This is the Baymont podcast with Marty Solomon. I'm his co-host, Brent Billings. Today, we will finish our conversation for this particular character study of Jacob.

We suggested in the last episode that God was with Jacob even if he did not approve of his actions. Why does God delay justice and or punishment?

Yeah, when I pick up right where we left off in our last conversation. And yeah, when I rest with that, we said essentially that God was staying with Jacob. He had a promise. He wanted to fulfill.

It wasn't necessarily that he approved of how Jacob was walking the path. It's not necessarily that approved of how he got to that spot, but he wasn't that spot.

And God was still with them, maybe in spite of himself. So let's unpack these two ideas. Like, why does God not step in? Why does he delay punishment? Why does he delay judgment?

Obviously, if Jacob is in the wrong, why is God just kind of like hanging out like passively acting like that's okay. It seems like. And then why is God delaying justice? Like he saw as far from squeaky clean. We've already looked at that. Like he's got his own stuff.

He saw as a human being as well, but he saw it's definitely been wronged. And so why is God delaying justice for isa and punishment for Jacob? Like how can this? All those things that always made me in 2017 Brent. So bothered by this narrative.

Why is God not acting more readily here? So we're going to pick up. We left off at the end of Genesis 28 last time. So let's pick up at the beginning of Genesis 29. And we're looking for Mishpoth or Dean in this case. We're both.

Great question. Colley throw back there to session two. I like that. Yeah, I think we're looking for both here and one and why is God delaying Mishpoth for isa. And it's a great example. I think we said that sometimes Mishpoth requires or involves Dean.

Like it feels like this would be one of those times we should see that like God should have some judgment, some Dean for Jacob in order to give isa. Mishpoth. That's a great way to phrase that question. Brent, I like that.

I mean, I guess it would require that because they can't both have the blessing of the first born right. Dang, Brent. That is a good, stinking question. The more I think about that, the more I love it. Yeah, you nailed it with that. That is absolutely correct. Cause that.

That's what we're going to see here in this story is really truly how it is that God, like how I don't want this to be too judgmental, but how our perspective is so limited and finite.

And when you're in the business of being God, when you're in the business of being the Lord and you truly care about Mishpoth, what does it take to truly restore to repair to pursue Mishpoth?

We're going to see that dynamic here. I mean, that's such a good question to ask and such a great way to. Because it seems so easy on the surface. It seems like, hey, we're just going to do this in this and it's going to be great. And there you go and Mishpoth.

And yet, we're going to see through this story that if God truly does want Mishpoth.

He's letting the story play out some. So let's figure out why. Okay, Genesis 29, then Yakuof continued on his journey and came to the land of the Eastern peoples. There he saw a well in the open country with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well.

The stone over the mouth of the well was large when all the flocks were gathered there. The shepherds would roll the stone away from the well's mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well. Yakuof asked the shepherds, my brothers, where are you from? Or from heron they replied.

He said to them, do you know Levan, Nahor's grandson? Yes, we know him. They answered. Then Yakuof asked him, is he well? Yes, he is. They said. And here comes his daughter. Rahel, is any say that? Rahel. Rahel with the sheep.

Look, he said, the sun is still high. It is not time for the flocks to be gathered, water the sheep and take them back to pasture. We can't they replied until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.

While he was still talking with them, Rahel came with her father sheep, for she was a shepherd. When Yakuof saw Rahel, daughter of uncle Levan and Levan sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle's sheep. Then Yakuof kissed Rahel and began to weep aloud. He had told Rahel that he was a relative of her father and his son of Ruvka, so she ran and told her father.

As soon as Levan heard the news about Yakuof, his sister's son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home. And there Yakuof told him all these things. Then Levan said to him, you are my own flesh and blood.

Here we have the story of where Jacob meets Rahel for the first time and the rabbinical conversation swirls around almost hinges on not the verse out of all these verses that you would typically think to look at, swirls around the idea of verse 11.

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