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Bible Questions and Spiritual Discussion
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a little frustrated and a tad confused....
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Ok...so a little behind on the readings, but I find myself become very frustrated.....
POOR LEAH....why is it she had to go through with being unloved? Why was Rachel the loved one....why didn't Jacob try to love Leah ?
I am becoming frustrated as I read...I don't want to be....I am going through a very difficult time and I am looking to the scripture to help....so why am I becoming frustrated instead?
I realize everyone is imperfect and that is true for the people in the bible as well and it shows God's faithfulness BUT I feel like God can change lives and He will change lives but I am not sure He will do it for me.
Can someone shed some light on these passages for me?
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Donna 01/20/2012 18:18 |
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Ray
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01/20/2012 20:39 |
Donna,
"why am I becoming frustrated instead?" Of course I don't know you or what you are struggling with, but sometimes it is out expectations that have to be considered. What is it that you are after from listening to the DAB? If you look at what the answer to that question is, maybe it will indicate why you find it frustrating.
The Word is a epic adventure and it is alive, also. It meets us where we are and becomes new every morning. It is not a rule book and it is not a story about good guys and bad guys like many of the ways we look at story. It's a vision of who man (including you and me) is and how much God's love is needed in our lives for man to mean anything. It is a picture of our lover from before time began. It is an invitation to a banquet. It is a beautiful poem.
Let me know if I can help in any specific way. You asked why Leah was unloved. I don't know why Jacob went the way he did. He was a rascal. Maybe he needed to be humbled by a bigger rascal, Laban, before he could love for real. Many of us are that way. Leah was loved I guess in a way: Genesis 29:30 "Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah." They both had their place in the story of this work the Lord was doing: Ruth 4:11 "Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel." Notice Reuben, Leah's firstborn, is the one that spares Joseph from his brothers.
I may be off base for you. Correct me if I'm off base.
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Craig from Illinois
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01/20/2012 20:48 |
So this is real life, huh? What changes are you desiring? Maybe it will help you to share what you desire for God to change in yourself. We're all here for you, Donna. This is a safe place to share and be loved.
It took many years for me to accept the change that God wanted to make in me. I think it was mainly because my heart really didn't want to be changed. Instead I wanted duality (by serving two masters). I had more than two masters though! But the day came when all my masters failed to fill my heart. I was falling, frustrated, imperfect and ashamed of who I was and where I was going.
Then God began to work and work and work. Thanks to God, this podcast of the Bible and other Believers whom I've come to love here - I am restored and ALIVE!
You may be getting frustrated because you're sprinting at the beginning of the marathon. It could take a full reading or two through the Bible before the perspective of the Kingdom of God is seen. These stories are just bits and parts of the bigger puzzle picture. Who knows - you may see it even before year's end!
Invest the remainder of your life in relationship with God through Christ and the Spirit. These words that we hear read every day are Spirit inspired and some are the most noteworthy sayings of Jesus! Invest in the lives of the people you meet here by sharing your heart. Don't be afraid to be honest and long-winded. We have not much else to do here except read, write and pray.
Craig
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Tammy
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01/20/2012 21:05 |
It wasn't right that Leah was unloved. It's just what happened. It shows you that God can use anybody, even a liar and a skunk such as Jacob. Maybe if He can use someone like him in such a fantastic way, He might be able to use someone like me.
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RaceGirl
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01/20/2012 21:48 |
I think it's also important to keep in mind that it's not Jacob's fault he ended up married to Leah...that was Laban's doing. Jacob worked to marry Rachel, and Laban deceived him by giving him Leah instead of Rachel. So Laban says the custom is for the older sister to marry first....what if he had told Jacob that up front instead of deceiving him?
Even today, if a man meets a woman and her sister, he doesn't likely fall in love with both of them. For me personally, as someone who has been rejected by men all her life, it shows me that even when man rejects me, I have a God who loves me and sees all the pain I am going through. As far as why you are becoming frustrated, I would say our enemy as something to do with that. Satan doesn't want you looking to the Scriptures for comfort, so He will do everything He can to confuse them and make you want to turn away from them.
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lgrhope
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01/23/2012 18:41 |
Donna,
Life is very messy. Often we experience rejection instead of love and comfort. I made a great decision as a senior in college 38 years ago. I decided to read the Bible and live my life with or without God based on what my reading revealed to me. What I found was a Lord that has been a life long Friend who has enriched my life beyond measure. I still get frustrated,lonely, and rejected, but My Lord is the same yesteday, today and for all eternity. Stay with the Word,feast on it in good times and bad. It will renew a right spirit in you and joy will bubble up from deap inside your Soul. God's word is alive and powerful it will remake your very being into the fantastic person you were designed to be. The Person who will bring light and truth whereever she goes. I can't wait to hear what Jesus has in store for you. Keep listening and reading. Invite the Holy Spirit to reveal what the Word is saying to you. Begin speaking to the Lord through out the day and ask him to reveal himself and light your path. He is faithful to those who seek him with their whole heart. Cast off your unbelief and dive in to the deep end with those who know him as their Lord and Redeemer, I am thrilled you are frustrated. He has only begun to remake you into the gorgeous being He has designed!!
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Jenna in Austin
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01/23/2012 21:45 |
You know what I found to be interesting Donna? Despite the fact that I've read through this part of the Bible many times, I just realized that Leah, the "unloved one" was the mother of Judah <--- the line of Christ.
I know this doesn't really answer your question, but to me, it was kind of like God was showing Leah how much He loved her and how His love is what really counts.
Blessings, Jenna
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Essley
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01/27/2012 20:35 |
Hi Donna,
I recently listened to a sermon about the Jacob/Leah/Rachel triangle. The title of the sermon was called "The Struggle for Love." I don't remember all of it, but here are a few things that stuck in my mind that helped me with this story (as I also sympathized with Leah):
- Leah is a reminder to Jacob that he was a cheat. In the same way that he pulled a switcheroo on his father and brother, Laban did the same and his reply (paraphrasing: In our culture it is not right for the younger to go ahead of the older) was the convicting statement.
- God looked at two women, one who was unloved and one who everyone wanted. He chose the one who was unloved to be the ancestor of Jesus.
- Leah's exclamations after the birth of each son "Now my husband will love me" maybe hinted that she was looking for romantic love/spousal love to fill a god-shaped hole in her heart.
Hope some of that helps.
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TRWord
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01/30/2012 04:35 |
Hi Donna
If you read the scripture the same way you read a novel or a story book you will always be a little frustrated and a tad confused.
You find yourself frustrated by the way Leah is treated. How about Esau Jacob’s older brother?
I was asked by a Sunday school child why did God go along with the trick that Jacob and his mother played on Isaac, deceiving him into giving “the first born’s” blessing to Jacob.
The same way you are frustrated by how Leah was treated this young person was disappointed that God would go along with such trickery.
As a Christian Jesus has promised you that when the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
If you accept this promise by faith and begin to read the scripture with the expectation that the spirit would guide you into all truth then the inner meaning of the scripture will be revealed to you.
Without the spirit, the scripture reads like a soap opera full of injustice and confusion. You will have to accept the fact that; “Sarah” Abraham’s wife was barren, “Rebekah” Isaac wife was barren and “Rachel” Jacob’s wife was also barren; as just detail without any further understanding. And you’ll also have to accept the fact that Abraham said that Sarah his wife, was his sister and Isaac also said his wife Rebekah was his sister as detail without any further understanding.
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