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Jacob’s vision of a ladder between Heaven and Earth at God’s House (Beit El, Bethel) was not an incidental event. It was pivotal in Jacob’s life. It set the stage for the next 20-plus years of his life and pointed forward many centuries to the arrival of the Messiah, Who would realize Heaven’s goal of reuniting with humanity.
The pitched competition between Leah and Rachel is the third example in Genesis of fallible humans trying to “help God out” regarding fertility. With Jacob’s two wives, we have one who was “loved” (Rachel) and the one who was “hated” (Leah). We see a similar pattern with Jacob and Esau themselves with Jacob being the “loved” one and Esau the “hated” one.
Esau consistently faced challenges due to his reluctance to heed his parents’ example and avoid forming unequal partnerships with pagan wives. The repercussions of having offspring with these morally questionable women lingered for generations, causing ongoing strife within the family.
Some people have observed that Isaac had two sons and Laban had two daughters and people made the connection that Leah was originally planned for Esau and Rachel was planned for Jacob but because Esau sold his birthright and did not care to choose a righteous wife, Jacob, in a sense, inherited both women as his wives.
The weight of longing: Leah, Rachel and the unattainable search for love
Eight of the 12 tribes of Israel are born through the “unloved” wife, Leah and as she names each of her sons, you hearing the heart cry of Leah. As each son is born, it all comes down to a similar refrain of “Maybe he’ll love me now. Maybe he’ll love me now.” But the problem for Leah is, love can’t be bought or sold.
Polygamy takes an emotional toll on the women who are forced to share their husband with other women. The constant bickering and fighting between Leah and Rachel took an emotional toll on Jacob, too. There were probably periods of time where he was more than happy to hang out in the fields with the sheep, rather than be at home to constantly mediate his wives disputes, three of whom were forced on him either by Laban or by Rachel and Leah themselves.
Yeshua explicitly taught us “… Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Matthew 19:4–6 NASB, quoting Genesis 1:27 and 2:24
You’re supposed to leave your parents and be joined to your spouse. Now, we aren’t told to cut off all ties with our parents. After all, the Fifth Commandment says to honor one’s parents (Ex. 20:12; Dt. 5:16). But every generation faces the challenge to not bring one’s parents into their marriage. You can’t have an authentic marriage if either set of parents is still running the show. The wife leaves her mother and father, and so does the husband. Together, they become something new.
The Apostle Paul says in 1Cor. 10:1–13 that the stories of the patriarchs like these things were written as a warning, a witness for us. The bible gives us a lot of guidance and stories to teach us what we should do, but there are also a lot of stories written down so we know what not to do.
Learning from mistakes: Esau, Leah and self-deception
Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?”
Genesis 27:36 NLT
But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?” Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”
Genesis 30:15 NLT
Just as Esau lied to himself and to Isaac about Jacob stealing his birthright, Leah also lied about Rachel “stealing” her husband. Esau did not assess the true value of the birthright he sold to Jacob for a bowl of soup, for which Esau only had himself to blame, just as Leah was at least partly to blame for going along with her father’s conspiracy to steal Rachel’s rightful husband. Both Esau and Leah lied to themselves and others about the source of their problems.
Yosef the Suffering Servant foreshadows Yeshua
There is a beautiful chaism in Vayetze, which we reviewed in more detail in 2020. The literary structure points to the crux of the passage: Rachel’s shame in her barrenness and being bypassed by her sister, Leah, is lifted when she gives birth to Yosef.
Her reproach and suffering foretells the reproach and suffering of her eldest son. Yosef is the son who will later be discarded and forgotten by his family, is in fact, the one who is favored by God. His own family did not recognize him as being favored by God but the foreigners who interacted with Yosef on a day-to-day basis saw God’s favor on Yosef and even Pharaoh saw God’s favor on him. The patriarch Yosef is an example of the suffering servant and even the Sages have noticed a close connection between Yosef and the Suffering Servant prophecy of Isaiah 52:13–53:12. Yosef’s family may have forgotten him but God raised Yosef up to save his family from certain death.
The same thing happened to Yeshua Himself. His people cast Him out, too. All we can do is pray for the eyes of Israel to be opened and for all Israel to be saved, as they acknowledge Yeshua the Messiah who was revealed through the prophets and apostles.
Beyond Babel: Embracing the true Way to Heaven through Messiah Yeshua
God is a loving father who created all of mankind to be His children, with some rejecting Him and others embracing His redemption. Scripture tells us that there will be those who will refuse to repent.
We only see through a glass dimly, none of us have all the truth, so we cannot judge who will ultimately be in the Kingdom and who will not, only God knows. We can give them over to the mercy of the Lord.
God is not an absentee landlord. The vision that He gave Jacob of the ladder connecting heaven and earth teaches us that God longs to connect Himself to His people.
The tree of life shows us how to connect with humanity and with God, while the tree of knowledge directs us towards the self, towards the here and now with no care for long term consequences.
We are offered two different ways to connect to the Kingdom of Heaven, but which one is the real way to heaven?
On the one hand, we have the tower of Babel, where mankind attempt to storm the gates of heaven and to make heaven do what men want, while on the other hand, we have Jacob’s ladder, where heaven reaches down towards mankind. This ladder in Jacob’s vision is a vision of Messiah Yeshua, who in His person, is the one who connects Heaven and Earth.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
John 14:6–7 NASB
Summary: Tammy