Jacob’s Prediction About Issachar - Genesis 49:14-15

“Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between the sheepfolds.  When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.”

Issachar was Jacob’s ninth son, the fifth son from Leah, his first wife.   He was named “man of hire” as Leah felt God was paying her ‘wages’ for allowing her handmaiden Zilpah to bear her husband children (sons number seven and eight, Gad and Asher).  What Jacob prophesies for Issachar is somewhat perplexing.

There is clearly implication that while Issachar was strong, he was also lazy, and that this perceived attribute would be carried over to the entire tribe.  His ‘strength’ was also a prophecy about his numbers and the size of the tribe that would result.  But his laziness indicated they would indeed be overtaken by the enemy and end up being slaves.  Jacob talks of the people of Issachar’s tribe settling down into agricultural work as they sought peace and quiet above all.  They were willing to take on burdens anyone placed on them, just like an ass or donkey.

Matthew Henry says they willingly accepted the burdens of both toiling the ground and paying rents and taxes. They chose laboring at home in the fields rather than being men of war, be it on land or sea.  Issachar and his tribe found solace in their love for the land and the quieter life.

It is difficult to ascertain with certainty how Jacob felt about Issachar.  There was something to be said about a “quiet life” but somehow I believe Israel saw more was needed if the Israelites were to persevere in the days ahead.

That same issue today challenges many a Christian.  “Do I stay quiet and out of the mainstream of what the Church and God’s people are facing or do I get involved?”  It is so easy to opt for the former.  No action is needed.  The latter requires prayer, thought, wisdom, and action.   But by choosing the former, we may well end up like the tribe of Issachar would end up, servants and slaves to the regimes that overtake, overburden, and overtax us.  As I write this, I am reminded of how the current American government imposed its agenda against the Catholic Church recently on the issue of contraceptives.  But the Catholic Church stood up to the challenge based on its beliefs.  The outrage was so loud and so clear, that the administration did an about-face.  Alternatively, it would have meant that the government’s wishes and desires trumped a people’s freedom of religion and beliefs.

The message for us is clear.  Are we prepared to take action when action is necessary?  Or, as an alternative, will we allow the enemy to erode our Christian values and beliefs to the point that we and our children and grandchildren become slaves?   The decision, I believe, is a ‘no-brainer’.  The execution of the decision is what takes discipline.  Ephesians 6:10 from the New Testament comes to mind, “Finally, let the Lord make you strong.  Depend on his mighty power.’ (NIRV)

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Laban’s Daughters Respond -- Genesis 31:14-16

Rachel and Leah said to him, "Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house? Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price. Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

You have just poured your feelings out to your wives about their father and told them that you want to take the families away and back to the land of your parents. Now you wait for their response. Just how will Rachel and Leah react? What’s the best you could hope for? What’s the worse? What’s the godly response?

As I read this short passage, I noticed a number of interesting things. Note that except for the first phrase, the rest of the words in these three verses are all in quotations. But notice the first phrase before the initial quotation mark. As you do that, you may be challenged about your beliefs regarding how Scripture is to be interpreted at times. Take a closer look. The Bible says, both Rachel and Leah said to him. And then my New American Standard Bible at least proceeds to give us sixty (60) words that these two sisters reportedly uttered in unison out loud. Now, I do not know about you, but personally while I believe that God could have had them do exactly that, I believe it is unlikely that this was indeed the case. There is no real need for it to be the case. Is the Bible less true because it may not be the case? I do not think so. What I believe the author is trying to get across to us is that both Rachel and Leah expressed similar feelings and ideas and basically, each in their own way, and one after the other, responded to Jacob along the same lines. So the quotation does not need to be taken literally as spoken in unison by the two women. But we would miss out on Scripture’s intent if we failed to agree that both women were of one mind as to their response to their husband. The reality is that this example of Scripture text is one of many where we need to take a similar approach.

And what exactly was the reaction of the sisters? Furthermore, was it a surprise to Jacob? It certainly was a surprise to me. Maybe I have been tainted by the awareness of so many women who today would not yield agreeably to those types of wishes from their husbands. But Rachel and Leah did so for their own reasons. This text gives us some insight to the questions we asked earlier in our study when we wondered how Rachel felt being passed over by her father Laban in order for him to marry off Leah first. Or, how Leah may have felt to be part of a marriage of trickery knowing that her husband Jacob was getting her instead of Rachel, the woman he expected and loved. Perhaps they responded the way they did because they too had realized, before Jacob told them, how their father had cheated him time and time again. So they respond the way they did.

The first concern that was verbally identified was whether or not either of them had any inheritance coming to them from their father. What exactly did that mean? The way the question is asked and especially when considered with the next question “are we not considered as foreigners to him?” clearly implies that Rachel and Leah have not been happy campers as Laban’s daughters. When a child considers him/herself a “foreigner” to his/her father, the implication is that the father has stopped being a true father. He stops showing any fatherly affection towards his child. A modern day example comes to mind and it is that of Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza’s father in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and later a play/movie entitled My Fair Lady. Clearly, Alfred P. wanted to be known as Eliza’s father only when she had came across some considerable means of financial support.

As far as Laban was concerned, his daughters no longer considered him the father he should have been. Although they were not looking for any financial gain from him, it ws clear he had nothing more to offer them emotionally or socially. In fact, they felt used by him, considering themselves as having been sold in a marriage for his own welfare. Rachel and Leah feel that way since Laban had been handsomely rewarded for them over and over again through Jacob’s labors.

Jacob’s wives believed the wealth they now had that originally may have stemmed from their father, was indeed theirs, and his losses were indeed warranted. They believed this was God’s doing. They saw His hand in all this and they now count their blessings, not the least of which was their households and children. Because of this, both Rachel and Leah give their whole-hearted consent to Jacob following the voice of God.

Here in these verses, we see a family that has strived for many years (from Jacob’s striving with his brother Esau and then with his uncle Laban and his cousins to Rachel and Leah striving and competing for Jacob’s affection and for children) becoming a family that is finally united in God’s purpose. Together they agree to move back to the land of Jacob’s family. What a goal for all of us with our own families. But it takes for each of us to see in fact the blessings that God has given us and what He has brought us through and protected us from before this can happen where it currently does not exist.

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God Gives Heed To Leah -- Genesis 30:17-21

God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, "God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband." So she named him Issachar. Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

It wasn’t the mandrakes; it was God who gave ‘heed’ to Leah and that night she conceived yet another son for Jacob. He would be the fifth one from her side and the ninth son from both her side and Rachel’s. As I write these words, my family and I have just returned from a vacation where my daughter had invited a friend of hers to join us. The young lady in her thirties is a delightful, married, schoolteacher. We had a great time together. Sally, not her real name, and her husband, have done and are doing everything possible to have a child. They have spent thousands of dollars on doctors and procedures trying to succeed in their very legitimate quest, but so far nothing has worked. Through our lifestyle, friendship, and her joining us at church twice during our vacation, Sally knows that she could indeed turn her life and thus this matter over to God. It is our prayer that she does so. For when it comes to the giving of life, physical and spiritual, He alone is the cause and provider.

While Leah recognizes God’s Hand in this, she attempts to rationalize exactly why God heeded her. It is always a dangerous thing to assume we can know, at any time and in any circumstance, that when the conditions are similar, exactly what God will do or why He will do it. Unless, of course, He Himself has made that perfectly clear. I am reminded of the well-known phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” that many Christians had printed all over their tee shirts or wore as bracelets bearing “WWJD?” I remember hearing Dr. Charles Price of The Peoples’ Church in Toronto one time commenting on how audacious it was of anyone to think they could actually think like or act like Jesus, let alone predict what He would do. He went on to show from scripture that Jesus Himself never did exactly the same thing even in similar circumstances. Trying to guess at His actions is difficult enough; but trying to guess at His motives as Leah does here is even more so.

Leah believed God allowed her to get pregnant this time because she had been willing to share her husband Jacob with her maid when she herself could not conceive. This, in her mind, was God rewarding her for that. I think we need to be careful not to mistake God’s mercy as Him favoring and patronizing our thoughtless or reckless behavior, including being involved in what we know or ought to have known was not in accordance with God’s will for our lives. The belief that mandrakes could make a difference or the practice of allowing one’s maid to sleep with one’s husband for the sake of having children, may well fall into this category of behaviors. Nevertheless, based on her thinking, Leah names this son Issachar, which is translated from the Hebrew to mean ‘there is recompense’.

In fact, God blesses Leah again and she conceives once more to provide Jacob with his tenth son, and the sixth by Leah. She calls this son Zebulun, a word translated ‘exalted’. Leah had not received a dowry because of the way she became a wife to Jacob. You may remember that her father Laban had tricked Jacob into accepting Leah before he could have Rachel. Now, she sees this sixth son, and indeed all the sons before him, as God taking care of her dowry. Giving birth to a son and indeed having many sons, provides the mother with honor and respectability in the household and the community. The family itself, for Leah, becomes a very worthy dowry.

Because a man sees having sons the same way and because he recognizes that it is his wife that made this possible, Leah assumes the fact that God has given her this great dowry of six sons, she will now enjoy much more of her husband’s company than she did before. The idea being that he would want to visit her dwellings more now than ever before, even if it is to be with his sons, as compared to spending his time with Rachel.

Finally, we read that Leah bore Jacob a daughter whom she named Dinah, which translated means ‘judgment’. The reasoning for the name is not provided at this point in the story, but may well come to light later. It is also probable that Jacob had other daughters, perhaps through Leah, or Rachel, or either of their maids, but only Dinah’s name is registered in the scriptural account.

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The Competition for Jacob’s Attention Continues -- Genesis 30:14-16

Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." But she said to her, "Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son's mandrakes also?" So Rachel said, "Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes." When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her that night.

As the sons of Jacob grew older, they started visiting the fields while others worked. On one of those occasions, Reuben, his oldest son by Leah, found some ‘mandrakes’ and brought them home to his mother. Research indicates these were a rare find. Some think they were a little orange-colored fruit that grew on bushes. Others think they were Jessamine flowers. Whatever they were, we know that they were thought to have some unique impacts with respect to love and fertility, thus they were referred to as “love apples” for their aphrodisiac powers.

Leah was indeed hoping these would allow her to conceive again. She may have even thought that, simply because she had these, Jacob would want to have sexual relations with her, if for no other reason but to have another chance at more children.

Rachel on the other hand could not stand to see these mandrakes in the hands of Leah. She had to have them even if she had to buy them somehow. And Leah pounces on the opportunity to exchange these mandrakes for what she believes is her right – the chance to be with her husband. This is indeed reminiscent of Jacob taking advantage of Esau’s hunger and desire for his stew as presented in Genesis 25. Without Rachel’s coveting the mandrakes (as Esau coveted Jacob’s stew), Rachel would not have agreed to what Leah was able to obtain in exchange for those mandrakes. At that moment Rachel’s desire for having Jacob all to herself as the most loved was at great odds with her desire for those mandrakes and need for bearing children. Left to ourselves, our inner passions will often contradict each other and take us down a path we should not go.

It is possible that mandrakes may have contained a biological agent that assisted in fertility. Alternatively, it could have been simply a placebo. In either case, there appears to be a correlation between the mandrakes and Leah’s fertility on this occasion. I tend not do agree with those that suggest God allows strange agencies (such as mandrakes) to be used to bring His will about especially if the people that engage these agencies are giving them, rather than God, the credit. The theology of that can be very misleading. What is critical to note is that God listened to Leah and heard her plea (vs. 17) for more children and/or her desire to be with her husband. She desired that blessing and prayed for it, and now through Rachel’s weakness, she gets the opportunity to be with her husband again to help make her prayers a reality.

In this whole scenario one can see some of the complications with polygamy. For starters, Jacob has no way of taking a stand against it at this point. There was clear hostility between Leah and Rachel over their common husband, whom one felt the other had stolen from her. We do not know if it was as painful to Jacob as it was for the two of them. He certainly wasn’t complaining and I imagine it did his male ego some good to have them fighting over him this way. And so he went and spent the night with Leah and had intercourse with her.

There are other things about this arrangement that somehow do not sit well with anyone who has been blessed by the wisdom of God’s original plan for marriage as He expressed it in Genesis 2:24 – one man joined to one woman in single one-flesh relationship. The thought of any wife having to ask permission from another wife to sleep with her own husband, especially as it wasn’t even in the hand of the husband to grant, is not natural nor the way God intended things to be. And then the image of Leah meeting her husband as he came in from the fields at night and asking him to come ‘home’ with her reminds me of all the broken marriages I’ve watched on television over the years. Again, this is not the way I believe God intended marriage to be. That’s why according to www.blueletterbible.org, D. G. Barnhouse, that great commentator once said about this family, “Is it any wonder that this family had a history of strife and bloodshed? Children reflect the atmosphere of the home.”

One may well stop to ask the question, “Was there some other reason, something other than the typical competition between women, especially between sisters, or even a female’s innate yearning to be a mother with child, that gave rise to this race for more and more children for Jacob at any cost?” Some have postulated, “yes”. It is possible that both Rachel and at least Leah, had a sincere desire to help fulfill the promise God had made to their great-father-in-law Abraham and the same promise God had renewed with their husband, Jacob. They knew that Jacob’s seed should be as great as the number of stars in the heavens. They also knew that through this seed “all the nations of the earth should be blessed” as we read of in Genesis 18:18, 22:18, and 26:4. That had to mean that through one of their lineage, someone would be born that somehow would impact all the people of the world positively. There is no doubt that any woman, especially one who had had a religious upbringing as both Leah and Rachel had, would want to be the one through whom this global blessing would be made possible.

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Leah Won’t Be Beat -- Genesis 30:9-13

When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, "How fortunate!" So she named him Gad. Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, "Happy am I! For women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

After giving birth to four sons for Jacob, Leah stopped being able to conceive. Whether or not she had given birth to any female children is not known. It is possible she did not and the scripture account is complete. It is also possible that the writer, in keeping with a patriarchal society that focuses on male heirs, mentions only boy children. Regardless, Leah having watched her sister Rachel, who she knew was loved more by her husband Jacob than she herself was, give Jacob two sons through her maid Bilhah, now decides that two can play that game and gives her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.

Jacob could have said, “Hold on here a moment. Enough is enough. You gave me children directly while Rachel could not and she gave them to me through her maid. We don’t need any more children and I certainly don’t need to take your maid as a wife.” He didn’t say that perhaps figuring that if he had three wives, having four wouldn’t make that much difference especially if it made his first wife happy. Making and keeping Leah happy was important since he clearly loved his second wife, Rachel, more.

So he takes her maid as a wife, has sexual relations with her, and Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Leah considers this to be most fortunate for herself and names the boy Gad a Hebrew word translated as ‘a troop’ but having interpretative implications for being rich and fortunate simply due to the magnitude of one’s resources – in this case, children. And Leah’s fortunate continues as Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, his eighth. For Leah, fortune brings happiness and she calls this son Asher that is translated from the Hebrew to mean ‘happy’. But was there indeed real happiness in the household of Jacob?

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Rachel Wants Children -- Genesis 30:1-8

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die." Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" She said, "Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may have children." So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son." Therefore she named him Dan. Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. So Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed." And she named him Naphtali.

Even with all the potential and sometimes actual heartbreaks that children can bring upon a person, human beings, especially women, have been created in such a way to consider them a real blessing and something to be desired. On the other hand, the inability to have children when they are very much wanted, either because of one’s own physiology or that of one’s spouse has often been a devastating blow to many. In today’s world, more and more couples are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each to make having children possible. Thanks to some celebrities, the inability to have children is no longer perceived as a socially unacceptable situation, and more and more couples are turning to adoption. Things were not that different for Rachel.

Having seen that Leah had provided Jacob with four children, Rachel, unless Jacob had been refusing to sleep with her, should have realized that Jacob was not the problem in the fact that she had been unable to conceive. Instead, she does two things that come naturally to people when things aren’t going their way. First, they become jealous of others who are indeed succeeding at the very thing they want to succeed in. Rachel became jealous of her sister Leah. Others, in different circumstances, become jealous of their siblings’ financial success, or their colleagues’ promotion, or their friends’ athletic ability, etc. We tend to focus our feelings on or against an individual that has very little to do directly with the cause of our dissatisfaction. I would venture to say that Rachel was interested in having children for Jacob more than she was wishing that Leah had none. We often wish we could be as successful as someone else, more than we wish that individual to have failed. But in the midst of the hurt of not being able to succeed, we have a tendency to project our negative feelings on the one succeeding where we are failing.

Secondly, even though careful thought would have helped Rachel to realize Jacob was not at fault, she expects him to fix the problem. And not only that, she implies that if he can’t, she’ll die. Wow. Think of how Jacob must have felt. First, the woman he really loves cannot have children. Secondly, she expects him to change that. Thirdly, she tells him she’ll die, perhaps out of a broken heart and he’ll lose her. How would you feel? Had we had all our senses and were displaying all of the Christ-like character we are expected to display, we would still probably do what Jacob did – we’d get angry.

Jacob understands he is powerless to change what He believes God ordained. And he is angry at Rachel for thinking he can do anything about it. Just like Jacob’s grandmother Sarai (prior to God renaming her Sarah), his wife Rachel now takes matters into her own hands and offers her maid Bilhah to Jacob as a wife so that Rachel may bear children for him through Bilhah. There is an interesting phrase in verse three and it is that Bilhah, Rachel’s maid “may bear on my (Rachel’s) knees”. Although I have strived to avoid reference to commentaries wherever possible, this was one instance I needed help to determine whether the comment was one uttered as a fact or symbolically. David Guzik, the director of Calvary Chapel Bible College, Germany, indicates in his work that this referred to a practice whereby the husband impregnates the surrogate (in this case Bilhah, Rachel’s maid) while she is reclining on the wife’s lap. Strictly no room for romance here. This was not intended to be an original version of the much looser sex life of individuals, couples, and triads that some engage in these days and contrary to what God intended for sex and marriage. In fact, Guzik goes on to say that the surrogate may even recline on the wife as she gives birth. All of this symbolically showing that the child was legally the child of the wife, not the surrogate as the latter only substituted temporarily for the real mother both at conception and at birth.

We often hear of sisters, both married and single, who have no children of their own, symbolically adopt the children of their sibling as if they were their own and love them to death. One could have expected that of Rachel. However, it appeared that she was more interested in the idea of having her very own children legalistically, and the power and recognition that go along with that, rather than love those of her sister Leah, especially as they lived in the same household, yet different houses. Or, perhaps that was the cause of her preference. One sin (that of more than one wife) now leads to another ‘sin’, that of desire for power and recognition which in turn results in having a surrogate bear a child for her, something that although acceptable in culture, may not have been in God’s will for her.

And Jacob agrees to all of this. Could he have refused? Perhaps, but unlikely. If you’re a male reading this, just picture yourself in Jacob’s situation. The wife you love cannot have children, legally and culturally she can use her maid as a surrogate, and you are already in a polygamous marriage. He has intercourse with Bilhah and she bore Jacob a son. And Rachel, the official and legal mother names him Dan which means ‘judge’ because she believes God has justified her feelings and desires.

What is interesting is that in those days when a maid is given to the husband as a surrogate, she becomes an official wife of the husband. So for that reason, Jacob may have continued to have relations with Bilhah beyond the initial time that Rachel had used her as a surrogate. Whether this was at the request of Rachel again or whether her permission would have been required at this point is not known. In any case, Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Rachel as the official wife with authority over the surrogate wife still has naming rights and Bilhah’s second child is still Rachel’s legally. She names this son Naphtali which means ‘wrestling’ because she felt she had wrestled fervently with her sister and now with two sons of her own, she prevailed.

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Leah’s Children -- Genesis 29:31-35

Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, "Because the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now 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." So she named him 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 he was named Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, "This time I will praise the LORD." Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

The verses previous to this portion ended with the admission that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. What a difficult and tough situation to be in for Jacob. This was not the way he had hoped things would work out. He wasn’t expecting to be cheated by his father-in-law. It would be easy for us to say, once he had been tricked, that he should have just stuck with Leah, and said “No, it’s too late for me and Rachel; I will honor my marriage to Leah alone and learn to love her as much as I once did Rachel.” Perhaps that was an option, but most improbable considering the prevalence of polygamy in those days, his extreme love for Rachel, and the circumstances of being foiled during a wedding week celebration. While some may disagree with his decision to marry both sisters, it is difficult to not understand it or to blame him for it.

This is quite a situation for Leah to be in as well. If forced by her father to have been part of this trick, then she indeed is a victim. If this were her secret desire, she soon would have realized the consequences of being ‘number two’ in her husband’s life and love. We do not know what this did to her relationship with Rachel, nor do we really know what their relationship was like before this. Certainly this new arrangement would not help matters. And what of Leah’s image in the community? What would the neighbors say knowing she got married by trickery?

Finally, there is Rachel to consider. Was she part of the plan? Was she in agreement with it? What happened to her relationship with her father, mother, and sister after this? What was it like living in the same household, although not the same house, and having to share your husband with another woman? I am sure none of this was easy even if the culture allowed it.

Sin has a funny way of impacting many relationships that often go way beyond the sinner and those that abet it.

Another thing about sin is that once committed, God doesn’t ignore it. He often has a way of remaining very active in the situation. This was certainly the case here. The text says God was aware of the fact that Leah was unloved. This is interesting because while most of us would focus on the fact that the sin may have been polygamy, God is concerned about the fact that Leah was unloved by Jacob. From Jacob’s perspective, he just loved Rachel ‘more’ but from God’s perspective, loving one’s wife less than another, is not loving her at all. God seems to be saying, “Love your wife above any other woman and if you must have two, love them the same.” I’m not suggesting for a moment that God is condoning polygamy; He’s making a point about how each of us is to love his wife. And if by some other sin, in those days, one was to have more than one wife, then he had to love them all the same. And so God takes action when Jacob didn’t do that.

He allows Leah to have children while Rachel could not. Leah gave Jacob his first son and named him Reuben, which literally means, “Behold a son.” We now start to get some insight as to how Leah was feeling as the first wife, but second in being loved. She calls it an “affliction” which God Himself had seen. Leah verbalizes her hope that the young Reuben will be cause for Jacob to, and note the words here are not “love me more”, but just to “love me”. God and wives seem to have a similar perspective on how wives should be loved – it is not a matter of degree, but of total commitment.

It appears that Jacob, however, was not moved to ‘love’ Leah any more after Reuben’s birth. Leah conceives again, bears another son, and, believing that God has heard her despair in being unloved, she names the boy Simeon, which literally is translated ‘heard’. Still, there is no apparent change from Jacob and Leah conceives a third time, again bearing a son to Jacob. She is convinced now that Jacob will love her or as she put it “become attached to me” because she has given him three sons, for it was a great honor in those days for a man to have three sons. For that reason she names her third son Levi, which means ‘joined to’. There is no indication this time as to how having three sons by Leah affected Jacob’s love for her and when Leah conceives a fourth time and bears Jacob another son, she gives praise to the Lord and calls him Judah, which means ‘praised’. It is not clear from the text whether she was praising God because of a change in Jacob or simply because she wanted to praise him in spite of Jacob’s lack of love. It is interesting to note, however, that regardless of Jacob’s love or non-love for her, God was praised, and then Leah who had bore four sons, stopped bearing. God had accomplished what He needed to do through Leah.

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Jacob Gets A Big Surprise -- Genesis 29:21-30

Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her." Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?" But Laban said, "It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years." Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

Having worked his seven-year agreed-to term, Jacob goes to Laban and officially asks for his wife in order that he can finally have sexual relations with her. The text goes directly from quoting Jacob’s request to telling us that Laban simply gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. Notice there is no recorded account of a commitment that indicates Laban would indeed give Rachel to Jacob. In addition, it appears that the party or feast that Laban threw for Jacob was exclusively, or as a minimum primarily for men. It was the first recorded stag in history. And like most stags today, alcohol and in this case, wine, was flowing freely and long into the night. Jacob himself most likely participated fully in the event. Some believe these feasts or pre-marriage celebrations went on for a whole seven days. With darkness having arrived the first night and Jacob inebriated to some extent, Laban then takes his older daughter Leah and brings her to Jacob and he has sexual intercourse with her. That immediately, in those days, seals her marriage and as a married woman, her father also gives her a maid of her own, Zilpah. All this while Jacob, after having had intercourse, is sound asleep. How was all this possible? It was the custom of the day, according to some, that a bride was to be heavily veiled until she was alone with her husband. Add to that the facts that it was dark and Jacob was likely drunk at this point and you can see how this was indeed possible.

But then there’s always the morning after. Surprise Jacob. It wasn’t Rachel you married last night; it was Leah! So how does it feel to be cheated like that? Can you empathize a little with how Esau must have felt when you cheated him out of his blessing? How about your father Isaac when you deceived him with your fake fur on your arms pretending to be Esau? Cheating doesn’t feel good from this end, does it?

It is said that we often get treated the way we treat others. God has a way of allowing that to happen. We sometimes get what we deserve. What about Leah? She was either an accomplice in agreement or a daughter in submission to her father. We do not know if she secretly loved Jacob. It may have been a combination of all these things – Laban lining up an opportunity to marry off his older daughter by cheating, Jacob getting his just desserts, a cultural tradition that had to be followed, and Leah’s secret love and/or her obedience to her father. And where was Rachel that first night? Where was her mother? Here is a perfect early example of family solidarity even when the head of the home is doing something terribly wrong and deceitful. Every member of the family is easily persuaded by both familial and community pressures to go along with, to remain silent to, to the keep the secret of, the sin being committed. In this case it was deception involving who one had to marry. But more often and especially today, it has to do with physical abuse, sexual abuse including incest, alcohol and drug addiction, theft, cheating through the family business, lying, and even covering for a serious felony. Families, friends, clubs, boards, cabinets, have a way of doing this. Those that object are slowly moved to the sidelines never to be heard of again. When they later go public, they are labeled as disgruntled former members of the group. So many remain silent. Churches themselves are not immune to this. Honesty across the board is the best policy so that these situations do not arise, but when that is not possible, honesty among those that disagree must be pursued, although the cost is often incredible.

Jacob enquires of Laban, “What have you done to me? Our deal was about Rachel. I worked for her and you have deceived me.” He is familiar with broken deals and understanding, and with deceit. Laban blames the situation on a parochial tradition (the “practice in our place”) to marry off the older daughter first. We may not be able to confirm or deny that, but assuming it was true, Laban could have made that a requirement up front and Jacob may well have agreed to it. [Certainly no guest of Laban’s that week disagreed with him, but then again it would have been very unprofitable for him or her to call the host a liar.]

Laban tries to work out a deal with Jacob. If Jacob completes the marriage week with Leah, he would then give him Rachel right after that. Jacob was to have only Leah for one week and treat her as a wife, and be a husband to her, in every way during that honeymoon week. Then he would have Rachel as well. We must not miss what really occurred here. You will remember that Jacob’s father, Isaac, had only one wife, Rebekah. His parents were most upset that Jacob’s older brother, Esau, had taken more than one wife. Jacob came to Laban’s house to find a wife from his mother’s family, but now, due to the cheating sin of Laban is about to end up with two wives. One sin often leads to another and this was certainly the case here.

But Laban wasn’t going to give Rachel to Jacob for nothing. He required another seven years of labor from Jacob, even though he would have her now. Obviously, Jacob had shown by his demeanor that he wasn’t about to flee with Rachel, or even with Leah tagging along. If he agreed to the deal, he would stay and work the second seven years. Laban gives Rachel her own maid, Bilhah, as he done for Leah. So good old Jacob inherits two wives and their maids all in one week.

The Bible gives us no information as to how Jacob actually reacted to this deal except to say that he finished his week with Leah, then had sexual intercourse with Rachel, taking her as a wife as well, and proceeded to serve Laban another seven years. Why he did all that, no one knows, except that we are told he really loved Rachel and more specifically, he loved her more than Leah.

When God created marriage, He intended for a man and a woman to become one and to love each other unequivocally and unreservedly. The love that God instilled in us reserved for our spouse leaves no room whatsoever for another person. At its intended ultimate state, total marital love can only be expressed towards one person. Those that are married and have more than one child, realize that marital love is different than the love we have for our children – a love that can be equally distributed among our children. I love my three children equally and I love my five grandchildren equally. Distance, personality, activity preferences, etc., may mean I spend more time with one over another, but the felt love is identical. My love for my wife, however, with all of life’s intricacies, experiences, memories, struggles, joys, that we have shared after thirty-eight years of marriage, cannot be shared with anyone else. Those, who outside the will of God, think it can, are only fooling themselves. In fact, I would suggest that you are not really in love with that ‘second’ person, but rather you love what that person may be offering you at any given point in your life. Some become aware of that distinction before they get involved, some afterwards and by the grace of God and their spouse they can still return to what God intended, and some when it is too late and lives are ruined.

While God never prescribed polygamy, it is true He never legislated against it in the days of Jacob. But clearly from His early words with respect to marriage, as found in Genesis 2:24, we know that He preferred monogamy. Those that pursued polygamy, did so, partially out of ignorance and partially out of greed, egoism, and sometimes the pursuit of sensual pleasure. We end this section with the knowledge that Jacob now had two wives.

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Isaac’s Success and Wealth -- Genesis 26:12-14

Genesis 26:12-14: Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.

The first thing we notice in this passage is that Isaac, remaining in the land of Gerar, went to work sowing the land that he had somehow obtained or rented. It is also possible that Isaac inherited the land from his father. You will remember that Abimelech had bestowed many gifts on Abraham in Genesis 20, and said to him, “Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.” (Genesis 20:15). That land included Gerar.

Success always follows work. Fame and fortune may come without work, but success implies that someone tried and worked at something in order for him/her to ‘succeed’ at it. Sometimes, especially when we see others succeeding, we want that same kind of success but without any work. I can think of countless times when each of my children marveled at what they saw another child achieve – in music, skating, etc. But when we reviewed with them the cost in terms of work and practice and sacrificing of other things (like television, playing excessively with their friends, or just being lazy) that accompanied this success, they soon realized that they weren’t really ready to pay that price.

When we do work however God does bless. The text says in that same year that Isaac sowed the land, he reaped a hundredfold. That sounds like a bumper crop year to me. And it was so because God wanted to bless Isaac. Through the success of his sowing and the reaping accompanying it, God allowed Isaac to become richer and richer until he was very wealthy. He had lots of flocks, herds, and a large household of servants.

Isaac’s story is sufficient to stop all those who claim, “you can’t be a servant of God and be wealthy”. That is just not true. The issue is not our wealth. The issues are: who we believe is the giver of our wealth, our relationship to our wealth, our dependence on it, our ownership of it, and what we do with it. Genesis 26 clearly indicates that the ownership of land and livestock, other possessions, and even those who serve as employees or servants under your care (business or household), are not a sin. The Bible says, “the Lord blessed (Isaac)” in all these things. With that established, later throughout scripture we will be given further insights as to how we relate to wealth and what we do with it.

But for now let us simply be aware that God can and does bless people physically and financially and with possessions if He so chooses. And let us also be aware that when one has received such blessings, there will always be some that will envy them. The text says that because of all his possessions, “the Philistines envied him.” I am reminded a little bit of the envy that is sometimes expressed towards some hard-working immigrants to North America who do well because God has blessed their hard work. Such envy often comes from those that are nationals in the immigrants’ new country. And unfortunately, those that express such envy are those that have chosen not to work as hard or sacrifice as much so that their labor would be successful.

Finally, for the Christian, such envy may sometimes come from within the Body of believers and that is very hard to understand or accept. It hurts, especially when the person with the wealth is doing so much for the Kingdom with his/her finances and influence. Suffice it to say, there are no easy answers to this attitude save and except the indwelling of the Holy Spirit both in the believer with the wealth and in the believer without it.

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