Today’s reading of the ancient text covers Jacob’s meeting of Rachel, his Uncle Leban’s Trickery, Jacob’s two marriages and subsequent offspring, and the prosperity of Jacob. A majority of this text is expository but I did find just a few interesting points:
Jacob’s life of deceit finally comes back to haunt him as his Uncle tricks him into marrying and sleeping with Leah, his older daughter, instead of Rachel, the one he wanted; Jacob was furious as he had worked seven years for Rachel only to get Leah instead.
Jacob decides to marry Rachel anyway; marrying two sisters proves to be disastrous for Jacob as they begin to compete with each other for his love, affection and attention. Rachel goes as far as having Jacob sleep with her maid in order to get a child she can call her own. As I stated before, having more than one wife was never and is never the plan of God.
