04.06.06
Leah and Rachel
Due April 5th
Read Genesis 29:14b-30:24
Genesis 35:16-18
It was customary for the oldest daughter to marry first. Laban knew that Jacob would not be willing to marry Leah because of his great love for Rachel.
So, after much partying all night, where Jacob probably got a little tipsy, Laban sent Leah into Jacob's tent, and he did not realize the dirty trick played on him until morning. A very fitting trick for someone who had stolen his older brothers birthright (Read Gen. 27:1-28:9).
Now let us look at the dynamic of the sisters relationship. Women at that time lived to have children. Their children were their pride and joy. Much of their self-worth came from the amount of children they bore to their husband. God had compassion on Leah who was not loved by her husband.
Under three things the earth trembles,
under four it cannot bear up:
a servant who becomes king,
a fool who is full of food,
an unloved woman who is married,
and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.
Proverbs 30:21-23
SEEING THIS LEAH HAD HERE MAID TO SLEEP WITH JACOB.
GOD ALSO OPENED RACHEL'S WOUND AND SHE GAVE BIRTH TO JOSEPH AND BENJAMIN, BUT DIED IN CHILDBIRTH WITH BENJAMIN.
JACOB CLEARLY LOVED LOVED RACHEL MORE THAN HE DID LEAH, AND UNFORTUNATELY CAUSED PROBLEMS
IT SEEMED LEAH AND RACHEL WERE TRYING TO OUT DO EACH OTHER IN HAVING CHILDREN. LEAH THINKING THAT MAY BE JACOB WOULD LOVE IF SHE GAVE HIM CHILDREN AND RACHEL, PERHAPS THINKING, HE WOULD STILL LOVE HER THE BEST IF SHE GAVE HIM CHILDREN
LEAH SEEMED TO RELY ON GOD AND GIVE MORE PRAISE THAN RACHEL
Yet, even after God gave Rachel what she wanted she was unsatisfied ~ Genesis 30:22-24.Rachel lived a very bitter life and in the end she died in childbirth having the children that she so desperately wanted.Excercise in gratitude and praise
Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5:16-18
1. FAMILY
2. HEALTH
3. JOB
robin bamberg said,
April 4, 2008 at 5:33 p04
God bless you for your wonderful thoughts.I was thinking about Rachel and Leah and Jacob today. I was thinking how sad it is that sisters, whether biological or spiritual, are still at war with each other today. When we spend all of our time fighting each other, the enemy of our soul has us just where he wants us. There is too much to be done for the Kingdom of God than to be spending all of our precious time competing against each other. If we would step out of our sisters shadows and stop imitating and anhilating each other and just be ourselves how much happier we all would be.
robin bamberg said,
January 22, 2009 at 5:33 p01
We, like Leah, have four hindrances in our lives that we must overcome if we are to be productive. First, we have to get over Jacob. Jacobs are the things that we exalt above God. Jacobs are the things or persons that we set on the throne of our hearts. Jacobs are things that we wrongly place above everything in our lives. Jacobs are the things that we idolize and allow to reign and rule in our spirits. Jacobs are the ones we seek to please and love at the cost of our own self respect.. Jacobs are the things that consumes our attention, time, effort, and worship. When we allow the Jacobs to be exalted in our lives ,we miss the opportunity of resting in the arms of the One who loves us most and settle for the arms of the ones who will embrace us at their convenience. As long as we aim to please our Jacobs, we will constantly find overselves overwhelmed, disappointed, and coming up short changed.
Then there’s Rachel. Rachels represent generational blocks. Things that have been picking and pulling at us since we were born. Things that have grown up with us and in us, causing us turmoil and unrest. Rachels make us feel the need to compete with others because we esteem ourselves less than who we really are.Rachels are the things that we should be at peace with in our lives, yet we find ourselves battling with all the time.Rachels compel us to compare ourselves against others and then feel inadequate after making the comparison.
There there’s old Laban.Labans are representations of everything that tries to make you feel inferior, unappreciated, worthless, and second place. It is a spirit that comes to make us feel devalued, less loved, and underestimated.
Labans attempt to make us feel not good enough. It tries to force us into becoming impostors and impersonators because it wants us to believe that the real “us” are inadequate and insufficient.
And last but not least, there’s Leah. Leah has to get over herself as much as she has the other obstacles in her life. She has to stop being the victim and holding herself hostage. She has to stop the madness of rehearsing negatives stereotypes and scenarios in her life. She has to see herself as an overcomer and not as an underachiever. She has to release herself from hindering her destiny and step into her inheritance of her Judah (praise).
If we ,as Christians, can overcome these four barriers, we will see that God, Himself, has deposited an eternal inheritance in and for us. Just as He did for Leah when she finally realized that it was all about Him.