Tag: Leah

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time, She, Volume 3

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, part 1

Posted on by MaryEllen

Adapted from She, delighting in the women of the Bible, volume 3, pp 29-30

Today’s Scripture: Matthew 1 and Luke 1:37

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Luke 1:37

I suppose it seems odd in a sense to read certain Scriptures at certain times of the year. What I mean is we tend to read, even relegate, certain passages to particular times of the year. For instance, the passages about the crucifixion are more typically heard in the spring, while those about Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus are typically heard in December. Verses about being thankful are heard throughout the year, but seem to come to life more during the latter part of October and throughout November. So when I began working on this portion of our study, which spends five days covering Mary, the mother of Jesus, while seasonally celebrating the long-awaited Spring sunshine and warmth, I found it a bit odd at first. However, after reading the first of the five days, which comes with the reminder that nothing is impossible with God, it no longer seems odd ~ but perfectly refreshing. For it is a sweet reminder my ears and heart needed to hear.

MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE THAT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.

SHE, DELIGHTING IN THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE, VOLUME 3, P 30

Many of the women (if not all) who we’ve studied through this journey are vivid reminders of this truth, are they not?

  • Gomer was the unfaithful wife of Hosea; her infidelity was a symbol of Israel’s spiritual unfaithfulness, but Hosea’s marriage to and redemption of Gomer is an enduring symbol of God’s faithfulness and provisional redemption of His unfaithful people, then and now, through Jesus Christ. God’s words to ancient Israel should fill us with hope today: “I will betroth you to me forever; / I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, / in love and compassion. / I will betroth you in faithfulness, / and you will acknowledge the Lord” (Hosea 2:19–20). (gotquestions.org)
  • Elisabeth, the cousin of Mary, became a mother in her “old age,” something she and her husband believed to be impossible.
  • Leah’s womb was finally opened when there seemed to be no hope of that ever happening, and she gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin.
  • Rahab, the prostitute, not only offered safety to the spies Joshua had sent into the land, but she was also miraculously spared (along with her family) from the death that came on everyone else within the walls of Jericho, and her name is now found in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
  • Tabitha, against all possibilities, rose from the dead after Peter had prayed and told her to arise.
  • The son of the Widow of Nain arose from his deathbed at Jesus’ command.

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Luke 1:37

Truly, nothing is impossible with God, as we are reminded in today’s story of Mary in Matthew 1. She was a virgin and yet with child, just as Isaiah had prophesied. All impossibilities became possible not only for Mary, but for everyone who has ever put their faith in Jesus Christ. For had He not been fully man and fully God, the requirements of the law would not have been met, and we would have no spotless lamb to take away our sins and fit us for Heaven. Praise God for all the wonderful impossibilities made possible through Jesus Christ, the immaculately conceived Son of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Reflection and Application

Why is the virgin birth of Jesus Christ so important?

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 3

Leah

Posted on by MaryEllen

Adapted from She, Delighting in the Examples of the Women of the Bible, pp23 -24

Today’s Scripture: Genesis 29; 1 Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 31:30

“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”

Proverbs 31:30

Leah was the daughter of Laban, the sister of Rachel (who we will look at tomorrow), the first wife of Jacob, and the mother of seven of Jacob’s children – including Judah.

To truly appreciate the story of Leah and see God’s hand in her story, I believe it is helpful to understand how she came to be the wife of Jacob1.

Leah serves as an example that God does not look on our outward appearance, but rather He looks upon our hearts.

She, Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, p24

“Leah’s first mention in the Bible comes in the story of Jacob. After Jacob tricked his father and stole his brother’s birthright (Genesis 27:1–29), he was forced to flee to the home of his uncle Laban in Harran. There, Jacob fell in love with Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel. Leah, being the older daughter, should have been the first to marry, unfortunately, she was homely, whereas Rachel was beautiful (Genesis 29:17). Because of his love for Rachel, Jacob made a deal with Laban to work seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage.”2

At the end of the seven years, as promised, Laban gave Jacob his daughter in marriage. However, because of cultural protocols of the day, Laban deceived Jacob and gave him Leah in place of Rachel. From there, Leah’s story unfolds, and we see God’s sovereign plan play out on the pages of Scripture (Genesis 29:30-31). It was a plan that included Leah giving birth to six of Jacob’s sons—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. From Leah’s line, through Judah, would come the prophesied Messiah.

Scripture makes it clear that Leah was not the one Jacob wanted (Genesis 29:16-18), for he loved Rachel more than he loved Leah ( Genesis 29:30). Nonetheless, Leah became:

  • Jacob’s unplanned first wife. We know Jacob did not appreciate this, but I can’t help wondering how Leah felt about this. Was she happy that her father had carried out the cultural demands of the day? Or, was she embarrassed, sad, or even angry to be married to someone who did not want to be married to her? Did she feel bad for her sister or vindicated to have her rights as the first daughter?

She also became:

  • The first to give birth to Jacob’s children. For “when the LORD saw that Leah was barren, He opened her womb: but Rachel was barren” Genesis 29:31.

God Sees the Heart

“Jacob may have loved Rachel more because of her outward beauty, but it was Leah whose inner beauty allowed God to choose her to birth the son of Jacob from whose line Jesus Christ came.” While Leah may have suffered the pain of being “second choice, the Lord chose to use her in a great way for His glory.”3

“…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Knowing the full story of Jacob, when I read this portion of Leah’s story, I can’t help but think of the saying, “what goes around comes around.” I’m not at all saying this is what happened, but as Jacob’s deception cost Esau his birthright, Laban’s deception has now robbed Jacob of the ‘love of his life,’ at least for a short period of time. Apparently, the same cultural norms of the day that allowed Laban to justify his deception also allowed him to give Rachel to Jacob as soon as Leah’s bridal week was over. – YIKES! I cannot imagine living under such customs, nor can I help wondering how Leah and Rachel felt. Were they angry, hurt, embarrassed, or simply happy to be married?

Application and Reflection

How can you apply Leah’s character to your life?

The More We Know

  1. Who was Jacob in the Bible?  ↩︎
  2. Gotguestions.org,Who was Leah in the Bible ↩︎
  3. She, Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, p23 ↩︎

Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, LGG Study
Posted on by

Reflections of Week 5, Beautifully Surrendered

Beautifully Surrendered, God’s Heart for His Daughters is a Love God Greatly Study

The women we’ve studied this week showed us that joy and praise can be part of our lives when we live surrendered to God through every situation. Actually, praise can be a catalyst for surrendering to God and being filled with His joy as ‘it’ [praise] keeps God at the forefront of our minds and hearts. Miriam led others to praise Him on the other side of the Red Sea and Leah praised Him despite her loveless marriage. Praise can also be the catalyst for others to praise God. This is what happened when the ‘women of Bethlehem’ saw how God had blessed Naomi with a grandson. When we live surrendered and follow God into battle for His people, as in the story of Deborah, praise will flow and joy will follow. When this happens others will see, as we did in the life of Mary of Bethany, who despite cultural norms and heartache chose to sit or fall or give her best in praise and adoration to the Lord – her Savior. There is much that can be learned from these beautiful stories. There is much we would do well to mimic. As with the others that we have read they are certainly worthy of reading and sharing again and again. If for no other reason they will undoubtedly spark praise and joy in our own hearts as they refocus us on the greatness of our God.

Life isn’t always easy so praising God isn’t always easy. Likewise, being joyful in all circumstances, as James suggested, is at best a challenge and at worst seemingly impossible. However, when we realize the key is maintaining a focus fixed on Him – past (what we’ve witnessed in the Scriptures or in our own lives), present (His fingerprints in our own lives and those we know), and future (His promises of His presence with us, constantly new mercies, and eternal life …) – we feed both praise and joy.

My dear brothers and sisters, consider it an opportunity for pure joy when you face trials of many kinds. For you know when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

James 1:2-4

I have made this statement in previous weeks, but it bears repeating. Consider these stories and their truths often so that you do not grow weary and lose heart. Fix your eyes on Him and not the circumstances of Your life – only then will we truly surrender and say as Leah did, still in the midst of her loveless marriage, “Now I will praise the Lord!” As we saw again and again this week, the choice is ours. May we choose well – so that Jesus may say of us, “they chose the best part”.

“Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:42 NET

If you missed any of this week’s devotions from me you’ll find them at this link

If you missed any of the Love God Greatly Blogs for week 5 you’ll find them at these links:

https://lovegodgreatly.com/sing-to-the-lord/

https://lovegodgreatly.com/held-by-gods-hand/

https://lovegodgreatly.com/wholehearted-worship/

Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, LGG Study
Posted on by

Leah: Praise the LORD

Day 2, from week 5 of Beautifully Surrendered, A Love God Greatly

Today’s Reading: Genesis 29:31-35, 30:9-21; SOAP Genesis 29:35

Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah, for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children.

Genesis 29:35
Observations:
This Time

Leah had already been blessed with three other sons and with the first two births she acknowledged they were from the Lord. With the first two and the third she also made mention of the situation with her husband, how she was unloved and hoping that because of the children he would love her more. However, with the birth of the fourth son, her words were different, “This time I will praise the LORD!”, perhaps indicating a different attitude – as though not so woe is me. Whatever the difference meant, the noted praise was more intentional and direct.

Worth Noting

It is worth nothing that this fourth son, Judah, is the one God names as the tribe from which His own Son, The Lion of Judah, will come. 

The Lion of the tribe of Judah is a symbol found in Genesis and Revelation. In Genesis, Jacob blesses his son Judah, referring to him and his future tribe as a lion’s cub and a lion (Genesis 49:9). In Revelation, this symbol is seen again when the Lion of the tribe of Judah is declared to have triumphed and is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals (Revelation 5:5). Jesus is the One who is worthy to open the scroll (see John 5:22). Therefore, Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. https://www.gotquestions.org/lion-tribe-Judah.html
How Then Should We Live?

We should be quick to acknowledge God’s work in our lives – or even in the lives of others. Direct and intentional praise brings glory to God – which is something we should strive for. After all, we were created to for His glory.

Bring all who claim me as their God,
    for I have made them for my glory.
    It was I who created them.’”

Isaiah 43:7
One Other Note

I feel I would be remiss if I failed to mention this one other observation that I believe is a point worth imitating. Leah commemorated all of the births as blessings of God by naming them with names that would remind her what God had done. I can’t help but think this is something to consider, not necessarily in the naming of our children but capturing the gifts in a journal, or with a photograph, or a conversation … the special ways God reveals Himself to you throughout your life. The Israelites used stones on a variety of occasions as memorial markers, such as in Genesis 28:1-22 and Joshua 4, Leah used names, what can you use?

Prayer Response:

Father, we are quick to say, “God did this”, but let us never fail to be intentional to genuinely praise You! Let us find ways to remember what You have done, so that they remain testaments of Your goodness and Your faithfulness – that we may never cease to praise You. May our praises bring You the glory and pleasure You are due! – Amen!

Your Turn:

What’s your take away from Leah’s story?

Reflection Questions:

In the midst of feeling unloved by her husband, we see Leah praising God for blessing her with her children.

  • What does this story teach us about Leah and her relationship with God?