JOY "Leah the Bride" April 20

April 20, 2011

Leah the Bride
Genesis 29: 1-24

I       "Leah- In-Waiting"
II      Leah is Wed

Charles Swindoll tells the story of a guy who once, fell in love with an opera singer, without even knowing her. In fact, he could hardly see her, since his only view of the singer, was through binoculars, from the 3rd balcony. But, he was convinced that he could live "happily ever-after" if he was married to a voice like that! He didn't even pay attention to the fact, that she was considerably older than he was and that she walked with a slight limp. He believed that her mezzo-soprano voice, would see them through whatever might come their way. So, after a whirlwind romance and a hurry-up ceremony, they went off on their honeymoon.

Once they got to their hotel, the singer began to prepare for their first night together. As the husband watched----- his mouth fell open and his chin dropped to his chest. She plucked out her glass eye and plopped it into a container, on the nightstand. She pulled off her wig, and ripped off her false eyelashes. She yanked out her dentures and unstrapped her artificial leg. And then, she smiled at him, as she slipped off her glasses and pulled out her hearing aid.

Stunned and horrified, he gasped and said, "for goodness sake woman, sing, sing, Sing!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Leah- in- Waiting"

After Isaac gave him, his real blessing, Jacob left his parent's home in Beersheba and started out on the 600 mile journey to Haran------I wonder if the reality of what he had done; stealing the birthright and the blessing, from his brother, was eating at his heart. It can be such a terrible weight, on our shoulders, when we hurt someone else, especially if we do it purposefully. And I wonder, if Jacob was kicking himself, because he knew that he had brought his misery, on himself, by his own actions.
Plus, he was probably scared to death, too, because, not only was he fleeing for his life, but he was leaving home, probably, for the first time, ever.

He was totally alone------there were no servants, there were no caravans and there were none of the normal niceities, of life, that he was used to. I can't imagine that he had anything with him, but just what he could carry on his back-----and that was most likely, only whatever food he and Rebekah, could scrounge together, as fast as they could, at the last minute. Jacob, the ultimate homebody, had to set out on a adventure that he had never asked for and that he had never wanted. There was no one for him to talk to and there was no shoulder for him to cry on and there was not a soul for him to share his fears with. It was the perfect time, spiritually, for God to make His presence known to Jacob, and it was also the perfect time, for his Uncle Laban, emotionally, to play his devious tricks on him.

On about the 3rd day of his flight, he found himself alone, at a certain place, in a dark, sparsely populated, wasteland, full of very real and present dangers, with no one to watch his back. He must have been terrified, exhausted, discouraged and I hope, remorseful, as he gathered up the rocks and prepared to lay down to rest. The rocks would have been hard under his head, but they would have been a lot better than having to sleep, flat-out, on the bare ground. (our lives are full of examples, of how we can find comfort, in the middle of uncomfortable situations-----Psalm 23 tells us that "green pastures" restore our souls….and that because of them,we can know, that "surely goodness and mercy shall follow us, all the days of our lives, and that we will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever…"
* Medicine or surgery may be terrible, when we have to experience them, but they can provide the comfort and healing that we need, later on.
* Confrontation or discipline over an issue right now, can provide the comfort of reconciliation, down the road.
* Disciplining a child, for disobedient behavior, will help them grow up to be obedient teenagers to their earthly parents and obedient adults, to their heavenly Father.
* Our past trials, and the way that the Lord provided for us, to grow through them, can be the means of giving us strength and comfort, in whatever trial we may be experiencing right now!

As Jacob drifted off to sleep; he must have been worrying about how much more loneliness he could take and wondering, whether or not, he would really be able to make it all the way to Haran, much less, take a wife when he got there. Isaac's words of blessing must have seemed far-removed from him at that point!
But while he slept, our gracious God, sent him a theophany. He saw a great staircase----(Jacob's Golden Ladder)the top was disappearing into heaven and the bottom was resting firmly, on the ground--------it probably looked more like pyramid, than it did an actual ladder, with rungs.
Going up and down the steps of the ladder, were countless angels-----they were carrying out godly tasks and ministering to God's children, in a continual and steady stream, simultaneously. Standing at the very top of the ladder, Jacob could see Jesus, Himself-------He told Jacob who He was, and it was clear to see, that He was directing everything that was going on. Our God is not just a God of miracles, who occasionally injects his power into our lives; He is far greater, because He maintains and directs, all of life, to bring about His will. The truth is, God rarely interrupts His created, natural order of the world, but, He, also never leaves us, nor forsakes us, and He will do whatever it takes, to make His presence known to us.

Jacob was able to see, that there was heavenly activity going on, in that desolate place, where had found himself, physically, emotionally and spiritually worn-out--------and, he could see without a doubt, that the heavenly activity, was for him, alone. There isn't a literal, physical staircase to heaven-------God, in His creativity, used this dream as method to reveal Himself and His promises to Jacob, in a way, that Jacob could understand. It was only a dream, but it was a dream that symbolized God's marvelous reality, to all of us, too. Do you remember seeing Louie Giglio's movie, "Indescribable"? It was an incredible realization, to me of just how vast and immeasurable, the gulf of space is, that separates us, on this little tiny dot of earth, from the heaven, of God's presence-------God is sooooooo BIG and we are sooooooo small and we are separated from God's holiness, about as far as we can be, by our own sins. But God wanted Jacob to know Him, so that he could share his knowledge with his wife and with his children, and He wants us to know Him, so that we can understand, that because of His great love for us, and His infinite grace and mercy------He has built a great staircase, that spans the wide, great gulf, between us. It is a bridge that goes right to, and through, the gates of heaven-------and that staircase, is Jesus. John tells us in 14:6, that Jesus is the way to God. (Many ways to Jesus, but only one way to God)

Jacob wasn't looking for God, and he certainly wasn't expecting Him, out there in the wilderness. But God knew that Jacob needed him! He knew what was ahead of Jacob, in Haran------He knew the twist that his life was going to take and who his wives were going to be and who is children were going to be. God knew that that His grace, right at that particular, point in time, would be the only means of reviving Jacob's energies, and strengthening his heart, and infusing him with courage and preparing him, for the character-growing lessons, that were just in front of him. The word "grace" in Greek, is "charis" and it means graciousness, favor, gracefulness and kindness. The word "grace" in Hebrew means to "bend or stoop". The great Bible scholar, Donald Gray Barnhouse, once said, "Love that goes upward, is worship, love that goes outward, is affection and love that stoops, is grace."

(This description, paints for me, such a beautiful mental picure, of the practical aspect of grace--------I see a mother, kneeling down, to be on her preschooler's level, when she disciplines her; I see a teacher sitting in the floor with her arms around a child, in unspeakable emotional pain, because of the family life that she was born into; I see a daughter, bending to help an elderly parent get into a wheelchair or walk to the car, when she picks the parent up to take them to the doctor or to the grocery or to church; I see a daddy, with his arms wrapped around his young son, all 4 of their hands, on the handle of a bat, while his son takes his first swing at the ball; I think of every picture that I have ever seen of Mother Theresa, who was stopped so low by the curvature of her spine, that I don't know how she walked, and yet, she gave so much of herself, to anyone, she saw in need. More than any of these, though, is the picture of Jesus, with his head bowed low, hanging on the cross, that was meant for me, so that He, could become my stairway, to God, the Father.)

It says in Genesis 28:15 that God told Jacob, "Behold, I am with you and I will keep you, wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you." The God who created the universe, in all its vastness, who was in control of the sun and moon and stars----the God who told the angels what to do and what not to do and who had given Jacob, the very air that he breathed, was never going to leave Jacob--------and we can stand on that same promise------if He wouldn't leave Jacob, then He will never leave us. We can never go beyond God's keeping. That staircase from heaven, would be with Jacob, every step of the way to Mesopotamia, it would be with him when he met Rachel and when he was duped by Laban, into marrying Leah, it would be with him when he took 2 concubines and when all 12 plus, of his children were born------it would be with him for the entire 20 years that he would live outside the Promised Land and it would be with him, every step of the way back to it and it would go down, with him, into Egypt, when the time came. The staircase would always be there, because Jesus became that staircase, once, for all time, for all mankind and He will stand forever. 

When Jacob woke up from the dream, his first words were, "Surely the Lord is in this place!" and he promptly built an altar to Him. What an understatement! He had been so weary from his journey, but he had found a new strength in God's grace. (My experience at Millbrook with the cell phones and the song, "Carry Your Candle"….) We need to do what Jacob did; we need to wake up, and acknowledge, that God is in every place, that we find ourselves in. We need to learn to expect Him to be there!
Jacob was refreshed and ready to tackle the journey, with a new perspective, and a new energy and a new attitude------- and even though, he still had a long way to go, to really understand, just who God was, I think that he had taken the first step and that his heart was in the right place, even though his understanding of what to do with it, was still immature.

Scripture says that Jacob continued on his journey…. In the ancient Hebrew, the description of him going forward, from that place, meant that Jacob lifted up his feet-----actually, it means that he practically skipped the rest of the way to Haran! ( I am reminded of Dorothy's proverbial yellow brick road and being "off to see the wizard"-------except in Jacob's case, he sang, "I'm off to see my people, the wonderful people of Ur.")
If we were to have the same kind of Jacob-like encounter with God that Jacob had, we would want to skip and dance down the road, too! The thing about it though, is, that we have had the same encounter-------so the question is, why don't we skip down the road, every where we go? Jacob had a dream and it was wonderful and he carried the memory of that dream with him for the rest of his life. But we, on the other hand, have God's word written down for us, in permanent magic marker-----and it isn't a memory, its a reality and the Holy Spirit makes sure that we never lose sight of it. We should skip down the road every single day, with joy in our step and a song on our hearts.

Jacob, I am sure, knew, by heart, the story, of how his grandfather Abraham's, old servant had gone, to get a wife for his father and about how God had revealed his mother, Rebekah, to the servant, at the well. I am also sure that Jacob was aware of just how important wells had been, in the physical and spiritual lives, of his parents. So, after his encounter with God in the wilderness, and the closer he got to Haran, his expectations for God's divine providence, must have skyrocketed, when the first thing, to meet his eyes, was a well.

Now, I don't want to get too far into the story about Rachel, yet, but we have to talk about er a little bit--because she is pivotal, to the whole story.

There were 3 flocks of sheep, along with their 3 listless shepherds, lying around the well, waiting for the other shepherds and their flocks, to gather there, so that the well could be opened, at one time, for everybody.
Apparently, the stone, over the opening was large and heavy and needed several men to move it. Don't you know, that his heart must have been beating out of his chest----and the adrenalin must have been pumping through him, when he asked the shepherds questions about his family and he realized, that not only, did they know his uncle Laban, but they also knew, that his cousin Rachel, was on her way with the family's flock of sheep, that very minute. Jacob had to have been wondering, if he was going to walk in his daddy's footsteps and meet his bride at the exact same well, where the servant had met his mother.
Rachel did get to the well, but we aren't going to talk about exactly what happened, till week after next, when we do our lesson on her.

So, after Rachel and Jacob's encounter at the well------she ran home, to tell her daddy. *****Laban was beside himself-------as soon as he heard the news, he ran and hugged Jacob and kissed him and brought him back to their family home, more than likely, expecting to receive, some more, lavish gifts, from his wealthy, "Promised Land" relatives……. But, Jacob didn't come bearing gifts in the way that the old servant had---he didn't have a caravan of 10 camels, loaded down with lavish presents. He didn't have any gold or jewelry or fine clothes or livestock or servants. Laban was probably thinking, though, that the gifts were going to arrive with a later group of servants until, Jacob, being Jacob, told his uncle, everything that had happened with the whole birthright and blessing fiasco.
We can't help but wonder if that was the point, when Laban realized, that Jacob was at his mercy and was ripe for manipulation and exploitation.

Scripture tells us that Laban had 2 daughters, but it doesn't even introduce Leah, to us, until we are well into the story. The name Leah means wild cow or strong cow, which sounds awful, but is actually a wonderful name, for a person, who would become the mother, of many children------because cows, are a symbol of fertility. But she obviously, was in her sister's shadow, even though she was the elder sister. (we don't know how much older she was) I have been shocked this week, on how little information, there is available about Leah. I have 10 different resources, on the women of the Bible, and only 3 of them, including our author's book, have any commentary on Leah, at all. Which is remarkably sad to me, since she was the daughter, who was God's choice, to be in the line of mothers, who brought Jesus into the world. She was truly a lady in waiting--------waiting for the right husband to come along and waiting on God, to bring him, to her.

Scripture tells us that Rachel was "lovely in form and beautiful"------and it says that Leah had weak eyes. And we will never know, until we get to heaven, what Moses meant when he described her that way. It could be that she squinted because she had poor eyesight; it could be that she had a lazy eye or a wandering eye; it could be that she had blue eyes, in a world where most of the woman had brown ones; it could be, that she had one brown eye and one green one;  it could be that she had dreamy eyes, that were tender and sweet, and downcast most of the time, because she was a shy homebody, not given to wild excitement and flashing, dancing glances of joy and temper---which would serve, to attract a man, to her. Whatever it was, she paled in comparison, to her, much more passionate sister, and her eyes, however they looked, were her only distinguishing feature. And we now that Jacob was interested in Rachel, not Leah.

II. Leah is Wed

Jacob had finally met his match, in his Uncle Laban. Laban became the tool of discipline that God used to grow Jacob up. Laban offered Jacob a job, after he had been there, for only a month. Unfortunately, Isaac had sent Jacob off without a bride price, for a wife so Jacob had no choice but to work for her hand in marriage. Jacob in his naivete', set the salary, himself. He promised to work for Laban for 7 years, in order to be able to marry Rachel. The traditional bride price was only 5 years wages, so Jacob was clearly making a statement to everyone, of just how much he valued Rachel. Scripture says that the time flew by, because Jacob loved her so much.
At the very beginning of the contract, Jacob was very specific  about what he wanted and Laban agreed to it, but he didn't tell Jacob about the fine print---he didn't really acknowledge Rachel's name in the contract, he didn't restate, that7 years, was the length of service, and he didn't tell him, that the older daughter has to marry, before the  younger one, could. In that ancient time------verbal agreements were made, by restating, verbatim, the terms of the contract. That didn't happen------so it's clear that Jacob was blinded by love, and Laban, was as sneaky, as a fox.

I don't know, if Laban planned to trick Jacob, into marrying Leah, when they struck their deal----7 years was a long time-----and for all he knew, she could have married somebody else in those intervening years-------but, whether he was thinking about it or not, he was providing insurance for himself. But when the time was up and she wasnt married, Laban saw his chance to kill 3 birds with one stone---he got both of his girls married to the son of a very wealthy man, and he got a son-in-law, who could give him free labor, for at least 7 more years. 

When Jacob demanded his wife at the end of 7 years--Laban did the right thing------he threw a big wedding with a fancy reception. A typical wedding, in that day, consisted of moving possessions, to and from the bride's dwelling; a reading of the marriage contract; a feast that lasted for 7 days, that was attended by both the bride and the groom's families and the community; and the groom wrapping, the totally veiled bride, up in his cloak, and taking her, into his tent, to consummate the marriage, at the end of the 1st day's festivities.

Evidently, Laban used the veiling of the bride and the lateness of the hour and probably, a little too much wine, to make the switch. We have no idea what he did to restrain Rachel or what he did to coerce Leah, but what ever it was, it worked perfectly. We do know, that girls in the Middle East, even today, rarely defy their fathers---so they were both probably, forced, to be obedient to him. We also, don't know, how these 2 girls, each, really felt about Jacob--------Scripture never tells us that Rachel loved him, but it does tell us, that Leah, craved for him, to love her------so, it could have been that the girl's true feelings, played some part, in their willingness, to participate, in Laban's scheme. Whatever it was, the deed was done.

The jury is still out for me, as to whether I believe that Leah was a slightly bad girl, at this point, or not. I honestly don't know how she could have disobeyed her father in the culture that she lived in, especially if she didn't know God, yet----but our author says, that she could have refused to wear Rachel's bridal veil, or she could have fled from Jacob's tent, rather than climbing into his bed, which would have spared them both, a lifetime of heartache. And that is true! But since we don't know, what really happened, and we do know that God used it for His purposes------ what I think, that we should glean, from her behavior, is------ that we always have a choice, no matter what we think, that we're being forced to do. We always have a choice to stay or to go----and if we will just trust the Lord, He will make a way when there seems to be no way. 

And, since we don't hear Leah, say a word, in this whole part, of the story------- it should make us think, that even if we can't speak up, for what's right, all the time-----we can an act, in a manner, that is worthy, of our calling, as children of God------realizing that people see what we do, far more clearly, than they hear what we say----and it can have a far-reaching influence, on them. We need to be careful to do what's right, regardless of the circumstances we face, or regardless of who's coercing us, in the circumstance------because, the godly truth is, we will never be sorry, if we do the right thing.