A Butterfly Flapping

Tag: Laban

  • Sister Rivalry

    Genesis 29:16-30

    Rachel, followed by a light yellow butterfly, rushed toward the tent she shared with her older sister Leah. “You’ll never guess what just happened to me!”

    As Rachel burst into the tent, Leah nodded. Beautiful Rachel always had something happening to her, something plain Leah was supposed to guess. She didn’t even try.

    Between breaths, Rachel explained how a young stranger had lifted the well cover by himself to water her sheep. “Usually Aryeh and Efraim do it together. It is heavy, you know.” she paused. “He said his butterfly gave him the idea and the strength.”

    She sat beside her sister.

    “And he’s our cousin! The son of Father’s sister Rebekah. I think he’s going to stay with us for a while. He’s sooo handsome!”

    Even more than Aryeh? Leah wondered to her butterfly. It simply opened and closed its wings in a butterfly shrug.

    At supper, the young stranger Jacob explained why he had come, speaking to all of the family members, but his thoughts to his butterfly focused on Rachel. Isn’t she beautiful?

    He soon discovered that, when veiled, both young women had lovely eyes.

    In the evenings, Leah listened to her sister.

    “Jacob is so handsome, isn’t he?”

    Leah nodded.

    “And so strong! Did I tell how he lifted the stone off the well all by himself?”

    The older sister rolled her eyes and nodded again.

    “When they told me who he was, Aunt Rebekah’s son, I was so excited! I ran and told Father. And now he’s staying with us, and Father has agreed that we will be married.”

    “A lot can happen in seven years,” Leah muttered to her butterfly.

    * * *

    The seven years passed. Laban gave a feast on the first day of the wedding. The servants brought in the food and drink for the men, while the women and their butterflies stayed out of the way.

    The sun continued its journey across the sky, eventually reaching the horizon and dropping below. In the shadows of the moon, the sisters, peering out their tent, saw Jacob approach Laban. Laban nodded and Jacob strode to his tent, his butterfly flittering excitedly above him.

    “Leah, come here,” Laban said as he stood in the doorway of his daughters’ tent.

    “Me?” Leah asked, her eyes wide. “Don’t you mean Rachel?”

    “No, I mean you. Put on your veil and come with me.”

    “But, Father,” Rachel protested, running to him. “I’m the one who is supposed to …”

    Laban held up his hand. “No, not the younger daughter. The older daughter is the first to marry.” He turned to Leah. “I told you to come with me.”

    Leah did not move until he grabbed her arm. Her veil in place, she let him escort her to Jacob’s tent. There, in the darkness, Jacob waited. Would he recognize her? Would he know she was not Rachel?

    Apparently he did not, as he pulled her to him. Jacob’s butterfly recognized Leah’s, but held onto his thought.

    The next morning, Leah lay next to him as he slept. What would he do when he saw her?

    The sun rose and lit the inside of the tent. He raised up on one arm and gazed down at her. His face turned red and he jerked away. “What is this?” he yelled, then grabbed his robe and raced out of the tent.

    Leah followed to the flap of the tent, pulling it closed around her face. She could see the shape of her father standing by the cook fire. She heard Jacob shouting and saw arms waving, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”*

    Is he angry at me too? Will he not want me? Should I go back to …No, Rachel will be just as angry. She won’t let me in.

    Her father was not yelling, so she did not hear everything he said. She caught a few words: “Finish this … younger one … seven years …”*

    Jacob stopped yelling, and his arms fell to his side. His head dropped forward.

    Leah’s butterfly tried to encourage her. It will work out. Trust God’s plan.

    Leah did not seem to listen. Will he come back to the tent tonight, after the feast? Will he still be angry? Will he still want me? And will Rachel ever forgive me? It’s not my fault.

    Jacob came back that night and they made love again. They did not talk much.

    “Am I still your wife?” she ventured to ask.

    “Yes.” He offered nothing more, and she did not ask anything else. Leah thought to her butterfly, I’m trying to trust. Keep reminding me.

    The next morning, after Jacob left, Laban came to his daughters’ tent. Standing outside, he spoke to Leah. “They need you in the cooking tent.”

    She did not argue, but she spent the day trying to stay away from Rachel.

    The week ended, and Jacob brought Rachel into the tent. Leah sat quietly in the corner, trying to ignore what Rachel and Jacob were doing. Her butterfly kept sending her positive thoughts.

    The next morning, Laban brought Zilpah and Bilhah as servants for Leah and Rachel.

    As time passed, Rachel and Leah managed to live together in the same tent. They spoke very little, but they did not argue.

    When it was obvious that Leah was pregnant, Rachel seemed happy. “I’ll be next,” she communicated to her butterfly. But she was not. When Reuben was born, Rachel held him and cuddled him. “He’s a fine baby,” she said. “Look at all that black hair. And all his fingers and toes.” Reuben’s first butterfly joined the others.

    Later that evening, Leah told her maid, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”*

    Why can’t he love both of us? she wondered. Her butterfly passed that question to Jacob’s, who passed it on to his person. Jacob ignored him. Every night, Leah prayed to be loved as well, but Jacob preferred Rachel.

    Still, the number of Leah’s children increased, and the relationship between the two sisters deteriorated even more. Leah tried to comfort her sister, but Rachel turned away to Jacob. Red faced and fists clenched, she looked up at him. “Give me children, or I’ll die!”*

    Jacob shouted back, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”*

    As Sarah had done with Hagar, Rachel sent Bilhah to Jacob. “Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”*

    When Bilhah gave birth to Dan, Rachel felt vindicated. They named Bilhah’s second son Naphtali. Rachel raised her fist and claimed, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.”

    Leah responded by sending Zilpah to Jacob. The servant bore two sons, first Gad and later Asher. At this point, eight children lived in the tent—four from Leah, two from Bilhah, and two from Zilpah. Butterflies abounded.

    One day during harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes and took them to his mother. When Rachel asked for some, Leah objected. “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”*

    Rachel did as her butterfly suggested, offering a trade. “Very well,” Rachel said. “He can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”*

    Jacob slept with her that night, and Leah had a fifth son Issachar. Another son Zebulun followed later and then a daughter Dinah. The butterflies kept score: a daughter and eight sons for Leah, including two from her maids; and two for Rachel, both from her maids.

    Finally, Rachel’s prayers were answered, and she was able to boast, “God has taken away my disgrace.”* She named him Joseph and prayed for another.

    Rachel’s second son would not arrive until after they had returned home to Canaan. His birth would cost Rachel her life.

  • Jacob’s Ladder

    Part 2 of Jacob’s Butterflies

    Genesis 28:10-30:22

    So Jacob left home and headed north. Now Jacob was headed for Haran, which is a long ways to the north east of Beer-sheba. And we were on foot! Well, he was. I fly, using my wings. So we had a lot of time together. And as he walked, I realized that he was finally beginning to think. Not to scheme and plan, but to think … about himself, about his family, and about God.

    And you better believe, I gave him plenty to think about. We went through his entire childhood, and I reminded him of the times when God had been working in his life. I helped him see where God had helped him do the good things that he thought he had accomplished. We went over the bad things, how they could have been done better, if he had just listened to God instead of himself.

    It was an exciting time for me, because I could see some real growth in Jacob. Why human beings have to have everything kicked out from underneath them before they start thinking, I don’t know, but it seems to be that way.

    One night, early on in the journey, he traveled until after sunset. He drank a little from his water skin and ate a little dried meat. Then he found a smooth stone, just enough to hold his head off the ground, put it under his head, and went to sleep.

    A lot had happened in the last couple of days, and I was wondering if I should report in to God. Sometimes when God wants to visit with a butterfly, a messenger comes down. And if that particular messenger is really creative, there are lots of ways to come down. So, even though butterflies don’t need ladders, it didn’t surprise me at all to see a ladder drop down out of the clouds.

    What did surprise me was that Jacob saw it, too! In a dream, of course, but it meant that Jacob was finally getting in touch with his spiritual side, with his inner self.

    Now angels don’t usually get to use physical things, since they have no physical bodies, so there were several angels playing on the ladder, descending and ascending on it. Sometimes it’s actually hard for them to step on the step, they just seem to float above it!

    And then God decided to try the ladder (God really does know how to play, when given a chance). Once down, God walked over to Jacob, knelt beside him and told him gently, “Jacob, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.”* Then God repeated the promise made to Abraham and later to Isaac: they would possess this land, and they would have many descendants, like the dust of the earth, and …

    Now this is the most important part of the promise, the part that relates to the rest of the world. “All the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.”* And of course, Jesus is one of those offspring. The whole world has been blessed by Jesus. And then God promised to be with Jacob wherever he went.

    Now, as Jacob’s butterfly, I knew that God had always been with Jacob. But there is something special about the time when a human being realizes and accepts God’s presence. It’s better than winning the lottery! I get goosebumps every time it happens!

    So we lingered a little in the morning. Jacob set up his pillow stone to mark the holy place and called it Bethel, the gate of heaven.

    Finally we went on our way. For a while I just let him think about the vision he had. Eventually I started trying to get him to understand what God meant when God promised to be with him, that this was a major commitment by God.

    Yes, Jacob had a part in it. When he set up the stone, he also made a promise. “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you.”*

    See, Jacob didn’t have God. The God Jacob worshiped was second-hand. Jacob spoke to Isaac about “the Lord YOUR God.” They didn’t have church in those days, but Jacob’s understanding of religion was like those people who insist on having their children baptized, “just in case.” God really wasn’t important, God was kind of an insurance policy. God to Jacob was only a prophecy, that Esau would serve him, but Jacob had to do everything to make it come true. Now Jacob was beginning to understand that God could actually work in his life. At this point, Jacob was still talking in terms of “if.” “IF God will be with me.” As we traveled, we worked on that “if.” God didn’t give Jacob that kind of promise, an “if” promise. God doesn’t do “conditional” promises, so God had now been committed to taking care of Jacob. Period.

    A couple days later, as we traveled and conversed (Jacob was getting a LOT better at listening to me), I asked him what it felt like to have that kind of unconditional promise, that special promise that God gave him. He was thoughtful for a few minutes, and then he said, “You know, I’ve thought about this a lot lately. See, the problem is that grandpa Abraham had the same promise. So did Father. And it almost got Father killed! If Grandpa hadn’t put so much faith in that promise, he wouldn’t have almost sacrificed Father as a child. And that promise didn’t help Father when I took the blessing away from Esau. I just don’t see what good that promise did either Father or Grandfather. How were their lives anything other than ordinary? So what difference will it make in my life?”

    I have to admit I wasn’t totally prepared for that question. You see, he was only the third person in the world to receive that promise, and neither Abraham or Isaac had ever raised that question. (The moral of THIS question is never to ask a question that you can’t answer yourself!) So we communicated about it, about God working through ordinary people in their ordinary lives. About how we don’t have to inherit the birthright or receive the blessing to make a difference in other people’s lives. He wasn’t convinced.

    Eventually we reached Haran.

    In those days, the well was the gathering place. Everyone came to the well, so if you wanted to find someone, you went to the well and waited. Jacob had never been to Haran, but he found the well and waited. Some shepherds were already there, waiting for the rest of the herds to arrive. They identified Rachel, Laban’s daughter, as she brought in her flock.

    You know how young men are, when they think they are smitten by a pretty young thing. Normally it took more than one person to lift the stone from the well. But Jacob took one look at Rachel, walked over to the well, flexed his muscles a little, and lifted the stone by himself! Yes, Rachel was impressed, especially when he told her that he was her cousin.

    She went running home and immediately came back with her father Laban. Laban was delighted to see his nephew. This was the first time he had seen anyone from his sister’s family. So Laban eagerly welcomed him as family.

    Now Jacob wasn’t above using trickery to get what he wanted, but he was also a good worker, and he knew sheep. It wasn’t long before Laban wanted to pay him, to keep him. Jacob had fallen madly in love with Rachel, so he offered to work for seven years for the younger daughter.

    Time went fast because they were in love, and suddenly it was time for the wedding. With that many people there, there were also plenty of butterflies, so I decided to use that time for a little vacation. I didn’t think Jacob was going anywhere dangerous, so he could get along without me for a while. I found some distant cousins and we shared our histories.

    I got back just in time to see Jacob come flying out of the tent, yelling at Laban. “RACHEL!!! RACHEL!!! You promised me RACHEL!!! Why did you give me Leah instead!!!”

    Now you may wonder, I certainly did, why it took him until morning to notice this, but … I wasn’t there, I don’t know, and it’s my feeling that there are some things better left alone. So I didn’t ask.

    Now Laban wasn’t really a bad guy, but he was not the most honest person you ever met. Don’t buy a used car from this guy. He explained to Jacob that it was not customary for the younger daughter to be married first. If somebody else had offered to marry Leah during the seven years, that would have been fine, but nobody had, so … if Jacob would go through the rest of the marriage process, which took a week, with Leah, then Laban would also give him Rachel as a wife. If, of course, he wanted to work another seven years for her. Some more of those conditional promises! That “if” word again.

    Jacob didn’t have much choice, so he agreed. The sad thing is that nobody had consulted Leah on this. Now she was stuck with a husband who barely even looked at her! All Jacob could see was Rachel! Because God is often on the side of the underdog, Leah was blessed with six sons and a daughter. Rachel had Jacob’s love, but she only managed to have one son, after several years.

    Now this seems weird, but back then the woman could send her maid in to her husband, so she would have children, and then the woman got to claim them as hers. That might remind you of the story of Ishmael, the brother of Isaac, Jacob’s father. So Rachel’s maid and Leah’s maid each had two sons by Jacob. That brings us to eleven sons. There was one left to come, making the twelve sons of Jacob who became the twelve tribes of Israel.

    Of course, I didn’t personally, well, as a butterfly, live long enough to see all those children born, but my descendants did.

    And I can tell you, there’s more to come.