City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

31 Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. 34 She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

Genesis 29:31-35

1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.

Matthew 1:1-3

Reflection

Leah was unloved by Jacob, and the Lord saw she was unloved. When the Lord blessed Leah with a child, she immediately tried to leverage the child in the hope Jacob would love her.

Leah repeated this cycle a second time when she had her second child, but Jacob still did not love her.

By the time her third child arrived, Leah had lowered her expectations, now just hoping Jacob would at least feel “attached” to her because she had borne him three children. But Jacob’s feelings toward Leah did not change.

Finally, when Leah had her fourth child, she quit thinking about how she could use the child to meet her needs and instead turned to God saying, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That was the right response.

Application

Even though God gives us gifts, we are not to seek the gifts but the Giver. And when we do, remarkable things can happen.

In this instance, the child that finally caused Leah to turn to God in praise was Judah. Leah could not have known it then, but the lineage of Jesus would ultimately pass, not through Rachel, whom Jacob had chosen, but Leah, and not just through Leah but Judah (See Matthew 1:1-16).

The story of Jacob and Leah should reaffirm for us the importance of seeking God for who He is and not for what He gives us.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for all You have given me, but most of all thank You for providing the way by which I can have a relationship with You. Amen.