Bibledoorajar Looks at Getting to Know Your Spouse(s)

 Young Son: Is it true, Dad, I heard that in some parts of Africa a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?
Dad: That happens in most countries, son.

Jacob is a man with two wives to get to know. One he accepts with all his heart and the other whom he must accept even though his heart is not in it. Two wives means dual blessings, but two also means the capacity for division and/or opposition within the home. In the home of Jacob we will see God at work, but we will also see the enemy's inspiration for malcontent. Not only were there two wives but they were sisters! But even with all this marital chaos, Jacob's house will be a beginning for God's plan for a great house of His own.

Here's the problem in a nutshell: each wife had her own point of view and she did not cease to express it!  And when the children started coming there was more than enough room for bickering and jealousy.  The interesting part of this story for me is how much God plays a role in the conception and delivery of Jacob's children. Early on in the marriages, God saw that Leah was unloved. So, he made her fertile and she conceived. She delivered a child that she called Reuben which means "see, a son". She gave the credit to God, that the Lord had seen just how humiliated she was within the home and had given her a son so that her husband would love her. Leah 1; Rachel 0. And life goes on.