Two sisters and a man. Betrayal, envy and contention. When allies became rivals. In today’s study we explore the story from the viewpoint of one of the sisters- Leah.

In this study, the tools we would use for this study are

The story of these sisters cut across Genesis 29, 30, 31, 33, & 35 So let's dig in

These passages are mainly descriptive telling what happened . A descriptive text is reporting or telling us about what happened. Text like this lays out the events, characters and situations in which different things happen. They show how people responded to God and their situations and at other times it shows how God played a part in the text.

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I  think the words one hears daily can affect one's mindset. Leah heard weary many times a day. Poor kid.  Leah was desperate.  Desperation pushes people to make decisions they won't take on a normal day. Her society placed a lot of women’s self worth and survival on marriage. In our society today, how do we appraise women? Beauty, fame, fashion, relationship? Our blogs, print media and digital media scream this all out.

Lets quickly parallel Leah’s story,

In school, there was this girl that wanted to be in the popular group. She felt she had to do everything the group leader told her to do even when she knew it was wrong.

She went ahead to cheat in an exam to be accepted in the group. They were all cut and expelled.  The group leader still blamed this girl and told others not to speak with her.

When we look for our identity in another human being rather than God this makes us desperate and take actions that are little our self worth.

What are the words you &  I hear everyday? Are they words that affirm us as God’s words do in the scriptures? Or are they negative words? What do I believe about myself and how do I measure my worth?  Is it based on the things or people around me?

I like this song by Jamie Grace, it talks about your uniqueness and don’t let others talk you down. I will put a link to the song on the show notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlmSRuVNp6o&list=RDEMIk1seMQ3FfauNoKtxZSQYw&index=20

Another lesson from Leah’s story is Don't be short sighted in decisions making

Leah accuses Rachel of taking away her husband from her, when it was Leah who tricked Jacob into marrying her in the first place when Jacob Was engaged to marry Rachel for 7 years.  So who betrayed who?  She betrayed her sister, lived in a loveless marriage, and was a second class citizen in her own home.

Don't turn from doing right to doing what is not acceptable to God, just because others are doing it and you are desperate. It may look good for a short term but will that decision stand the test of time? For Leah 7 days of winning in inverted commas was a lifetime of bitterness and contention.

Be your original self. Don't put the source of your joy in any human being's hands.

If anything is causing you to be desperate, take your request to God with thanksgiving. Hold on to God.

Next episode, we would look at this same study walking in Rachel’s shoes.

Be blessed.