DAUGHTERS OF A KING
UNITY
Leah, Rachel and
the Fate of Competition
When the pursuit to win defeats your destiny.
The Biblical story of Leah and Rachel could probably give reality TV a run for its money if it were
set in today’s time. These two sisters, as different
as night and day, were pitted against one another by
their father’s greed and manipulation, and the love
for one man.
In the midst of this drama, both women would
play important roles in birthing one of the greatest
nations the world has even known, made up of the
twelve sons they help to bear - the twelve tribes of
Israel.
In Dr. Paula Price’s book, The Prophet’s Dictionary, destiny is described as, “...the ultimate end or
outcome of a person’s existence. Destiny is more
than what one does to get through life. It includes
the final destination for that life as a result of their
pursuit or rejection of the destiny devised for them
by their Maker.”
In Leah’s and Rachel’s world, destiny is not a word
in which they would be familiar. The only hope in
fulfilling anything in their lives would be to marry
a man of means, and bear him sons to carry forth
his legacy. Even in this nominal place of hierarchy,
to bear a son was a high honor given to a wife of a
biblical household. To bear multiple sons elevated
common women to the status of royalty, as equal
as any queen. For most, this was the only perceived
destiny one could have, and for some like Rachel,
they would do anything to obtain it.
Photo: by James Lewis, Photographer
Biblical Characters Collection, Icons of the Bible
www.pinterest.com/ pin/304978205996225892
In the book of Genesis, chapter 29, the scriptures
open to a scene of Jacob (fleeing from his brother
Esau) coming to the end of his journey at a well
in the center of a courtyard in the town of Haran.
This is the home of his uncle and mother’s brother,
Laban of Nahor. As he inquired of the shepherds
that were present at the well, his eyes become fixed
upon a beautiful young woman, as she approached
her fellow shepherds. Her name is Rachel, a shepherdess and youngest daughter of Laban. To say
Rachel was beautiful is an understatement. In
verse 17 (Gen. 29), the Bible states, “Leah was
tender-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and wellfavored.” One translation says, “She was lovely
to look upon and shapely in her appearance.” Not
only was she graced with profound beauty, she was
also industrious, mature, and intelligent. Women
shepherds were not common in those days, but for
Rachel, her brothers were too young to take on the
responsibility, and her older sister (Leah) had a
physical impediment, so she was the one her father
entrusted to govern his house.
“Destiny is more than what one does
to get through life. It includes the final
destination for that life as a result of
their pursuit or rejection of the destiny
devised for them by their Maker.”
-Dr. Paula A. Price
Author, The Prophet’s Dictionary
The moment Jacob laid his eyes upon Rachel, he
instantly fell in love and bartered seven years of his
life in servitude to Laban, in order to marry her.
ISSUE 02 | WINTER 2016
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