Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.15UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.11UNLIKELY
Fear
0.09UNLIKELY
Joy
0.53LIKELY
Sadness
0.53LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.76LIKELY
Confident
0.12UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.78LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.69LIKELY
Extraversion
0.49UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.89LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.6LIKELY

Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Learning About God's Faithfulness
Background Passage
Genesis 29:1-31:55
Lesson Passages
Genesis 29:16-17,21-23,26-27; 31:1-3,38-42
Lesson Passages Outline
#. Faithful Despite Deception (Gen.
29:16-17,21-23,26-27)
#.
Faithful Despite Hostility (Gen.
31:1-3)
#.
Faithful Despite Hardship (Gen.
31:38-42)
Biblical Truth
God is consistently faithful to care for His people.
Life Impact
To help you thank God for His faithfulness to you
Prepare
Thinking about Thanksgiving in March might seem odd.
Yet, as I reflect on Thanksgiving 2003, I do not think so.
My father's 75th birthday coincided with Thanksgiving Day that year.
The entire family planned to gather at his home in Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving and his birthday in a big way.
When Thanksgiving Day rolled around, however, we were all rather subdued.
No birthday cake, party favors, or decorations were in the house.
You see, Dad had passed away four weeks before Thanksgiving.
Instead of having a birthday party, we thought about Dad.
His place at the table was conspicuously empty.
Through tears and feelings of missing him, we gave thanks to God for Dad's life and love.
Have you ever experienced difficulty thanking God because your circumstances were difficult or sad?
This lesson will help adults who question God's faithfulness because of difficult circumstances they are experiencing.
Often the death of a loved one, mistreatment from others, or loss in natural disasters leave people asking, "Where is God?"
As you study how God provided for and protected Jacob even when circumstances seemingly indicated God had forgotten him, reflect on ways you can help adult learners to experience the *Life Impact* of this lesson by thanking God for His faithfulness.
As you continue your personal Bible study, prayerfully read the *Background Passage* and respond to the *Study Questions* as well as to the questions in the margins for the March 9 lesson in /Explore the Bible: Adult Learner Guide./
The Bible in Context (Gen.
29:1-31:55)
Genesis 29:1-31:55 focuses on Jacob—his trip to Haran, his 20-year sojourn there, and his departure to go back home.
On this trip home he had a final confrontation with Laban when he (Jacob) reached Gilead.
Through every hardship, God proved faithful to Jacob.
Eventually Jacob would thank God for His faithfulness.
Several important aspects of Jacob's life and thus of the overall account of God's redemption of His people are developed in these chapters.
First, Jacob the bachelor became Jacob the father of 11 sons and 1 daughter (29:31-30:24).
Jacob's 12th son, Benjamin, was born later near Bethlehem.
The enlargement of Jacob's family to include 12 sons resulted ultimately in the 12 tribes that became God's people.
Each tribe took the name of one of Jacob's sons with the exception that two tribes were named after Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Second, Jacob the poor fugitive became Jacob the man of substantial wealth and possessor of flocks, camels, donkeys and servants (30:43).
The material blessings Jacob experienced reflect the blessings enjoyed earlier by his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac (13:2; 26:12-14).
This reality illustrates God's faithfulness to all generations.
The Lord had kept His promise to be with Jacob (28:15).
Third, in spite of everything Jacob experienced, God was faithful to provide for and to protect him (31:42).
Jacob had set out 20 years earlier to flee the wrath of his brother Esau and to find a wife in his mother's homeland.
Jacob experienced deceit and treachery at the hand of his father-in-law many times throughout the two decades he was in Haran (including on his wedding night).
Yet when Jacob returned to the promised land, he was wealthy.
Finally, God's plan to bless all humanity through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants was not frustrated by negative circumstances.
God had told Jacob in his dream of the stairway to heaven, "All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring" (28:14).
The narrative of divine redemption thus moved from Abram to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob, and finally focused on Jacob and his family.
Jacob went to his uncle Laban's [LAY buhns] house for two reasons.
First, Jacob had deceived his father Isaac and had stolen his brother's (Esau) blessing.
Fearing for Jacob's life, his mother Rebekah entreated Isaac to send him to Haran.
Secondly, Jacob went to find himself a wife from Rebekah's family.
These two strands of the story, deceiving his family and his marriage within the family, are intertwined throughout this section.
Faithful Despite Deception (Gen.
29:16-17,21-23,26-27)
16 Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel.
17 Leah had delicate eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time is completed.
I want to sleep with her."
22 So Laban invited all the men of the place to a feast.
23 That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26 Laban answered, "It is not the custom in this place to give the younger [daughter in marriage] before the firstborn.
27 Complete this week [of wedding celebration], and we will also give you this [younger] one in return for working yet another seven years for me."
*Verse 16.
Laban* was Jacob's uncle on his mother's side.
Isaac sent Jacob to him so he (Jacob) could marry within the family, thus avoiding the vexation caused by Esau and his Hittite wives (27:46).
Laban had two daughters, *Leah* [LEE uh] and *Rachel.*
Jacob met Rachel first, at the well when she brought her father's flocks to be watered.
During the encounter, Jacob "kissed Rachel and wept loudly" (29:11).
Apparently, he was relieved his long journey was over.
The statement that Leah was *older *will factor into the story shortly.
Interestingly, Leah's name derives from a word meaning "cow"; and Rachel's name is from a word meaning "ewe."
*Verse 17. *Whereas verse 16 described Leah as "older" and Rachel as "younger," this one adds *Leah had delicate eyes.*
The term /delicate/ means "tender" or "weak."
The entire phrase is a figure of speech referring to a less-than-attractive appearance.
In contrast to Leah's bland appearance, Rachel was *shapely and beautiful, *literally "beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance."
In response to Laban's request that Jacob name his wages (29:15), Jacob declared he would work for seven years in order to have Rachel as his wife because he loved her (29:18).
Read "Ancient Marriage Contracts" in the Spring 2008 issue of/ Biblical Illustrator /or/ Biblical Illustrator Plus (CD-ROM)./
*Verse 21. *For seven years Jacob served his uncle Laban.
He was motivated by his love for Rachel.
When the seven years ended, Jacob went to Laban to request his bride.
Can you imagine the encounter?
*Jacob,* who had deceived his father and brother, had then completed seven years of honest labor for his uncle Laban.
The agreement had been straightforward—after seven years of work Jacob could take Rachel as his wife.
Jacob's request was direct and had two parts.
First, he said, *Give me my wife, for my time is completed, *literally "my days are full."
Indeed, Jacob had labored faithfully.
Second, he declared,* I want to sleep with her.*
The verb for /sleep/ literally means "to go."
So Jacob was telling his soon-to-be father-in-law that he was eager to be married to Rachel.
*Verse 22.*
As agreed, Laban made the necessary arrangements.
Weddings in the ancient Near East consisted of a full week of celebration.
Often wine was drunk in abundance among friends and neighbors.
*Verse 23.*
This verse has been the subject of much discussion among Bible students.
Laban practiced such deceit here that he has set the pattern and become the poster boy for how to deceive.
However, in spite of Laban's odious treachery, the obvious question is how Jacob could not have known he was with Leah instead of Rachel.
Two ideas have provided the most satisfying answer.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9