Verses 31-35 record the birth and naming of Jacob’s first four sons, all by Leah. Interestingly, it is she who names the children, not Jacob (who seems completely disinterested). The names, along with the reasoning behind them, give us insight into Leah’s pain and the travel of her soul.
When the first son is born, she names him Reuben, “because the LORD has seen my misery.” He has seen that she is unloved by her husband. Her hope is that now Jacob will love her. He will discern where God’s blessing lies and do rightly by her. She will be cleared of shame and attract his affection.
But that seems to have been a forlorn hope. Her life is unchanged, her pain unrelieved. For when her second son is born, she names him Simeon, “Because the LORD heard I am [still] not loved”. The fond hopes that surrounded the birth of Reuben were clearly not fulfilled; Jacob loves Rachel only. He is oblivious to the legitimate needs of his first wife. She is neglected and passed over.
Leah’s pain continues unabated. When her third son is born she names him Levi, ardently hoping that now, at last, his birth will cause her husband to be attached to her. Her hopes appear futile. She has been placed in an intolerable situation and not by her own choice. She is deeply pained at Jacob’s rejection and longs for him to have a change of heart, that the anguish in hers might be healed. But Jacob is impassive and unmoved, blind to the LORD’s favour towards Leah.
How much pain and rejection can one woman bear?
When her fourth son is born, she names him Judah saying, "This time I will praise the LORD." No mention now of her husband, nor of her desperate desire to be loved and accepted by him (a wholly legitimate desire). Leah, so slighted and demeaned, is not abandoned in her misery and with the birth of Judah she recognises it. No doubt the grief remains but she is able now to praise the LORD out of her pain. Reconciled to her situation, she is able to rejoice in the God who is ever-loving and ever-loyal to his people.
"This time" her focus is higher than her husband and her joy greater than he could arouse or sustain. To be loved and accepted by the LORD and to know his favour means more than anything else could. He has begun to fill her horizons and to satisfy her deepest longings. He had been with her at every step of her long and arduous journey, holding her heart when it broke apart, gifting and growing the faith that has now begun to blossom.
Her story speaks to us so powerfully as we wrestle with life and with aspirations that maybe entirely proper but remain unmet. Our misery is seen and we are known by the LORD. He is not unmindful of us. We might be tempted to measure his care in the currency of fulfilled longings but that is a false step, even if understandable. The true satisfaction of our search for happiness and meaning and the deepest acceptance is found supremely in the Lord. He is precious beyond words.
Leah’s struggle with her sister and her husband would be a running sore that continues to fester. But perhaps it’s no coincidence that at this point, for a time at least, "she stopped having children." Her joy was full and overflowing in knowing and worshipping the LORD.
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My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the pleasures of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me
And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
I will love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
(William Ralph Featherston, 1842-70)
