Beautifully, Shabbat in rabbinic tradition is sometimes pictured as a bride, or an approaching bride. The idea that we learn from this is that rest with the bridegroom is to be the condition of the bride – leading to the use of white tablecloths, and fine dinnerware on Shabbat.
In Exodus and Deuteronomy, two different words introduce the commandment regarding shabbat: remember and observe, respectively.
What does it mean to זָכוֹר, “remember” the Sabbath or to שָׁמוֹר, “guard” the Sabbath? What does it mean that “Sabbath was made for man (the betrothed), not man for the Sabbath?” Or, “the Son of Man is Lord (the Bridegroom), even of the Sabbath?”
Shabbat is a memorial of things accomplished/done in the past (remember), and a resting from what we are attempting to get done for the future (observe). It is, at heart, a recognition of Lordship, even headship.
It is a blessed day of “shabbating,” of resting. We might understand it in this way: Shabbat is the spiritual worship of God by the temporal rest of man – it is an act of worship through rest. It is the day our bodies worship by saying “ah!” and our heart and minds say “Hallelujah!”
Yet, there is more.
In Leviticus 23:3 we read, וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ, “and the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a holy gathering.” “Sabbath” and “rest” in this verse (שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן) come from the same root שָׁבַת, meaning “to repose, desist, cease, rest, cessation or to sit down.” When we speak of Shabbat, we are really speaking of resting – specifically sitting/reclining. But what is it we are “rehearsing,” rendered “holy gathering” above?
The marriage feast of the Lamb.
Rest, then, becomes a sign – a betrothal sign (Matt. 11:28). It is a rehearsal of the Bride and the Bridegroom uniting as one. We now remember, anticipate, and set in right perspective the work He has set before us (Eph. 2:10). It is a living sign of the past redemption, and the future redemption, as a semi-eschatological redemptive rest – living out the now but not yet, as we await:
“And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God” (Rev. 19:9).
How blessed we are now, and how blessed we indeed yet to be!
Often when the life of Jacob, his wives and children (Gen. 29:16-35) are studied, Leah is overlooked; perhaps for the same reason that she was overlooked by Jacob, he loved Rachel. So we focus on that love, not on the rejected one.
In Genesis 29, Jacob sees and immediately falls in love with Rachel when he meets her at the same well where Eliezer met Rebecca (Gen. 29:11-12); and after Jacob meets Laban, and it is decided that he will stay. Laban then inquires as to the expected wages, Jacob asks to work for Rachel.
He offers seven (7) years of labor, an extraordinary price, when the normal dowry would be perhaps a month of wages. If we read carefully, Laban never agrees, he just says “It’s better that I give her to you than I give her to another man.” Jacob interprets this as approval to the offer, and perhaps we would as well.
Of course, we all know that Jacob is swindled; and Leah is given in place of Rachel first, but note the language once again, “It’s not done so in our place – to give the younger before the firstborn.” The Torah notes (Gen. 29:30) that Jacob loves Rachel more than Leah, he hates her because he is disappointed in her.
In Genesis 29:17, Leah is described as having weak eyes, while Rachel is described as being beautiful in form and appearance. Rachel is pretty and sexually desirable, and Jacob longs for her. The commentators have struggled with the reference to Leah’s eyes being רַכּוֹת, meaning “weak or tender.” The rabbis comment that her eyes are either crossed, or they protruded. Today she might described as “homely,” as her eyes are referenced in comparison to Rachel’s beauty.
In fact, it is speculated by the rabbis that Laban believes the only way he will get someone to marry her is by tricking them. This he did to Jacob.
How would, and how did, this make Leah feel? How would you feel?
Genesis 29:31, “Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, so he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive.”
To paraphrase, “The Lord saw that Leah was hated, so he opened the doorway of mercy for her.” He opened her womb for children. The word translated “womb” in this verse is not בֶּטֶן/ beṭen, meaning belly or womb, but רחם/reḥem, from the root mercy.” פתח/peṯaḥ, meaning door, open wide, doorway. By the birth of her children, the Lord opened the door of mercy for this unloved woman; but there is deeper healing happening.
She begins to have sons:
1. Reuben – “see a son.” “The Lord has seen that I am hated; and now my husband will love me.” Leah references both the Lord and Jacob.
2. Shimon – “hearing.” The Lord has heard that I am hated.” She mentions only the Lord.
3. Levi – “attached/joined to.” “Now this time my husband will join himself to me…” No mention of the Lord, only Jacob.
4. Judah – “celebrate/praise.” “This time I praise the Lord.” Judah signifies raising or lifting the hands in praise. “This time…” Leah has a heart adjustment.
At the beginning Leah uses the name of the Lord, יהוה, the covenant name of grace and mercy, not the generic Elohim (God), to influence Jacob to love her. Why? Leah believed Jacob to be her savior, just as Jacob believed Rachel was his savior.
We learn two important lessons:
1. If we fix our eyes on the who or what we believe is the source of our acceptance in life, bitterness will be a lingering reality.
2. If you fix our heart on Rachel, whatever form that might take, you will always wake up with a Leah, in disappointment.
Leah was overlooked, but in the end she praised the Lord, why?
Perhaps she knew, just as Jacob would reveal prophetically in Genesis 48 as he blesses his sons, that the King would come through her – and that that King would be the true Bridegroom. She experienced in her own life, all that He would be and ultimately heal.
The parallels: Leah wasn’t beautiful, in fact she was homely. Leah was unwanted. Leah was overlooked. Leah was unloved. Leah was rejected.
Yeshua/Jesus wasn’t beautiful or desirable (Isa. 53:2/Jn. 1:10). He was unwanted (Isa.53:3/Jn. 1:11). He was overlooked (Isa. 53:3/Lk. 4:22). He was unloved (Isa. 53:4/Lk. 23:21). He was rejected (Isa. 53:3/Lk. 22:55-62).
He became weak, ugly, unwanted, unloved, rejected, lonely and ultimately died in order to bear these burdens that we all feel and experience.
He bore these in order that those receiving Him will experience the relationship of praise that Leah ultimately experienced when she stopped allowing idolatry to steal her life, and we learn that our acceptance by Him is not based on our merit, but on faith working in righteousness that exchanged our filthy garments for His beautiful robe of righteousness.
Nothing for Jacob, Rachel, Leah or us will ever satisfy, but the Lord. That illusive “it” will never come. The one true love that will fill all our needs is not a man or a woman or career, but the Lord.
This family was a mess, but the Lord still planned and purposed for the Messiah to come from that mess. Sure Leah wasn’t as beautiful as Rachel, but in the eyes of the Lord, Who showed her mercy and love, she was perfect when she began to praise Him.
In the end, Leah was more loved, more accepted, more blessed than she could have ever imagined, even with the weakness of her natural eyes, she beheld the real beauty of her Savior, and she praised Him.
Everyone has stress. Have you ever had one or two unexpected things pop up that lead to a day or days of stress or inconvenience? Maybe: your car broke down? your hot water heater stopped working? an unexpected financial issue? With the “extras” piled on, you just want things to get back to “normal.”
There is an old Yiddish blessing that says:
זאל איר זיין ברוך מיט פילע דאגות/zal ir zeyn brukh mit file dagus.
Meaning:
“May you be blessed with many worries.”
At first glance this sounds terrible, but there is wisdom here. To have “many worries” was to be living a normal life with regular, daily cares. In other words, your life had not been overwhelmed by one terrible concern – a death, or serious illness as examples.
Messiah Yeshia/Jesus tells His followers to “not worry” about tomorrow because today has enough worry of it’s own (Matt. 6:34). He is not diminishing the significance of our daily concerns, rather, He is redirecting our focus.
Today will have its troubles, but trust in the One who made today; and be grateful for the normal day:
the mountain mensch 