The Unloved

In everyone there is a thirst to be loved and accepted that is not always satisfied by others.  Leah is an example of this.  There was a woman who was desperate to be loved but no amount of her efforts worked to achieve it.

Jacob worked 7 years for Rachel's hand in marriage, but his deceitful future father-in-law substituted her old sister Leah who is described as "tender eyed."  There are opinions on the exact meaning of this, but it is put in contrast to Rachel being beautiful and well-favoured.  This suggests there was something about Leah's eyes which were not beautiful.  Jacob was angry when he discovered Leah had been given to him in marriage, and a week later consummated a marriage with her sister Rachel.  It says plainly in Genesis 29:30 Jacob "loved Rachel more than Leah."  The rivalry would plague their relationship, and each tried to outdo the other.

God saw what was going on in Genesis 29:31-32:  "When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³² So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, "The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me."  It is hard for Leah being in a marriage where she was unloved, but she very much desired to be loved.  Hoping to earn her husband's love was a chief pursuit for Leah.  See Genesis 29:33-34:  "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." And she called his name 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 his name was called Levi."  Having borne three sons, Leah hoped her husband would love and be attached to her.  The KJV puts it, "joined unto me."  The lack of love put distance between Jacob and Leah.

A day came when Ruben, Leah's firstborn, found mandrakes in a field.  Rachel asked for them, hoping they would help her fertility issue.  Leah's feelings are on display in Genesis 30:15, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."  Based upon this verse it seems Leah did not live or sleep with her husband, and she had to make a trade with Rachel for the privilege.  Leah felt like her husband and his affections had been stolen away by her sister, for Rachel was loved and she was unloved.  It is sad and tragic many people feel very much like Leah:  hungry for love and acceptance, working hard to earn it, and never measuring up.

I wonder if this is how people feel who are looking for likes, acceptance, and even love online, posting pictures of themselves in exotic places or exposing their sculpted physique to attract followers.  No matter how much a celebrity loves their fans, their fans love the persona or illusion more than the reality they cannot know from watching a film or performance.  In relationships which turn abusive people still long for love; they desire another person to be joined to them in a friendship or romance.  They give their hearts searching for "the one" who will love them against the odds and every previous experience only to be disappointed again.

How good it is when we realise God loves us by His grace and no one can separate us from His everlasting love!  He loves the unloved and unlovable, having demonstrated His love through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for sinners.  God loves us not because we have worked hard to earn it, nor could our weakness deter it:  God loves us no matter what.  This love cannot be earned but received through faith in Jesus Christ as we read in John 3:16:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  God didn't love the globe we call earth, but He loves all the people He created on the earth to know Him and be joined with Him forever.  It is in God alone our thirst for love and acceptance is perfectly satisfied, and I hope Leah learned that.

God's Blessing

I came across a connection I found interesting between Laban and and his nephew Jacob:  they were always working angles for their benefit.  When Abraham's servant came to Nahor to find a wife for his master's son Isaac Genesis 24:29-31 reads, "Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. ³⁰ So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, "Thus the man spoke to me," that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. ³¹ And he said, "Come in, O blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels." (emphasis mine)  Laban was glad to favour people from whom he could enrich himself.  Laban proved to be a shrewd man, always seeking his own prosperity at the expense of others.

Jacob was the younger of Isaac's twin sons born to Rebekah, and he too had a penchant to scheme for his own advantage.  He managed to weasel Esau out of his birthright and blessing.  He was sent to Laban's house in Padanaram to marry within the family, and though a "man of the tents" by God's grace he found the way.  Genesis 29:10 says, "And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother." (emphasis mine)  Jacob was impressed by the beauty of Rachel and the bounty of Laban's flock, and ended up staying with Laban.  Laban acknowledged in Genesis 29:14, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh." And he stayed with him for a month."  At the end of the month, Laban made the generous offer to Jacob to state his wages--wages Laban agreed to but changed 10 times.

Jacob served Laban for 7 years for the privilege of marrying Rachel, but Laban gave him Leah instead.  He asked Jacob to serve another 7 years to marry Rachel and because he loved her Jacob did so.  When Jacob asked to be released from his service Genesis 30:27 reads, "And Laban said to him, "Please stay, if I have found favour in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake."  Laban and Jacob wanted blessing from the LORD, and the blessing they sought meant material possessions.  Jacob ended up leaving Padanaram with wives, sons, daughters, servants, flocks and herds, more than he could have ever dreamed of receiving.

A touch from God changed the old schemer, and gave him a new name.  Genesis 32:24-30 records a compelling scene as Jacob fretting over returning to his country and his brother Esau:  "Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. ²⁵ Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶ And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" ²⁷ So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." ²⁸ And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." ²⁹ Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there. ³⁰ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

From that day forward Israel walked with a limp and a blessing received from God.  Instead of scheming for gain he gave:  he gave his brother a generous present, bought land where he made an offering to God, gave Joseph a coat of many colours, gave money for food from Egypt, and even gave his youngest son Benjamin at the request of an unknown ruler in Egypt--who happened to be his beloved and long-lost Joseph.  His life began to reflect the giving and generous God he worshiped.  Isn't God awesome in the way He changes people?  He gives those who seek Him a new name, blessings, and a glorious destiny by His grace.

The Heart Requirement

The almighty God is unapproachable in glory, yet He graciously called the children of Israel as His own inheritance.  He graciously made a covenant with them and His presence dwelt among them.  Offering sacrifices to God under Law became ingrained in the culture of Israel and over time a subtle shift occurred:  people offered sacrifices who did not know God.  They imagined on the basis of their sacrifice they were pleasing and acceptable to God regardless of what they did.  Sin was like a debt in a ledger which sacrifice blotted out, and the greater the sacrifice the more righteous or pious the person.  Ironic, right?

I read this today in Micah 6:6-8:  "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? ⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"  God was not interested in the apology gifts of His people but preferred they obediently walk in His ways.  You've heard the quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and it rings true here.  The prophet revealed no amount of sacrifice makes a man worthy to approach God, and even offering your child as a burnt offering cannot wash hearts and hands of sin.  Better than sacrificing for sin they should walk in the good way God already directed.

God despised and refused to receive the sacrifices of the proud who gave only in response to their guilt instead of God's worthiness.  They vainly hoped greater sacrifice would make them worthy, but no sinner has merit to be acceptable to God.  God desired His people would do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.  The Father sent Jesus Christ the Son to be the Saviour of the world, and He has bid all men by faith to walk with Him.  Jesus is the Lamb of God without blemish who the Father ordained as a sinless and acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world.  No man can earn heaven by their gifts, but as many as have received Jesus to them He gives power to become the sons of God by grace through faith.

People in Micah's day made sacrifices which gave them glory before men, and men viewed them as righteous though they gave out of guilt for sin.  They forgot sacrifices are not offered by the righteous but by sinners!  Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart.  As Jesus and His disciples watched people contribute money to the Temple treasury, He pointed out a poor widow who threw in two mites--the smallest denomination of coinage.  To their great surprise He said she gave more than all because she gave out of her lack.  This likely has more than financial implications:  she gave without pride, arrogance, or self-confidence from a heart that hungered and thirsted for God.  David wrote in Psalm 51:17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise."  It isn't the monetary value of the sacrifice which impresses God but hearts which are broken and humbled before Him.

To obey is better than sacrifice, and the broken and contrite heart is willing to give God all.

Not Immune, but Loved

I was reminded of a childhood memory of a friend at church who was convinced he was "immune" to the effects of poison oak because of his Native American ancestry.  The reason?  He and two friends unwittingly walked through a patch of poison oak:  they were covered with hives, and he had none. Seeing I was most skeptical of his claims, he proceeded to grab leaves of poison oak and slowly rubbed them on his arms and across his face.  When he came to church on Sunday, it was obvious to all (including him!) he was NOT "immune" to poison oak.

It is a common misconception that coming to Jesus Christ in faith brings comfort and rest to life without struggles which plagued us before.  There is a sense our relationship with God means we are immune to the trials of life, and that sin's negative influences and effects are negated.  They felt they could choose to walk in sin without consequences.  An example of this is seen in the children of Israel who departed from obedience to God in Micah 3:11:  "Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us."  I imagine they quoted hackneyed phrases to pump up their confidence like, "No weapon fashioned against us shall prosper," or "If God be for us who can be against us?"

Sin remains as poisonous and deadly as ever after we come to Christ, desiring to cut us off from fellowship with God and other believers.  The context of what Paul wrote was not that relationship with God causes us to avoid painful trials, but though He allows them nothing can separate us from His love--very different to what many assume.  It is not the cessation of pain or problems, but consolation from God in the midst of them.  As long as we live in this body of flesh in a fallen world we await ultimate redemption and thus pain and problems will continue.  Yet even as Jesus rose from the dead, there is a continual supply of hope, help, and deliverance in Him.

Read it in context for yourself in Romans 8:31-39:  "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God did not spare His Son Jesus Christ from suffering, grief, pain, and death, but He has exalted Him above all other names.  He has all authority in heaven and earth and freely has given us all things.  Jesus lives to make intercession for us and at no point in our lives on earth will we be free of our need for help, wisdom, and strength from Him.  See the things which Paul and other Christians suffered!  Not one of them was immune to distress, persecution, famine, peril, or sword; many believers suffered cruel deaths at the hand of God's enemies.  Yet though they encountered fiery trials and brutal pains, they were greatly loved by God who demonstrated His love for sinners on the cross.  Paul was accounted (like Christ) as a sheep to be slaughtered, yet by God's grace he would rise.  This is the promise, not the absence of pain or problems but the presence and power of the Almighty God now and forever.

Sometimes our pains are self-inflicted, like my friend who covered himself in poison oak.  But praise God He is a Healer, a Redeemer, and Restorer of souls to all who turn to Him in faith.