The Ugly One!

Read: Genesis 29-16 to 30:24

      The bible describes Leah as the weak-eyed or the dull-eyed sister i.e.kind of the ugly one!!

      Genesis 29:16-17 describes Rachel as the beautiful sister and Leah,the dull-eyed one. When The Bible; God-breathed words, didn’t mince words while describing Leah so then obviously,why would people around her be nice!

        Leah must be dealing with this comparison all through her childhood. Her family, friends,relatives, neighbours, people …all must have compared her to her sister’s beauty! I can imagine her crying about this in her room.Guests telling Laban,their father, 'your younger one is so beautiful’,in front of Leah.

        Even when she became a young adult, her father had to trick Jacob to marry her!(genesis 29:23,24). Why? Maybe because she got many proposals but got rejected when they saw her in person or maybe because her dad thought that no one would be willing to marry her. I don’t know!

       But knowing that her father had to trick a man inorder to marry her would have been very hurtful. Knowing  that she was not Jacob’s choice at all, knowing that he was in love with Rachel  and worst of all she didn’t have a say in any of this! 
In those days ,the absolute authority of the father of the house ruled so Leah couldn't say anything and maybe that is why Rachel had to agree with this agreement.

     But even after  Leah's marriage, she was not loved (v30)and with the birth of her every child, we see, she is being hopeful of her situation getting better; maybe now Jacob will love me as much as Rachel;maybe now my misery will end;maybe now he will treat me with honor(Genesis 29:31-35, 30:17-19),

      But I feel she was the lucky one,blessed by God! Though not very attractive but she got Jacob as her husband first. She became a mom first. God opened her womb so that she could give 6 boys and a girl  to Jacob and the six sons later became the SIx Jewish Tribes of Israel! Through her son,Levi,priests would come and her son Judah became a tribe that Jesus Christ,The Messiah would come. God was with her always and blessed her.

Maybe the comparisons throughout her life would have led her to believe that she would have to compromise in life,that she would have to settle with whatever was handed out to her.

        Leah had a bad situation going on, one that God didn’t change, but instead he gave her the grace to live in that situation.Her joy came from the Lord and the gifts He gave her.

She got to be a wife,a mother and then after her death,rest peacefully with Jacob in the family tomb,alongside The Patriarch,Abraham and Sarah,Issac and Rebekah in the cave of Machpelah(Genesis 49:31). She was definitely more favored by God! 
God sees you even if the world forgets you!!