The story is quite tragic.
A man who, with the help of his mother, tricks his father into blessing him instead of his older brother, flees his home and then falls in love with a beautiful woman. He makes a deal with her father--who happens to be his uncle--to work seven years for her hand in marriage.
If you don't know what story I'm talking about yet, I'm talking about the Bible's scandalous love triangle between Jacob and sisters, Rachel and Leah.
Seven years come and go, though they seem like only "a few days" to Jacob because "of his love for [Rachel]." (Gen 29:20)
This man is laboring. For SEVEN years. For the hand of a beautiful woman. He's determined. He's hardworking. And he's clearly in love.
BUT, in an unexpected turn of events, Jacob finds himself deceived by his uncle and married to his older cousin, Leah.
Furious, Jacob confronts his uncle and strikes another deal to work seven more years for Rachel.
At this point in the story, I'm sure most people feel for Rachel and Jacob. For two people who obviously love each other. Who have waited SEVEN YEARS to marry only to be denied that by Uncle Laban and Leah.
But my heart aches for Leah. For her "weak eyes". For the pain that will surely follow this deception. Call me twisted or strange, but I can't shake the feeling of heartache for Leah.
Was she a pawn in her father's scheme? Or did she help hatch this plan? Did she truly love Jacob and want him for her own? Or did her father fill her head with promises and fantasies?
Either way, Leah no doubt took on the blame, the hurt, and the rejection from this situation. She carried the burden of her father's deceit and the role she played in keeping her husband from her sister.
As the story progresses, we discover more about Leah in the midst of her heartbreaking situation.
My favorite part in the story enters in at Genesis 29:31. "When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive."
The part I always stop and linger on is the part where it says "the LORD saw."
The LORD saw Leah.
The LORD was watching Leah.
The LORD loved Leah.
So, Leah conceives her first son and names him Reuben because the LORD saw her misery and she believed that a son would ensure Jacob's love for her.
But she does not receive Jacob's love.
So, Leah conceives her second son and names him Simeon because God knew that she was not loved and blessed her with another child.
Even so, Jacob does not love his first wife.
So, Leah conceives her third son and names him Levi, hoping this son will somehow attach Jacob to her.
But this third child does not sway his feelings for her.
When Leah conceives her fourth son, she names him Judah and praises the LORD, because though her husband cannot see her, God does.
This is the part that I always ache at. Leah living in the shadow of Jacob's love for Rachel. And regardless of how their marriage began, Leah never does work her way into his heart. Even as the years press on and more children enter the picture, Jacob clearly loves Rachel. Rachel eventually dies during childbirth. And it's here that I can't help but wonder if Jacob finally noticed Leah after the passing of his one true love. Perhaps he did. Perhaps he did not. The story of Leah ends there.
The tragedy of this story not only lies in the great love Jacob never had for Leah, it lies in the sibling rivalry that pitted two sisters against each other. One could conceive and one was loved. Leah wanted Jacob's love and Rachel wanted children. Each wanted what the other had. This sibling rivalry--or hatred--pours over into their children's lives. Joseph, Rachel's son, is later sold into slavery by his brothers. Thus continuing the cycle.
But throughout the story, God constantly remains an ever-present overseer. He saw Leah. He loved Leah. He blessed Leah. God remembered Rachel. God opened Rachel's womb. God blessed Rachel. And his goodness is a great reminder that he sees us. Even in the midst of our hurt. Even in the midst of our rejections. Even in the midst of our heartbreaks.
God sees us. God loves us.
None of us walk through life without the experience of rejected love. Maybe from a parent, a friend, or a spouse. We want to be desperately loved by someone and they never do love us in the way we want them to. But that does not mean we walk through life without love. Every single one of us is deserving of love.
God sees us. God loves us.
And that's what Leah's story can teach us. Though she never won the favor of her husband's love, she was always loved by her Creator who saw her when no one else did.
And you, too, are loved and seen by the Creator of all things..
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