In a crowd and no one cares, but God sees and loves me.
In America, we are taught to focus on the main character of the movie. We are taught to focus on his goals, ambitions, overcoming his obstacles and watching him become the hero of the day. The Bible is different. There are many people’s lives that are recorded for a reason. Often we read Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and focus on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is easy to miss the story of Leah. The story of Leah is recorded to show God’s love to the unloved. Look at Leah’s life from her view.
Like most young girls, Leah probably had hopes and dreams of being loved by her husband. She had childhood dreams of dressing up on her wedding day and people looking on her and calling her beautiful.
Leah was unloved by her father, Laban. She wasn’t attractive and her dad couldn’t find someone to take her. With all her father’s wealth, the best he could do was trick someone into marrying her.
Leah was the wallflower at her own wedding. Her sister got to dress up and be the star of the show.
Leah’s sister, Rachel, had been dating Leah’s future husband for seven years. Jacob loved Rachel and thought he was going to marry Rachel the whole time.
On the night that Jacob thought he was marrying Rachel, Laban switched Rachel for Leah on the way to the honeymoon tent. Leah obeyed her father in the hopes of being loved by someone.
Leah was rejected by her husband the first morning of the honeymoon. Jacob, her husband, wanted to disown her. Laban, her father, had to bribe the groom to wait a week, before ignoring her. The bribe was that Jacob would get to marry Rachel in a week, if Jacob was kind to Leah for a week. Leah’s husband was with her, but thinking about another woman. Her husband was eagerly anticipating having sex with someone else.
Leah hoped that she would gain the love of her husband by giving him children. She planned to bring honor to him by having children. She would have sons that Jacob would be proud of so she might get appreciation and love in return.
Rachel, the other woman in her husband’s life, was jealous of Leah’s ability to have children. Rachel convinced Leah’s husband to sleep with another woman to have children. Rachel arranged for Jacob to have sex with Bilhah and call the child Rachel’s.
Leah tried hard to get her husband to sleep with her. She even had to bribe her sister to let her husband sleep with her.
Leah had six sons and a daughter for her husband and still felt unloved.
So far, we have only heard half the story. It sounds like Leah was just a baby making machine and no one cared about her.
The rest of the story is that God loved Leah and took care of her. In spite of Leah’s rejection from people, God honored her. God comforted her and gave her hope. God even gave her the legacy of being the mother of half of the Jewish nation. Half of the Israelites came from her.
Even though Leah never knew, God chose to bless her children above the others. The children of her son Levi became the priests and judges of the nation. The enduring line of kings, including David and Solomon, came from her son Judah. And the greatest heritage of all, Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, was one of her descendants.
The Gospel According to Leah is that God loves the unlovely. God cares about those who feel neglected. Leah put her faith in God, and she was not ashamed. God was her source of comfort and hope. And, God honored her and called her His own. All nations and peoples were blessed through her.
Get the rest of the details by reading Genesis 29 and 30.
When we feel unloved and rejected, we can know that God sees and cares. He surrounds us with His love and affection. He can turn our shame into something good.