I have moved on in Genesis and am up to the story of Leah and Rachael. Wow! There is so much to digest and unpack. The account of these two sisters, thrown together for all of their life (for better or worse) can be found beginning in Genesis 28.
The story begins with Jacob, the son of Issac and Rebecca.
As we read this biblical account, I think it is so very important to keep in mind the cultural significance of words said, actions taken and try to maybe see the ‘why’ behind things we may not necessarily understand with our limited western way of seeing the world. Jacob as Issac’s heir needed to make sure he was obedient to his father and to the promises over him as well. The women of Canaan must have been known to not be living their lives according to the ways of God, most likely idols were involved.
So, we see Jacob being obedient and agreeing to a roadtrip. Of course he needed a rest along the way, and God chose to speak to him through quite the dream! Ladders, angels and God himself all present as well as a promise for Jacob’s future – both in regards to land as well as descendants. I think the best part of this is in verse 15 where God says “I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”
If only Jacob knew how important it might become to remember these words and hold them very close to his heart – his immediate future was about to become very interesting indeed.
We move on a ways, and Jacob comes to a well. Obviously these are the local meeting spot, shepherds and workers needed to bring stock there daily to access water, so I can only imagine how hectic it got around the well, as well as full of lets call it – local knowledge!
Perfect spot for Jacob to ask about Laban – does anyne know him, does anyone know how to find him. If Jacob could achieve this quickly, well perhaps he thought, job well done….I’ll pick up my new wife, do the wedding ceremonies etc and hit the road home. Remember God had promised him that land, back at the dream spot.
It doesn’t say how long it took, but along comes Rachel. She is in charge of her fathers sheep. I love this. It shows to me that she would have been strong, confident, happy to do the hard stuff – sheep aren’t always easy, and they require work. Also, she would have been accustomed to some degree coming to the well with the stock and being around the others looking after stock as well. Was she well liked? Ever in danger?
Jacob flexes his muscle and moves the stone from the well to water the sheep. I wonder what was going through Rachel’s mind. She wouldn’t normally have someone do this for her. Who was this guy?
And then the bible says that Jacob kissed her!!!! I beg your pardon!!! Hahaha.
This is the ancient equivalent of the Bachelor!
All you single girls at churches these days, maybe all you need is to start bringing your flocks to church and stand around the tap!
Rachel runs home to tell Laban!
Now, here is a good opportunity to recall the fact that Laban and Rebecca (Jacobs mum) are siblings. So I think that makes Jacob and Rachel cousins?
Now my gang immediately go “ewwwww” when it comes to this sort of stuff, but remember what I said earlier, we have a different understanding of things – does that help????? Hahaha
To make it very clear, we see Laban welcome Jacob with “you are my own flesh and blood”.
Jacob then goes on to stay with Laban and his family for a month before the deals start to be made.
Laban asks “what would you like to be paid?”
Jacob loved Rachel and asks for her hand in marriage, an arrangement that Laban on the surface seems ok with. Maybe it was more about the offer to work for seven years for the honour. It also means that there is a seven year window to get Leah a man.
This is where I would like to point out how the bible actually describes the two sisters. It says that Laban had two daughters – Leah the older and Rachel the younger. Leah, has ‘weak eyes’, Rachel, beautiful in form and appearance!!!!!! What the????!!!
I am not exactly sure what weak eyes means, but I actually have terrible eyesight and can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Leah to function on a day to day basis, so I can presume she would have found working very difficult, had most likely had to make adjustments to her lifestyle and even suffered from being unwell at times. As a child I had lots of times where I was physically unwell until they diagnosed my poor vision.
Her self esteem could have been very low, add to that the knowledge that your younger sister was seen as very beautiful! OMG, I just want to hug Leah! She did not have the advantage of the modern era, all women cheering each other on. You know, the ‘we can do it all girlfriend’ brigades. No….she would be expected to have a husband to provide for her, so her father didn’t have to continue to do so and also to be a mother to as many children as God allowed.
I wonder though, how she felt about it all. I wonder what opportunities did she have to be placed in front of eligible men, and would they have been keen seeing as though she had an obvious sight issue. Would this be a deterrent, lest she pass on this trait to her children?
Just throwing up some thoughts I suppose. We have to remember that these were real people, in real circumstances, trying to grow communities of families. Generational planning was a very real thing.
Seven years can be both a very quick amount of time, and a very slow amount of time depending on what is going on. Is there some significance to the number? We know that the number seven in the bible represents completeness, wholeness. God has a plan in all things and after the seven years off Jacobs work was up, he came to Laban to receive his ‘pay’ (in the form of Rachel of course!!!)
The big wedding is now upon Jacob and as per the deal with Laban he is expectant of his bride. Now, I am not ‘up’ on Jewish marriage traditions, but this whole situation, of Laban bringing Leah to Jacob instead of Rachel does beg the question…how the heck did Jacob not know who he was taking to his marriage bed????
Well, as you must do when you have questions, you must research and I did just that. I found a great article from “Got Questions” that suggests a few possibilities…..
Laban brought Leah to Jacob at nighttime – it was dark! A very sensible answer.
The sisters may have been similar in size/height. Aided by the veils etc, maybe he couldn’t tell
It was not customary to date like we do. Jacob may not have spent a whole lot of time actually in a relationship with Rachel. He was working for seven years, that could have involved shepherd work, out in plains and landscapes far away
The girls may not have been made aware of the deal. Marriages were between the fathers and the husbands to be. The girls did not have to be involved, so it would have been feasible for Leah to genuinely believe she was in the right situation.
Perhaps Laban just felt he needed to commit to the older daughter situation – it was customary for the eldest to be offered in marriage first. Leah obviously in those seven years had no other offers. He is quite good at justifying his position.
If the last option is a valid one, imagine finding out that your new husband actually loves your sister and you now are in a legal situation you cant get out of, destined to be in a loveless marriage. I am not sure this would have been a worry in most marriages, the marriages were often an agreement that potentially assisted a situation for all parties, love may have been a wonderful by-product if you could gain that.
It was clear to Leah I imagine that this was now off the table – and I am sorry – all girls want to be loved. I would like to think that Jacob did in fact have some sort of feelings for Leah. It does say that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. To me, that means hope! It doesn't say he didn't love her at all!
Jacob, on realising that he has been duped by the ever dishonest Laban, confronts him and demands the woman he initially requested. So, yet another deal is swung by Laban – red flags anyone? Seven days later, we have the situation of two sisters now having more in common than ever before in the form of the same hubby!
Throw in a couple of servant girls and wham bam, thank you ma’am!
As you read this account, its so important I think to not just skim over it, but to read it with an empathetic heart. I just can’t help but wonder how the people involved in all this were getting on. I cant for a moment think that they were all in a great headspace.
One of the reasons for my thoughts here, is because of Leah’s constant need to feel loved by her husband, to try and achieve this by giving him more children. But we see in Verse 30 it says “Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah”.
Oh dear!
Thankfully, we have a God of compassion and he saw Leah and her heartache and sure enough blessed her with those children. Part of the promise to Jacob made over 14 years previously.
We may be in situations not of our own doing, but God sees that if our hearts are turned to Him.
Leah goes on to have four sons. Obviously Jacob has no problem in the marriage bed department – he may not have loved her, but there was a duty to be done – sounds cold – but…..!
The first three sons were all seen as hopeful attempts to get Jacob to love her. However, the fourth son was when Leah recognised the Lord in her situation and she acknowledged it. She stopped having babies!
When you look over at Rachel in all of this, I see a woman who is demanding and irrational. In Genesis chapter 30 v 1 she says to Jacob “give me children or I will die”! Rachel was not having babies, so she goes ahead and starts organising the situation for herself, in the form of her slave girl. Rachel needed a family, and she had the means to make it happen. Good old Jacob is on board and low and behold, Bilhah falls pregnant. Rachel is able to claim this baby as hers – it’s the way things are done, and Rachel is validated in all this.
We move on through a tale of wives, servant girls given as wives and children born, all with Jacob as the pivotal character. I wonder if he ever looked back and pondered his own deceptive behaviour!!?? It would all have to make you think about things if even for a moment.
Lies, deception, and competitive family, promises made and broken and made again. It would be nice to think we had moved on with all our modern thoughts and awareness of history! It just does sound like a regular family function to be fair! It’s a bit like the sawdust/plank scenario really.
By the time we get to the end of the account, we see Laban having increased his wealth through the hard work of Jacob, more deals to be done so that Jacob after 2o years can finally be his own man and still the two sisters living and raising families together.
Rachel obviously has a little bit of old Dad in her as we see her steal from Laban and lie about it. I suppose the old adage is true about looks being deceiving. She may have been beautiful, but she was cunning and perhaps hadn't quite grasped that God was there for her - she had no need for an idol! We tend to make sure we have a backup plan at all times - just in case the 'big fella' has too much on!
I wonder as time went on, if the two sisters ever really were at peace with the situation they found themselves in. Sibling rivalry can be a terrible thing, hard enough when you don’t live under the same roof. We do see them later in chapter 31 agree together that Laban had used up any funds he had benefited from their marriages and that Jacob should do as God told him, so that’s progress.
What a story!
The women certainly were able to think on their feet, protect what they believed was rightfully theirs to have and were determined to make things work – however messy it may look.
I think the point to remember in all of this, is that these people, all of them were part of a much bigger puzzle about to unravel. God has a plan all figured out and the last child to be born in this crazy arrangement, Joseph!
Both Leah and Rachel’s situations were seen by God and God stepped in to bless them at just the right time. These women, sisters, were not perfect, did not always have the right attitude and were pretty focussed on being loved by Jacob. I hope he lived up to it.
Being the mother of two young women, one married, one not, I am thankful that we are no longer bound by the ancient traditions Leah and Rachel found themselves a part of. I am grateful they can marry for love, wait for the right man and raise families in the way they choose. I am grateful for Jesus being the end of the salvation story, the one that began the moment Eve took that apple. The knitting together of the story that young Joseph would eventually be a part of and the start of the biggest rescue mission the world has ever seen.
You see God always comes for what belongs to Him. Are you ready???!!!
xxx
Toni
FWFL
