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Leah & Rachel

Writer's picture: ashtonlovvornashtonlovvorn

Genesis 29 & 30




Leah & Rachel. Their story is one that I’ve heard so many times, but I’ve always heard it from the “Jacob Perspective.” Jacob was the father of Israel, which God’s covenant with Abraham would be fulfilled through. Jacob loved Rachel. Jacob was deceived by Rachel's father & given Leah as a wife even though he was supposed to get Rachel after he worked his 7 years for their father. Jacob was finally given Rachel too, but he had to work another 7 years. How sad for Jacob, but at least he finally got the beautiful Rachel.


I had never read their story zoomed in on the women until I started this Women of the Bible study, and what I saw was beautiful.



So, the first thing the Bible says about the two women is that Rachel had a beautiful figure & a lovely face, and Leah had no sparkle in her eyes, ouch. I feel like all of us at one time or another have felt like we were a Leah in a sea of Rachels. We look around at all the women who look the way the world says they’re “supposed to look” and feel no sparkle in our eyes. If I had to guess, I would say that Leah probably struggled with something many of us do: Comparison.


Leah probably saw her sister Rachel and wondered why God didn’t make her look more like that. She was also the oldest, which meant she was supposed to get married first, but her sister was the one men desired. I wonder how many men came through wanting Rachel instead of Leah before Jacob got there. She finally gets married, and it has to be through deception? How is this fair?

Honestly, reading her story was pretty frustrating. The Bible even says that Jacob loved Rachel much more than Leah, so why is this beautiful?

Genesis 29:31- When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive.


The Lord saw Leah. He not only saw her, but he cared. The Lord knew that back in those days, a wife was only good if she could bear sons, so he gave her four back to back and two more later. They were all promises that the Lord saw her, and even though he eventually did let Rachel have children, he let Leah have them first.


Is this the exact ending Leah wanted? Probably not. I’m sure she would have wanted a husband who loved her the most, but instead, she birthed the majority of the tribes of Israel, including Judah, which Jesus would be born from! God’s plans were bigger than hers. God saw her. God sees you. His plans are bigger than ours. Leah planned to get married and have children; God planned for Leah to get married and birth His nation, the lineage His son would come from.

You’re called to something greater than your plans.




Now let’s talk about Rachel for a second.


The question that sparked this study of the Women in the Bible was “Are women called? & if so, to what?”


Something that jumped off the page at me was that Rachel was a shepherd.


This was the first time I remembered seeing that a woman was a shepherd, and it made me wonder “Was it unusual for women to be shepherds?” After doing some research, I’ve found that the answer was absolutely not. The job of shepherdess was actually reserved for young girls. They would start when they were about 9 or 10 and work the flocks until they were married off at 15 or 16.


Jesus uses a shepherd to describe the way he loves & guides his people throughout the Bible. He calls himself the Good Shepherd in John 10 because he would lay his life down for his sheep.


When Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” in John 21, Peter replies, “You know I love you.” & what does Jesus respond with? “Then feed my sheep.”


So, Woman of God, what are you called to do? Feed his sheep.


You are not disqualified or excused from this assignment because you are a woman. In fact, you are empowered to do it because there are assignments, messages, & missions reserved for you. (Ephesians 2:10)










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