Leah

                 Women of the Bible

 Leah

Scripture References: Genesis 29:16-35; 30:9-21; 35:23-26; 49:31; Ruth 4:11

About Leah

Leah means “weary” “dull” “yearning”

Leah was Rachel’s older sister.

Leah was Laban’s eldest daughter, also Rebekah’s niece.

Leah had six sons and one daughter. She was the mother of Judah through whom the Savior, Jesus Christ, would come (Revelation 5:5).

Leah was the one that was buried with her husband Jacob.

Her Situation

Read Genesis 29:16-25

It is noted that Leah was not as “beautiful” as Rachel was. “Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

It must have been difficult for Leah, being the eldest, to be passed by. When Laban came to her with the plan to deceive Jacob, she willingly entered into the scheme.

“For the first time, sly Jacob, who had deceived his own father and cheated his brother, felt poignantly the pain of being deceived himself. And so it is with us. We do not see the harm in a bit of cheating, lying or gossiping until we are cheated against, lied to and gossiped about ourselves. Until we ourselves are injured, we do not see how mean and evil it is to injure someone else.” -Frances Vander Velde

A woman’s greatest attractiveness will always be found in 1 Peter 3:3-4

1 Peter 3:3-4

And let not your adornment be merely external -braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality or a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

We are never going to be able to compete with the standards of the world, but the beauty that we can possess the world will never have. (share about the makeup products for Avon)

These scriptures teach us that every woman has an opportunity to be attractive.

●     The beauty of your heart -CHARACTER: the person that you are when no one else is looking, the person that you are in your private thought life. (Look over Thinking Biblically handout)

●     Gentle and quiet spirit -this is what GOD treasures. Care about what He cares about.

●     WORK ON inner beauty -take thought, time and preparation to be beautiful on the inside every day. This will spill over and literally you will be more beautiful!

Her Heartache

Read Genesis 29:30-31

Genesis 29:31 “Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved...”

Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah.

Women deeply desire to have an intimate and loving relationship. Every day Leah had to live with a man who didn’t love her. His attention and affections were for Rachel.

Psalm 34:18-19

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Leah was used. She was a pawn in the hand of Laban’s deception...only to be rejected. Nothing that happens to you goes unnoticed by God.

2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His....

God’s desire is that our hearts are completely for Him, then He will move powerfully! We stay stunted spiritually when we are only partially trusting God.

Psalm 33:18

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness.

Ask God to give you a true fear of Him! Fear of God will show GREATLY in your actions!

2 Chronicles 20:12

O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.

It’s like saying “God, whatever, you’re in control. What can I do? Do YOUR thing.” :-)

Her Sons

Read Genesis 29:32-35; 30:9-21

In verse 16 Leah wasn’t exactly showing Jacob reasons for desiring her. Both Leah and Rachel were consumed with what they thought was going to satisfy them in life. When you manipulate people with emotions or corner them, it will be extremely difficult for them to have genuine love and concern for you.

The names Leah gives her sons reveal what God was doing in her heart.

                                                Leah’s SONS:

Reuben means “Behold a son!” -this reveals her gratitude to God.

Simeon means “Hearing” -her she gives credit to God for answering her prayers.

Levi means “joined, attached”-she assumes that because of her sons Jacob would now be drawn to her.

Judah means “Praise” -here Leah decides to submit to God’s control and just praise Him!

Jacob had sons through Leah’s maid Zilpah and Leah was happy naming them Gad which means “how fortunate” and Asher which means “happy”. When Leah saw God was not doing what she wanted Him to, she stepped in herself and this was when she became proud and foolish.

Issachar means “he will bring reward” -Leah is looking for the blessing of God and not God Himself.

Zebulun mean “to reside” “dwell with” -Leah decides to remain where she is spiritually and seek God for what He can give her.

Leah had bought into the doctrine that God was there to serve her and didn’t want to live like she was there to serve God.

“I feel that we must repudiate this great, modern wave of seeking God for His benefits. The sovereign God wants to be loved for Himself and honored for Himself, but that is only part of what He wants. The other part is that He wants us to know that when we have Him, we have everything -we have all the rest. Jesus made that plain when He said, ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’ (Matthew 6:33). It seems that Christian believers have been going through a process of indoctrination and brainwashing, so that it has become easy for us to adopt a kind of creed that makes God to be our servant instead of our being God’s servant.” -A.W. Tozer

What are the things hindering you from having a pure pursuit of God? A.W. Tozer goes on to share “Actually, anything or anyone that keeps me from knowing God in this vital and personal way is my enemy. If it is a friend that stands in my way, the friend is an enemy. If it is a gift that stands between us, that gift is an enemy. It may be an ambition, it may be a victory in the past, it may even be a defeat that still overwhelms me -any of these allowed to stand between the Lord and myself becomes an enemy and may keep me from further knowledge of God.”

**Take a moment to think of things in your life that are your “enemies” when it comes to your furtherance of intimacy in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Do not only be interested in what God can give and in what God can do for you! Ask God for a heart to seek Him for Himself and recognize the “enemies” that will hinder that in your life. We cannot combine the mindset of the world with our relationship with God it will only keep us from the truth.

Life Lesson

Seek the Lord to know Him for Himself. He IS what you need.

Colossians 3:3-4

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Rachel

Women of the Bible 
Rachel

Scripture References:

Genesis 29-31; 33:1-7; 35:16-26; 46:19-25; 48:7; Ruth 4:11; 1 Samuel 10:2; Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18

Her History:

Rachel was a shepherdess

The name Rachel means “ewe” a female lamb. It was implied as a term of endearment. As she was a shepherdess, the Lord was her Shepherd!

Rachel was the daughter of Laban, Rebekah’s brother. So Rachel was Rebekah’s niece.

Rachel had two sons: Joseph and Benjamin

Her Romance:

Read Genesis 29:1-20

Rachel was loved greatly and pursued by Jacob.

Just like we saw with Rebekah we see here with Rachel that God brought about an extra ordinary circumstance while Rachel was faithfully doing her daily chores. It is when we are faithful with our every day responsibilities, working at them with all our heart unto the Lord, that God brings about and accomplishes His will in our life naturally.

Rachel wasn’t off on some journey or quest, she was doing what she was supposed to be doing, tending the sheep.

What responsibilities has God called you to be faithful with, in this season in your life? Take a moment to write them down.

God’s desire is that we be faithful with what He has called us to do and work hard at our responsibilities and He will move us forward and onward! God works and moves in the ordinary circumstances of our every day. He is interested more in our CHARACTER than in what we can do and accomplish for Him.

“We are apt to forget that often the most seemingly ordinary incidents in life are as much of the divine plan as the smallest parts of a watch, and upon these smallest parts of the plan all the others depend. Our steps, when ordered by the Lord, lead to great issue.” -Herbert Lockyer

All the little things DO matter to God!

“As I look back over my life, a major testing of my faith came with our three children, and a few years later, a fourth. (Then there was a period later on when we had four teenagers all at once.) I think God had looked down at me and said, “How are We going to get any fruit of the Spirit into this woman? How can We educate her? I know. We’ll send her to the School of Instant and Constant Motherhood. This is a good curriculum for teaching total dependence, patience, kindness, self-control, love -all the fruit of My Spirit.” -Cynthia Heald, A Woman’s Journey to the Heart of God

In verse 3 we see Jacob went to a well. It is interesting to note that Eliezar, Isaac’s servant, found Rebekah at a well and Jacob encountered Rachel at a well. In Exodus 2:15-21 we read Moses sat down by a well and met Jethro’s seven daughters and married one of them, Zipporah. In the Old Testament you see women finding their future husbands by a well! How much more wonderful the story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well now becomes!

Take a preview of this woman! Read John 4:6-26.

Jesus came and PURSUED this woman. He pursued her heart. In front of everyone He talked with her, He valued her and cared for her. JESUS pursues us! Ask Him to give you eyes to see the ways He is pursuing you!

Jesus wants to intimately pursue you. He knows everything about you but He wants you to know and discover more about Him and how He loves you. He wants to spend time with you so that you will begin to see and discover the ways He loves you!

Jacob waited seven years to marry Rachel.

Waiting is ROMANTIC.

God is waiting for you. Patiently and lovingly God is WAITING for you to discover His love.

Read Romans 8:35-39

What emotions do these scriptures invoke in you?

Read Ephesians 3:14-21.

Are you ready to begin a journey in love with Jesus? He wants to pursue you that you may discover the abundant love He has for you. He wants to give you stories.

Her Marriage:

Read Genesis 29:21-30; 30:1-2

Unfortunately, Rachel’s marriage had a whole lot of drama. What is unveiled through these verses is that Jacobs amazing love for Rachel wasn’t enough. A man’s love and pursuit is not enough to satisfy us!

Colossians 2:10 NKJV

and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Psalm 145:16 NKJV

You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Psalm 81:10 NASB

I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

Isaiah 55:2 NKJV

Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Isaiah 58:11 NKJV

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Rachel said “Give me children, or else I die!” Her being was bound up in having children and she was hurting Jacob because he felt his love wasn’t enough for her...because it wasn’t!

When the Lord did provide her with children, she died in giving birth to Benjamin, her second baby boy. In labor she named him “Benoni” which means “son of sorrow”. Children do not satisfy the longings of our heart. Children can bring pain and sorrow to our hearts. Only Jesus satisfies.

Her temptations:

Genesis 30:1 “Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister;”

Rachel had given into jealousy. A very ugly and ungodly characteristic! Leah was jealous of Jacob’s love for Rachel and Rachel was jealous of Leah’s fertile womb.

As sisters in Christ we are to love each other. We are to rejoice with our sister who is rejoicing and weep with our sister who is weeping (Romans 12:15)

The woman who is secure in the Lord’s love and her identity in Christ can point out the wonderful qualities and talents her sisters in Christ have and encourage and love them. NOT pointing out her flaws or making a slight jab or a joke to her, especially in front of others.

Here are examples of what not to say compared to the right heart attitude:

Wrong -“She is a little consumed with her appearance.” Right- “Wow, she is so beautiful and takes good care of herself.”

Wrong - “She puts her children before her husband.” Right-“She has such a great ability to love children.”

Wrong - “She’s always at home and never gets together with us.” Right- “She is a great homemaker and has such peace in her home.”

Wrong - “She has her priorities out of whack” Right-“God has opened opportunities for her in her workplace. How exciting!”

Her motherhood:

Children are God’s gift to give!

Rachel turned her cry for children into prayer. Genesis 30:22 “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.”

Rachel’s was the first recorded instance in the Bible of death through childbirth.

Read Jeremiah 31:15 and Matthew 2:18

“Rachel’s cry for children was prophetic of the slaughter of the innocents when Christ was born (Matthew 2:16-18). Jeremiah pictures Rachel as rising from the grave to weep over the children being carried away to Babylon, never to return (Jeremiah 31:15). Thus the ‘Benoni’ of Rachel’s heart as she died has been re-echoed throughout the entire history of Israel.” –Herbert Lockyer

Life Lesson:

Only Jesus satisfies!

Psalm 62:5 NKJV

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.

Psalm 86:10 NKJV

For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God.