[A well is a fountain where God blesses us with abundant life.]

After Jacob bought over Esau’s birthright, he cheated his brother of his blessing. Because of that, Esau sought Jacob’s life and he had to run away from home. Having to run away from home is sad beyond description.

When the sun set upon Bethel, it was likely the second night of Jacob’s wandering (based on time taken to walk the distance between home and Bethel). Jacob must’ve felt very homesick. In his dream, he asked the Lord to protect him till he could return safely to his father’s house. After that, he would’ve travelled about a month or more before arriving at Haran.

It’s not difficult to imagine the excitement he must’ve felt when he saw people gathering at a well. The well was a refreshing sight! And it happened to be the village well of Haran - his destination. It’s not difficult to imagine his overwhelming emotion seeing his cousin Rachel. Jacob kissed Rachel, lifted up his voice and wept (Gen 29:11). Because that was the first relative he saw after travelling for so long away from home. Rachel later on became his wife. The well is a refreshing sight to any wanderer. At last he could sit there, refresh/wash himself and have a refreshing drink. When he asked about his uncle Laban, the men of the village said, “Look this is his daughter Rachel coming along!” So he saw the well and his future wife.

The Bible is quite interesting in associating wells with wives. First of all, drawing water from the well was the woman’s chore.

But in Gen 24, when the old servant of Abraham went back to his hometown to look for a wife for Isaac, v11-13 shows that he assumed women would come to the well to draw water. It was one of the best places to seek young maidens to be his master’s wife. And so he prayed to the Lord, “Behold, here I stand at the well of water. Let the young woman who says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels drink’ be the one You have appointed.”

The speaker doesn’t know how many would appoint their servant to find a wife for their children. Or if young men want to seek a wife, where would they go to? In those days, he went to a well.

Even in the times of Jesus, we read about a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. People like Isaac, Jacob and Moses all found their wives by the well. Gen 24 we read about Isaac (even though he wasn’t there himself, but his servant). Gen 29 we read about Jacob. Later on in Exo 2, Moses found his wife Zipporah also by the well. In fact, in the Bible, a wife is likened to a well.

Songs 4:12, 15
The writer of this song talks about his beloved wife as a garden enclosed, a spring shut up, and a well of living waters. Men in the Bible are charged to drink EXCLUSIVELY from his own well. At the same time, don’t share the well with others; don’t let other people drink from your well. We know this cannot refer to the physical well in one’s backyard/garden. It refers to one’s wife.

Prov 5:15-18
Your wife is like your well. You cannot share with others. Let your well be blessed. You must protect and cherish the wife of your youth.

We know that a well is a fountain of living water. It’s a source of life! Many parts of Proverbs tells us so. For example, Prov 10:11 talks about a well of life.

If wells are a source of life in the Bible, why are wives referred to as wells in the Bible? The Bible tells us that a good wife is from the Lord.

We can get a lot of good things everywhere. But why does the Bible emphasise that a good wife is from the Lord? In other words, if you want a good wife, you have to get her from the Lord, you can’t get from anywhere else. Of course first of all, marry in the Lord; get a church sister to be your wife. But the emphasis is that a good wife is from the Lord; you can’t get from anywhere else. Don’t depend on your own efforts and wisdom. You have to trust the Lord and pray very hard for a good wife. Otherwise you won’t get one.

Why does the Bible emphasise so much that a good wife is from the Lord? Because the wife is a special blessing. The wife is how God wants to bless you in a special way.

Prov 18:22
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favour from the Lord.”
In other words, the wife helps the husband obtain favour from the Lord. So in a sense, she’s like a fountain, helping the husband access the abundant life and blessing from God. In fact, the Bible tells us that husbands and wives are joint heirs/heirs together in the grace of life.

1 Pet 3:7
God wants us to have life, and to have it abundantly. Peter says that husbands and wives receive abundant life from God jointly; as heirs together in the grace of life. In other words, husbands and wives are given to each other for a spiritual purpose, not just for an earthly purpose. They help each other connect to God. They help each other enjoy abundant life from God. And there is one thing peter wants us to note from here: a wife is a weaker vessel. Therefore a husband needs to know how to treat her properly? How? NKJV says to treat her with understanding. It means to have the correct knowledge of how to treat her properly. What kind of stuff is your wife made of? What are her weaknesses? And how are you supposed to help her with her weaknesses? Treat her with honour for the reason that she’s weaker than you.

We have talked about wells and wives. Your wife is supposed to be a blessing with you so you can connect better with God.

Next section: let’s see how Jacob treated his two wives. How was his relationship with Leah and Rachel?

After he met Rachel at the well, we don’t know if it was love at first sight, but as mentioned, it’s not difficult to understand why he was overwhelmed with emotion. He went home with her because he wanted to go to his uncle Laban’s place. He worked for his uncle. His uncle said I cannot allow you to work for free, name your price (29:15). Then Jacob, because he loved Rachel said that he would work 7 years to have Rachel as his wife. By the standard of those days, 7 years wages is a huge sum of money. But Jacob was willing to pay that price, because he loved Jacob. He recognised that she was as refreshing as that well perhaps.

But we know the story. When it came to the marriage night, his uncle gave him Leah and he didn’t know about it. When he realised it was Leah the next morning, he asked Laban why he did that to him! To cut the story short, he was willing to work another 7 years for Rachel. That was how much he treasured Rachel.

But in v30, it says Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. The NKJV and Chinese version put it kindly that Leah was relatively less loved (v31). The next verse also says she was unloved. But in the original language, it says that she was hated. This means that he loved Leah so little, comparatively, his love for her was like hatred. But God was fair to Leah by opening her womb and not Rachel’s (v32). And Leah was appreciative of God treating her so well and fairly. That is reflected in the way she named her sons.

She named her firstborn Reuben, which means “See! A son!” She acknowledged God saw her affliction and gave her a son. “He saw. And gave me a son.”

v33 she conceived again and bore a son. She called him Simeon which means “heard”. She again acknowledged that God has heard her lack of husbandly love. Surely God is one who sees our affliction. Surely God is one who hears our cries.

What Leah experienced as an individual, Israel would experience as a nation. She felt that God truly truly isn’t a god who turns a blind eye to affliction. She knows God hears the deepest cries in one’s heart.

Exo 3:7
When Moses saw the burning hush, a voice spoke out that said, “I have SEEN the affliction of My people and HEARD their cries. Therefore I have come to deliver them.”

The Chinese Buddhist worship guanshiying which means “one who sees the cries of the suffering in the world”. But actually, our God is truly the one who sees the affliction and cries of people.

Next, Leah gave birth to a third son that she named Levi (v34). Again, it’s out of her appreciation for God. “God has given me 3 sons in a row! I’m sure my husband will love me now! He’ll attach himself to me.” The Bible says that a man shall leave his father and mother and be attached/joined to his wife. Jacob left his father and mother (of course not by choice). He was attached to two women - Leah and Rachel. But was he really attached to Leah? There was no emotional attachment. Leah felt so little love. So she yearned for that kind of attachment with her husband. And she trusted in God. When God gave her her third son, she saw it as a way to get attached to her husband or make her husband attached to her. We see later that there wasn’t much of an improvement. But we can see her faith in naming her son Levi. Later on the name Levi also became significant to the descendants of this son.

Joshua 13:33
The land was divided in 12 potions for 12 tribes. But not for Levi, because Joseph became 2 tribes - Manasseh and Ephraim. Levi wasn’t one of the 12 tribes when it came to the allotment of the land. So did Levi lose out? No. The Bible says Levi’s inheritance isn’t physical land but the Lord Himself; “the lord God of Israel was their inheritance”. They had a privileged ministry. Some of these Levites were priests. They were closest to God in the temple. They could go into the holy place where other people could not. Some of the Levites were made to carry holy objects. Even though they didn’t have physical land allotted to them/they didn’t own any land, (of course they did have a place to stay,) their livelihood came from the tithes of the people. Tithes in the Bible are holy things. It’s given to God, and only the Levites had the right to the tithes (and some poor people as well).

Today what do we really look for? What’s the inheritance that we want? If we’re in the position of Leah where our husband doesn’t really come to you and attach to you, would you give up your faith in God? Not Leah. She held on as seen by how she named her children.

Today what do you seek here? Do you seek for the recognition of people? Do you seek for respect from people? Or do you seek a relationship with God? Do you want the praise of men or the approval of God? This is something we can think about when we think about Leah, and her descendants the Levites.

Next she gave birth to a fourth child she named Judah. Why? “Now I can praise the Lord!” Did her husband treat her any better? We don’t know for sure. But even if he did, he wouldn’t have treated her better than Rachel. And later on we know things aren’t really that rosy because when she gave birth to her 6th son, she called him Zebulun which means ‘dwelling’ because she yearned for her husband to dwell with her.

So what does Judah mean? It means the faith of a woman who would still praise God in the midst of that particular circumstance. At this point there was no mention of her husband being closer to her. She still praised God in spite of her circumstances. Doesn’t the Bible tell us to give thanks in all things?

Gen 49:8-10
At this time, Jacob was blessing his children. When he came to Judah, this is what he said. “He whom your brothers shall praise” “Your father’s children shall bow down before you”. Judah is meant to be a praise for God. But now the praise is returned to Judah. Why? Because the sceptre shall not depart from Judah. Judah will be a tribe of kings until Shiloh comes, which refers to the Messiah. To Him shall be the obedience of the people. Because Leah knew how to praise God. This is the blessing God gave to her and her children. That Judah should be praised by his brethren. Judah will be a royal line.

Prov 31:30-31
Between Rachel and Leah, who was the beautiful one? Rachel was (Gen 29). She was the more favoured one by Jacob. She had delicate eyes. Many people have different interpretations of what ‘delicate eyes’ means but whatever it is, we know her eyes made her not very attractive. But she’s God fearing.

“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the lord shall be praised.”

She acknowledged the work of God in her life. She named her children in remembrance and appreciation of what God had done for her.

“Let her own works praise her in the gates”

So we see Leah. She was a wife yearning for her husband like anything. Some women say this is a women’s curse. In a way it’s true. If we read the Genesis account, one part of Eve’s punishment is related to some of the things women complain about.

“Why must we be submissive to our husband ah?”
“Why are the two genders not equal ah?”
“Why must I submit to him? Why does he rule over me?”
“Why must we give birth? So painful ah!”

If we read carefully, when God created Adam and Eve, Eve wasn’t created to be ruled by her husband; she was meant to be a helper; to be treasured. But later on when she sinned, instead of being a helper, she was a stumbling block, that’s why God said, “You shall have deep yearnings for your husband and he shall rule over you!” He’s part of the punishment. “I’ll increase your labour pains.”

So the wife yearning for her husband and the husband ruling over her is part of Eve’s punishment. And we see this very true in poor Leah’s life. But then in her labour pains, she honoured God.

Did we realise that? That through her labour pains, she honoured God by naming her sons that way!

1 Tim 2:15
“she will be saved in childbearing”
One way to read this is that God will ensure a smooth delivery and preserve her life. It can’t be that she gets salvation from childbearing. It also means that a godly woman through childbearing can obtain favour from God. We see that true in Leah. Her offspring became the royal line Judah; the priestly Levi that obtains flavour from God. She’s a godly woman deserving of praise.

While God’s kindness to Leah shows how Jacob could’ve treated his wife better, Leah’s behaviour is an example for women as well as for all of us to find our true love in God.

When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, He knew why she needed him. He knew why she had many broken/unhappy marriages. He even knew at that time she was living out of wedlock; with a man she wasn’t even married to. He wanted to give her a fountain of water springing up to everlasting life.

Wives are supposed to be a well for her husband. But God is a well for everyone of us. He is our true love. Our true satisfaction.

65: Close To Thee

Let us tell ourselves that our God is a fount of every blessing. We also are a channel of blessing. Whether as wives being a blessing to our husbands or husbands to our wives, or friends being a blessing to those who know us. We pray God blesses us and blesses others.