Genesis 29:1-14

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the sons of the east.

² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and see, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone used for the well’s lid was large,

³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, all the shepherds would roll the stone from the top of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the top of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They answered, “We are from Haran.”

⁵ He asked them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They answered, “We know him.”

⁶ He asked them, “Is it well with him?” They answered, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!”

⁷ He said, “See, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.”

⁸ But they said, “We cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still conversing with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

¹⁰ And as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came 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 shouted and wept.

¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things,

¹⁴ and Laban said to him, “You are my bone and my flesh indeed!” And he stayed with him a month of days.

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embracing destiny

Laban had figured prominently in the story of Isaac and Rebekah already, but the readers were not told why. Now, we see that his daughter, Rachel, will find her destiny among the chosen family. The LORD is telling us our story with theirs. It is not just about a particular family that just happened to bring the Messiah into the world. It is about God’s way of writing us all into his story.

Laban had heard the story told him by the shepherds of how Jacob opened up the lid of the well, in a burst of nervous energy after seeing Rachel coming with her sheep. He might have remembered another story about how Rebekah served a strange servant and his camels, and that was how she got involved in her destiny. When he saw Jacob, He probably saw the resemblance between him and his mother, Laban’s sister, Rebekah. Laban recognized destiny when he saw it.

The motif of women at wells does not stop there. Moses will find his destiny at a well in Midian, and a woman named Zipporah.[1] And it was not just a well, but Jacob’s well, where a tired preacher named Jesus will sit down and have a chat with a Samaritan woman about her destiny.[2] He told this woman that she – not someone more important or more famous, but she, herself, had potential to be a well of water to rescue and sustain others. She caught on, and led her town to Jesus. She recognized destiny when she saw and heard it.

LORD, we look at you in your glory, and we dare to see the family resemblance. May we embrace our destiny to embrace you, and to become part of your story.

[1] Exodus 2.

[2] John 4.