Those Pesky Old Testament Stories, PT I

Today on "Desperate Israelites" Jacob finds himself caught in a triangle of not-so-sisterly love...

I had planned to start this out on a rant about all the violence in the Old Testament. That would be very PC of me, of course. Violence is so out of style anymore, you know. So last millenium.

No, I am going to talk about a different kind of Bible story that has always offended me. It's a love story, but one that's gone dreadfully awry. It has all the right stuff for a mediocre movie. It has the handsome and mysterious hero (Jacob) the devastatingly beautiful princess (Rachel) the wiley rich old man (Laban) and, oh, yeah--that other one. The, uhm, girl who probably, uhm, had a great personality? Maybe? What was her name? Lee? Or was it Lee-uh? Oh well, whatever her name was. You know. Yeah. Leah. THAT one. She was in that story, too.

There is enough material in the lives of Jacob, Rachel and Leah to fuel many Sundays of sermons. And we've all heard them. But no matter where the lesson goes, I'm never satisfied with it. I'm not finished with it. I want Leah to get what's due her, and I want Rachel to get what those scheming little mean girls are supposed to get in the end. I want it made right! I want it fixed!

But most of all, I want to forget that there once was a woman named Leah who desperately wanted her husband to love her, but instead ended up as the mother of half a nation. We can talk all we want about what a testimony she was, how glorious to be used by God to bring about his chosen people, what a storied place in history Leah, the mother of Judah, in the lineage of Christ, has! But I'm pretty certain she would have traded it all in a heartbeat some cold night alone in her tent on the desert, just to hear her husband call her "Little Lamb".

That's why the story of Jacob and Rachel and Leah always bothered me. Because it wasn't fair.

But you know what? Real life isn't fair. Fair is where the fattest pig gets the ribbon. Real life is where it gets fried up for breakfast. And isn't that what the Bible is supposed to be about? Real people, having real lives? Real people who, once in awhile, let God come in and fix things, but, for the most part just muddled around themselves and messed things up pretty badly before asking for help?

Real life is where God lets people give their own stupid ideas a try, if they are that determined. Duh! Laban! WHAT were you thinking? That everybody would just have a good laugh about your silly wedding-night switcheroo stunt? That Jacob would slap you on the back and say, "Joke's on me, you old son-of-a-sheik!" That Rachel and Leah would giggle as the zaniness ensued? That's not real-life. That's not even a reality show. That's a sit-com with camels.

God didn't set Leah up. Her own father did. God didn't neglect her. Her own husband did. God didn't try to best her; her own sister did. And Leah didn't just meekly hide behind her scarves and pray. There were times she gave as good as she got, if you will recall.

No, what God did do in those chapters of Genesis was pretty consistent with what he still does. He looked on all their human pettiness and greed and short-sighted selfishness, comforting where he was allowed and bringing peace when invited. He didn't make Jacob love Leah because that's not what He does. But He did comfort Leah, and reward her for her faithfulness, because that is what He does.

If you think about it, maybe it's best that the story ends this way, after all. Because if all the stories in the Bible were all about sweetly tied-up happy endings, then where would we go to read about real life?