Monday, October 5, 2015

Reflection - Rachel & Leah - Women of the Bible, a tale of two sisters

Source Website: http://www.wordlibrary.co.uk/article.php?id=167
Posted by Dele Oke (The Living Word Library) on 06 August 2013


Rachel and Leah were two sisters who married the same man - Jacob
PHOTO: Rachel (right) and Leah were two sisters who married the same man - Jacob
Jacob has a nasty shock. Just as he had deceived his own father many years ago (Genesis 27), Laban deceived him. After seven years of hard work Laban tricked Jacob into marrying the older sister Leah - a lot of wine and a veil over the head of Leah during the wedding did the job.
Leah and Rachel when it came to the dowry, their father Laban tricked his daughters and their future husband. It did not end well.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoqn6GjbyaZddy8Gh8E1n84-iRxDSVmXmHGeYmuTb_4uvmQ0G8IPzKjSw9XCqrwHnPr4IZ7Slx7fdIgDVIZWRQWQr4lkgX3LI-ktKf-szXydkNTb58Cnr-Ewyb5Wbs6-qJf9KvQtPyeU/s1600/Laban_Rachel_Leah.jpg
http://www.womeninthebible.net/Laban_Rachel_Leah.jpg
http://www.womeninthebible.net/money_marriage.htm


Genesis 29 - 35
Introduction
Rachel and Leah were two sisters who married the same man - Jacob.
Their father, Laban, was Jacob's uncle. Laban was a farmer. Unsurprisingly Rachel's name means 'ewe' - a female sheep. Sheep can be docile animals. Leah means a wild cow or ox.

The Bible describes Rachel as having 'a lovely figure and was beautiful' while leah was unattractive (Genesis 29:17).

The story
Jacob was a cheat. He lied to his father, stole his brother Esau's birthright and then had to make a quick escape from home to avoid getting murdered for this sins (Genesis 27). Not the ideal way to start one’s life.

Fleeing revenge from Esau he arrived at Laban's house. He immediately fell in love with the beautiful Rachel, but little did he know that Laban, a relative of his mother, was as dubious as he was. What a family! (Genesis 29).


The Meeting of Jacob and Rachel by William Dyce
PHOTO: The Meeting of Jacob and Rachel by William Dyce
Jacob immediately fell in love with the beautiful Rachel, but little did he know that Laban, a relative of his mother, was as dubious as he was.
Posted by bigbiblebook on 12 February 2014
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https://bigbiblebook1.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/william-dyce-the-meeting-of-jacob-and-rachel.jpg
https://bigbiblebook1.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/kejadian-29/


Rachel
Laban saw a chance to make capital out of Jacob's love for Rachel. He required Jacob to work seven years for him in exchange for marrying Rachel (Genesis 29:15-18). The bible says 'So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.' (Genesis 29:19 NIV)


Rachel, Novel by Jill Eileen SmithPHOTO: Rachel, Novel by Jill Eileen Smith
Rachel is the 3rd book in the Wives of the Patriarchs series, and captures the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah.
The focus of the story is the love story of Jacob and Rachel. The conflict comes when Leah longs to share Jacob’s love as well, a love that was intended for just one wife. It’s truly an amazing story in Scripture, rife with deception, strife, and struggle.
Posted by Elaine Cooper on Tuesday, 11 February 2014 at 1:00 AM
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http://www.novelpastimes.com/2014/02/welcome-author-jill-eileen-smith-day-1.html


Jacob however was in for a nasty shock. Just as he had deceived his own father many years ago (Genesis 27), so now Laban was to deceive him. After seven years of hard work Laban tricked Jacob into marrying the older sister Leah - a lot of wine and a veil over the head of Leah during the wedding did the job.


Leah, Robert William Vonnoh (1858-1933)
PHOTO: Leah, Robert William Vonnoh (1858-1933)
After seven years of hard work Laban tricked Jacob into marrying the older sister Leah - a lot of wine and a veil over the head of Leah during the wedding did the job.
Posted by Live Internet on Sunday, 20 October 2013 at 9:40
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydYxUD138QlEm5H3Wod1M2RgL3pywsOsINnER_yKKWOAb-QtAQwnjILO0WM8a04TpwayMRaeinCzlViXUn8trP2pns935bhqtFkmi3gXa2yqiWUTRgJC56cG7YQGnjFOPX9whbNB1fX4/s1600/15rgqwpvf635.jpg
http://firepic.org/images/2013-10/17/15rgqwpvf635.jpg
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/ehdu/post296143509/


Jacob had to work another seven years before he could marry his beloved Rachel (Genesis 29). Both Rachel, Leah and Jacob were bitterly hurt by this deception (Genesis 31:14-16).


Rachel at the Well (Genesis 29)PHOTO: Rachel at the Well Genesis 29 
Jacob had to work another seven years before he could marry his beloved Rachel (Genesis 29). Both Rachel, Leah and Jacob were bitterly hurt by this deception (Genesis 31:14-16).
Posted by Douglas Rosa Bible Illustration
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdWp1DJO__D-vJ1QvUHn0ZRi-MNbZZL7CfFSmAEqnnUg-puiigBytbAHMKdw5LcEU3grw9cxCJeEs2EF29YnDqSd0GKrW2IR61dPqmjpqscr3TlpEt2HR9nsUbDiEz2hllbxhK5ykcKhM/s1600/7_RachelAtTheWell_op_720x480.jpg
http://www.bible-illustrations.com/7_RachelAtTheWell_op_720x480.jpg
http://www.bible-illustrations.com/rates.html


Rachel's troubles had only just began. On marrying Jacob she found herself unable to have children while Leah gave birth to four - Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah (Genesis 29:31-35).


Leah asked by her sister Rachel for the mandrakes collected by Ruben, Arnold Houbraken, 1700, private collection
PHOTO: Leah asked by her sister Rachel for the mandrakes (birth tonic) collected by Ruben, Arnold Houbraken, 1700, private collection
Rachel's troubles had only just began. On marrying Jacob she found herself unable to have children while Leah gave birth to four - Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah (Genesis 29:31-35).
Posted by Joachim Schaefer on 09 October 2015
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5vDI2qQ6ut6C-IFLxE0-XB4vX4fyUDX4Hyk7rRvkn7UjM2cYIUt8BX0gb_gNNtG7PzZu5GB5Oy7vA3UT3Vt_Ezyu4Nqu2SmDBPzZUhFpgJgJnk_SNzqpbSCXKq5pKpShpegVHlw5F5-g/s1600/Lea.jpg
https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/Fotos/Lea.jpg
https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienL/Lea.html


Not to be out done Rachel asked Jacob to sleep with her maid Bilhah. This was in line with the custom of the day. Bilhah gave birth to two boys. Rachel named them Dan and Naphtali.

This only intensified the rivalry between the two sisters. Leah asked Jacob to sleep with her maid Zilpah and she too gave birth to two sons - Gad and Asher. But this did not satisfy Leah.


Rachel asked Jacob to sleep with her maid Bilhah. Leah asked Jacob to sleep with her maid Zilpah.PHOTO: Rachel asked Jacob to sleep with her maid Bilhah. Leah asked Jacob to sleep with her maid Zilpah.
Painting by Dinet, Étienne Alphonse (France, París, 1861 – France, París, 1929),  The messenger of Satan (1908)
Posted by Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrzpGrxdIR3tECK4uwkChu07wvSkFpZqwhi53oNchZe4y0lcgnU0XsLjqjV2myehlAiC7h-3MvjssiYtPMr5k83VQhS_hLavIgz8jsKEQfNFrkG_dUwxKOW9rWL3zOb_NQLIo4-cUvus/s1600/2548.jpg
http://www.mnba.gob.ar/img/coleccion/obra/web/2548.jpg
http://www.mnba.gob.ar/coleccion/obra/2548


As if to rob more salt into Rachel's wounds Leah herself got sexually active with Jacob again and gave birth to another two boys and one girl - Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah (Genesis 30).

Here was a home where children were used as tools of revenge. It would not have been a pleasant place.


As if to rob more salt into Rachel's wounds Leah herself got sexually active with Jacob again and gave birth to another two boys and one girl - Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah (Genesis 30).
PHOTO: As if to rob more salt into Rachel's wounds Leah herself got sexually active with Jacob again and gave birth to another two boys and one girl - Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah (Genesis 30).
Posted by nevseoboi.com.ua (Ukraine) on 31 January 2012, Beautiful Women
Picture photoshop manipulated, see original.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehSg8TX5nZIE2swahNmWlQQC_Ay3_vfqSoT6TeildJ-oc_oTyxLpZTdhpLhlSLjzieUqWQ6PbVCHPJzlld51HSb8fLJzNKLyzn9svaLWNuAvLEJYLr4t7qexpA3859s7Ycqab2bXMmnY/s1600/1327398610-14147286-0026661_www.nevseoboi.com.ua-1.jpg
http://nevseoboi.com.ua/uploads/posts/2012-01/1327398610-14147286-0026661_www.nevseoboi.com.ua.jpg
http://nevseoboi.com.ua/oboi-wallpapers/devushki/10927-beautiful-women-15-oboev.html 


Finally Rachel gave birth to a son herself. He was called Joseph (Genesis 30:22-24).

Just when it looked like things were looking up for Rachel another twist comes. Laban and his sons were getting irritated at how well Jacob was doing. With hostility growing towards him Jacob decided it was time to do a run again. Both Leah and Rachel happily agreed to go back to his home with him (Genesis 31).

On the way back Rachel gave birth to another son called Benjamin. She died during child birth. She called the child's name Ben-oni, meaning son of my sorrow, but Jacob renamed him Benjamin - meaning son of my right hand (Genesis 35).


On the way back Rachel gave birth to another son called Benjamin.
PHOTO: On the way back Rachel gave birth to another son called Benjamin. She died during child birth.
As she breathed her last - for she was dying - she named her son Ben-Oni, meaning son of my sorrow. But his father named him Benjamin, meaning son of my right hand (Genesis 35).
Painting by FURINI Francesco (1600-1646), The Birth Of Rachel
Posted by Remigijus Kiminas (painting manager), E-Mail:  info@artmight.com
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http://artmight.com/albums/classic-f/Francesco-Furini-1600-1646/FURINI-Francesco-The-Birth-Of-Rachel.jpg
http://artmight.com/Artists/Francesco-Furini-1600-1646/FURINI-Francesco-The-Birth-Of-Rachel-17670p.html


The name Rachel gave to her son reflects the sorrow and hurt she lived through. We all need to be careful of the hurts and emotional wounds that may follow us from our background and circumstances in life. These need to be dealt with. Only Jesus can heal these kinds of aliments.


 The remarks of Rachel and Leah in Genesis 31:14-15 (NIV)
'Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us" indicate the hatred they had for their father. Couple this with the rivalry and bitterness between them in their married home and you get the picture of the situation they had to deal with.


The Household Gods also known as 'Offerings to the Gods' by John William Waterhouse, circa 1880
PHOTO: The Household Gods also known as 'Offerings to the Gods' by John William Waterhouse, circa 1880
With hostility growing towards him Jacob decided it was time to do a run again (the angel of God instructed him in the dream to leave the land at once and go back to his native land).
Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods (aka his inheritance) before leaving.
Posted by The bronze on 05 October 2015 at 09:00
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http://cfile213.uf.daum.net/original/2650CB48553DCF472638CD - (63.jpg)
http://blog.daum.net/gold9055/15014914


Rachel had every cause to be annoyed with her father. He had done her wrong. She and Jacob were very much in love and could have made a wonderful couple. Her father’s actions destroyed this.

However, things did not have to go the way they did. Rachel's life should stand out as a warning for us and not a mirror of our life.


Laban Seeking his Idols by Pietro Da Cortona (Barrettini)
PHOTO: Laban Seeking his Idols by Pietro Da Cortona (Barrettini)
Laban entered Rachel’s tent. Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.
Picture posted by paulath (photobucket)
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http://s75.photobucket.com/user/paulath/media/Anchor%20Pics%206/PietrodaCortona.jpg.html


God can turn these kind of situations around for us today if we serve Him and love Him with all our heart (Romans 8:28). If you love God you will forgive those that have hurt you and refuse to harbour bitterness in your heart against them. Bitterness destroys (Hebrews 12:15). It is in your own interest that you forgive. By God's grace and your will power you can forgive.

After getting your heart right with God, you can then pray and break the curses that might have been let loose in your life because of the actions of other people. It might be helpful to ask other believers to pray with you. Ask God for healing and a restoration of all the things that evil has caused.

Reflection - Rachel & Leah - Women of the Bible
Posted by Dele Oke (The Living Word Library) on 06 August 2013


Rueben, how He Lost the Scepter (symbol of sovereignty)
PHOTO: Rueben, how He Lost the Scepter (symbol of sovereignty)
A Bible Picture of Bilhah and Reuben, painted by Alphonse-Étienne Dinet (1861-1929).
While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it (Genesis 35:22).

This is one odd verse statement about Rueben. It is right between the deaths of Rachel [Genesis 35:19] and Isaac [Genesis 35:28].

There is never a reason given for his act. Rueben was the first born of Jacob. His mother was Jacob’s first wife Leah. Bilhah had been Rachel’s hand maid, and in a reproductive war of one-up-man-ship with her sister Leah, Rachel had given Bilhah to Jacob as a wife.

The most predominant reason given is that of fornication (sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other) and impiety (godlessness, unholiness, sinfulness, immorality).

Reuben the frist born of Jacob slept with Bilhah when she was drunk. Bilhah was the Hittite Slave Servent For Rachel. Bilhah the Hittite servant bore two sons, Dan and Naphtali for Jacob. The information that Reuben slept with Bilhah is in the Bible.

But "The Book of Eden" titled "Reuben" is not in the Bible. It is one of the many "Lost books of the Bible."

The Book of "Rueben" is one of the many missing Books in the King James Bibles that does not include anything except the writings of the Jewish Scribes.

"The Book of Eden" - Reuben

1 THE Copy of the Testament of Reuben, even the commands which he gave his sons before he died in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life.
. . . . . . .

33 And now, my children, love the truth, and it will preserve you: hear ye the words of Reuben your father.

34 Pay no heed to the face of a woman,

35 Nor associate with another man's wife,

36 Nor meddle with affairs of womankind.

37 For had I not seen Bilhah bathing and was drunk, I would not have fallen into this great iniquity.
. . . . . . .
Published by a Team of Dead Sea Scrolls Transalaters and History Reaserchers, Reuben, Dead Sea Scrolls Collections
Painting by Dinet, Etienne 1861 - 1929
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https://8b8ea058-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/placesornames/reuben-dead-sea-scrolls-collections/dinet-reuben-pict-20.jpg
https://sites.google.com/site/placesornames/reuben-dead-sea-scrolls-collections



Reference

NIV, New International Version, Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Genesis 27 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+27&version=NIV

Genesis 29 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+29&version=NIV

Genesis 29 - 35 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+29-35&version=NIV

Genesis 29:15-18 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+29%3A15-18&version=NIV

Genesis 29:17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+29%3A17&version=NIV

Genesis 29:19 NIV - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+29%3A19+NIV&version=NIV

Genesis 29:31-35 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+29%3A31-35&version=NIV

Genesis 30 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+30&version=NIV

Genesis 30:22-24 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+30%3A22-24&version=NIV

Genesis 31:14-16 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+31%3A14-16&version=NIV

Genesis 31 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+31&version=NIV

Genesis 31:14-15 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+31%3A14-15&version=NIV

Genesis 35 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+35&version=NIV

Genesis 35:19 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+35%3A19&version=NIV

Genesis 35:28 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+35%3A28&version=NIV

Genesis 35:22 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+35%3A22&version=NIV

Hebrews 12:15 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12%3A15&version=NIV

Romans 8:28 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A28&version=NIV
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