Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? -- Genesis 31:27
This next reference to music in the Bible is found in a later chapter of the foundational book of Genesis. Remember: God is setting up principles and prototypes in a federal sense to show how He perceives and will deal with humanity whether we like it or not. As Charles Spurgeon once said, "Nothing angers mankind so much as the absolute sovereignty of God." Or as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans: But who are you, o man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" (Romans 9:20) Arguing with God is like complaining about the weather--what's the point in getting angry at storm clouds?
The context of Genesis 31:27 provides the backdrop for one of music's most played out themes: illicit love and deceit. In this case, Jacob (Abraham's grandson and the legitimate son of Isaac and Rebecca), has spent years toiling and waiting patiently in Haran for his future father-in-law's permission to marry his youngest daughter, Rachel, who he met by pop culture chance at a well one day. But did you know that in the Hebrew there is no definite word for 'coincidence'? Connect the dots on this one yourself.
Laban the Aramean, Rachel''s father, sees that Jacob is a brave, able bodied young man (after all he would soon wrestle with the Angel of the Lord and draw a tie because of his determination). So he presses Jacob into servitude and makes him wait for seven years because marrying off the youngest daughter first was against custom in those days. But after seven years, Laban tricked Jacob and sent him his oldest daughter, Leah, as a veiled bride. Being the enduring gentleman that he was, Jacob agreed to work another seven years for Laban so that could marry Rachel making her his second wife. This kind of arrangement was not unheard of back then and still exists in some places in the world today. So we get to the bridge of this song and the final stanza where God intervenes, justifies Jacob against Laban through miracles, and Rachel steals the family jewels and runs off with Jacob to head back to the Promised Land. Laban pursues him, catches up and as they parley, the estranged father-in-law tells Jacob of the record deal he had in mind for him had he not "taken the money and run" albeit justifiable so. To be continued...
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