she met God himself, who comforted her and sent her back to Abraham with promises of a great future. Later she showed strength of character by bringing up her son alone in the desert.
A Scheme that Backfired
Rebekah shows up in Chapter 24 as a young girl drawing water for a stranger's camels. By the next day you know she has a mind of her own - and enough courage to set off with a stranger for marriage in unknown territory. Her husband Isaac loved her, and so did her son Jacob. From her, it seems, Jacob got his strong, scheming personality. She initiated the plan to install him in family leadership, against the custom of firstborn sons - and against his father's will. Sadly for Rebekah, her scheme partly backfired, and she never saw Jacob again.
Rachel and Leah, sisters, fought for years over Jacob. Rachel had the looks, as well as a corner on her husband's love. Jacob neglected Leah, whom he hadn't wanted to marry in the first place. But to make up for that slight, God gave Leah children - four sons in a row. Rachel took each one like a fist to the face, which is probably what Leah intended. After a while, Jacob seemed to be just a tool in the struggle for dominance between two sisters, expecially when Leah cooly iformed him that she had hired his services for the night (30:16).
Who won? It's hard to say. Rachel held the love of Jacob to the end, her two sons most favored by him though last in line. But Leah's sons gained prominence of their own, especially Judah who became the ancestor of kings - and Jesus. Leah would have enjoyed knowing that she, not Rachel, was "great, great, great grandmother" to the King of kings. |
