Genesis 29 - Genesis 30:1-24

Passages:- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+29&version=ESV, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+30%3A1-24&version=ESV

Discussion Questions & Suggested Answers

Reflect on the hardships of Leah and how she responded to them (Genesis 29:21 - Genesis 30:24). What all do you learn from them in your spiritual life?
- First of all why is Leah suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? (She got stuck in Laban’s deception)
  - But God redeemed her greatly. She became the member of this chosen privileged family (descendant of Abraham / Isaac) by God! And Jesus came through her via Judah, and NOT Rachel!
- See how Leah’s heart changed through Genesis 29:31-35. She is frustrated by lack of love from Jacob (Genesis 29:31-34). And then she started shifting her focus to praising God (Genesis 29:35).
  - Her praise also makes a LOT OF SENSE, because Jesus came through the tribe of Judah. So indeed Praise God (Genesis 29:35), as Jesus is "liberation"!
  - Leah's shift of attitude in Genesis 29:35 reminds of 1Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”
  - Also remember how Job responded in his time of great suffering (surely, much much greater suffering)
    - Job 1:18-22: “18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
- So, we see Leah's is coming close to God through her suffering
- Remember, people will often disappoint us and make us feel abandoned. And there also will be the issue of "pleasing God vs human" (here, Leah wanted to please Jacob). Remember our "vertical" relationship with God, helps with "horizontal" relationships with people, as also suggested by these Scriptures:-
  - So the shift of Leah's attitude towards "praising God" amid her suffering, is bound to help her in her relationship with Jacob.
- The story of Leah, here, is also a big reality of this broken world (filled with broken sinful people - for example, Jacob) which God is working to redeem. Till, Jesus returns and creates new world (Revelation 21) and Christians receive glorious bodies, we will have disappointments and hurt from people (even in the Church). Remember Jesus said - John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” So cling to our only hope - Jesus, as you suffer in this world, waiting for Jesus to come back and give you a glorious body.
- So, as you are going through hardships, trust God and his timing (Leah started submit to God and his ways, as indicated in Genesis 29:35) as you wait for God to fully redeem you.
- BTW, did Jacob eventually start loving Leah more than Rachel?
  - Also finally Jacob choose not be buried with Rachel, but his parents, grandparents AND LEAH (Genesis 49:29-31). Does that mean, that he started loving Leah much more??
Reflect now on the struggles of all three:- Jacob, Rachel, Leah. Do you think the Jacob household is in big mess? If yes, then how is God responding?
- Are you amazed that God is using such a broken family to further one of the holiest and super-important "plan" (to save the world)??
  - And, even how much serious is this family about "The Plan" ?! :-)
- One truth we see again and again, in Scriptures, is there is a reality of God’s timing, which we have to respect and also understand that it is for our own good (Romans 8:28).
  - Leah waited very long for Jacob’s love. Rachel waited in frustration for first child. Jacob was bound to work for Laban for 14 years
  - BTW, do you think Laban's tricking of Jacob (Genesis 29:21-26) is a punishment from God to Jacob? (Recall, how Jacob deceived Esau greatly in the past)
- Jacob is still far from perfect. He seems to have been carried away by the outer beauty of Rachel, to the point that Leah is left very unloved. But amazingly, God is still very patient with Jacob. Jacob is a work in progress, like all of us.
- So, you see a messy, dysfunctional family here. People are suffering. Yes, humans have disappointed here, like always. Even today, as you look around your heart breaks as see so much evil and suffering in this world. But also do not overlook what God is doing and that is what will keep encouraging you everyday, amid all the heartbreaking mess and brokenness in this world.
  - Quoting from https://www.gotquestions.org/Jacob-Leah-Rachel.html :- “The story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel is filled with much difficulty, yet God used these people greatly to impact history. Their twelve sons were the leaders of the twelve tribes that became the nation of Israel. Through their family, God blessed the entire world, as Jesus Christ was born from the tribe of Judah and offers salvation to all.”
  - Yes there is a lot of troubles in this world. - very discouraging / distracting / disturbing. Focus on what God is doing and you will be relieved. Amid all mess here, and in this world, God is always doing great things, as He leading us towards that day when there will be no more sorrows, no more pain (Revelation 21:4).
Instead of envying Leah (Genesis 30:1), what should have Rachel done? How much of an issue is “envying” in your surrounding?
- Rachel should have prayed and been depended on God. Remember these verses, touching on the great generosity of our Father God:-
  - James 4:1-3:- "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
  - Matthew 7:11:- “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
- Rachel should have lead Jacob to repentance and love Leah equally, as God was not happy with this treatment of Leah. Did God temporarily close Rachel's womb because of injustice done to Leah??
Reflect on Isaac's way of choosing a wife (Genesis 24:1-33) vs Jacob's way of choosing a wife (Genesis 29)?