Genesis 29:31-35
“When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband 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.” And she called his name 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 his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.”
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Poor Leah. All she wanted was for Jacob, her husband, to love her. Her sister, Rachel, was obviously his favorite. She knew that her father had tricked him into marrying her first instead of Rachel which, I’m sure, Jacob resented. The LORD saw all this happening, of course, so He opened her womb. But Rachel was barren.
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Four Sons.
Leah gave birth to three sons right in a row: Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. With each son she thought that maybe this would win favor with her husband. Sadly, that didn’t happen. He still preferred her sister. 😔
By the time Judah came along though, she who had tried so desperately to get her husband’s attention, finally just stopped obsessing over her lot in life. She decided instead to PRAISE THE LORD! That’s why she named him “Yehudah.” Judah means “Praise.”
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Jacob’s Blessing Over Judah Prophectic Of Jesus.
Years later, when Jacob was near death, he spoke blessings over his sons, which are all recorded for us in Genesis 49. Judah’s blessing was by far the longest and most detailed of all, recorded in Genesis 48:8-12
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
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The bottom line for Leah and for us is, “When we finally give up all our striving, sweating, straining, and struggling and just praise the Lord, He’ll work everything out for our benefit.”
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Judah himself is more than ample proof of this. From this son of Leah would come THE ONE Who would save the whole world. THE MOST important person of all time, our Lord Jesus, also called, ”The Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The whole world has reason to PRAISE THE LORD! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
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He is the One Who washed His robes in wine which portrays the blood that He shed at the cross. He conquered all His enemies on that day, defeating the devil with his own weapon, death! ALL authority now belongs to Him for ever and ever, HALLELUJAH!!!
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Some of the blessings Jacob prayed over his other sons seem really odd. In fact, they are more than a little strange. 😳 If you’d like to read more about them, you may follow the link below to a short series on that topic:
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Secrets In The Hebrew Letters.
But wait: there’s more! Our wonderful God loves to hide amazing things in the Bible for us to uncover. He knows we will be warmed and blessed by what we find. The Hebrew language is a perfect example!
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Hebrew reads from right to left and is a form of picture writing like Chinese. The letters that God uses to form words give us a glimpse from God’s point of view and reveal things you’d never get in any definition. The Hebrew spelling of Judah’s name reveals something beautiful about Jesus. It is spelled like this in Hebrew:
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The letters from right to left are “Yod-hei-vav-dalet-hei.” Below are the meanings of each letter:
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[י] Yod = open hand
[ה] Hei = grace
[ו] Vav = nail
[ד] Dalet = door
[ה] Hei = grace
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Contained within Judah’s name is the unpronounceable Tetragrammaton, “YHVH.” It is spelled “yod-hei-vav-hei [יהוה]” The letter “dalet [ד]” is added to spell, “Yehudah.”
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The letters of Yahweh’s name paint this picture:
“Hand of grace, nailed in Grace.” It’s a picture of Jesus nailed to the cross!
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(For more on the Name of God, Yahweh, you may follow the link below:
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The 4 letters of the Name of God plus the letter “dalet [ד],” which means “door,” paint another word picture: His name tell us “PRAISE OPENS THE DOOR TO GOD!” And what or, more to the point, “Who,” is the door to God? JESUS!!! He is the door of the sheep fold through Whom we can safely go in and out safely and find pasture.
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As if that weren’t awesome enough, there’s more. The root word for “Yehuda” is this word: [ידה] YADA. It also means, “praise.” From right to left, the letters are:
[י] yod [ד] dalet [ה] hei: “Hand opening the door to grace.”
So, Jesus is the door to God, praise opens the door to grace, and what, or rather, Who is Grace? JESUS!!!
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Meanings In The Hebrew Names.
Leah, of course, had no idea the naming of her sons had any special meaning or message. She had her own agenda in naming her sons. Her focus was on herself and her situation. That’s why she named #1 Reuben because she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction.”
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She named her 2nd son, “Simeon,” saying, “…the Lord has heard that I am unloved.” Her 3rd son she named, “Levi,” confessing that, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me.” And, as you know, she named her 4th son, “Judah,” that we have discussed above.
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God’s focus was quite a bit different; 180 degrees opposite. His is all about His Son! Reuben means, “See the son;” Simeon means, “Hear” (the Son); Levi means “Attached” (to the Son); and Judah means, “Praise (the Son).”
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How To Live A Life Of Praise.
This is the secret to turning away from your problems and looking unto Jesus. First, “See the son.” Focus on Him and not on you or your problems. Second, “Hear the Son.” Listen to anointed messages, teachings, read books so you can “Hear” all about Jesus. Doing those things will cause you to be more and more “Attached”to Jesus, giving way to a life Praising the Lord!
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God reinforces this principle in the tribes of Israel. When they went out to war, they inquired of the LORD who should go up first to fight against the Benjamites (for instance). He answered that the tribe of Judah lead the way. (See Judges 20:18).
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You see, Church, the devil has NO ANSWER to praise. He flees in terror at the sound of praise, so praise the Lord in every situation and you will see your victory!
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Epilogue.
It’s nice to know that, somewhere along the way, Leah got her heart’s desire. Jacob did learn to love her at last because, when he died, guess who he wanted to be buried next to? LEAH!
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So, when you feel like it, when you don’t feel like it, when there’s nothing else you or I can do, and even if there is, in everything and at all times, what does Our Father say? See Jesus, hear Jesus, become attached to Jesus, and you will always want to
PRAISE THE LORD!
Emmaus Road Ministries 