Women in white raiment

by John Lemley

The substitution of Leah for Rachel is the first retribution Jacob experienced for the deceitful practices of his former days. He had, through fraud and cunning, secured the place and blessing of Esau—he, the younger, in place of the elder. Now, by the same deceit, the elder is put upon him in the place of the younger. God has somehow so arranged the affairs of men, that what a man sows, that shall he also reap. Sin is often punished with sin.

When Laban was asked for an explanation of his conduct, he replied that it was not the custom in his country to give the younger into marriage before the first-born, a bit of information he should have given Jacob when he first made suit for Rachel. His excuse does not justify in the least his deception, but there was, however, a sting for Jacob in his reply, namely, in the emphasis of the right of the first-born.

There was, therefore, nothing left for Jacob but to give another seven years’ service for Rachel. So, at the end of the marriage week or feast of Leah, the second wedding followed, and the years of service were rendered afterwards. We do not know why Rachel was affectionately loved, while Leah held but an indifferent place in Jacob’s heart. But then there is no accounting for, or explaining, love. Leah, it is said, was “tender-eyed,” that is to say, weak-eyed. This, however, does not necessarily mean she was sore-eyed or blear-eyed, but simply they were not full, clear, and sparkling, not in keeping with the Oriental idea of beauty, though otherwise she might have been comely. But to an Oriental, black eyes, clear, lustrous, full of life and fire, especially, when in addition to all these, the eye is expressive, are considered the principal part of female beauty. Rachel was the fortunate possessor of all these charming qualities of Eastern beauty, and so must have charmed, captivated, and held Jacob in spite of all other obstacles.

That Leah tried to win his affections is evident from what she says in connection with the birth of Reuben, her first born. “Now therefore,” she says, “my husband will love me.” No doubt, during the seven years that Jacob was in the home of Laban, her love for him became deep and strong, which had, no doubt, induced her to consent to Laban’s deception. So, after the birth of the first son, she hoped to win, through her child, Jacob’s love in the strictest sense. After the birth of the second, she hoped to be put on a footing of equality with Rachel, and to be delivered from her disregard. After the third one, she hoped at least for a constant affection. At the birth of the fourth, she looked entirely away from her surroundings to Jehovah by calling him Judah—praised be Jehovah.

If Rachel obtained Jacob’s affections because of her beauty and loveliness, and he refused to bestow upon Leah that affectionate consideration for which she was grieving her life away, it may be a comfort to those who suffer as Leah did, to know that God does not look for beauty from man’s standpoint, and that the sweet graces of mind and heart go farther than personal charms, for He certainly conferred more honor upon her than He did upon Rachel. He gave her more children than to Rachel. She was also, through her posterity, the mother of Moses, David, John the Baptist, and the greatest honor of all, was the mother of our precious Lord Jesus Christ. Leah was not an idolator, so far as we know, while the beautiful Rachel was tainted with this abomination, and it seems to have clung to her posterity, for it was the tribe of Ephraim that led Israel in the sin of idol worship. So that while Leah may not have been as beautiful as her fair sister, she was more loyal to God, and doubtless was, on that account, so greatly honored of Him.

But the fair, clear-eyed, beautiful Rachel, like the lovely Sarah and sprightly Rebekah, was barren and childless, and because of this became very much dejected, and exclaimed, “Give me children or else I die!” From this expression we are to understand, she would die from dejection. Doubtless this dejection led to the substitution of her maid Bilhah. Her jealous love for Jacob is overbalanced by her envy of her sister. The favored Rachel desired children as her own, at any cost, lest she should stand beside her sister childless. The ambition to be among the progenitors of the Messiah made Hebrew women eager to have children. Rachel was not willing to leave the founding of the people of God to her sister only, but wished also to become an ancestress, as well as Leah, but in very deed, not until Joseph’s birth, her very own, could she say, “Now God has taken away my reproach.”

At length, after a service of twenty years or more, God called Jacob to return to his own people. Laban had been a hard master, not only to Jacob, but to his own daughters. “Are we not counted of him strangers?” said they in their conference with Jacob concerning the return. He had sold them as strangers, more as slaves, for the service of their husband. Hence they had nothing more to hope for from him, for this very price, that is, the blessing resulting from Jacob’s service, he had entirely consumed. The daughters had received no share of it. Hence it is evident that they speak with an inward alienation from their father, and are quite willing to go with Jacob to the land of promise.

The time set for the departure was the feast of sheep-shearing. Either Laban had not invited Jacob to this feast, or Jacob took the opportunity of leaving, in order to visit his own flocks. As the sheep-shearing lasted several days, the opportunity was very favorable for his flight.

“But Rachel had stolen the images,” the Penates or household gods, which were honored as guardians, and as oracles. From this incident we may infer that she was not altogether free from the superstitions and idolatry which prevailed in the land whence Abraham had been called, and which still, to some degree, infected even those families among whom the true God was known. It is thought she was actuated to steal them with the superstitious idea that her father, being prevented from consulting them as oracles, would not be able to pursue Jacob. This act, however, as also the well-planned and ready dexterity and presence of mind with which she concealed her theft, and prompt denial to her father, reveals a cunning which is far more befitting the daughter of Laban than the wife of the prudent patriarch.

Jacob continued his journey without interruption until the fords of the Jabbok were reached. While at Mahanaim he sent messengers to Esau, with a view of bringing about a reconciliation with his grieved brother. When he reached the Jabbok the messengers returned and brought the alarming intelligence that Esau was coming to meet him, and four hundred men were with him. This greatly distressed Jacob, and led him to divide his family and his flocks, and to send them in bands before him. Once more, in a critical time, when he expected an attack from Esau, his discriminate regard for Rachel is again shown by placing Leah and her children in the place of danger, in advance of Rachel and her child.