This attitude that he had toward her was in no way a passing fancy, because it lasted as long as Jacob lived. In verse 31, it is interesting to note. . .
I think that we can safely say that, while Rachel had the key to Jacob's heart, Leah had the keys to the house. That was because God was involved. The Bible attributes many of the things that occurred in the lives of these two ladies to the fact that God was directly involved in directing events according to His purpose.
Leah was not hated in the sense of intense hostility or a loathing; but, rather, she was loved less. In other words, she did not get a fair shake from Jacob. She was not given the same kind of thoughtful consideration, care, and concern that Jacob thought of Rachel. And whereas Jacob would never forget (I am sure) an anniversary date with Rachel, maybe a birth date—he would never forget to do something kind and considerate for her—but he was probably frequently forgetting about Leah, sort of like, "Oh, are you still around here?" kind of thing.
I mentioned that it seems as though she had the keys of the house. God responded to her, because from Leah came Judah—through whom the scepter, the Messiah, arose. Through Leah came Levi, to whom the priesthood was given. Two of the highest and most significant offices in the land, in all the history of Israel, went to Leah's children. When it came time to be buried, she was buried in the tomb with Jacob—not Rachel. And where a person was buried seems to have a great deal of significance in the biblical record. God almost never fails to tell you where a king was buried. Think about that in relation to Leah.
She named him Issachar. Then we find that she conceived again and bore a sixth son; and she named him Zebulun. So God kept blessing Leah, until (in verse 23) Rachel finally conceives and Joseph is born. Now let us go back to chapter 29 again.
Now, I would not say that God is involved in every birth, of all on earth. But it is good to remember that God, indeed, was carrying out His plan to fulfill His purpose. In the lives of these people, He was taking major steps to form the nations with which He would make the covenant. These nations would then be His representatives on earth. Let us go back to the New Testament, to Romans.
This is a key element in the plan—in the purpose—of God.
Was God wrong in the way that He did things? Was God wrong in that he blessed Leah so abundantly with the children that He did? Was He wrong in withholding children from Rachel? Was He wrong in giving sons to Jacob through these two handmaids? Paul says:
What is Paul expounding here? He is expounding an aspect of the grace of God. We have to make a New Testament connection to this.
I think that we can see very clearly from Genesis 29 and 30, that the people with whom we are dealing (that is, Jacob and his family) are in a major way very ordinary people. They are just like you and me, in that God elected them according to His purpose, and they played a major role in His purpose. At the same time, God was playing a major role in their lives. Their selection by God was an act of sheer grace—completely, totally, undeserved. Was what they were doing examples of sin? Absolutely! God's calling of Jacob was not conditioned upon either the moral merits of Jacob, or of Rachel, or of Leah, or of Zilpah, or of Bilhah. And we could just keep going right on back—or of Isaac himself, or of the moral failures of Esau (Jacob's brother).
