In this daily Bible reading is the account of Jacob leaving his home and family in Beersheba and going to Haran. Rebecca’s brother, Laban, lived in Haran, and Isaac instructed Jacob to take a wife from Laban’s daughters.
On his way to Haran, Jacob spent the night in what is now the town of Bethel in Israel. God appeared to Jacob in a dream and told Jacob that God would bless Jacob. God said He would give Jacob’s descendants the land God promised to Abraham and Isaac.
When Jacob arrived in Haran, Laban took Jacob into his house. Laban had two daughters, Rachel and Leah. Leah was the older of the two. Jacob loved Rachel and made an agreement with Laban to work for seven years for the hand of Rachel in marriage.
At the end of seven years Laban had a large wedding banquet and substituted Leah for Rachel. Therefore, Jacob went in to Leah that night thinking she was Rachel. Jacob discovered Laban’s deception in the morning. Laban had wanted his older daughter to marry first. Laban then gave Rachel to Jacob in exchange for seven more years of work. So, just as Jacob had deceived his father, Isaac, for Isaac’s blessings, Jacob was also deceived. Jacob’s sin against his father was returned to him.
