Jacob thought Rachel was beautiful. She had
long flowing hair and was drawing water so gracefully, she only had to flutter
her eyelashes at Jacob and he was a goner.
He resolved right there and then that he
would take her for his wife.
Only one snag. Her father, Laban, didn’t
think this was fair because his eldest daughter was unmarried. He could see
Rachel was too young and Jacob not altogether trustworthy, in fact he was
rather impulsive. So he said if you really love my daughter you will work seven
years and then Rachel can be your wife.
Jacob was so in love he didn’t care, he
would do ANYTHING to have her.
Big sister Leah didn’t care that much for
Jacob or did she? She was happy for her little sister. Rachel was so beautiful
that all the guys fell in love with her, yet she was smitten with Jacob too.
She was flattered that Jacob prized her so highly.
Leah looked in the mirror, but she couldn’t
see very well cos she was very short-sighted. Nobody glanced twice at her,
where Rachel had a gorgeous figure, perfect teeth and fair hair, Leah was
plain, homely and dark.
She had nearly given up hope of ever being
married. So she parked her life on the shelf and watched while her little
sister flirted with anything that moved.
Her dad had other plans. I don’t know if he
thought he was doing Jacob a favour by tricking him or whether he wanted to
punish Rachel or genuinely wanted Leah to be happy. Or maybe he just wanted to
marry her off and keep daddy’s little girl and favoured daughter Rachel to
himself. I don’t really know.
But what transpired was like something out
of Shortland Street.
I’m pretty sure Jacob was drinking some sort
of love potion number 7 before his big wedding day. The seven years went by so
quickly and finally the day came.
Rachel had five bridesmaids, and one of them
was Leah. Rachel was putting on airs and on hens night, and Laban decided to
make a deal with his daughter. He was doing this because it was shameful for
the younger to marry before the elder. Leah had never been wildly in love like
Rachel. Rachel was desperate to get married, and Jacob was so handsome and
popular she was sure the prize would be hers. Rachel never spared a thought for
her sister, with her looks the best she could hope for was a lifetime of spinning
wool and serving her father in the cattle business.
Leah put on her bridesmaids dress and saw
that Rachel had deliberately ordered them made them plain all the more to stand
out from the rest as the ravishing bride. But then the thought came to her.
What if I tried on Rachel’s wedding gown? I want to know what it’s like to wear
white and be a princess. Rachel and Leah were not the same exact same size but
they were close enough. The long flowing delicately embroidered robe graced her
shoulders and even if she could not see clearly in the mirror she felt
beautiful. It felt soft and silky, enveloping her and she felt light and floaty
as if she had wings. This must be what it’s like to be loved, thought Leah. To
wear a gown fit for a princess. Aunt Rebecca had made it especially and was an
excellent seamstress.
Leah lit her torch to wait for the
bridegroom. She had no idea what time he would arrive and it was getting dark.
Where was Rachel? Still at the hen’s night? She had stayed out of it, to prepare
for the big day.
The other bridesmaids were due to arrive
soon and were also preparing.
All she could do was wait..and watch.
