Words that Inspire

I have always wondered about Leah, Jacob’s first wife. Each time she is talked of, she comes across as the hateful woman who craftily married the man interested in her junior sister. Jacob didn’t love her and most people I know, who have read her story don’t. I mean, the entire triangle between her, Rachael and Jacob reads like a soap opera (Genesis 29).However, I love that God gave her beauty for ashes. Let’s explore.

LEAH’S PATH TO JACOB

I read something in the bible the other day that got me thinking. Is Leah a hateful woman who married Jacob, despite knowing he did not initially labor  7 years for her? Or is she just a woman that is hated?

Laban was the tricky man who, for whatever reason, married off Leah. We often forget that Leah grew up in an era where the word of the head of the house was law. She wasn’t in a position to argue with her father.  If it were today, and someone’s father instructs her, on her sister’s wedding day, that she would be substituted to be the bride, she would most likely call for a family intervention or a psychiatric ward for at home pick up!

When I view it like that, it wasn’t Leah’s fault. And while I get why Jacob was up in arms and angry about the situation, I do not understand why she evokes a similar response in today’s readers. The emotion or reaction is even more puzzling when you realize that God did not hate her. Rachel was blessed, through the children she bore, but Leah was also blessed. Rachel may have given birth to Jacob’s two favorite children, who were more than blessed, but the children Leah gave birth to were also forefathers of great men and kings – mighty men and rulers in their own right.

Seven Children for Seven Years

Leah suffered through a loveless marriage, for a decision she did not make on her own. However, God gave her beauty for ashes. For starters, God himself vindicated Leah, because she was hated:

And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. (Genesis 29:31)

Did God make Rachel barren? I don’t know. However, as you look further into the story (Genesis 30), you see that before Rachel was able to give birth at all, Leah herself (not through her handmaid), gave birth to seven children.  Genesis 29: 32 – Genesis 30:21, give us the genealogy. Before Rachel gave birth to her first child in Genesis 30:22, Leah gave birth to:

– Reuben (Behold a son)

– Simeon (God has heard)

– Levi (Attached or pledged)

– Judah (Praise)

– Issachar (God hath given me)

– Zebulun (Good Endowment)

– Dinah (Judged and vindicated)

What struck me as I read those verses is the realization that during the additional seven years Jacob had to work to earn Rachel’s hand in marriage, Leah did not give birth to a child. However, as soon as Jacob married Rachel, God opened her womb and she gave birth to seven children before Rachel had her first child. I wondered if that was God’s way of repaying her, for the seven years she must have endured as the spurned woman – the wife Jacob had to be married to out of duty, not love.

Blessed Children

I also looked at the children she bore and what their fates were.

• Naturally, Reuben and his descendants were the first tribe of Israel, since he was the first son. He was also the one who persuaded his brothers to sell, instead of killing Joseph.
• Simeon was a bit of a hothead. In anger, he and Levi slew the people of Shechem to avenge their sister’s defilement.
• The descendants of the third son, Levi, became the priests of Israel. They were responsible for guarding and tending to the house of God, at that time, known as the tabernacle. Levi’s descendants include Moses, Aaron, Samuel, Abiathar (who was a priest during David’s reign), Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Ezra.
• Judah was the tribe that produced David, Solomon, and Christ himself.

It does not mean that I diminish the blessing that was Joseph and his significance and importance. After all, if there was no Joseph and if God had not planned his destiny the way it was, his brothers would have died of famine and there would be no Israel to write or speak of.

My Conclusion

However things may have come about, Leah ended up with Jacob before Rachel did. Considering how blessed Jacob was and considering his relationship with God, if Leah was such a hateful, conniving person, God would have punished her, instead of blessing her the way he did. I loved the way her story ended. I love that God rewarded her beauty for ashes, joy for sorrow, and acceptance for being spurned.