God of the Unloved

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (A)

July 27, 2014

Genesis 29:15-30

Jacob and Laban's two daughters. (Image via TruthThumper.Wordpress.com)

Introduction

God is the God of the unloved. In times when we are unloved, God is the One who remains to love us. Today we read the marriage of Jacob to Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29:15-30). God saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, he blessed her with many children. Even if Leah was unloved by her husband Jacob, God still loved her.

Last Sunday, we read the story of Jacob's vision of a ladder reaching up from heaven to earth (Genesis 29:10-22). He was escaping the wrath of his brother Esau because he cheated him out of their father's blessing (Genesis 27). When he arrived at his mother's homeland in Haran in Paddan-Aram, he met Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother's brother (Genesis 29:1-14). He fell in love with Rachel and worked for seven years in order to marry her (v. 18).

The story of families in the Bible are not perfect, just as our families today are not perfect. We all have that relative or family member that everyone is ashamed of. If you have a relative who is a drug addict or an alcoholic, we hope no one finds out. We may also know of families that are drug addicts, alcoholics, sex addicts, gamblers, & c. The families in the Bible are not perfect—they're real! Just like our families.

We can remember that the name of Jacob means 'deceiver', 'one who takes the place of someone else'. It looks like deception runs in the family. His mother, the demure Rebekah (who covered her face when she first saw Isaac, Genesis 24:65), was actually the one who taught him how to deceive Isaac to get his blessing (Genesis 27:5-17). Her brother, Jacob's uncle and father-in-law Laban, was also a deceiver. Instead of giving Jacob his daughter Rachel, he gave him his other daughter Leah instead. He made Jacob wait for one week to marry Rachel and forced him to work another seven years (vv. 23-28). Jacob's family was a family of deceivers!

And yet God can still work in the lives of imperfect families—families like Jacob's and families like our own.

Discussion: Leah, the unloved one

Leah the wife of Jacob is a symbol of the unloved one. Her name means 'tender-eyed' (from the root word la'ah (לֵאָה), meaning 'delicate' and 'weak'; Genesis 29:17). The Bible is very clear that Jacob did not love Leah (v. 29; in v. 30, “the LORD saw that Leah was hated...”). Jacob loved her sister Rachel and he was just tricked by her father Laban to marry her. In other words, Leah was not Jacob's “first choice”—she was never Jacob's choice!

But the LORD loved Leah. When he saw that Leah was “hated” (v. 31), he opened her womb and gave her children. In the Bible, barrenness was considered a curse from God. A woman without children will have no one to take care of her when she grows old (see Ruth 34:13-16, when Ruth's son Obed “becomes” the son of Naomi her mother-in-law whose two sons had died). That is why women in the Bible should have children—she may not have the love of her husband but she will always have the love of her children.

The names of Leah's first four children are very revealing: Her first son was named Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, Re'uven), which means, 'Look! A son!' because she said that the LORD “hath looked (רָאָה, ra'ah) upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me” (v. 32). Her second son was named Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, Shim'on) because she said the LORD “heard (שָׁמַע, shama') that I am hated” and therefore gave her a son (v. 33). Her third son was named Levi (לֵוִי) because she said, “Now this time my husband will be joined (לָּוֶה, laveh) unto me” because she borne him three sons (v. 34). Finally she give birth to a fourth son named Judah (יְהוּדָה, Yehudah), because she said, “Now I will praise the LORD” (v. 35). The LORD looked upon her, heard her, and joined unto her, and therefore she will praise the LORD.

[Leah would also have additional children: Through her maidservant Zilpah she had Gad ('a troop' or 'fortune') and Asher ('happy'). She herself would also get three additional children: Issachar (Yissachar, 'there is recompense', sachar), Zebulun ('dowry', zebed; and 'exalted', zabal), and a daughter, Dinah ('judgment').

The LORD eventually gave children to Rachel also: Through her maidservant Bilhah she had Dan ('judge') and Naphtali ('my wrestling'). She herself bore Joseph ('the LORD has added') and Benjamin ('son of my right hand').]

Because Leah was unloved God blessed her. She became the mother of Levi, from whose tribe descended Moses, Miriam, and Aaron, the Levites and the priests (kohanim). And she became the mother of Judah, from whose tribe descended King David and ultimately Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

God is the God of the unloved. When no one else loves us, God is remains to be the One who loves us. It is tragic that people turn to bad influences when they feel unloved by their families. They turn to bad friends, to drugs, to alcohol, to sex, & c. thinking that these will give them the love they are looking for. When we feel unloved and abandoned, we should turned to the One who always loved us, our Lord GOD. Amen.