Jacob's Uncle - Laban

Laban was Rebeka's brother and the cousin of Isaac. He and his family (father, mother, sister and maybe others) lived in or near Haran which is the city from which Abraham left years ago. He like Abraham took care of cattle, sheep and goats. No doubt the people of the city all knew who he was.

His life in the Bible began with a surprise visit from Abraham's servant who brought much wealth and great stories of Abraham and Sarah. He told them about Abraham's wealth and clout - it probably fascinated Laban and his family. The servant also told them that he was looking for a wife for his master's son Isaac and he told them how Rebekah showed up at the well while he was praying for guidance from the Lord.

Within a day or two Rebekah was gone and life returned to normal for Laban, except there was more work to do now that Rebekah was gone. In time he married, had children (boys and 2 girls) and he became the head of the household when his dad died.

20 to 30 years after he saw his sister leave his daughter brought home a young man she met at the well (a very popular place for men to meet women in the Bible). He could tell his daugher liked the guy and he so happened to be his sister's son Jacob. Unlike Abraham's servant who brought so much wealth, this guy brought nothing with him.

Jacob stayed with Laban for quite awhile and that seemed to be o.k. because even though he was an extra person to feed he was a good worker and things went very well with his work. Laban decided it was good to have Jacob around, so he made him an offer, "What wages would you like?" Jacob wanted Laban's younger daughter in marriage in exchange of 7 years of work. Laban agreed with the offer.

Sometime in the 7 years that Jacob worked for him, Laban got a great idea for marrying off his older daughter who had no decent pursuers. And on wedding night when all was dark Laban had his younger daughter Rachel taken from her husband and gave Jacob his older daughter Leah instead. Because it was dark Jacob didn't know he consummated his marriage with the wrong girl.

Just over seven years previously, Jacob deceived his dad by pretending to be his older brother in order to get the blessing, and on his wedding night Rachel's sister Leah did the same thing to him. Here are some of the similarities between Leah's deception and Jacob's deception:

1. Both were set up by a parent. Jacob's mother set him up to deceive his dad and Leah's dad set her up to deceive Jacob.
2. Both took advantage of darkness. Jacob took advantage of his dad's blindness and Leah took advantage of the night.
3. Both pursued a blessing. Jacob got his father's blessing and Leah got the blessing of marriage.
4. Both angered a sibling. Jacob angered Esau by stealing his blessing and Leah angered Rachel by stealing her husband.

No doubt Jacob told his new family all about his great deception and while the family laughed time and time again, he was actually feeding his Uncle with some great ideas for Leah.

Laban probably felt pleased with himself for pulling off a great trick and for it Jacob had to pay another 7 years of work in order to marry the girl he really wanted (the 7 years would be owed to Laban and the marriage to the younger daughter was days after the first marriage).

For those 14 years things went well and Laban prospered knowing that his son-in-law / nephew was the main reason, so when the 14 years were up, Laban offered Jacob wages - he could keep certain of the sheep and goats if he took care of them all. It was a deal.