Leah's Baby Mama Drama
This week we are taking a closer look at Leah. She was the tender-eyed sister of Rachel who Jacob loved even though they were both married to him by trickery of her father. If that was not enough family drama, we see a constant rivalry between these two sisters over who can have the most children by Jacob.
As I read and studied, the Lord began to reveal to me how women often respond when they are hated by the men who are supposed to love them. What happens when you are the unloved wife. In the world's gospel, everyone deserves to be loved and if you are not, you need to ditch that zero and find a hero! However, in bible times, it was not that simplistic at all, and what was even MORE important than a healthy marriage was a healthy baby.
Now He Will Love Me
Once married to Jacob, Leah had several sons and with each birth, she thought that surely she would know her husband's love. Notice that sex was not love to her. She desired his heart. No all of us wives have the heart of our husbands, especially if another woman has children by him. It can be a trying situation to say the least. Will we ever be The One? The bible never says that Leah was truly loved by Jacob.
Earning His Love
She even gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob when it seemed that she could no longer earn his love through having children of her own. How many times have women pushed their husbands into the hands of another man through their unrestrained emotions? By taking matters into our own hands, we complicate God's gift of marriage. When we make a covenant with more than one person (sexually speaking), it drives them further away, not closer to us.
Hiring His Love
When Leah's firstborn son finds mandrakes in the field and gives them to her, she uses this blessing as a manipulative tool to get pregnant once again. She literally prostitutes her husband to her sister! Many women do the same - using their children as pawns to get a man in bed!
We can learn some valuable things from Leah:
1. It is God who brings any good thing into your marriage. Realize that He is the source of every good blessing!
2. God can bring fruit out of an unfruitful situation. When her sister Rachel (although loved by her husband) was barren, God gave Leah children. She was fruitful. She contributed half the tribe of Israel including Jacob's firstborn. Not only that, but her son Judah continued the lineage all the way to Jesus Christ Himself!
3. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. We may be hated, despised, rejected and unloved, but so was Christ. We must continue to praise God in the middle of our storms. Leah was Jacob's first wife and the last of his wives to die. She was buried in the cave of the other matriarchs and left a legacy that is incomparable.
No matter if you are loved or hated by a man, God's love for you is what matter most.
As I read and studied, the Lord began to reveal to me how women often respond when they are hated by the men who are supposed to love them. What happens when you are the unloved wife. In the world's gospel, everyone deserves to be loved and if you are not, you need to ditch that zero and find a hero! However, in bible times, it was not that simplistic at all, and what was even MORE important than a healthy marriage was a healthy baby.
Now He Will Love Me
Once married to Jacob, Leah had several sons and with each birth, she thought that surely she would know her husband's love. Notice that sex was not love to her. She desired his heart. No all of us wives have the heart of our husbands, especially if another woman has children by him. It can be a trying situation to say the least. Will we ever be The One? The bible never says that Leah was truly loved by Jacob.
Earning His Love
She even gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob when it seemed that she could no longer earn his love through having children of her own. How many times have women pushed their husbands into the hands of another man through their unrestrained emotions? By taking matters into our own hands, we complicate God's gift of marriage. When we make a covenant with more than one person (sexually speaking), it drives them further away, not closer to us.
Hiring His Love
When Leah's firstborn son finds mandrakes in the field and gives them to her, she uses this blessing as a manipulative tool to get pregnant once again. She literally prostitutes her husband to her sister! Many women do the same - using their children as pawns to get a man in bed!
We can learn some valuable things from Leah:
1. It is God who brings any good thing into your marriage. Realize that He is the source of every good blessing!
2. God can bring fruit out of an unfruitful situation. When her sister Rachel (although loved by her husband) was barren, God gave Leah children. She was fruitful. She contributed half the tribe of Israel including Jacob's firstborn. Not only that, but her son Judah continued the lineage all the way to Jesus Christ Himself!
3. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. We may be hated, despised, rejected and unloved, but so was Christ. We must continue to praise God in the middle of our storms. Leah was Jacob's first wife and the last of his wives to die. She was buried in the cave of the other matriarchs and left a legacy that is incomparable.
No matter if you are loved or hated by a man, God's love for you is what matter most.
(A) Sometimes wives just don't feel the love!
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