As I mentioned earlier this week, I finished reading the book of Genesis. While I was re-reading the account of the beginning of mankind and the nation of Israel, I thought many times of the women in Genesis that I had studied in 2015. I just re-read each of my posts and thought I'd share the links and a recap of each one here. (To read the complete posts, clink of the name of each woman.)
The first lady of humanity, Eve will forever be known as the one who listened to Satan's voice and partook of the fruit that led to the fall of man. Forget "the
devil made me do it." I've said more than once "It's all Eve's fault!"
It wasn't until I studied the entire writings about Eve that I had a change of heart towards her. Yes, she failed to obey the one rule that God gave her. But somewhere along the way, after losing both Cain and Able, she found the courage to trust that what God said was true. It was Eve who named the baby Seth in Genesis 4:25. It was Eve who said God has
appointed another seed. One commentary pointed out the use of the word
"seed" here instead of "son" or "child." She didn't give up on the
promise of God when it seemed the promise died. That verse contains the
final recorded words of Eve. A woman who had been cursed and banished,
trusted in a merciful God to provide the promised seed. And God did
just that, in the man Christ Jesus.
Although Sarah is introduced in the Bible before Hagar, I studied Hagar first. Hagar was Sarah and Abraham's "solution" to Sarah's barrenness. She was not God's solution.
Twice Hagar is on her own. The first time is after she conceives Ishmael and despises Sarah. She then flees only to be told by an angel to return and submit. I think Hagar had the attitude, "I'm sitting down, but I'm standing up on the inside." She submitted her actions but not her heart.
Hagar's lack of submission must have continued and bled into the way she raised Ishmael. Genesis 17:18 says, "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might
live before thee!" Ishmael was thirteen years old
at this time, about a year before Isaac was born. I have to wonder if
he was already showing signs of loving the Egyptian ways more than the
ways of the God of Abraham. What was his mother teaching him? It
appears that her influence was greater than Abraham's.
The final straw happened when Isaac was weaned in Genesis 21. The celebration of Isaac's weaning finds Ishmael mocking. A Commentary
on the Old and New Testaments by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and
David Brown says, "Ishmael was aware of the great change in his
prospects, and under the impulse of irritated or resentful feelings, in
which he was probably joined by his mother, treated the young heir with derision and probably some violence." That's a lot stronger than mocking! These are not the actions of a mother and child who are submissive to their mistress.
Matthew Henry's commentary put it this way, "If Hagar and Ishmael had
conducted themselves well in Abraham's family, they might have
continued there; but they threw themselves out by their own pride and
insolence, which were thus justly chastised."
There is so much that could be said about Sarah, but just go read the entire post! A couple of key points:
Sarah is the example of a submissive wife. Many chapters in
Genesis are devoted to the journeys of Abraham and Sarah. She started
in Ur with him. They traveled nearly 2,000 miles together. Sarah's submission is significant, because when she does speak up, Abraham listens.
When it came to Hagar and Ishmael, I believe Sarah had not only a God-given right, but a responsibility to
protect her son. Isaac was the promised seed. She may have thought
that her days were short (although Isaac was 37 when she died.) She and
Abraham would be gone and who would Isaac have to guide him? His wild,
older half-brother. She had to cut Ishmael's influence out of Isaac's
life. Abraham was partially blinded by his love for his son, Ishmael,
but God supported Sarah. Genesis 21:12 says, "And God said unto
Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and
because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken
unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called."
The Genesis Record says:
It really was not
possible for the two families to exist together, and Abraham should
follow Sarah’s request, even though it would go against his own personal
feelings and would no doubt seem harsh to others around them. Sometimes
it is necessary for God’s people, if they are truly going to be in the
will of God and to enjoy the fullness of His blessing, to separate
completely from those who might be a source of friction and carnality,
even though such separation will be difficult and will give others (who
don’t understand the spiritual issues involved) occasion to criticize
and ridicule.
My post about Rebekah is one of my longer ones. It's hard to separate Rebekah from Jacob and Esau. But first we read about the first arranged marriage in the Bible. One major characteristic of Rebekah was her ability to make quick
decisions. When Abraham's servant urged them to leave immediately (her
family wanted her to wait at least ten days) she quickly agreed. "Her decision was right. One should not go ahead of the Lord’s will, but neither should he lag behind, once that will is known."
In chapter 25 we learn that Rebekah has been barren
for the first twenty years of their marriage (verse 26). After Isaac
entreated the Lord, "Rebekah his wife conceived.
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be
so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord
said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people
shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger
than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger."
This promise from God, that the elder would serve the
younger, I believe, played a large role in how the two sons were
raised. I've always been troubled by how Isaac and Rebekah each had
favorites. Verse 28 says, "And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob."
When Isaac called Esau to prepare venison so he could bestow the blessing on him, Rebekah heard and took matters into her own hands. This one act of Rebekah turned their family upside down. Jacob received the blessing and Esau was furious.
I can only imagine the regret that Rebekah lived with
in her latter years. She never saw Jacob again. God said "the elder
will serve the younger." She should have trusted that. She should have
believed that even if Isaac gave Esau the blessing, God was still going
to accomplish His plan. The bottom line, deception may accomplish
God's plan, but He doesn't need our help!
I think many of us get a little mad at Rachel because Jacob loved her and not Leah. The truth is, Rachel suffered too. For seven years she was promised or "engaged" to Jacob. But when the day finally came, her father made the decision to hold Rachel back and give Leah to Jacob instead. Several commentaries agree that Leah was not actually hated, but not
loved so much as she ought to have been. Because of Jacob's preference
for Rachel, Leah seems to get more sympathy, in my opinion.
We live in a society that places great importance on beauty and
sometimes we try to counter balance that by putting characteristics on
beautiful women that aren't true. We paint them with a brush of pride
and meanness that may not be there, while making the less beautiful the
kinder person. Those stereotypes are just that - stereotypes.
I've known beautiful women who were both kind and loving and I've known
beautiful women who were mean and spiteful. I've also known women who
would not be considered beautiful by this world's standard that fell in
one of these categories. What really matters is "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." (Proverbs 31:30)
Even after Rachel became Jacob's wife, her struggles continued. She was barren for many years while Leah gave Jacob son after son. She told Jacob, "Give me children or else I die." But it wasn't Jacob who caused the barrenness. It seems that at some point, Rachel finally took her barrenness to the Lord.
The
name she chose for her son when he was born, Joseph, can be derived
both from “Taken Away” and “May He Add,” thus indicating both her
thanksgiving and her faith that God would give her yet another son. (The Genesis Record) "God remembered Rachel,” in the best time for her, after he had taught her the lessons of dependence and patience. “Joseph.” There is a remote allusion to her gratitude for the reproach of barrenness taken away. But there is also hope in the name. (Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible)
It is always difficult to separate Leah from Rachel, their lives were so entwined. It's interesting how we interpret what is said about Leah's appearance. The Genesis Record says, "Since they were sisters, however, there must have
been a considerable family resemblance between them, so that Leah could
not have been too homely. The only specific weakness that is mentioned
is that she was “tender-eyed.”"
There were different opinions on Leah being "tender eyed." One said
that her eyes were the only thing attractive about her. I found it
interesting that one commentary pointed out Leah being tender eyed meant
she had soft blue eyes - thought a blemish. I'm glad Les doesn't think
that way!
No one ever likes to be second place, but that was certainly what happened to Leah. She was not Jacob's wife by choice. Leah gave her sons names that reflected how she was feeling at the time of their birth. The Genesis Record says, "She acknowledged that her sons were given by the Lord
in response to her prayers and her difficult position in the home. The
fourth of her sons, Judah, was the only one whose name did not reflect
her own personal situation, his name being a simple expression of praise
to God. It is perhaps significant that this is the one through whom God
intended one day to bring the Messiah into the world." Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible said, "It is remarkable that the wife of priority, but not of preference, is the mother of the seed in whom all nations are to be blessed."
There is a final sad story in the life of Leah which takes us to her daughter, Dinah...
Dinah's story leaves me so sad. The daughter of Jacob and Leah, granddaughter of Isaac and Rebekah, great granddaughter of Abraham and Sarah. What a family lineage! But Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land. Her pretense was to see the daughters of the land, to see how they
dressed, and how they danced, and what was fashionable among them. She went to see, yet that was not all, she went to be seen too; she went to see the daughters of the land, but, it may be, with some thoughts of the sons of the land too.
Her curiosity about things outside the safety of her family set in motion great tragedy. She was raped by Shechem. This lead to revenge. Two of her brothers, Simeon and Levi, set a plan in motion that would allow them to kill all the men of the city.
Seven years after studying Dinah, I still think of her with sadness. We never read another word about her. We don't know how she spent the rest of her life. Did you marry? Have children? The Bible is completely silent about Dinah from that point on.
I did not study Tamar with the other women of Genesis. She is one of four women named in Matthew chapter one in the direct lineage of Christ. Her story is so unusual. She married Judah's oldest son, Er. Er was wicked and God slew him. Tamar was then given to Judah's second son who was also slain by God. You have to ask, "Judah, what kind of sons are you raising?"
Judah then put a restriction on Tamar, "Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown." "She could not marry in any other family so long as Judah would retain her in his." (1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
We don't know how long Tamar waited, but Judah never offered his third son to her. She finally took matters into her own hand. She pretended to be a prostitute and Judah walked right into her trap. When he found out about it three months later he was quick to judge her and demand she be put to death. Judah changed his tune pretty quickly when he realized he was the other guilty party.
We read the words "scarlet thread" for the first time in the Bible when Tamar is giving birth to her twin sons. It is that scarlet thread of redemption that we see throughout the Bible and Tamar, a woman not born into the nation of Israel, is part of that thread that links Jesus Christ to Abraham.
We don't read anymore of Tamar. Most commentaries agree that Judah provided for her but he did not marry her In spite of her background and her sins, she is still named in the genealogy of Jesus.
