Hope of Glory excerpt

Now comes Leah’s story which, given the circumstances, seems somewhat sad. But, maybe, all is not as it seems.

The account in Genesis 29:17 tells us that Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. This is from the New King James translation. Other translations say Leah’s eyes were weak, tender, or soft. Much debate has gone on over the years as to what this means. Were her eyes tender? Did she have doe-eyes? Were her eyes weary? When I read this, I can’t help but notice that the Scriptures only talk about Leah’s eyes while they mention how beautiful in every way Rachel was. This is the Old Testament equivalent of, “She has a nice personality.” 

According to Strong’s Concordance, in Hebrew, the name Leah means, “to be weary, to be impatient, to be grieved, to be offended.” It wasn’t until Jacob showed up that the name really began to fit the woman. Imagine for a moment how you would feel given the situation. 

I wonder what it must have been like for Leah, the oldest, to see a really good prospect come along only to fall for her younger sister. Was she offended? Was she grieved? Now, it may have seemed natural to Leah that this man would fall for Rachel, and it may not have bothered her at all. After all, it’s apparent from what we read that she wasn’t quite as pretty as her sister. Who knows if other suitors had come along and been rejected? Seven years of interaction between the sisters and Jacob go by in just a couple verses. 

About those seven years: what must it have felt like for Leah to watch Jacob work every day on her father’s farm…for the hand of Rachel? Leah knew the customs of the country as well as anyone; she may well have felt some of that impatience during those years, longing for someone to come and sweep her off her feet, to come and show her the same love and devotion as Jacob showed for Rachel. But at the end of those seven years, he had not come; there was no one for her, and she knew Rachel was going to have Jacob, against the customs of her land. Toward the end, the weariness of waiting may have begun to weigh on her heart.

But then, her father came to her with a crazy scheme. The night of the wedding, Laban went to fetch Jacob’s bride and bring her to him (while Jacob probably waited impatiently!). However, instead of going to Rachel’s room, he went to Leah’s and he brought her to Jacob. As far as we know, Leah didn’t ask for this; it was all her father’s doing. Whether it was deceit from the very beginning or something Laban came up with at the last minute, it was not Leah’s plan. Of course, she did go along with it.

What must have gone through her mind that wedding night (other than not speaking)? Perhaps she thought Jacob would understand and accept her father’s substitution. Again, we don’t know what type of relationship Jacob and Leah had during those seven years, it was probably at least a cordial one; to use another cliché, he may have “loved her like a sister.” 

Maybe, as Leah silently slipped into the room and into Jacob’s waiting arms, her thought was, “When he finds out it’s me, he’ll love me.” But that was not to be because even though Jacob accepted his new, unwanted bride, and even though he fulfilled the week with Leah, after that week was up, he turned to Rachel. 

Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. Genesis 29:30 (NKJV)

Jacob loved Rachel more. But Leah’s, plight was noticed by the one who mattered. 

When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. Genesis. 29:31(NKJV)

The Hebrew word for “unloved” in this passage is sane, and in all the lexicons and commentaries I checked, it means exactly what you think it does – to be hated. The word refers to an emotional hatred, as with an enemy. It’s used in Genesis 37:8 when we’re told that Joseph’s brothers hated him even more for his dreams and words, in Leviticus 19:17 when God says, “You shall not hate your brother,” and in over 140 other Old Testament passages. Jacob didn’t just dislike Leah; he hated her. 

Some of that may well have been transference, the hatred of his situation and of Laban’s deceit raining down on Leah. We’ve all been guilty of the same attitude. How many times have we let our frustrations and anger spill over to others who just happened to be handy? A job is lost, and suddenly you begin to think your once loving family is against you, causing your relationship with them to take a huge hit. You don’t really hate them; you hate what’s happened and really believe they may have been part of it.

So, Jacob spent that week with Leah, performing the husbandly duties for her while wishing all the time that it was Rachel and while seething with anger at Laban’s cruel trick. Resentment must have roiled inside of him until he, at last, could have the woman of his dreams. Yes, Leah was hated. At some point Leah must have uttered those sad words, “This is hopeless.”

When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb. This small blessing from God led to a legacy of hope for her sons, her grandchildren, her many ancestors, and for all of us. 

Leah’s Legacy of Hope

Imagine the bittersweet joy when Leah discovered she was pregnant with her first child. Jacob came in from a hard day of work to find her staring at him with a slight smile on her face. “I am with child,” she might have told him. After a few seconds of thought, he may have had a slight smile of his own, he may have kissed her on the cheek and squeezed her hand…before running to tell Rachel. 

But, Leah wasn’t bitter, at least not toward God. When her child was born, it was a son and the scripture tells us that she named him Reuben, which means, “behold, a son.” It was just about the best gift any wife could give her husband, a son as the firstborn, and the Lord had given her this gift to present to Jacob. "The LORD has surely looked on my affliction,” she said, “now therefore, my husband will love me."