Thursday, January 21, 2010

Loving God and Not Needing Others

So the Obscure Biblical Character for this past week was... Leah! (Sister of Rachel, who was known for how much Jacob loved her)

Genesis 29:31-35
When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

God was sending Leah kids, because she was sad, because Jacob loved her sister more. So Leah had her first son, and said 'God helped me, now Jacob'll love me!'. Then when her second son was born, she said 'God gave me this son because I'm unloved'. Then her third child came, and she said, 'Now Jacob'll love me, because he now has three sons by me!'.

There's a pattern here: Leah's still holding out hope that Jacob will fall in love with her. She wants the affections of men and God. Sometimes, however, we can't get both.

When God sends her a fourth son, she says 'Praise God!'. She just accepted the fact that God had been good to her, and realized she didn't need Jacob's love, only God's. (She, of course, forgot this 9 verses later in her girl-drama with her sister).

So this next week's Obscure Biblical Character:
-is in the book of Revelation
-is an angel who Jesus told John(who wrote Revelation) to write to
-in this letter, John was supposed to tell him "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil." (and goes on)

Like I said, the angel is in the book of Revelation. There's seven of these angels of the churches whom John is told to write a letter to.

In His Service,
Joyce

2 comments:

rocktalk951 said...

I said that Leah later forgets that she can live without Jacob's love, and she competes with Rachel to see who can have more sons, and, therefore, more love from Jacob (in a huge show of high-school-esque drama)
Does her forgetting this fact lessen the power of when she realized it in the first place?

***HINT*** The Obscure Biblical
Character is the first angel Jesus tells John to write to.

Anonymous said...

It shows us that even in the earliest biblical times, people forget the lessons of God's love. We continue to sin or misstep even though we are constantly reminded of God's greatness.