{"id":16229,"date":"2021-06-15T22:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T05:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_29_1-14-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-06-13T16:27:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T23:27:52","slug":"genesis_29_15-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_29_15-35\/","title":{"rendered":"Living for Your Passion and Living with Your In Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 29:15-35 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 29:15-35.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 29:31-35 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the\u00a0LORD\u00a0saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the\u00a0LORD\u00a0heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the\u00a0LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 31-35:\u00a0\u00a0Now both married to the same man Jacob, the two sisters Leah and Rachel begin the most heated rivalry ever recorded in the Bible between two sisters.\u00a0\u00a0Leah is jealous and saddened that Jacob loves Rachel more.\u00a0\u00a0It seems that with each baby she bears for Jacob, Leah somehow hopes it will cause Jacob to love her more.\u00a0\u00a0Leah is desperately longing for her husband\u2019s love and affection, but can\u2019t seem to win it no matter what does.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Here are a number of lessons I learn from these verses:<\/p>\n

First, the painful rivalry between Leah and Rachel and the deep hurt Leah experienced can be seen as a cautionary tale against polygamy, indirectly showing why God\u2019s original plan was for marriage to be between one man and one woman.<\/p>\n

Second, Leah kept hoping that she could earn Jacob\u2019s love by bearing him more and more children.\u00a0\u00a0When she gives birth to her first son Reuben, Leah thinks, \u201cSurely my husband will love me now\u201d (v32).\u00a0\u00a0When she gives birth to her third son Levi, she says, \u201cat last my husband will become attached to me\u201d (v34).\u00a0\u00a0When she gives birth to Simeon her second son, it seems that all she can think about is how unloved she feels (v33).\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s only when Leah gives birth to her fourth son, Judah, that she says, \u201cThis time I will praise the Lord\u201d (v35), as if to say, \u201cThis time I\u2019m not going to put my hope in Jacob being in love with me.\u00a0\u00a0My hope is in God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Likewise, to the extent that we are putting our hope in something or someone other than God, we need to get to that place where we say, \u201cThis time I will praise the Lord.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In other words, I\u2019m not going put my hope in anything or anyone other than God.\u00a0\u00a0He is the One I will live for.\u00a0\u00a0Unfortunately for Leah this would be a short-lived conviction, as Leah would later fall back into her pattern of trying to earn Jacob\u2019s love by bearing more children.\u00a0\u00a0May it not be so short-lived with us.<\/p>\n

Third, whereas Leah was never secure in Jacob\u2019s love for her and always felt that she had to earn Jacob\u2019s love, you and I can rest in the knowledge that God\u2019s love for us is unconditional.\u00a0\u00a0There is nothing you can do to make God love you more.\u00a0\u00a0The Bible describes God as being eternally and passionately in love with human beings.\u00a0\u00a0Since God\u2019s love for you is greater than anything you can imagine, you don\u2019t need to try to earn God\u2019s love.\u00a0\u00a0All you need to do is receive it.\u00a0\u00a0May you find rest in God\u2019s unchanging, unconditional love for you.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Leah\u2019s sadness at being the lesser loved of the two wives reminds me of Proverbs 30:23, which suggests that one of the great tragedies in life is when a woman is married but unloved.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If anyone can relate to Leah\u2019s sadness, perhaps it is God himself, who tries over and over to win our love and often to no avail.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, just as Jacob served seven years to get Rachel and time flew by so quickly, I pray that I would spend the time You have given me living and serving a purpose that really matters.\u00a0\u00a0When it comes to dealing with people, especially people I am related to whether by blood or by marriage, please give me wisdom so that I may represent You faithfully and love them well.\u00a0\u00a0Finally, thank You that I don\u2019t need to earn Your love, that Your love for me is eternal, unconditional and unchanging.\u00a0\u00a0May I rest in Your unconditional, unchanging love today.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 29:15-35.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 29:31-35 (NIV)
\n31\u00a0\u00a0When the\u00a0LORD\u00a0saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
\n32\u00a0\u00a0Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
\n33\u00a0\u00a0She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the\u00a0LORD\u00a0heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.
\n34\u00a0\u00a0Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.
\n35\u00a0\u00a0She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the\u00a0LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.<\/p>\n

On verses 31-35:\u00a0\u00a0Now both married to the same man Jacob, the two sisters Leah and Rachel begin the most heated rivalry ever recorded in the Bible between two sisters.\u00a0\u00a0Leah is jealous and saddened that Jacob loves Rachel more.\u00a0\u00a0It seems that with each baby she bears for Jacob, Leah somehow hopes it will cause Jacob to love her more.\u00a0\u00a0Leah is desperately longing for her husband\u2019s love and affection, but can\u2019t seem to win it no matter what does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16230,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16229\/revisions\/16230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}