God Loves You - & That's Enough. Genesis 29:31-35

May the mumbling commence!

God shows love to all.  It’s true.  But to us, it seems that God shows extra special love to the unloved.  That’s the case with Leah.  She was unloved by Jacob but loved by God.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

When God realized that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb.  But Rachel was barren.  Leah became pregnant and had a son.  She named him Reuben (Look-It’s-a-Boy!).  “This is a sign,” she said, “that God has seen my misery; and a sign that now my husband will love me.”

She became pregnant again and had another son.  “God heard,” she said, “that I was unloved and so he gave me this son also.”  She named this one Simeon (God-Heard).  She became pregnant yet again – another son.  She said, “Now maybe my husband will connect with me – I’ve given him three sons!”  That’s why she named him Levi (Connect).  She became pregnant a final time and had a fourth son.  She said, “This time I’ll praise God.”  So she named him Judah (Praise- God).  Then she stopped having children.  (Genesis 29:31-35)

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.  Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." 

She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon. 

Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi. 

She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.  (Genesis 29:31-35)

God loves people who find love hard to find… even those people who are hard to love.  There are some differences between the NIV and Peterson’s work.  Most changes are of little consequence to the heart and soul of the passage.

I take issue with only two cases.  First, I do not like the change from the NIV’s “become attached to” and Peterson’s “connect with”.  People can “connect with” one another and not experience love.  The act of sex is not an act of love necessarily. 

To “become attached to” has a whole other level of meaning.  It means I cannot live without you.  It’s how I feel about my wife.  I think that’s what Leah desired more than all her children.  It’s something she never received from Jacob.

The second issue I have with Peterson’s work in this passage is that he talks of Leah becoming pregnant a final time.  Though she stopped for the time being, as both works note at the end, she most definitely did not get pregnant for the final time.  We will see that in the coming days.  So, why add this statement in the text?  There’s no reason for it.

And did you notice how long it took Leah to praise the Lord?  Not one time… not two times… not three times (even the third time was not the charm)… but it took four times before Leah praise the Lord.  The first three times she was looking desperately for love from her husband Jacob. 

Only on the fourth birth did she realize the importance of God loving her.  I think that’s why the Lord stopped giving her sons for a time.  She finally learned the heart lesson God was trying to teach her.  God loves you.  That’s all that matters.

It was that son, Judah, who would be the ancestor of Jesus.  How’s that for loving Leah!  It was her son that would become the ancestor of Jesus, the Messiah – not a son of Rachel.

Do you feel unloved?  God sends you a message, too.  God loves you.  That’s all that matters.

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out