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Commentary on "Love Stories"
Day 3: Monday, March 19, 2012 - Biblical Romances
Today, the author introduces us to a few of the romances from the book of Genesis, focusing on the meeting of Jacob and Rachel at the well. Upon learning about Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob kisses Rachel in a moment of joy at finding his own kinsmen. The author then includes the following insight to the passage:
And if we recall that God is the ultimate author of Scripture, and through His inspiration the book of Genesis was written, we are reminded that God is a romantic, because He includes this love story and this kiss in the Bible. (See Genesis 29.) [Page 98 of standard edition Sabbath School lessons.]
When Jacob kissed Rachel, it was not because of romance, but because Jacob had found his own kinsmen. This was not a romantic kiss, it was a kiss of joy. Two verses later (Gen. 29:13) Laban kisses Jacob. That certainly was not a romantic kiss, it also was a kiss of joy. These kisses were ways of greeting in these times, not signs of romantic love. This Scripture of Jacob and Rachel's meeting and eventual love story does not reveal God as “a romantic” anymore than any other passage of Scripture. The love that God experiences between the three persons of the Trinity, and the love God expresses to man is agape love, an unconditional love. Romantic love, eros is not a type of love God expresses to us.
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised March 17, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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Official Adventist Resources
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