1: Genesis 39: Preaching/Teaching: Leah

An Identity Crisis

Share a memory about my mow.

On mothers day it is hard for me to not mention my mother and just the power-mention my mom

Who are you?

How do you identify?

Our culture is having an identity crisis more than ever before.

The greater problem is not only are we having an identity crisis but now we have made it to where you can be whatever you want to be.

One of my favorite movies is the Bourne Identity. Jason Bourne a trained CIA assassin is about to take out his target. But while he is doing this his baby daughter is present and he just can’t do it so instead doing what he was trained to do he get’s knocked off the boat almost dying and forgets who he is. This series is a triology about this trained CIA agent trying to figure out who he is.

I tried to use this theory to my advantage this week.

As a matter of fact i went to the bank this week and told them I identify as a multimillionaire and I wanted 50,000 in cash and they would not give it to me.

But on a more serious note the problem is that God created us first and foremost, before he created us to belong to a certain family, to be a certain race, to have certain gifting, he created our greatest identity to be his image bearers.

You see the real problem our world is facing right now is an identity crisis.

Identity is such a big part of how we view ourselves, how we love others and how we live.

Are you confident in your identity.

There are a ton of ways you can idenify yourself.

What are some of them?

Parent, work, race, socioeconimic status…Name a couple

When our greatest identity is in Jesus it makes all of our smaller identities stronger.

You see it is not bad that we have multiple identities: for me a father, husband, pastor, but when these keep us from our greatest identity to be God’s image bearer it is a problem.

Today God wants us to embrace who we are in him like never before.

“Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God. Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.” John Calvin

Today we are going to look at a mother. And just like I learned more from my mother than I could every repay, she may have been my greatest teacher. Today we are going to learn from a Godly mother in scripture. If anyone would have an excuse to struggle with identity it would be Leah. But today we are going to see that because Leah was so grounded in her identity it made her a mother whose life still has influence to this day.

Today I want us to leave here embracing and prioritizing our God Given identity.

The first reminder about our identity Leah wants us to embrace

1. is that God does not overlook us.

(1-14)-Share the story but don’t read it

Genesis 29:1-7 “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east. He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.” He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.””

Genesis 29:8-14 “But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.” While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father. So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.”

It is hard for me not to believe that Leah was overlooked her whole life.

Genesis 29:16 NASB95

Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

Genesis 29:17 NASB95

And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.

She was overlooked by Jacob, and maybe her dad.

Jacob did not really notice Leah before, because he was so enamored by Rachel.

Think how awkward this must have been.

Rachel was his girl

In the Jewish culture the first born had more benefits. They recieved twice as much as the inheritance, but here it is not Leah who is highlighted but Rachel.

Have you ever been overlooked?

For a job?

A scholarship?

A relationship?

I can related-BBALL story. My brother was Nate’s brother until....It did not last long.

Genesis 29:21–23 NASB95

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her.” Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her.

v. 21 is saying Jacob was hot to trot.

Now what do we know about Laban. He was a deceiver.

He was trying to get both of his daughter off of his books.

So he pulls a huge reversal here and gives Jacob not the wife he agrees to have but the one that he does not want, the one who has been overlooked his whole life.

QUICK SIDE NOTE IF YOU ARE NOT MARRIED; MAKE SURE YOU ARE GOING ON YOUR HONEYMOON WITH THE ACTUAL BRIDE YOU AGREED TO MARRY.

Now this is a weird story because you are like how did you not know you were not sleeping with another person.

Genesis 29:30 NASB95

So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

Cinderella Story-With her dad and family.

Application:

Have you ever felt overlooked?

Have you ever been over looked?

Job situation, list examples here.

How in the world can somebody have a strong identity in Jesus when this is their circumstance?

The next reminder about our identity Leah wants us to embrace

2. is that God loves us unconditionally (30-35).

The difficulty of believing this: CIRCUMSTANCES

Leah struggled with her identity being in God.

Family is dramaful

This whole story back drop with how Laban tricked Jacob into not just marrying his other daughter-

THIS IS DRAMA

Does anyone here have any family drama?

I have heard of family never talking to each other again because of drama.

I have heard of family ...

FIll in the blank

You know one of the things I learned early on as a parent was to encourage my kids and to tell them I love them after sporting events regardless of how they play.

To say something along the lines of I loved watching you play.

But sometimes as a parent we love our kids more when they are doing what we want them to do.

I mean if one of my kids excels it is a lot easier to love them.

My point in saying this is that even as good intentioned parents it is hard to love our kids unconditionally.

But it is in real life where God wants us to to know who we are so we can live out our identity.

Leah’s struggle was real.

Genesis 29:30 NASB95

So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

Could you picture the fight Jacob come to bed with me tonight. I don’t know the arrangement but even if Rachel in Leah were good friends, not anymore.

Not just to be clear, having kids back then was a huge thing.

Today some people are like us, actually not many people are like us, but a lot of people like kids. But some people are like I never want to have kids.

In this culture having kids was a huge part.

Remember Abraham.

Kids were power, but remember the future messiah was coming. Would you not want to be the mom to have that child.

It was in this context that Leah had to be reminded that: GOD LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY

How could she feel unconditionally loved when those closest around her did not love her unconditionally.

The Contrast between man’s love vs. God’s love

Genesis 29:31 NASB95

Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

Isn’t it amazing that God saw that Leah was unloved.

Right now you may be going through something really hard, really bad, something that you just don’t quite understand.

Isn’t it awesome that we have a God that not only loves us but he sees that hurt and that pain.

God SAW LEAH when she was unloved.

How did he respond after that:

He worked

He did what only God could do and he brought life into a situation where it felt a lot like death.

He literally opened her womb.

Now as I have said before I am not the smartest but as my wife said I know a lot about basketball, Bible and babies.

And when Heather bore I children and I sat in the hospital room here is what I do know, it is one of the most beautiful things you could ever experience.

God is literally the author of life.

He acts.

GOSPEL-

HE ultimatel did this at the cross

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God did not just say you are hopeless without me, he died for us.

Leah struggled with her identity-She was striving and not abiding.

She had to learn this lesson three times before it sank in.

Genesis 29:32 NASB95

Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.”

When we live out of our wrong identity we live for the applause of men and women and not for the audience of one.

She was living on a performance treadmill.

When we do this it is hard to enjoy and glorify God.

I am a huge people pleaser by nature.

My motive many times instead of glorifying God can be to impress someone else. Notice Leah has this child this is a great blessing and we can tell she is not getting it because the first thing she says is, Now my husband will love me.

CAUTIONARY TALE-DO NOT HAVE A KID JUST SO THAT YOUR HUSBAND WILL LOVE YOU MORE.

When we make our other identities primary we miss out on our God given identity.