Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel Gen 29:15-28 – 2024/8/11

August 11, 2024

Anything but Ordinary
“Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel”
Genesis 29: 15-28

Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl

Genesis 29: 15-28

Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was graceful and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” Jacob did so and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

 

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Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel Gen 29:15-28

After a couple of weeks away, we pick back up with the family narratives of Abraham. To refresh our memory, so far we have heard about the struggles of Abraham and Sarah, how they along with Hagar brought forth the next generation to live into the promises of God. We know that their journey was not easy. Their journey was filled with long waits wondering when God would fulfill God’s promises, broken relationships between the family members, and severing ties for the sake of the covenant. All of which brought us to Isaac and Rebekah and their two sons, Esau and Jacob. Again, the pattern of struggles continued for this next generation…broken relationships, severed ties, and long waits all the while wondering where God was in all of it.  Now today, we get to the next part of the journey… this time following the story of Jacob and how his large family came to be.

In the previous section before our reading, we met Rachel, Rebecca’s niece. Jacob meets her at the well and we are reminded of another scene when a chance meeting at the well brings good fortune for the family of Abraham. We are told that Laban, Jacob’s uncle, embraces him as family, and Jacob stays with him a month.

This sets up our text for today where we get the story of Jacob and Rebecca, the story of Jacob and Leah, the story of Jacob and Zilpah, and the story of Jacob and Bilhah and what would become the large family of Jacob which includes twelve sons and one daughter.

In looking at this particular text, I was reminded that as the preacher, my job is to bring the good news always, that I am entrusted by this community of faith to keep looking, to keep studying, to keep wrestling with the text to find the good news because  it is in there somewhere. But I have to say, every time I read this text this past week, I kept drawing a blank. Where is the good news in this story when people are interchangeable for one another, where a person’s humanity is not respected but rather seen as a commodity? Where is the good news in this story where sibling rivalry becomes the driving force for creating a family, each sister pitted against each other, trying to outdo each other? Where is the good news in this story where an uncle tricks a nephew, someone he just embraced as “My flesh and My bone”? Where is the good news in this story where yes, Jacob says he loves Rachel but he does not hold that love as a standard for any relationship? 

Yes I know I say all the time that when we approach our sacred text, that we need to remember context, that we need to realize that this text was not written for us in 2024 but for a different time, for a different culture, for a different community. Yes, I know that I say all the time that when we approach our sacred text, that we cannot put our modern understanding overtop the text, that we must let it speak to us, seeking the good news. Yes, I know all that but come on…really…broken relationships, sibling rivalry, humans used as commodities and somehow, some way I am supposed to find the good news in all that mess.

The answer is yes. And I was able to do so but it took me stepping back, seeing the larger picture. It took me realizing that nowhere, in no way, in no form, is God mentioned in these verses. In the midst of the issues which are family created, issues which are family perpetuated, in the midst of all the issues which surround this family, the broken relationships, in the midst of the sibling rivalry, in the midst of the lies, in the midst of humans being treated as commodities, where one is interchangeable for the next, in this story of family created issues, God is not mentioned. And for me, that is where the good news resides.

What I mean by this is that it shows me, it shows us that that is not what God intended. God did not intend, God does not want us to be in broken relationships. God does not intend, God does not want us to see each other, to see other people as commodities, to see them as interchangeable. God does not intend, God does not want us to be at odds with our siblings, whether those siblings are biological, faith connected or simply family from another mother. 

By looking at this story, it is almost as if the author is telling us that good news is to be found not within the lines but rather from discovering what is missing from this text. It is almost as if this story from the family narrative of Abraham is the anti-text, the anti-sermon, with Jacob being the anti-hero at this point. Or paraphrasing Taylor Swift….It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me…

For us as people of faith, this part of this family’s tale is a cautionary tale. It reminds us how important community is, how important relationships are, how important our connection to God and to one another truly is. It reminds us that when we forget God, when we forget our call to see each other as Beloved Children of God, how easily we can slip into a narrative which allows us, which even approves of using and abusing humanity, into a narrative which allows us to see our wants first and foremost, which allows us to care only about ourselves and ignore everyone else. Just look at the players in this story…Leah is not allowed to be her own person. We don’t know if she gets a say in whether or not she even wants to be connected to Jacob. Jacob-the trickster gets tricked. Yes I will admit that it is somewhat poetic justice after what he pulled on his brother and father but seriously, if his uncle knew the marriage custom, why didn’t he just tell Jacob about it in the first place? Then we have Rachel, for a guy who says he loves you, he didn’t seem to mind who entered his tent. Sure, he made an initial fuss but we soon learn that as the family grows, he is not too discerning in his preference for company. And finally, we have Zilpah and Bilhah, two women with absolutely no power and no voice. They are given to Leah and Rachel as maids, then later given to Jacob as pawns in the women’s sibling rivalry. Each player in this story continues the cycle of broken relationships, sibling rivalry, and severed ties. Each player in this story creates generational trauma which gets passed down through the generations of the family of Israel. And in the midst of all that trauma, nowhere, in no form, is God mentioned.

Now I am not going to say our connection to God fixes or prevents family issues. We are human after all. And we also know that as people of faith, there are no guarantees that issues, whatever they may be, will not come our way. But maybe, just maybe it might be a good place to start. After all, this family knew the promises given to them by God. They knew that God had promised them to guide them, to lead them. They knew God had entered a covenant with them. Maybe their connection to God, our connection to God isn’t a bad place to start..giving the family, giving us a chance to recenter ourselves in the presence of God, inviting the love of God to enter in while releasing the negative energy, or at the very least, inviting the family, inviting us to  remember how it felt to be treated as less than, to be tricked and disrespected and embracing our call to not do it to other people. For us as people of faith, this cautionary tale of of Jacob and Rachel, of Jacob and Leah, of Jacob and Zilpah, of Jacob and Bilhah, and their soon to be very large family, reminds us of the good news of God which is that we as the people of God are called to bring healing and wholeness to all of God’s people, not because of who we are but because of who our God is… our God who is anything but ordinary. May it be so. Amen.

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