Tag: Jacob

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Reading: Genesis 29:10-35 – Love

              What is your deepest desire in life? What is your reason to live and work. What is the one thing you want?

              Bartimaeus called out to Jesus when the Lord was passing by one day saying: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). The blind beggar replied, “That I may receive my sight.” (Mark 10:51). That is surely our wish as believers, that we might see and understand what the Lord has said.

              We might ask Leah the same question, what is it that she wanted most? In verse 34 we ‘W’iscover that she was “unloved.” When I asked Google the question, ‘What do people desire most of all?’ the top answer was to be loved or to be valued and accepted by others. Among people we know that there are spouses who have fallen apart, children unloved by parents, parents not reverenced by children and grandparents left isolated.  We understand this from the fall of Adam and that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. If we have fallen in our relationship with God, it is not surprising that we fall out amongst one another.

              We shall look at the experience of Leah in the passage we read today under four headings:

[1] The unloved woman.
[2] The deluded woman.
[3] The changed woman.
[4] The blessed woman.

[1] The unloved woman.

              Jacob had to be sent away from his home by his mother on account of having deceived his brother and father in regard to the inheritance and the birthright. Esau was so angry with Jacob that he wanted to kill him and so Rebekah told Isaac they had to get Jacob away. So, he was sent to relatives in the north. When Jacob approached the region where his relatives lived, he saw Rachel and, we discover a bit later, that he “loved Rachel” and was willing to serve Laban, Rachel’s father (his uncle) for seven years to gain her as his wife (verse 18).

              Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel who was the younger of the two. We learn that Rachel was “beautiful of form and appearance” but Leah is described in less flattering terms for “Leah’s eyes were delicate.” The term “delicate” really means “weak,” but whether she had squint eyes or was not someone to appeal to the eyes the main point is that Rachel was beautiful and caught Jacon’s eye. Rachel was like Esther of later years – a most beautiful woman in appearance.

              Jacob’s love for Rachel is shown clearly by the fact that his service for Laban seemed to pass so quickly, “They seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.” (verse 20). But then we see that Jacob was deceived by Laban because on his wedding night the father gave the unwitting man his older daughter rather than Rachel whom he loved. How Jacob was duped here on his own wedding night is a bit of a puzzle. It was evening (verse 23) and maybe Jacob was a little worse for wear so maybe he did not realise that he had been tricked. Whatever the details we observe that much evil is done under the cover of darkness. When Jacob was aware of the trick Laban had played on him he was indignant and tricked further into serving for another seven years to gain his love Rachel.

              Now Jacob is married to both daughters. Life does not often turn out the way expected. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel whom he loved, but now he has two wives. Leah has been given to Jacob without any indication of this in previous verses and now she is wedded to a man alongside her sister. We discover that once Rachel became Jacob’s wife that he, “Loved Rachel more than Leah” (verse 30).

              And so Leah is the “unloved” wife (verse31). What then did she do? What then did the Lord do? Well, on seeing that she was “unloved” the Lord enabled her to conceive a son whilst Rachel, who seemed to have all Jacob’s attentions, remained barren (verse 31). Even though Leah was “unloved” by Rachel, God loved her. Despite her circumstances and even on account of her circumstances the Lord showed love to her in giving her a son. We may feel unloved by friends, unloved by our family, unnoticed by our peers, unconsidered by our fellowship and yet the Lord “So loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Furthermore, we learn from John that it is “not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). God is love and He loves incredibly. He loves the unlovely (Romans 5:8).

              In the hardest times, when we have lost loved ones, or when things are so hard and difficult, God still loves.

[2] The deluded woman.

              Rachel and Leah have been described for us in a contrasting way. Rachel was beautiful and Leah appears not to have been. But what then did Leah seek to do to address this experience of being “unloved”? God is sovereign. He worked to unlock Leah’s womb so she could bear, but Rachel was left barren. Do we have a problem with God’s sovereign will? Does He not have the right to do as He pleases with those whom He has created? Our problem is that we often think we have the right to determine what is good. We act as though we are on a par with God. But we are not and we are created owing all to our Maker. Do remember, though, that God is good and always does good. Job had this right when after his suffering he declared, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:20).

The Lod is gracious, loving, compassionate, wise, and righteous. We know this from His word. We know this from His dealings with people in the past. We know this because of the life and death of Christ His Only Begotten Son.

              Now Leah was blessed with four sons whilst Rachel had none. Each time Leah gave birth she gave a name to the son which she thought was fitting. Reuben was the first and his name means “behold, a son” and she called him this saying: “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me” (verse 32). Leah clearly thought that having this son would make Jacob love her. But sadly it did no such thing. So, in the grace of God she conceived again and this time she has a second son whom she named “Simeon,” whose name meant “heard.” Again, she seems to appeal to the fact that the Lord has done this having heard her cry because she was “unloved” by Jacob (verse 33). But having Simeon did not bring her husband to love her any more than the first son. And then she has her third son named “Levi,” whose name means “joined to,” and this name was given to him in the hope that Jacob would “become attached” to her because she had “borne him three sons” (verse 34). Again, this did not seem to bring Jacob any closer to her.

              Leah was sadly deluded that in having these three sons Jacob would somehow be moved to love her. In a similar way people are often deluded that if they do something it would make God love them. Leah thought that in having these sons it would bring her husband closer to her but it did not. We think that by doing something like being more kind than we have been, reading Scripture more, praying more, then somehow God will take notice and love us. The truth is that none of these things (or any other thing we may care to think of) will make God love us. God is not mocked. What a man sows he will reap. If we sow good works we will reap condemnation, for all our works are as filthiness and dirty rags. The only thing that will avail is not our good works but Christ’s on our behalf. He died for sins and He lived a righteous life in our place. Through faith in Him and His work in life and death alone, the Lord’s love is showered upon us. Even as Christians we get into thinking that the Lord will love us more if we only did more for Him. This is all wrong because God loves perfectly and completely.

[3] The changed woman.

              Now this situation did not continue. Leah did not continue thinking that somehow each new son would end up with her husband loving her. When she has the fourth son (verse 35) her language changes dramatically. This time she calls her son “Judah” and she says, “Now I will praise the Lord.” When Jesus taught the parable of the Prodigal Son a key moment comes when the Prodigal who had squandered everything comes to his senses and returns to his father (“when he came to himself” Luke 15:17). It would appear that Leah came to herself and realised her folly sometime between having Levi and Judah because her language (the naming of her sons) changed. She is now not focused on seeking to gain the love of her husband, and is rather seeking to bring praise to God. She has moved from seeking recognition and love for herself, and has now moved to adoring and praising God. It would appear that she recognises that in God she has all! He has given her these four sons. How we need to move away from seeking to be loved, from seeking recognition and respect from the world and instead focus on God who deserves all our praise because of His great love towards us!

[4] The blessed woman.

              We may feel for Leah in her life as an unloved woman but look at the blessings that resulted through her sons. In Jeremiah 29:11 we read that the Lord knows the plans that He has for His people, for their benefit and blessing. Leah may not have known this text which came much later but perhaps she knew how other believers had been blessed, like Abraham, for example. But we in hindsight can see that she was a blessed woman indeed. From Levi would come Moses and the priests in Israel. From Judah would come David and great David’s Greater Son – the Messiah. If she could but see the future how blessed she would be! Contrast this with Rachel. Rachel died having her second son and although both her sons would be part of Israel they would not feature so greatly as Leah’s sons did. Also, Leah was buried in the tomb where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah were buried and where Jacob would be buried too.

              We are privileged to see greater detail than she could. We must recognise the rich blessings we have been given in Christ. How thankful we should be!