Love Competition
Genesis 30
My Thoughts
Genesis 30 is a very good story to show why you shouldn't have more than one marriage/partner/relationship going on at once. It's worse if it's in secret. Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, who were sisters. Though, to be honest, Jacob could have only been married to Rachel, if their father hadn't deceived him...
Because Jacob was married to both sisters, Leah and Rachel were competing with each other for Jacob's love and attention. Rachel couldn't have children and she wanted to build a family. If she didn't, to her there was no point being married to Jacob. Her sister would be the only one with a child. So, being competitive, she first demands that Jacob gives her children and then decides that adding a third woman to the picture would be a good idea. She gives her servant Bilhah to Jacob to have a child.
Soon, Leah stopped having children and wanted still more so she could 1-up her sister. So what does she do? She adds a fourth woman to the mix, her servant Zilpah. Awesome. Delightful. Lovely. Now Jacob has children from 4 different women. You'd think that maybe at some point, he would have just said enough is enough... Either way.
If Rachel and Leah were competing for Jacob before, now they had it even worse. Though they probably had more control over their servants... You can tell just how much competition, that being an extreme amount, by the fact that Leah actually bought time with Jacob from Rachel. Really? She bought her husband? What? This is why you don't have multiple marriage partners at once. Can you imagine how much worse it would be to keep a second marriage a secret?
That's really it I guess. It's a bad idea to have multiple partners, even in times when that was common, normal and socially acceptable. It causes problems, as you can see from Genesis 30.
Because Jacob was married to both sisters, Leah and Rachel were competing with each other for Jacob's love and attention. Rachel couldn't have children and she wanted to build a family. If she didn't, to her there was no point being married to Jacob. Her sister would be the only one with a child. So, being competitive, she first demands that Jacob gives her children and then decides that adding a third woman to the picture would be a good idea. She gives her servant Bilhah to Jacob to have a child.
Soon, Leah stopped having children and wanted still more so she could 1-up her sister. So what does she do? She adds a fourth woman to the mix, her servant Zilpah. Awesome. Delightful. Lovely. Now Jacob has children from 4 different women. You'd think that maybe at some point, he would have just said enough is enough... Either way.
If Rachel and Leah were competing for Jacob before, now they had it even worse. Though they probably had more control over their servants... You can tell just how much competition, that being an extreme amount, by the fact that Leah actually bought time with Jacob from Rachel. Really? She bought her husband? What? This is why you don't have multiple marriage partners at once. Can you imagine how much worse it would be to keep a second marriage a secret?
That's really it I guess. It's a bad idea to have multiple partners, even in times when that was common, normal and socially acceptable. It causes problems, as you can see from Genesis 30.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
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