Bibledoorajaar Reports On God's Loving Kindness

"Once more she conceived and had a son; and she said, "Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons."
                                                                         Genesis 29: 34-35

 So Leah, sure that God was establishing her relationship with Jacob,  named the boy Levi which means joining. Three times God's loving kindness and goodness toward the unloved Leah had resulted in sons. It was His kindness toward Leah that made her productive, but His goodness also can be seen in His providing the sons for the patriarch who would provide the seedbed for the children of Israel and a coming Messiah. God loves to identify with the lost and the unloved. Just think how happy He made Leah with these sons. Did she love Him more than the man she was trying to get? I don't know, but clearly we know she knew of His care for her in her dilemma. Are you in a dilemma? Are you lost and at your wits end? Do you believe that God loves you enough to help you? I say with a resounding YES, he does. He sent His Son on a mission of loving kindness and goodness to people just like you and me.

"For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost."
                                                                       Luke 19:10

He is excellent at displaying the loving kindness and goodness of the Father.  The Father said so Himself.

"And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in whom I am well pleased."
                                                                                 Luke 4:22

Trust Him today with your life, its' productivity and its' ability to be pleasing to God.
                                                                              

Bibledoorajar Looks at Progeny

       "Children are a gift from God, the fruit of the womb is a reward. The children born when one is young, are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. How blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them; he will not have to be embarrassed when contending with foes at the city gate."
  
                                                                                   Psalm 127: 3-5

If the psalmist was correct all those years later, then truly Leah was going to do her part to see that Jacob's quiver was full! Quickly she became pregnant again as her sister Rachel remained barren. The second fruit of her womb she named Simeon, which means hearing. Sure that God was blessing her womb because her husband did not love her, Leah proclaimed His role in the naming of her son. Since Rachel remained barren, Leah felt that Jacob's pride in his sons would soon win him over to her. All this time, Jacob is busy working off a fourteen year debt to Laban for his two wives. In the power of producing two sons, Leah might render Rachel defeated.  But so far Rachel is holding her peace, although surely she is watching all this with a heavy heart. When will she take action? Will her actions be wise? Will it be now, with the score Leah 2, Rachel 0?

"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him demonstrate it by the good way of life, by actions done in the humility that grows out of wisdom. But if you harbor in your hearts bitter jealousy and selfish ambitions, don't boast and attack the truth with lies. This wisdom is not the kind that comes down from above; on the contrary, it is worldly, not spiritual, demonic. For where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there will be disharmony and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And peacemakers who sow seed in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."

                                                                                                   James 3: 13-18

         

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.

Bibledoorajar looks at Home

Christian experts have said that to have a happy home at least four things need to be present: 1)Affection must be high, 2) marriage must be in the Lord, 3)marriages should be established with the good will of parents and close friends, and 4) a man should see how he can make a livelihood. If you were fortunate to have been brought up in such a home as this you have been truly blessed. For those who grew up in homes that were established on lessor grounds have felt the pain in so many ways.

Let's take a look at how Jacob was doing. We know he truly loved Rachel for the text tells us so. He served seven years for her as if it was but a few days. We know his parents wanted him to seek a wife from godly stock and that he did. He did not take his wife as he could have from the peoples from which Esau did. When it was time for Jacob to leave his parents his father, out of good will, called him to him and blessed him as he sent him away. Jacob's best interest was his parent's goal. When Jacob sought Rachel, he consulted with her father. Lastly, Jacob found himself in a wealthy land and there seemed to be reason to feel he could support a family.

Jacob had met every criteria that Christian experts have agreed upon. In the love relationship between Jacob and Rachel we can see reflected the great love relationship that Jesus has for His bride. Affection runs high, for He gave Himself in death for us. Ours marriage with the Lord will be one made in Heaven planned for and directed by the Father. All the resources of the Father's realm will be at Christ's disposal to care for His bride.  For Jesus, the wait will seem like a few days for He loves us so. Is that how you feel about the time you are now spending waiting for Him to return and sweep you into that beautifully prepared wedding feast?

Bibledoorajar looks at God's Wisdom and the Motives of People

                              "... in my dream, I seemed to see a woman
                                both young and fair; along a plain she gathered
                                flowers, and even as she sang, she said:
                               Whoever asks my name, know that I'm Leah,
                                and I apply my lovely hands to fashion
                                a garland of the flowers I have gathered."

                                                         Purgatorio by Dante

Jacob had set as his goal to live for God. God had set as His goal for Jacob to father a great nation. Jacob had declared that if God would bless Him, he would follow Him. He had found the girl of his dreams and was ready to move forward. But his uncle disappointed him by giving him Leah in marriage instead. But Laban calmly says that it is the custom for the elder to marry first and that Jacob could also have Rachel in exchange for another seven years of labor. Some would call this unfair persecution, but Jacob immediately agreed to the seven years in order to gain the one he dearly loved. It sets the scene for much human conflict. Two women and one man and a price to be paid for both.

It seems that in God's realm there is often a price to be paid in following Him and accomplishing what He desires. People disappoint yet through these experiences God's will moves forward. Isn't it wonderful that God's will can be accomplished in spite of questionable motives and hard situations?
Jacob was willing to do whatever was necessary to get Rachel. Are you willing to take steps no matter how costly or hurtful to achieve something for God? Can you endure the ways of a fellow Christian in order to accomplish a ministry goal? Leah was needed by God and, though she became a thorn in the flesh of Rachel, she produced six of Jacob's sons. Remember no price we pay for accomplishments in God's realm can ever outweigh the price He paid when He gave us Jesus. Faith calls for endurance.

Bibledoorajar Looks at Self Preservation

                                   "Be not dismayed, whate' er betide,
                                    God will take care of you.
                                    Beneath His wings of love abide
                                    God will take care of you.

                                    God will take care of you,
                                    Through every day o'er all the way;
                                     He will take care of you,
                                     God will take care of you.

                                                   Words by Civilla D. Martin
                                                   Music by W. Stillman Martin

Jacob had come to his uncle's house and community and had enjoyed a month of hospitality. Now we see that Uncle Laban is evaluating his own struggle for his sustenance and prosperity. Why not put Jacob to work in the daily struggle for bread? He asked Jacob specifically what his wages would be under that circumstance. Jacob felt a fair wage would be seven years to work for bread but also for Rachel, the woman of his dreams. Here we see a community living out "by the sweat of your brow shall you get bread".  But Jacob's plan was to get much more; he intended to earn the girl that he loved. Clearly he expected no crookedness from Laban. Because of his great love for Rachel, the seven years would not be so hard that he could not imagine Rachel being his at the end.

Finally, the seven years passed and Jacob claimed his bride. Laban planned the celebration and that night Jacob went in to his new wife. Apparently there was no problem until Jacob saw his bride in the daylight.  Shocked, he was not looking at his beloved, but rather her sister whom he did not love. Leah was not as attractive as Rachel and her eye trouble was noticeable. The story speaks of her tender eyes and this is felt best interpreted as weak by most scholars. Some say she may have been cross-eyed. Whatever the exact trouble, Leah seems to not have seen the mismatch as a problem even though she had to have known that Jacob was in love with her sister. It seems that Leah, too, would express a little craftiness in gaining sustenance for her future. Or, maybe like some of her future progeny, she just didn't get it! Jacob was dismayed and complained to Laban about what he had done to him. It was a wakeup call that Jacob was going to have to expend great efforts to get what he wanted as a part of Laban's community. He had a wife and Laban wasn't budging! But, God was watching all of this and as Jacob sweated, Laban connived, and Leah and Rachel kept quiet, God was planning great blessings for Jacob. Be not dismayed our timing is not God's timing; our ways are not God's ways. His power to bless inept human efforts in order to carry out His will for them and others is always present and always active. Let's not get in His way!
 

Bibledoorajar Tracks Jacob's Education in Service

     Jacob had come to his uncle's house and community. His mother and father were both sure that a wife from there would make a more prosperous and godly future for their sons. Esau had rejected this wisdom and had sorely disappointed his folks. How many Christians   have been disappointed when their children did not follow this godly counsel. But Jacob was there and he had met a girl from the right community and he had fallen head over heels for her. He was so much in love with her that he agreed to work seven years for her father to receive her hand in marriage. For seven years Jacob would labor in an environment that would be greatly influenced by his uncle. As a matter of fact his influence would be paramount. Whatever Jacob did, Laban would always be there sealing him in service. But Jacob was at peace with this plan because He had been given a promise while asleep and while he was deeply moved by his sin. His heavenly father had been discovered to be in the desert with him. He was not just in his father's tent, but he was real in Jacob's life. His promises included a ladder to heaven given in a dream.

                             Dreams grow holy put in action,
                             Work grows fair through starry dreaming;
                              But where each flows on unmingling,
                              Both are fruitless and in vain.

                                                      A.A. Proctor

This dream with all its' promise was a "born again" experience for Jacob. It was an opportunity that was divine. Surely as Jacob looked at Rachel, he felt a divine peace in his inner man. We will see this inner peace guide a man through all the forces that come against him. It will start first with a trick from Laban. But lest we forget, there is an Omnipotent One that will ensure Jacob success in his necessary endeavors. What great encouragement we can take from this story: chosen to carry on the work of God with perfect confidence within our inner selves. Does that describe you today?