Leaving A Legacy

Today, we are finishing up this series called Family Matters. I have said this for the past few weeks now, but family is the greatest gift, other than salvation, that God has given us. I hope you have learned something from this series.

Today, I want to conclude this series by talking about leaving a legacy.

What is a legacy?

Webster defines legacy as something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.

Your legacy is what you leave behind for your family. Your kids and grandkids will know about the legacy that you leave. What type of person were you? What is your legacy?

When you look at the Bible, the most widely known family is the family of Abraham.

Genesis 17:4–6 NIV

4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

From Abraham came Isaac through Abraham’s wife Sarah. Isaac would marry Rebecca and have Jacob and Esau. Jacob would have two wives Rachel and Leah and they would have two maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah. From these four women Jacob would have 12 sons that we know as the twelve tribes of Israel.

If you listened to the radio Thursday, you will have heard what I am about to tell you. But I can’t think of a better legacy than what I am about to tell you.

If you have your Bibles go with me to the book of Genesis. Go to chapter 29 and I want to begin reading at verse 15. This is a story that I believe should encourage all of us this morning. I know that as I was teaching this on Thursday it ministered to me and I believe it is worth repeating here today.

Genesis 29:15–35 NIV

15 Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” 22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. 24 And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant. 25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” 26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” 28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. 30 Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.” 33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

Most of the time when we think about this story we think of the main characters and the love story of Jacob and Rachel. We think why is Laban keeping Rachel away from Jacob. He should be able to be with the woman of his dreams. We think why would he make him have Leah first. But the true heroin of this story is Leah.

If you look up the Hebrew meaning for Leah’s name, it would mean “weary” or “tired” or possibly “wild cow”. If you were to look up Rachel’s name, it would mean “ewe”, which is a female sheep. I would much rather my name mean sheep than wild cow.

And we read in verse 17...

Genesis 29:17 NIV

17 Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.

The only description that the Bible gives us was that Leah’s eyes were weak or some translations say delicate. But notice how quickly it says that Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Rachel was the hotty of the two.

For Jacob, Rachel was love at first sight. Jacob worked for 7 years in hopes of getting to marry Rachel, but when morning had come and the vail came off, it was Leah. Jacob had married Leah and did not realize until he had awaken in the morning.

Jacob confronts Laban and a plan is negotiated to work seven more for Rachel. So, Jacob fulfills his week with Leah and then marries Rachel at the end of the week and begins working for Laban another seven years.

How do you think Leah felt?

Leah had been forced through custom to obey her father. She had given herself to Jacob and then has to endure two humiliations: one, Jacob, her new husband, didn’t want her and two, one week after their marriage, Jacob takes up with Leah’s younger sister in a second marriage. And all Leah can do is stand by and say nothing. Verse 30 tells us...

Genesis 29:30 NIV

30 Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

So, when I think of Leah, I can imagine a very hurt, shame filled, and possibly depressed young woman. I can see her crying alone in her tent. She is suffering the pain of the father who traded her and the rejection from the man she was committed to. Life is not fair for Leah.

The circumstances in Leah’s life were not within her control. Her looks were against her. Her younger sister was more captivating. Her husband had intercourse with her, but didn’t love her. Leah was the ugly sister. She was the one person in the family that didn’t fit and wasn’t wanted. I can imagine her spending many nights lonely and wondering why her. Why did she have to be the other woman that was unwanted?

Then something happened. Rachel was infertile. The perfect sister with the perfect looks, the perfect marriage, the one she probably wanted to be like, finally had something wrong with her. She was infertile. And for a jewish woman during this time that was a big deal. And after a while Jacob would turn to Leah to give him a child. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a boy whose name, Reuben, means “Behold a son!”

Reuben - “Behold a son!”

Leah expressed her joy for having a son in his name. She said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.” You can hear in her words. She wants her husbands affection.

But he didn’t, and she conceived again. This time she bears a second son, Simeon, whose name means “heard.”

Simeon - “heard”

She explained it this way, “Because the Lord has heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.”

Listening to her reasoning for these names just breaks my heart for her. She is crying out for her husbands affection and attention. You can hear her disappointment in her voice. I picture her sitting inside with her two babies. They were probably her life. And she still was not loved after giving birth to two sons, so she conceives again.

This time she bore Levi, meaning “Attached.”

Levi - “Attached”

Her explanation for the third son’s name is “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” But that didn’t work either. By the time her fourth son is born she seems to have given up on Jacob’s love and names the boy, Judah, meaning “Praise.”

Judah - “Praise”

Her reason for the name is “this time I will praise the Lord.” She was no longer looking for earthly acceptance but now she was looking for Heavenly acceptance.

Can tell each of you that Jesus accepted you the day you were born. He thought you were the most beautiful person ever. You are special. You have a reason to live. You have a legacy to leave behind for those that love you.

Look at Leah’s faith. Each time a son is born she refers to the Lord. Her circumstances may have brought her misery and lack of family love, but her view of God was one of trust. Each time Leah has a child she draws closer to God.

Think about your legacy for a moment. Are you leaving a legacy that centered on God. As you live your legacy be an example. Live your life like you mean it. Love like your life depends on it. Our legacy is not for ourselves but it is for generations to come.

So, Leah now has four sons and her sister Rachel has not had any children. Rachel will steal her father’s household idols when they pack up and leave for Haran, but Leah has no part in it. Leah doesn’t want to have anything to do with those idols. Keep the idols out of your legacy. There is one true God and your family should see you as a follower of only one God. When they tell stories about your life after you have gone, they should tell the stories about how you loved Jesus. Make sure that you ground your purpose in a greater purpose.

After Leah’s fourth son is born, Rachel gets so upset that she gives Jacob her servant Bilhah and two sons are born: Dan and Naphtali. Not to be out done, Leah—whose womb God had temporarily closed—gives Jacob her servant, Zilpah, to whom two more sons are born: Gad and Asher.

God then opens Leah’s womb and she bears two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun plus a daughter Dinah.

Finally, after Leah has had 6 sons and one daughter, Rachel has Joseph and then dies in Bethlehem while giving birth to Jacob’s twelfth and final son, Benjamin.

Leah outlives Rachel. We are not told when Leah died, but we know she was buried in the cave in Machpelah at Hebron where Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah were buried. In fact, Jacob’s dying words tells us, “There I buried Leah.”

Jacob leaves instructions that he wants to be buried—not with Rachel at Bethlehem, but with Leah and his forbearers. In the end, Leah has won Jacob’s love. When we look back at Leah’s life, we are tempted to say of Leah, “what a tragic and difficult life.” So many people in her life were unfair to her.

Her father forced her into a marriage. Her sister resented her. Her husband did not begin to love her until late in life. Yet, Leah’s story teaches us that the effect of your life cannot be measured within the time span of the few decades you are on earth. The things that you are doing now and the life you lead now and the people that you influence now will be in effect generations from now. Your legacy is not taking place in the present, but you are building your legacy for the future.

Leah’s story, like all of ours, fits into a long-range tapestry of God’s weaving. God had a plan. And God’s plan involved the ugly sister. Leah was the first picked, she wasn’t the one that Jacob chose, she wasn’t the star of the show, she was the ugly sister.

But the story doesn’t end there. The important thing is the legacy that she left behind. It’s her legacy that stands out to all of us. I am about to give you a list of the generations that were affected by Leah.

The priestly line comes through Leah’s third son, Levi; and in that line come Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Without Leah, there is no Levi, no Moses, so no first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, no Ten Commandments or exodus from Egypt, no prototype of a high priest upon which Jesus would model His intercessor ministry for us.

Leah’s descendant, Caleb, was one of only two who entered the promised land of Canaan after Israel wandered 40 years in the wilderness because of disobedience. At age 85—46 years after Israel’s failure to enter the Promised Land—Caleb said: “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Give me this hill country that the Lord promised me.” Caleb probably got his spiritual tenacity from Leah—never give up, never give in, and never sit down in self-pity, resignation or defeat!

Centuries later, the elders of Bethlehem pronounce a blessing on Boaz—another descendant of Leah. Boaz becomes the great-grandfather of King David. It was Leah’s fourth son, Judah, who became the ancestor of King David and King Solomon. with out Leah, we have no Judah; without Judah, we have no Boaz, David or Solomon; and without David or Solomon we do not have the Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs or Ecclesiastes.

From Leah comes not only all the high priests, priests, and Levites of Israel, but also all the kings of Judah—including Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Hezekiah and Josiah. Additionally, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all appear to be priests and therefore, descended from Leah. Ezra the scribe was a priest and thus from Leah. Nehemiah probably was from Judah—and therefore also a descendant of Leah. And ultimately, the day players in the Christmas story derive from Leah.

Mary and Joseph belong to Judah, the fourth son of Leah. Elizabeth and Zechariah belong to Levi, the third son of Leah. their son, John the Baptist, likewise comes from Leah.

Anna, the old woman in the temple who gave thanks to God upon seeing the baby Jesus and spoke about Him to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel, was from the tribe of Asher. Asher came from Leah through Leah’s servant, Zilpah.

The land of Zebulun, the sixth and last son of Leah, included Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. Nazareth was among the first who saw the great light shining in the darkness.

To sum all this up, without Leah there is no Judah; and without Judah, there is no David; and without David, there is no Jesus; and without Jesus, we have no salvation.

You cannot measure the impact of Leah’s life within her earthly time span. We look at her and think, “she’s just the ugly sister.” And, you cannot measure your life that way either. You will never know the legacy that you will leave behind for years to come.

And you can not judge things on external appearances. Rachel was the good-looking one, but God looks deeper than the outward appearance. Leah had inner beauty that the scheming, bitter, envious, and sulky Rachel did not have.

So, what can you take away from Leah’s story? You must understand that you need time and distance to understand what God is doing through out lives.

Leah had no idea that her trials would result ultimately in a priestly and kingly line or that a great deal of the Bible would have been left unwritten without her. And by the way, Paul was from the Benjamin tribe. And I know that Rachel was Benjamin’s mom, but she died giving child birth to him. So, don’t you think that it was left up to Leah to care for Benjamin. If Leah doesn’t take care of Benjamin, then there is no Paul and without Paul we wouldn’t have most of the new testament.

She never thought these trials that she went through and the loneliness that she must have felt each night would result in a priestly and kingly line. Most of all, she had no idea that the Savior of the world, on the human side, ultimately would descend from her DNA.

Think right now about your legacy. What kind of legacy will you leave for the generations that proceed you.

As you are living and preparing to leave a legacy make sure that you talk about your vision for after you depart from this life. Make sure that you leave behind a Godly legacy.

Let’s pray.