Jacob's Love
Genesis 29:20 (ESV) So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. One thing the three major Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) have in common is their love for their wives. This was the ancient world where sincere love was rare and marriage was often an issue of property rights. But the Bible paints a common thread in the origination of God's house. The men in His house love their wives from the heart. Yes, Abraham had his other women and notoriously slept with Hagar, and yes, Jacob slept with all the women in his house, but for all of these men, only ONE woman would truly switch them on. Abraham wept bitterly over Sarah's death, and Jacob, toward the end of his life recounts the pain he felt at losing Rachel as he blesses his grandsons in Genesis 48: Genesis 48:7 (ESV) As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some di...