Chosen In The Rejection: What Leah’s Story Reveals About The Character Of God

A four-layer reading of Genesis 29 that unveils the beauty beneath Leah's heartbreak, and what it means for us. ❤️

Some passages in Scripture hit you like a thunderclap. Not because you’re reading anything new… but because this time, you’re seeing it through different eyes.

That happened to me this morning while reading Genesis 29. I’ve read the story of Leah before, but this time, something deeper opened up. Not just the story of how the sons of Israel were born, but the layers beneath it.

What if Scripture was meant to be read that way… in layers? Turns out, there’s precedent for this layered approach in Judaic study.

There are four ways to unpack a piece of scripture.

It’s called the PaRDeS Framework, which comes from Jewish tradition.

It’s a way of reading the Bible in four layers… first from the literal meaning to eventually the hidden, spiritual mysteries.

PaRDeS is an acronym and here are each of the words with their respective definitions.

• Peshat – the plain, literal meaning of the text.

• Remez – the hint or allusion in the text.

• Drash – the deeper moral or theological teaching drawn out from the text.

• Sod – the mystery, secret meanings, or symbolism in the text.

Jesus taught in this style all the time.

So… a little backstory on Genesis 29.

Jacob (who God would rename Israel) loved a young woman named Rachel and worked for seven years for her father Laban as the price to have her hand in marriage. Laban then tricked Jacob the night of his wedding — giving him Leah (his older daughter) instead of Rachel. When Jacob realized what had happened (a story for another day… how on Earth he mistook the two I’ll never know 🤦‍♀️), he asked again for Rachel’s hand and worked another seven years to secure her.

So Jacob ended up with two wives who were also sisters: Leah & Rachel. They both had maidservants as well.

To say there were difficult relationship dynamics in this little family is an understatement. Jacob was clearly tricked by Laban. Leah was given over to a man who didn’t love her as much as her younger sister. It was a pretty big relational mess.

So here comes the passage that hit me:

31 When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”
33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.
34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.
35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

— Genesis 29: 31-35

Leah is hoping against hope that her ability to bear Jacob a son will be enough to turn his heart towards her. What pain and longing she must have felt.

The fact that she continued to hope & press for Jacob’s affection with the second and third sons means Reuben (the firstborn) hadn’t been enough to change Jacob’s heart and she was stuck in a cycle of hoping that something about her circumstances would change his affection. In other words, she was trying to earn love.

The third son was born and she was still hoping against hope that this time surely, Jacob would love her.

But notice what shifted at the fourth son. She says, “This time I will praise the LORD.”

By this point, she was no longer looking for Jacob’s affection. She wasn’t trying to prove herself. She was accepting and focused on the LORD instead.

Wow. It appears Leah had an acceptance and surrender moment here. So let’s look at the four possible layers that we can unpack according to the PaRDeS framework.

Peshat - What is the literal meaning of the text?

Leah is rejected and hurting, but God is with her. She has an emotional journey to accepting what was before her as she bore 4 sons (who would become 4 of the 12 tribes of Israel). She wants to be loved by Jacob, but Jacob’s heart is with Rachel.

Moses is writing this down as a recount of how the sons (who would become the tribes of Israel) were born.

Remez - What is the hint or illusion suggested in the text, but not specifically stated?

Leah is being spiritually formed through rejection. Each of her son’s names show the wrestling she’s doing with God and herself. In many ways, the journey Leah is taking is a foreshadowing of how God will use rejection with Israel to form their hearts too. Leah is the unwanted wife and Israel is the despised nation. Both become vessels for God’s redemptive plan.

Drash - What moral or theological teaching is here waiting for us in the text?

This is where the scripture hit me square in the gut, because I recognize Leah’s cries to “be enough”. I see her attempts at producing as a way to be loved in the way she wants to. Trying to change someone else’s heart through her own striving.

• If I do enough…

• If I produce…

• If I’m needed or fruitful or successful…

But it never secures the love she craves. Only when Leah stops striving and turns her eyes to God does she say,

“This time, I will praise the Lord.”

This is the turning point of her spiritual freedom. Judah is also a very special son (as we’ll see).

I wasn’t expecting ancient text to hit so close to home for me. As a high performer and over functioner, I have spent years trying to prove my worth, earn my right to be chosen and loved, and banking my self esteem on my usefulness.

The idea here is that when my heart is surrendered to God I will receive His love and acceptance, and ultimately get the peace and worthiness I desire. It’s another example of how God uses rejection and pain, things we all try to avoid, to draw us closer to Him.

Sod - What is the mystery or secret meaning in the text?

This is the fun stuff lots of pastors and online Christian influencers love to teach, but it’s important to remember — Sod is the sprinkles on the ice cream, not the ice cream itself. Whenever you’re doing this study, remember that what you discover here can’t override the doctrine formed from the plain meaning of the text. It must support the plain meaning.

Leah has four sons (by the way, the number four in Hebrew has meaning).

Where does the number 4 show up?

1. Four seasons

2. Four winds

3. Four directions

4. Four living creatures

5. Four horseman

Four symbolizes the fullness of creation, God’s order in the physical world, and often marks a prophetic turning point or breakthrough.

So back to Leah. This is her fourth son. His name is Judah (Yehudah). It’s the first name in the Scriptures that contains all four letters of the sacred name of God Y-H-V-H.

→ Yehudah (Judah) adds one letter: Dalet (ד) = door

Judah becomes the door to Yahweh. This is the line from which Jesus came.

Leah’s acceptance and praise to the Lord opened the door to the line that led to Jesus. The rejection that she faced was redeemed in the lineage of her son. Her surrender was the Messiah’s entrance.

How cool is this?!

As I read this chapter this morning, I was absorbing several things about the nature of God (Yahweh).

1. He works through incredibly messy and difficult circumstances. What a scene were these two sisters vying for Jacob’s seed (and the maidservants got involved too).
   

2. He consistently hears the cries of the weak, the rejected, and those cast aside. Leah was “hated” it says, and He comforted her with the honor of bearing 6 sons.
   

3. Rejection is painful, but also a way towards acceptance and dependence on God. Rejection from people and things in this world are a way that push our hearts into the Father.
   

4. Our surrender is usually the doorway through which bigger blessings flow. The irony of letting go brings greater peace and abundance than trying to do it on your own.
   

5. The scripture is very much like creation. In just this small passage, there were layers and layers of both creativity and order. God is a beautifully intelligent designer.
   

6. The push/pull between the nature of God (sovereign, holy, all powerful) and man (messy, unpredictable, weak) is sometimes hard to understand, but shows how much God loves relating and walking with us. He’s so intimately involved in our lives, even when we’re making a mess of things.

Leah turned her disappointment into praise. She didn’t get the love story she longed for in that moment, but she got something greater - a son that would bear the Messiah.

When we stop striving to be chosen by others and instead choose to praise the One who already sees us, something shifts.

xx

Last note… as I kept reading Genesis (and this is why it’s important to study books at a time), Leah did go on to re-wrestle again. In the birth of later sons, she continued to wonder if this time, it would make her worthy of Jacob’s affection. It appears that Judah was the one son where she had a different position of the heart. I found great comfort in knowing that even when you think you’ve “arrived” at some level of your faith, it’s normal to fall, trip, wander, and struggle. God didn’t take back the promise or change His mind.