 30 says,

"Under three things the earth trembles...and one of them is…
an unloved woman when she gets a husband."

"An unloved woman when she gets a husband..."

I wonder if some of us have convinced ourselves that our spouse doesn't notice we've given our hearts somewhere else.

Maybe not to another person, or maybe another person?

Maybe to work.

Sports.

A hobby.

Success.

Maybe our children feel like they're competing for our attention.

Or perhaps we've quietly stopped loving a parent, a sibling, or a friend because of an old wound.

We tell ourselves they don't notice.

But they do.

One of the deepest pains a human being can experience is feeling unloved.

One of the greatest gifts we can give another person is simply to love them well.

I often wonder if Jacob eventually learned that lesson.

Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.

Years later, near the end of Jacob's life, he gathered his sons and told them where he wanted to be buried.

But near the end of Jacob's life, as he blesses his sons, he tells them where to bury him.

He says,

"There Abraham and Sarah were buried.

There Isaac and Rebekah were buried.

And there I buried Leah."

That little statement makes me wonder whether, over many years, God softened Jacob's heart.

Maybe he finally learned to value the woman he had overlooked for so long.

Being Deceived

Let’s read now together verses 22-30

We’re focusing on three ways deception touches everyone’s life.

1st Deceiving Others

2nd Deceiving Ourselves

3rd Being Deceived

Now, we come to one of the great reversals in Scripture.

Laban prepares the wedding feast.

But under cover of darkness, he sends Leah into Jacob's tent instead of Rachel.

Morning comes.

Jacob discovers the deception.

And he asks,

"Why have you deceived me?"

Isn't that remarkable?

The deceiver has become the deceived.

The man who fooled his father now knows what it feels like to be fooled himself.

Jacob is outraged.

"What have you done to me?"

The irony is hard to miss.

Every one of us knows what it feels like to be deceived.

Some of you have experienced betrayals that were incredibly painful.

Someone lied to you.

Someone broke trust.

Someone made promises they never intended to keep.

Those wounds are real.

God never minimizes them.

But Jacob's story reminds us of something else.

Sometimes the people who feel most offended by deception have also been guilty of deceiving others.

Pain has a way of opening our eyes.

Jacob finally understood what deception feels like because now he was on the receiving end.

This time, instead of journeying away, Jacob stayed.

He accepted Laban's terms.

He worked another seven years.

As you continue reading Genesis, you begin to see something beautiful.

God uses disappointments like this to slowly reshape Jacob's character.

God rarely changes people overnight.

He patiently works through years of success.

Years of failure.

Years of disappointment.

Years of waiting.

Until we become more like the people He intended us to be.

That's Jacob's story.

And maybe it's ours too.

Conclusion

As we finish, let me leave you with these three questions.

First:

Is there someone you've deceived?

Maybe it's with words.

Maybe with silence.

Maybe you've simply walked away from the hurt you've caused.

Ask God for your own Bethel experience.

Not just forgiveness.

Transformation.

Second:

Are you deceiving yourself?

Has someone close to you stopped feeling loved?

Don't assume they can't tell.

Love is rarely measured by what we say.

It's measured by what we consistently give our attention to.

And finally:

Have you been deceived?

If so, you know how deeply it hurts.

But don't waste that pain.

Let it make you more compassionate.

More truthful.

More dependent on God.

Jacob began this chapter as a deceiver.

He ended it as the deceived.

But that wasn't the end of his story.

God was still at work.

Over the coming years God would change Jacob from a man known for grasping and deceiving into a man who trusted God enough to limp forward in faith.

That's the good news for us today.

No matter where deception has touched your life—whether you've deceived others, deceived yourself, or been deceived by someone else—God is still in the business of transforming people.

He did it for Jacob.

And He can do it for us.

Let’s pray.