Jesus Goes To Jacob’s Well

Jesus Goes To Jacob’s Well

I have to admit that for many years, Jacob has been one of my favourite Bible characters. I love preaching about parts of his life, can really relate to the battle between the flesh and the Spirit, the battle between the old nature and the new nature. I love his fear of the Lord, love the covenant the Lord God made with him, the two camps (men and angels) we see in Genesis 32:1-2, his wrestling with the Angel of the Lord until the breaking of the day, and the transformation God made in his life. So much I can identify with.

Last year, I got a new appreciation for him as a type of Christ as my Bible study group worked through the book of Genesis. I would love to share that with you today.

Most of us are no doubt familiar with his story. If you need any reminders of the early part of his life and his interactions with his brother Esau and with his parents, please go back and read through Genesis chapters 25-27. Our study begins from the moment his parents decided it was better for him to leave the land of Canaan and go to Haran, where his uncle Laban lived, to go seek a wife. They sent him there to protect him from his brother while they waited for the anger of Esau to be lessened.

Genesis 27:42-45 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

Genesis 28:1-2 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

1) In essence, Jacob’s father sent him away to go to Haran, to a far country, to find a Gentile bride for himself.

Genesis 29:1-3 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well's mouth. And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his place.

Jacob arrived at the place his father sent him to, in the land of the east, and began to interact with those who came to the well to water their flocks. He soon learned that Laban’s daughter, Rachel, was coming to the well.

Genesis 29:4-8 And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep.

2) It was high day - high noon, midday - when he met Rachel, his soon to be bride.

Genesis 29:9-10 And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep: for she kept them. 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.

Based on the account of this day and the unfolding  events of Jacob’s life, it was obvious that it was love at first sight.

Genesis 29:11-14 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and told her father. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

Jacob stays with his uncle Laban’s family, begins to work for him, and his love for Rachel grows even deeper. After about a month, his uncle asks him what he would like for his wages.

Genesis 29:15-20 And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

3) Jacob chose to serve Laban for seven years for the love of his life, Rachel, to make her his bride.

She was so beautiful and well favoured. As their history unfolded, it is revealed that he was first given the much less fair sister, Leah. So Jacob agreed to work another seven years for the bride he truly loved and desired.

Genesis 29:21-30 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

4) Rachel at last becomes his precious bride. He paid twice the marriage price for the woman he loved. Fourteen years worked, double the price paid, for the fair virgin bride he was awaiting.

After Genesis, my Bible study group read and studied through the book of John and I noticed an interesting parallel.

Consider the following passage:

John 4:3-4 [Jesus] left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria.

Jesus came to do His Father’s will (see John 4:34), and part of that will was for Him to go through the land of Samaria. Even though many in the nation of Israel despised or looked down upon the Samaritans, because of their impure history (see 2 Kings 17), it was decided by the Father that Jesus MUST needs go through Samaria. God had a divine appointment for His Son.

1) Jesus’ Father sent Him away to a far country to go find a Gentile bride for Himself. (See Matthew 21:33-41; 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27; 20:9-16.)

John 4:5-7 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

2) Jesus came to Jacob’s Well at high noon, midday, where He meets the Samaritan woman.

Their evangelistic conversation is so interesting. Read John 4:8-25. Jesus progressively reveals Himself to the Samaritan woman, until the point she fully realizes just who He is, the Messiah she has long been seeking, I Am, God manifest in the flesh, the Saviour and Redeemer.

John 4:25-26 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

John 4:28-29 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

John 4:39-42 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

3) During His interaction with the Samaritan woman she gets saved, and ultimately becomes part of His bride, the church of Christ.

We also see many of the Samaritans from her own village being converted too because of her witnessing to them.

We are Jesus’ chosen Gentile bride. We are His in a twofold sense.

A. We are His people (in the sense that He owns us) by right of creation:

Psalms 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Acts 17:24-28 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Lest anyone misunderstand this point, we are not saved because God created us; but because He is our Creator, He has a right to our lives and we are accountable to Him. See Matthew 25:14-30. He is the Heavenly Potter, and His creation owes everything to Him - whether they acknowledge it in this life or not.

Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Believers will appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ:

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

And unbelievers will give an account for their lives at the Great White Throne Judgement:

Revelation 20:11-13 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

B. But those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are His own people spiritually by right of redemption:

Isaiah 53:6, 12 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all… Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Ephesians 1:6-7 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

4) The Samaritan woman became part of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Gentile bride, as He paid the marriage/redemption price for her - for us!

There is one other part of the picture of Jesus visiting Jacob’s well that is a type. Not in relation to Jacob, but in relation to us.

John 4:3-4 [Jesus] left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria.

The word for departed in the above passage has the idea of forsaking, leaving behind. The same word is translated as left in the following verse:

John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

John 4:43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

Jesus left Judea, the land of the Jews, for two days, going into Galilee, the land of the Gentiles. (See Matthew 4:13-16.)

In several places in the Bible, we see a day being used symbolically to represent a year or 1000 years. (For some references, see 2 Peter 3:8; Daniel 9:24-27; Numbers 14:33-34; Ezekiel 4:5-6; Hosea 6:1-2.)

The book of Romans, chapters 9-11, teach that God put the unbelieving nation of Israel on the shelf and grafted in the Gentiles for the church age. When the time of the Gentiles is completed, then the Lord will turn back to the nation of Israel and fulfill His plans for them.

Romans 11:25-27 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

The Lord has turned from the nation of Israel to go to the land of the Gentiles for 2 days, literally for approximately 2000 years (so far), to complete His Gentile bride.

If you are part of the church, aren’t you glad that your Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, took a little detour through a far country to come and to seek a bride?

And one day soon, He is coming back for His bride, to gather us together with Him in the air.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Song of Songs 8:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

September 24th, 2026
Jerry Bouey