Leah and Rachel

Genesis 29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

In Genesis 28 we see Jacob’s dream and God’s promise to Him on God being with Jacob wherever he wanders so that Jacob will return to Bethel. This promise is a picture of the Holy Spirit staying inside us just after we raise Jesus up in our lives. Jacob’s travel back to Haran is a picture of our life in this world until our savior brings us back to heaven. The Holy Spirit’s presence is very important in our life in making one particular and important choice which is between Leah and Rachel.

The first thing we should notice is that Leah is the blessed one because Judah, David and Jesus were born in this womb (Galatians 3:15-18). God’s eternal purpose was upon Leah so that all nations would be blessed through her. Leah was a delicate person whereas Rachel was beautiful to the eyes (verse 17). Leah should be compared to God’s will and Rachel to ours. God’s will is unloved and given very less priority as we start living a spiritual life in the world. We seek earthly blessings and go hug and kiss them as we see them as a relief from the current burdens we have. Jacob was fleeing with fear from Esau and as soon as he saw a beautiful woman from his own family his joy has no bounds.

Our attitude towards material blessings and spiritual wealth has to be defined rightly. Jacob was not right when he did not oblige to customs and opened the well for Rachel’s sheep. There were three flocks waiting for water so that everybody would come and at the right time all blessings will start showering. This is a picture of all our efforts waiting for blessings to be received at a right God’s planned time. But Jacob despised the custom of this place and gave Rachel precedence over everything that was waiting. We read that as soon as Jacob sees Rachel, he tries to remove others from the location which also signifies his desperation. As in Philippians 4:6,7 our anxiousness is the problem. There was no way Jacob would have handled this peacefully because of his tiresome escape from Esau. But God had promised “I will be with you wherever you go” and if Jacob had trusted God completely, this desperation would have been avoided.

We need to learn that Rachel becomes demanding. But God is so kind that he remembers our material needs too (Genesis 30:22). Mathew 6:31-33 explains this that God will fulfill our needs as only when we seek His will.

The local customs is an important factor in this incident. The customs were rejected by Jacob initially but when time went on, he had to oblige. These customs were part of God’s plan because Leah was not chosen by Jacob but was God’s choice. Customs are used in many instances like in Luke 1:9, Luke 4:16 etc. We often reject both customs and traditions without wisdom saying they are not needed. Traditions separate us away from God but customs like our early morning prayer or Sunday worship are the ones which bring us together to Christ. Also, these customs are local and yet God uses them. We make errors by expecting customs or one place in another like Jacob asking Laban if he had been deceived.

As in 29:31, we should understand that Rachel’s barrenness is God’s plan. If we do not let His divine will be executed in our lives, God’s promise through the Holy Spirit makes our wishes fail so that Leah would produce. Anxiousness or depression shows that we are denying God’s existence and divine leading.

Another pathetic thing is that Jacob ends up serving his father in law after receiving all spiritual blessings so that he could earn Rachel. The first seven years of hard work was to earn Leah and was a blessing which seemed only like a few days.  But Jacob had to unhappily toil for the next seven years when Rachel was already his and this time Rachel was not pleasant as earlier. This was all because of our initial decision of an ambition and our constant pursuit in this.

In Chapter 30 we read Rachel giving up her husband to Leah because of food just like Isaac and Esau. And Leah uses her authority to get Jacob saying “I have hired you”. If Jacob had properly honored her, this would not have taken place. If we do not abide by Him, He would place everything so that we would be forced to submit to His desires and plans. The days of sickness or being bed-ridden are given to us for this purpose. The four names Rueben, Simeon, Levi and Judah clearly explains her longing towards her husband. Our spirit similarly longs for audience but we simply ignore and submit all our efforts to materials.

The purpose of God staying with us is that we should come back to Bethel. But, even despite His presence this incident shows how bad and critical our actions can lead us to. Eventually God would bring us to our destiny because of His plan, but how wonderful and magnificent would it be if there was only Leah in Jacob’s life. Let us focus in serving our spirit by nourishing it with Jesus Christ.

Amen.