What caught my attention in this account is Jacob was in love with Rachel but ended up marrying Leah first and Rachel second. God saw that Leah was not loved by Jacob and so blessed her with four Sons. Leah, like most of us, want to be loved and accepted particularly by our significant others. She wanted her husband's approval so much. Each time she had a son she thought she would be approved by her husband but was not. But after her fourth son she quit saying now my husband will love me but instead said I will praise God.
We try so often sometimes to get the approval of a significant other. Which is great but sometimes we will never get the approval from someone we want approval from. And we can fight and worry about it so much that it destroys us or keeps us from being all that we can be for the Lord. At some point we have to seek the approval of God over any other approval we could ever have because the one that we want the greatest approval from is the one that we will give most of our energy to and our time. God has to be the one that we seek the greatest approval from and not man. I feel like Leah came to that realization after her fourth son because she said I will praise the Lord instead of saying, with hope, now my husband will love me.
Pastor Blair made a great point as usual. Who are we seeking the approval of or trying to please? If there’s more than one on that list, God should be at the top and take priority over all the rest. One of the reasons that I’ve been looking forward to reaching this chapter is because ApologetiX has made one of my favorite video productions that goes along with the reading as it transforms the original song from System of a Down. The band members actually portray the story during the parody in their own humorous way even including the hairstyle of a Star Wars character. You can probably guess which one. The song did make me think more about Leah’s perspective as she is secretly given to Jacob, but she really doesn’t feel wanted or loved by him, her father and certainly not her sister. One week later and Jacob gets to marry Rachel while Leah just keeps trying to get that love and approval we mentioned earlier by having children that the Lord will bless her with. Verse 31 shows that God sees what she is going through and it reminds me that He is always there for us to help us with whatever we may face in this life as well.
I hope you enjoy Downer of a Sister.
Here’s the link.
https://youtu.be/9B5u5Rsw6a4
The irony of Jacob finding out that in Laban’s country, the first born is taken care of first isn’t lost on us (knowing Jacob’s treatment of his brother, Esau. Gal 6:7 says that what we sow is what we reap.
Contrary to many non-Christian beliefs today, just because polygamy is mentioned in the Bible does not mean God approved it. God includes polygamy and other sins in His Word because that was what people did and that was how it was, but it’s not His will and he never approves of it. But, He works all things out in His plan and – as we see in Jacob’s sons – to the good of His chosen people. Thank you, Lord.
25 So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”
well well well, it seems like Jacob is getting a taste of his own medicine, he lied to his brother, and father. Now, thinking he was marring Rachel, he was deceived by Laban about which of his daughters he was marring.
(Now therefore, my husband will love me.” ”
At first i felt sad for Leah, she wasn’t wanted by Jacob, but the Lord blessed her with sons, thinking she would make her husband happy, which it didn’t. It wasn’t until she praised the Lord was she happy.
(And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.”)
again we see someone trying to be happy on their terms until we put God first we will never be happy
Like many of you I am noticing that Jacob knows what Esau and his father must have felt when he and Rebekah deceived them. Leah’s struggles with wanting Jacob to love her reminds me so much of a younger version of myself, chasing after ungodly relationships that brought me heartache and feelings of worthlessness. It took me a long time to realize I can only truly be happy when I put my hope and trust in the Lord and follow His ways.