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Gen. 29:21
“And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife,
for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in
unto her. 22 And Laban gathered together all
the men of the place, and made a feast. 23
And it came to pass in the evening, that he
took Leah his daughter, and brought her to
him; and he went in unto her. 24 And Laban
gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid
for an handmaid. 25 And it came to pass,
that in the morning, behold, it was Leah:
and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast
done unto me? did not I serve with thee for
Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled
me? 26 And Laban said, It must not be so
done in our country, to give the younger
before the firstborn. 27 Fulfil her week,
and we will give thee this also for the
service which thou shalt serve with me yet
seven other years. 28 And Jacob did so, and
fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel
his daughter to wife also. 29 And Laban gave
to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid
to be her maid. 30 And he went in also unto
Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than
Leah, and served with him yet seven other
years.”
The scriptures
teach us “that whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap.” Jacob had deceived his
father, Isaac; had lied to him; and had
taken a blessing that was intended for his
brother, Esau; and had taken advantage of
the fact that his father was practically
blind. In the above passage we see what
Laban did unto his nephew Jacob. Laban and
Jacob had an agreement that Jacob would work
seven years for Laban and then Laban would
give to Jacob his daughter Rachel. The time
had come for Laban to fulfill the promise
and give Jacob his daughter Rachel to wife.
Instead, Laban gathered the men of the place
to gather and had a wedding feast. No doubt
there was much drinking of wine at the
wedding feast so that Jacob would not have
the sharpest of senses when Laban pulled his
shenanigan. Moreover, it was night when
Laban gave to Jacob Leah instead of Rachel.
My guess is that Laban probably thought he
would have a hard time marrying off Leah, so
he made the switch.
As Jacob lay
with Leah that night, I am sure that he
thought he was laying with Rachel. When the
morning came and with it the light of day
Jacob discovered that it was Leah and not
Rachel. Jacob was not pleased and he
rebuked Laban: “What is this thou hast done
unto me? did not I serve with thee for
Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled
me?” Jacob had been lied to, deceived, and
taken advantage of during the night when he
could not see and had been give the first
born and not the second. See how this
almost matches the deception Jacob had
practiced upon his father, Isaac? Moreover,
Laban answered Jacob thusly: “It must not be
so done in our country, to give the younger
before the firstborn.” Jacob had promoted
himself before his firstborn brother Esau.
Jacob had sowed what he had previously
reaped.
Laban now
shows his true colors and what he had
intended all along when he said “Fulfil her
week, and we will give thee this also for
the service which thou shalt serve with me
yet seven other years.” Thus for a week
Jacob was to know Leah only and then at the
end of the week, he was given Rachel to wife
also. However, to get Rachel, Jacob was to
serve Laban for seven more years. So by
Laban’s deception, he accomplished the
marrying off of his older daughter Leah and
got twice as much service from his nephew
Jacob than what they had originally
bargained for. However, we must remember
that God is not mocked, but whatsoever a man
soweth that shall he also reap. Laban
purposed to increase his wealth by deceiving
Jacob and for a good while this plan seemed
to work. However, as we will see God will
take the wealth of Laban and give it to
Jacob and his family.
Of
significance in the above account, we see
that Laban had given to each of his
daughters when they were married a handmaid
to serve them. These two maids will become
tools to the two sisters as they battle for
the affection of their husband Jacob.
Jacob loved
Rachel more than Leah. There are many
biblical arguments against polygamy. Jacobs
love for Rachel more than he loved Leah is a
great practical lesson against polygamy.
This set off a reaction of bitterness,
strife, and hatred between the two wives of
Jacob.
Gen. 29:31-34 Rachel was barren.
Gen. 29:31
“And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated,
he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and
she called his name Reuben: for she said,
Surely the LORD hath looked upon my
affliction; now therefore my husband will
love me. 33 And she conceived again, and
bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath
heard that I was hated, he hath therefore
given me this son also: and she called his
name Simeon. 34 And she conceived again, and
bare a son; and said, Now this time will my
husband be joined unto me, because I have
born him three sons: therefore was his name
called Levi. 35 And she conceived again, and
bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise
the LORD: therefore she called his name
Judah; and left bearing.”
It seems to me that it is in the fallen
nature of the woman that she will somehow
feel herself to be inadequate in her role as
wife and mother. Here we have two sisters
both vying for the affection of a common
husband. One sister, Leah, feels herself to
be inadequate in the area of feminine
appearance. The other sister, Rachel, feels
herself inadequate because of not being able
to produce children as her sister does.
There was a constant warfare between the two
sisters.
Our adequacy does not rest in the natural
appearance or abilities. Rather our
adequacy rest in the Lord. The Lord saw
that Jacob favored Rachel and gave Leah
something that Rachel did not have. He gave
her children. However, rather than being
satisfied with the beautiful gift that God
had given her and rejoicing in the children
that God had given her, she used the birth
of her children as a tool to convince her
husband to love her as he loved Rachel or
even more than he loved Rachel.
In the above passage we have recorded the
birth of Leah’s first four sons. Each one
was given a name based on the feeling Leah
had at the time. Leah felt to be afflicted
when the first born came, so she named him
“Reuben” which means afflicted. Likewise,
when the second born was born she named him
“Simeon” because she said that the Lord had
“heard” that she was hated. The word,
“Simeon” means “The Lord heard.” She named
the third “Levi” because that thru his birth
she believed that Jacob would be “joined”
unto her. The name “Levi” means “joined.”
With the birth of her fourth born son Leah
“praised” the Lord, so she called him name
“Judah” which means “praise.”
With each of the twelve sons of Jacob and
with the two sons of Joseph, names were
given to them at birth that we are given the
meaning of and this is significant elsewhere
in the scriptures. Highly frequently in the
scriptures, the Holy Ghost moves men to
write about things that will be later
significant in the later cannon of
scriptures. Knowing the meanings of the
names of the sons and two grandsons of Jacob
are useful to our understanding of the first
part of the 7th chapter of
Revelation. |
