Leah

Have you ever felt unloved or rejected?  You are not alone.

Leah was all too familiar with that feeling. You see, Leah had a sister, Rachel who the Bible portrayed as beautiful and having a lovely figure.

And then there was Leah.

Leah is described as having "weak eyes".   I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound like a compliment.  As we continue to read her story, we discover that her life was marked by a constant feeling of rejection and striving to be loved.

It eventually came time for Leah to be married. Unfortunately, marriage didn't help her insecurities, it solidified them.

Her father, Laban, actually had to trick her soon to be husband, Jacob, into marrying her.  But when the truth is revealed, Jacob is furious and Laban agrees to allow Rachel to marry Jacob as well.  Can you imagine Leah’s heartbreak as these events unfold?

But God saw Leah’s pain, and responded. Rachel struggled with barrenness while Leah had six sons.  Even so, we continue to sense her despair with each birth.

With her firstborn Reuben, she says, “The Lord has seen my misery, surely my husband will love me now.”  With Simeon, she states,  “Because Lord has heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too”.  At Levi’s birth, she declares, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me...”.

Do you get the picture?

Something changed though with the birth of her fourth son, Judah . Leah proclaims, “This time I will praise the Lord”.  Even though Leah strived for Jacob’s love, she understood true strength is found in God alone.

At the time of her death, Jacob finally bestowed on Leah the honor she deserved. While Rachel was buried on the journey to Bethlehem, Jacob buried Leah at the tomb at Machpelah - the tomb of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah.

Leah’s life with Jacob wasn’t the happily ever after she envisioned but God was up to something beyond what she could ever imagine. Rachel eventually bore two sons, Joseph and Benjamin...but it was through Leah’s son, Judah, that the royal line of David was established, including our Savior.

And then there was Leah - a story of being rejected by man but favored and redeemed by God.  

~Vijoy