Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 29:31-35 through Genesis 30:1-24. Here is a link to the Scripture which I do not quote which is in chapter 30 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2030&version=NASB1995
I quote only the following verses.
“Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now my husband (Jacob) will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.” Genesis 29:31-35.
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The LORD gave sons to both Leah and Rachel and even to both their maids. But, we focus on the verses above and note Leah’s recognition: “the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now my husband (Jacob) will love me.”; “the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.”; “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.”; and “This time I will praise the LORD.”.
Although the following Scripture was quoted in Galatians 4:24 as applying to Sarah, I think it also applies to Leah because Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah (Genesis 29:30) and the LORD saw that Leah was unloved (Genesis 29:31), so he opened her womb and gave her more children than Rachel.
More broadly, the following Scripture gives hope and encouragement to those called (elect) that although they may feel unloved and afflicted, God sees their affliction and has compassion and shows lovingkindness to them.
“Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the LORD.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your cords
And strengthen your pegs.
3 “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.
4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 “For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the LORD of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
6 “For the LORD has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
8 “In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,”
Says the LORD your Redeemer.” Isaiah 54:1-8.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 