Genesis 29:21-35

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

Genesis 29:21

The chief lesson of this paragraph is its illustration of the awful nemesis which accompanies wrongdoing. No thoughtful person can watch the events of history or experience without realizing that we are already standing before the judgment-seat of God, and that His sentences are in process of being executed. Jacob deceived his father, and was himself deceived. “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” What disappointments there are in life! We think that we are to be dowered with Rachel, and lo! Leah is substituted; but in after-days Jacob spoke of Reuben as his might, the beginning of his dignity and excellency. The names of Leah's sons suggest the blessings that accrue through heartbreak. For the Leahs of the world there are great compensations. God remembers and hears them. Brokenhearted and forsaken, they live again in the lives of those whom they have borne either naturally or spiritually.