Genesis 29 records a sad story of deception and heartache. Jacob met Rachel and wanted to marry her. He made a deal with her father, Laban, to work seven years for him to receive Rachel as his wife. When the seven years were completed, Laban gave his daughter to him, but it was not Rachel. Rachel had an older and less attractive sister, according to Genesis 29:17. When Jacob awoke the morning after he had received his bride, verse 25 says, “Behold, it was Leah!” Jacob was understandably upset and disappointed and immediately confronted Laban about the lie. There are many lessons to learn from this family. Here are two to consider.
First, many religious people will wake up to Leah on the day of judgment. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus prophesied that on judgment day, many will call out “Lord, Lord!” and will be denied entry to the kingdom of heaven anyway. They will have done many works that seemed pious during their earthly lives, but Jesus will respond, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” There are a lot of people practicing religion that disagrees with Scripture who will wake up to Leah on judgment day. They will expect Heaven but will enter Hell.
Second, Jesus refuses to wake up to Leah as His bride. Revelation 19:7-8 describes the church as the bride of Christ, perfectly prepared for Him and clothed beautifully with her righteous acts. Revelation 21:9 envisions the bride of Christ as a perfect and beautiful city, ending with this statement in verse 27: “And nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Jesus rejects all who are not the bride of His covenant. Prepare to meet Him by adorning yourself with obedience to the gospel and sanctifying yourself by continued obedience to the word.
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