Genealogy of Jesus: Leah, the UnLoved

Laban had two daughter~they would both marry Jacob and rival for his affections

Laban had two daughter~they would both marry Jacob and rival for his affections

We’ve been studying the women in Jesus genealogy.  There are three additional women that we know by name, although they are not listed by name in the genealogy listed in Matthew.  However, they each play an integral part in the story of God’s people.  We know not only their names, but their stories from the book of Genesis.

These three women of course are the Matriarch’s.  They are well associated with their husband’s, the Patriarch’s. Continuing to work our way backwards, Leah was the mother of Judah.

Jacob has been sent to find his Uncle Laban.  He meets Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel, and immediately falls in love with her.  When the time comes for them to be married, Leah was given to him instead.  She was the older daughter and unmarried. Jacob was angry and married Rachel, favoring her over Leah.  A rivalry developed between the two sisters for their husband’s affections.  Leah was blessed with children, while Rachel struggled to conceive.

 

  1. Leah was unloved—Jacob clearly loved Rachel. We’d like to think in time he grew to love Leah but we don’t know that for sure.

    God blessed Leah with sons

    God blessed Leah with sons

  2. Leah grew—with the birth of each son we see her growth in their names. Reuben—the Lord has seen my misery; Simeon—Lord heard I am not loved; Levi—my husband will become attached to me; Judah—I will praise the Lord; Gad (through her servant, Zilpah)—what good fortune; Asher (through her servant, Zilpah)—How happy I am!; Issachar—God has rewarded me; Zebulun—God has presented me with a precious gift
  3. God saw her pain—God saw Leah’s pain and blessed her with six sons a daughter and two sons through her servant
  4. Leah grew closer to God—the naming of her sons are proof of this.
  5. She became revered—we are told that Jacob buried her in the tomb with Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebekah; and where Jacob would also be buried. This is known as the Cave of the Patriarchs. We don’t know if Jacob ever grew to love her, but he at least revered her enough to provide the tomb as her final resting place.

Have you grown closer to God in a painful time?

 

Pictures from FreeBibleImages.org

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.