Genesis 29 (NKJV)

Jacob Meets Rachel

1/ So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East. 2/ And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. 3/ Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.
4/ And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”
And they said, “We are from Haran.”

 In Bible times, Haran {A part of Syria} was a major city in Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia means "between the rivers" for example the Euphrates and the Tigris in what is today Iraq. 

 While searching for more indepth knowledge and understanding of who

"the people of the east"

were, and where their lands were in Bible times,

Wikipedia the free encyclopedia states the followng:  

The ancient Near East

was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran, northeastern Syria and Kuwait), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran (Elam, Media, Parthia and Persia), Anatolia/Asia Minor and Armenian Highlands (Turkey's Eastern Anatolia Region, Armenia, northwestern Iran, southern Georgia, and western Azerbaijan), 



the Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Jordan), Cyprus and the Arabian Peninsula.



The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the eastern Mediterranean. Wikipedia

The ancient Near East is studied in the fields of Near Eastern archaeology and ancient history.

The history of the ancient Near East begins with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC. The ancient Near East is considered one of the earliest cradles of civilization.

Still searching, I came across the following writing and pictures on the internet:

 In truth, Iraq has had an African presence for thousands and thousands of years. Indeed, the first civilization of Southwest Asia, known as Sumer and located in Southern Iraq (formerly Mesopotamia "the land between the two rivers") was dominated by Black people. Flourishing during the third millennium B.C.E. between the mighty Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Sumer set the guidelines and established the standards for the kingdoms and empires that followed her including Babylon and Assyria. Sumer, as is well known, has been acknowledged as an early center for advanced mathematics, astronomy and calendars, writing and literature, art and architecture, religion and highly organized urban centers, some of the more notable of which include Kish, Uruk, Ur, Nippur, Lagash and Eridu.

The ancient Sumerians referred to themselves as ùĝ saĝ gígpe, phonetically uŋ saŋ giga, literally meaning "the black-headed people".

They called their land Ki-en-gi, "place of the civilized lords". They were part of thriving Black populations at the dawn of history, including the history of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India and even Europe.

Equally important is the skeletal evidence exhumed from ancient Sumerian cemeteries, Biblical references in which Nimrod (the Old Testament founder of Sumer) is described as a son of Kush (Ethiopia), architectural similarities, eye witness accounts and oral traditions.

Genesis 11:31 "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there."

Article above from internet search.

Ur of the Chaldees

THE GREAT ZIGGUART AT UR IN THE TIME OF ABRAHAH

Historical Background

"God makes a covenant with Abram, Abram shall become a great nation, His seed shall bless all the families of the earth, Abram leaves his homeland in Ur of the Chaldees and travels to Haran, before going to Canaan, then to Egypt ."

{The picture & caption directly above, are in part from Bible History Online.}

 





Ziggurats ("to build on a raised area") were massive structures erected in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians. Each part of a temple complex included other buildings.

Ur in ancient Mesopotamia, Abraham's ancestral homeland, is "The Land of Nimrod" son of Kush, grandson of Ham, great- grandson of Noah.

See Genesis 10:6-10

Also review

WBS #144  GENESIS 10  NATIONS DESCENDED FROM THE SONS OF NOAH

Map above from Bible History Online  

 

Haran was located on a major trade route between Asia and the Mediterranean Sea.

 Haran is referred to variously as Paddan Aram and Aram Naharaim.

{Aram-Naharaim/Aramaic)

It is a region that is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Aram was divided into several districts, comprising, in general, the region to the East of the Jordan, but extending in the North over most of Northern Syria, or from the Orontes eastward, and Northern Mesopotamia. The people of the land of Haran {Syrians}, were of Hebrew Semitic stock {Deuteronomy 26:5, Genesis 14:13 *Abram the Hebrew* This is the same man whose name was changed by God to AbraHam {Father of many nations}.

Semitic {definition from dictionary.com}|

• 1/ Subfamily of Afroasiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician. 
• 2/ of or relating to the Semites or their languages, especially of or pertaining to the Jews. Origin of Semitic Expand 

Semite {definition from dictionary.com}

• 1/ a member of any of various ancient and modern peoples originating in southwestern Asia, including the Akkadians, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs. 
• 2/ a Jew. 
• 3/ a member of any of the peoples descended from Shem, the eldest son of Noah

 Today, Haran is almost universally identified with Harran, a city whose ruins lie within present-day Turkey {some information from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia}.

REVIEW WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY #144  "GENESIS 10-NATIONS DESCENDED FROM THE SONS OF NOAH"

5/ Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”
6/ So he said to them, “Is he well?”
And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.”7/ Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”
8/ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”
9/ Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10/ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11/ Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. 12/ And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.
13/ Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. 14/ And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

15/ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” 16/ Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17/ Leah’s eyes were delicate 

[not attractive],

but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance.
18/Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”
19/And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” 20/ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
21/ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.

22/ And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. 23/ Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.

24/ And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. 25/ So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”

REMEMBER HOW JACOB DECEIVED HIS FATHER ISAAC INTO BLESSING HIM WITH HIS OLDER BROTHER ESAU'S BIRTHRIGHT BLESSING?

SEE IN WBS#162/ GENESIS 27 *THE STOLEN BLESSING, SIBLING RIVALRY* 

  

 26/ And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27/ Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

28/Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. 29/ And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. 30/ Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.

The Children of Jacob

31/ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. 32/ So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben [Reuben literally means "See, a Son"] for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.”

33/ Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon[Simeon literally means "Heard" 34/ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi [Levi literally means "Attached"]. 35/ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah [Judah literally means "Praise"]. 

Then she stopped bearing. 

 

JACOB MUST HAVE HAD SOME VERY SPECIAL KIND OF LOVE FOR RACHEL, TO WORK FOR HER FATHER, WHO WAS ALSO HIS UNCLE LABAN, FOR FOURTEEN YEARS, TO OBTAIN HER HAND IN MARRIAGE!!!



BUT, DID YOU SEE GOD'S LOVE, MERCY AND COMPASSION, FOR BROKENHEARTED LEAH? FATHER GOD OPENED HER WOMB TO BEAR THE FIRST SONS OF JACOB. 

The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-5 NKJV

4/ Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5/ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.