Her sister was sizzling hot … but she was sunk before she started
This series of Bible studies seeks to retell the stories of women who were divinely called and empowered to do great things. Many of them rose to the occasion, and a few very famously did not. Often, the tragedies and triumphs in their lives are missed, and their stories are told from perspectives other than with the honor and dignity they deserve.
After excavating their narratives from millennia of obfuscation, now meet the freshly restored, valiant, vivid (and sometimes villainous) women of the Bible.
Tender-Eyed, Tender-Hearted
Leah’s narrative depicts a woman of quiet faith who must have often felt overshadowed by her more beautiful and vivacious sister. Yet, a closer look reveals how loved by God Leah was, and finally, how honored she was as mother of six of the tribes of Israel, and progenitor of both Levi and Judah.
This thirty-page book includes the retelling of Leah’s story, a fifteen-question Bible study, and link to a twenty-minute multi-media presentation of Leah’s account, offering a deep appreciation for God’s work and call in and through her, rejected in love but resilient in faith.
A Wife from the House of Nahor
Their clan had traditionally worshiped other gods until God spoke to Abraham at their family homestead in Ur of the Chaldeans. After conferring with Nahor’s father Terah and his brother Abraham, the whole clan decided to relocate to the northern Levant in response to God’s direction. Together, the family dedicated their new settlement to Haran. When Terah died, God again spoke to Abraham, guiding him to move his tents even farther south, where he eventually settled. It seems Nahor also moved his tents and established a town in his own name.
Years later, Abraham had sought a bride for his beloved son Isaac from within the extended family because of their relationship with God. Through a series of unusual events, Rachel’s and Leah’s aunt Rebekah—their father Laban’s sister—had become Isaac’s wife. Surely the miraculous story of how Rebekah had been discovered, and how her whirlwind wedding had been arranged, remained a vivid story within the whole extended family, and certainly within Laban’s household.
Now, a generation later, it seems likely both Leah and Rachel, Laban’s daughters, would have daydreamed about themselves being discovered by their own future husbands. When their cousin Jacob arrived in their hometown of Paddan-Aram, both Rachel and Leah must have been overjoyed! And soon the rivalry began. The moment Jacob saw the beautiful Rachel, he fell in love with her; so before she could even start, Leah was finished.
Though Leah had tender eyes, revealing her depth of spirit and character, she remained unmarried, overshadowed as she was by her beautiful younger sister Rachel. Even during the seven years Jacob lived with their family Leah was overlooked, which determined the unconventional arrangement that lead to her wedding day.
How could God allow such an unhappy marriage of unrequited love, intense loneliness, continuing rejection, and Leah’s broken heart, with seemingly no hope for change? And yet the Lord did have a plan in mind, a purpose so crucial it involved the salvation of the world: for the faith that matured in Leah was the faith her sons would grow up in.
Nearly forty free Bible studies on a woman in the scriptures are available through signing up to the newsletter below. What’s included:
- Access to all the Bible studies that have been made available so far.
- One new study each month.
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