Have you ever been in a situation where you felt you had plenty, but you were not satisfied? Many who come to Christ relay their story of how they had everything money could buy but still felt incomplete. I think every Christian can remember a time before their conversion when things were good, but they still felt something was missing. Many search for things to fill their life, or family and friends to fill their void, only to find an emptiness at the end of the day. When they come to Christ they finally feel the completeness that only He can give. Leah lived this life for many years.
Leah was the eldest daughter of Laban. Jacob fled his home after he tricked his father into giving him Esau’s blessing. He was to dwell with Laban, a relative on his mother’s side of the family. Much like his father, Isaac, he experienced “love at first sight” when he saw Rachel. Not having any material goods to offer for her dowry, he offers to work for her father for seven years. Laban agrees, and they continue their relationship waiting for the day they will be married. The time had come, and Laban called all the men in the area together for a feast.
Genesis 29:22 “And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.”
After this feast, Laban sent Leah to Jacob. The Bible says she was vailed so that Jacob could not recognize her. It was not until morning that Jacob knew he had been deceived. We do not know Leah’s feelings in this matter of trickery, but we do know she loved Jacob.
Leah was a faithful mother and wife. She had an enduring love that looked beyond how she was treated. She loved even though she was not loved. She had a manipulating father who placed her in a situation where she became jealous of her sister, and if she ever reconciled with her sister we are not told in scripture. She was the mother of seven children six boys and one daughter. Her sister was barren for years, but Jacob still loved Rachel the most. Scripture also tells us she was weak-eyed, and consequently was not good looking. Bright eyes with fire in them were regarded as the height of beauty in oriental women.
No matter what she did, or how many children she had by Jacob, he never loved her the way he loved Rachel. Even after the death of Rachel, Leah still was not enough for Jacob. Leah knew better than anyone the curse of Genesis 3:16.
Genesis 3:16 “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
God saw the sorrow that Leah had to endure. She may not have felt that God understood, but she should have seen the evidence of God’s love in the children he gave her. Children are a heritage and blessing from the Lord God, and it also gained her influence in Jacob’s household.
Genesis 29:31-32 “And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.”
There is no doubt she was in a terrible situation. She loved a man that she tricked because her father deemed it. She gave him children, but he still did not love her like he loved her sister. Nothing she ever did was enough to gain the kind of love she wanted.
Leah was no different than a lot of people in our world today. They are always looking to gain love but are never satisfied with what they find. It reminds me of a country song, I don’t know who sings it, or anything about it, except the lines I’ve heard in commercials or tv, but one of the lines says; looking for love in all the wrong places. That is where the vast majority of people live. They look in all the wrong places for something only God can give.
The only love that is completely pure and real, is the love of God. He loves us with an everlasting love that human love cannot manufacture no matter how hard we try. At our best, our love is selfish and tainted with sin. Leah could experience that love if she would have gotten her eyes off self and onto God. God loved her just as much as he loves you and me. There is no end to God’s love. He loved us as his enemies, he loves us when we fail, and he loves us when we love him back. If Leah would have learned this lesson of real love, her life could have been so much more fulfilled. His love is enough!
Romans 8:37-39 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
