Covetousness (Rachel & Leah - Genesis 29-35)
What is covetousness? Many of us could define it, but we wouldn't recognize it if we saw it. Covetousness hides in plain sight. It looks like love, ambition, or drive. But underneath, it's a hunger for something God hasn't given. It's an obsession with something or someone that we believe can satisfy us. This is why, in the New Testament, Paul refers to covetousness as idolatry. When we want someone or something so bad that we will trade our peace, joy, and even our integrity to get it, we have made it our ultimate thing. Idolatry is not contained to statues or figurines. It can be found in anything.
Covetousness is not just a character flaw. It is idolatry, and it is offensive to God. Craving and obsessing over people or things can be destructive to yourself and your family.
Tonight we are walking through the stories of Leah and Rachel. These aren't women who stand out for their tremendous faith and righteousness. No, their stories are full of struggles with temptations to sin.
Background
In Chapter 29, Jacob arrived in Haran and found love at first sight with Rachel. He moved a large stone to water her sheep. Then he kissed her and "wept loudly." Remember, Jacob is the sensitive type. He found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. and Rachel, upon finding out who he was, ran to tell her father about him. Now, let's pick up our story here, in 29:13.
Genesis 29:13-30
Jacob had decided that he would do anything to marry Rachel. The text tells us, "Jacob loved Rachel." After only a month, he knew she was the one for him and he made a bargain to marry her. How romantic. Seven years of work seemed like a few days to him. You know, I met Jenna in high school, and I was ready to marry her after knowing her for one year. But she wanted to wait until college was over to marry me. That killed me. But I've never been so motivated to get done with something. Those five years flew by, but that day couldn't come soon enough.
For Jacob, the day finally came. He was supposed to be married to Rachel after seven long years. But the veil covering her face, the cover of night, and perhaps the wine allowed Laban to exchange Rachel for Leah. So Jacob's happiest day of his life was a fraud.
Leah - Looking For Love (29:13-30)
Now, I want you to slow down here and think about Leah. How would you feel if your younger sister was going to get married before you? Jacob didn't want you, but now you are married to him. He was forced to take you. All you wanted was a loving husband and instead you got someone who is in love with someone else. This longing of Leah's turned into envy. She envied Rachel's place in Jacob's heart. She coveted it.
Genesis 29:31-35
Notice how Leah's horrible situation was not overlooked by God. He blessed her with fertility while holding it back from Rachel. Throughout this period, she has four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. These names are important. They teach about Leah's mindset. They say, "See me!" "Hear me!" "Attach to me" like you do Rachel. She is jealous and covetous for Jacob's affection. But with Judah, she says "Praise God" indicating that she is just focused on praising God, not seeking her husband's love. Her mindset seems to give up on pleasing Jacob and focus on how good God is. She finally makes God more valuable than Jacob or Rachel in that moment, and it's beautiful. His name is Judah, and is it any wonder that this is the son of Jacob God chooses to bring His Messiah through?
Do we make similar mistakes and covet like Leah? How often do we "look for love in all the wrong places?" Leah's idol was Jacob's heart. Ours might be a spouse, a boss's nod, or Instagram likes. The story of Leah teaches us to make God our one true love. He has faithfully demonstrated His continual love for his people even when they don't love Him as they should (Ephesians 5:22-33). So the question for us is, "Will we see God's love and praise Him like Leah?"
Rachel - Looking for Status (29:31-30:24, 31:10-21)
Leah's situation is sad, but I don't want us to miss how difficult things are for Rachel. Ladies, can you imagine your father forcing your future husband to marry your older sister? Ouch! Then, she starts having loads of children and you are barren. Double ouch! "Give me sons, or I'll die!" Rachel demanded (30:1) She resorted to having children through her handmaid and bartering Jacob's love for mandrakes. She had Jacob's love, but she coveted her sister's status as providing a future.
Finally, after years of barrenness, we learn that God listened to Rachel and opened her womb. Joseph is born and she and says, "God has taken away my disgrace." This tells you that they felt disgraced when they couldn't have children. But the name Joseph means "May the Lord add another" because she wants another son. She's not content. She covets her sister's status. You see, instead of praising God, she wants to beat her sister and receive praise. She's so focused on status that she is unable to be content with what God blesses her with.
It's then that we read about them leaving Haran, and Rachel does something unexpected. She steals her father's idols. The text doesn't tell us this is the reason why, but I think it is obvious. You know, this is the first time in the Old Testament that idols are mentioned. Who has them? Greedy Laban. Who wants them? The covetous and desperate Rachel. You see, having children has made her so desperate that she is looking to idols to give her more children. These physical images of gold were thought to have the power to grant fertility and prosperity. For Laban, they were thought to give him good fortune with his flock. For Rachel, more children. But they are a lie!
Now, we reach one of the most heartbreaking moments in the entire story. Rachel gets pregnant again. But this time, there's no mention of God opening her womb. No prayer. No divine intervention. Just labor... and death. This is the only child that God is not mentioned blessing them with. When we look at her last words, "She named him Ben-oni." This means "Son of my sorrow." God lets her die. This is a tragic end to the beautiful shepherdess from Haran. Why would God let her die? You know the truth is that bad things happen to good people. Sometimes women die in childbirth. It used to happen more often. But perhaps this is teaching us that her coveting had gone too far. She refused to be content with Jacob's love and her baby boy, Joseph. Her idolatry shows her unfaithfulness and her covetousness leads to her death. I don't know if her death was actually a punishment. Nothing in the text tells us this, but it is odd.
What Do We Learn?
The truth is that everyone in the story covets something. Jacob covets his father's love, the birthright, the blessing of his father, Rachel, and the flocks of Laban. He covets them all. Leah covets Jacob's love and affection and the status of providing the most children. Rachel covets Leah's children and status. It's just a constant sense of coveting and idolatry giving suffering and pain. All the while God still works to bless Abraham's family as he promised.
What about us? Are we covetous? Are we seeking status and discontented with what we do have? God blesses us and do we respond with, "God give me more!" This is the way of a spoiled brat, and I think it's easy for us all to be this way. Paul says he had to learn how to be abased and abound. It's hard to have everything you need and stop feeling like it's not enough. But we must learn to say, "Praise the Lord," like Leah.
The stories of these two women teach us some valuable lessons about ourselves, God, and Jesus.
About Ourselves
To summarize these two ladies, we learn about our yearning for love and acceptance. Leah teaches us how people will fail us. We cannot make them love us as they ought to. But God's love never fails.
We also learn that idols are black holes. The more we covet, the more we covet and the more we lose. God is blessing us daily. Focus on those blessings and find lasting joy. We must be careful not to place our trust in the temporary things of this world, nor to covet after them. They will never satisfy. The more you give them, the more they take. Godliness with contentment is great gain.
About God
But more than those practical applications, we learn a valuable theological truth. God pays attention to Leah, the one who was rejected and ignores Rachel until she was losing 6 to 0 in the child bearing competition with her sister. Then God heard her cry. Why? Perhaps because that was when she truly started seeking him and stopped trusting in herself. But we know God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. That's who he is and what he does.
We also see that God is fulfilling his promises to make Jacob multiply. He provides Jacob with 12 sons who will spawn the nation of Israel. Why? Because Jacob, Rachel, and Leah are so righteous? No. Because God is faithful to his promises. He can work through flawed people who put their faith in Him.
About Jesus
Finally, I want us to consider how Jesus is exalted in this story.
Through Leah's son, Judah or "Praise", will come the Messiah. God is looking to provide the blessing to those who love, appreciate, and desire to praise Him. The New Testament tells us that he is not content with obedience. He wants our hearts. Will we love Jesus and desire to praise God for Him?
The prophet Jeremiah used the death of Rachel to point to Israel's exile and punishment for their idolatry (Jeremiah 31:15-17). Through Rachel's death, we learn that ungrateful idolaters must suffer death. But Jeremiah's prophecy promises God's redemption. Just as Benjamin was born out of Rachel's sorrow, so the Messiah will be born out of sorrow and sin. God can bring joy even out of our sorrow and death. The birth of Benjamin was not like the birth of his brothers in the land of Haran. This birth was in the promise land, near a little town of Bethlehem where Jesus would be born. Out of sorrow and suffering would come our Messiah. Jeremiah and Micah both point to the death of Rachel and the birth of Benjamin as an allegory for the suffering, brought on by sin, being turned into hope God's right hand, his Messiah, born in the midst of it all.(Micah 5:2; Matthew 2).
The gospel is the good news that our old, idolatrous lives can die with Christ, and be raised to live faithfully for God. Will you choose to do that today? What is your idol? Is it love, status, or something else? Lay it down tonight. Let that old self die and rise to walk in new life. Nothing will never satisfy you like God can.