Esau saw a see-saw on the seashore shared by seven shorn sheep sharing shawls. Said shorn sheep were sashaying on said see-saw. So what did Esau say he saw when he saw the see-saw with seven shorn shawl-sharing seashore sheep?

🤪🥸

I’m sorry, y’all. I couldn’t help it. 😆

What Esau actually saw was that Isaac sent Jacob away with instructions to not marry a Canaanite girl but to go find his uncle Laban and marry a daughter of his. So Esau, in typical rebel fashion, marries a third woman- a cousin from the Ishmael side of the family.

On his way to Uncle Laban’s, Jacob has the famous stairway to heaven dream. In this dream, God repeats the covenant He established with Abraham. Abraham had also heard from YHWH in a dream (Gen. 15)

The dream shook Jacob up and he named the place Bethel. You probably already know that it means house of God.

Let’s break it down. 😎🎧💿

Bet is the 2nd letter of the Hebrew AlephBet. And no, that’s not a typo. We say alphabet because alpha is A in Greek and bet is B in Hebrew. Those are the 2 languages of Holy Scripture.

Bet, in Paleo-Hebrew is a picture of a house. It looks like a simple floor plan of a square with a little door opening. And it means house. Keep this in mind for when you see Bet/Beth from here on out. It’s going to show up a lot in place names. It will look like “Beth” but it’s technically pronounced more like a cross between “bathe” and “bait.” But if you say it like that in church people tend to think you’re weird or a Bible snob trying to show off so just say Bethel or Bethlehem instead of Bait’El or Bait’lachem. 😏

Ok, so Beth means house.

El is the generic Hebrew word for God.

So Beth-El = House of God. Or God’s house.

El will show up a lot too. Mostly in people’s names. Ok. Moving on…

Jacob arrives in Padan-Aram and we hear echoes of the Isaac-Rebecca meeting. Just look at the parallels:

Location: Padan-Aram

Stop at a well after a long journey.

Hot girl shows up at the well who happens to be related to Laban.

Gorgeous girl is there for water.

The animals drink from the well.

Girl runs to tell her family about a dude at the well.

Welcomed into Laban’s house.

Hot running girl destined to be the bride.

🤷‍♀️

I mean- it’s the same story.

Only this time… instead of the girl hopping on a camel and leaving the next day… this time, it’s going to take twenty years.

Laban switching Rachel for Leah on the wedding night… sigh… I just can’t. Horrible man.

Trickery and deceit is the theme of Jacob’s whole story. It tends to bounce back & forth between Jacob deceiving and him being deceived.

Think about this: In the dark of his wedding night, he is in the same state as his father Isaac when Jacob deceived him. He can’t see. His eyes are dim.

He can’t see and one comes to him who he thinks is another. And he makes a covenant that he cannot back out of.

My heart breaks for Leah. There’s no telling what Jacob whispered to her in the dark- all meant for Rachel. I imagine Laban threatened her within an inch of her life to not say a peep and reveal her identity.

Much is made of Leah’s “weak eyes” compared to Rachel being the total package.

However… (you knew a “however” was coming right? 😏) Leah’s “weakness,” is what makes her (just an idea here) a precious picture of the Bride of Christ.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. [and Lacy is gonna insert here for your edification: Not many of you were drop-dead-gorgeous models.] But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬-‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Does the Heavenly Bridegroom see His bride’s weakness and imperfection? Or does His dazzling love blind him? In His embrace, in the dark of eternal mystery, she is not Leah (which means “weary”), she is Rachel (which means ewe sheep) His perfect one.

I realize I may be out on some thin ice here, so please put down the pitchforks and torches, but it won’t be the only time in the OT when God uses 2 separate things (in this case, 2 sisters) to represent 2 aspects of one future reality: the Church as seen by the world (weak & weary) vs. the Church glorified in Christ (His beloved sheep).

😅 man, that makes me feel not so bad about this story anymore. Only God can take something so messed up and turn it into a message. Somebody better praise Him right now. And if you think He can’t do that in your life, just try Him and see. I dare you. God is the Redeemer. It’s what He does best. He can redeem anything. Including you.

☺️🥰🌤️🌱

Back to the historic Leah though. (Here’s your weekly regular reminder to not carry prophetic pictures to inth degrees.) What’s done is done. For better or for worse, Leah is Jacob’s wife now. After one, probably very awkward, honeymoon week Jacob gets Rachel as wife #2.

Women have 6 senses. Along with the usual sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste, they can sense emotions. (When they become moms they add at least 2 more: eyes in the back of the head and hearing mental sass.) Leah knows that Jacob doesn’t love her. There’s no hiding it from her. She can feel it. She knows their intimacy is obligatory on his part. Probably hers too. “The other woman” isn’t a weekend fling. It’s her Victoria’s-got-a-secret sister; her husband’s other wife.

I remind myself to not read my 21st century, Puritan-and-Victorian-influenced-morality backward into Genesis, but this whole situation is a dumpster fire in any century and it hurts my heart.

Usually when I hear this story referenced, it’s all about how much Jacob loved the beautiful Rachel and how he worked 7 years for her. Then, ugh, has to work 7 more but it seems like only a few days because he’s so in love. We don’t know what to do with Leah. She’s getting in the way of a perfectly good romance.

But Yahweh knew what to do with Leah. And He didn’t think she was in the way.

“When Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭31‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Sarah was barren for about 75 years of marriage. Rebecca was barren for 20 years. Now Rachel. We’ll get more of her story in the next chapter.

For now, I think we can glimpse something of Leah’s relationship with both Jacob and the Lord in the names she gives to her sons.

Reuben means, “Look! A son!”

“…for she said, “Because Yahweh has noticed my misery, that I am unloved. Now my husband will love me.”

Simeon means “hearing” or “heard.”

“And she said, “It is because Yahweh has heard that I am unloved that he gave me this son also.”

Levi means “attached” or “joined.”

Then she said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, for I have borne him three sons.”

With the birth of each son, Leah is hoping to earn Jacob’s love and build some kind of connection with him. After all, he’s it. He’s the only husband she gets. Y’all I’m not going to romanticize it. I don’t think Jacob ever thought much of Leah. In the next chapter she’s going to name a son Zebulun which means “dwelling” and is a play on the word for “dowry” because she thinks that now, finally, Jacob might move her into his tent (or something) and treat her like a real wife.

While men want respect, more than anything else, women want to be loved. Cherished.

Leah is not getting that. At all. Not even after bearing Jacob’s children.

But something different happens with the 4th son. When she names him, there are no hopes about getting Jacob to love her. There is no hinting that this child will finally be the one that gets Jacob to acknowledge her worth. No. It’s completely unique. And we have no commentary on why. And it’s vain to speculate. This is all we know:

“And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” Therefore she called his name Judah. And she ceased bearing children.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭29‬:‭35‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Judah means to give thanks, to laud, celebrate, praise.

Sometimes we can be like Leah.

If I could just…

Have the perfect spouse

Do this ministry

Make my spouse happy

Have well-behaved children

Achieve this level of income

Build this business

Look better in the mirror

Get this degree

Be respected at work

________ (fill in the blank)

If I could just have that, then I’ll feel…

________ (fill in the blank): happy, at peace, loved, significant, fulfilled.

If Jacob’s theme is deception and trickery, this is the greatest one. People will spend a lifetime believing that the next relationship or the next thing or place will finally be one that does it- the thing that makes life all good. It’s not true. It’s a trick. We’re in the dark and those things are being passed off as the long-awaited, long-labored-for prize. But eventually the light will dawn and behold! This is not what I thought it was going to be.

Nothing in this world, including good and godly things, can fill the emptiness of the human heart that only our Creator can fill. We can keep laboring to bear fruit to try to make ourselves and others pleased, or we can simply praise the Lord. We can thank and celebrate Him in faith. Our labor and fruit-bearing can become expressions of grateful praise. I’m convinced that the Lord Himself- and the love and forgiveness and acceptance that we find in Him- this is what every human heart is searching for.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

The beautiful thing is- (and I know you already know this)- Judah, the 4th baby of Leah- the one where she decided to just praise the Lord with no reference to herself or her husband- that’s the child through whom the lineage of Christ comes. The unloved Leah is the g-r-e-a-t grandmother of the Messiah.