Sneak Peek Into Leah’s Story

 

My new release, The Reluctant Rival: Leah’s Story, will soon release with Guideposts Books’ ongoing series called, Ordinary Women of the Bible. Because Guideposts Books is a subscription-based publisher, I won’t do all the marketing and hoopla that happens with my other books. You can purchase Leah’s Story alone or subscribe to the whole series. CLICK HERE for more information.

Writing for Guideposts has been really fun. Easier in some ways but more difficult in others. Leah’s Story is a shorter book, and that made it quicker to write. My assistant, Amanda, read an early copy and said she liked it better than all my other books!

The hard part, however, has been not knowing the exact release date. Even now, as I write this post (2/9/21), I’m not exactly sure when it will be available to purchase. Here’s the general link to the series, and I’ll be waiting WITH YOU to see my book listed with Ordinary Women of the Bible!

One thing I’ve been SUPER GRATEFUL FOR: writing Leah’s Story was the beginning of my journey with Joseph.

A Hurdle Becomes the Launchpad

About a year ago, I felt the Lord’s whisper in my spirit: “Chosen, Chained, Champion.” I knew those three words were three books I was to write about Joseph with three distinct women who impacted his life.

When I presented the idea to my publisher, they only wanted to contract the last two books (Potiphar’s Wife & Asenath). A few days after that disappointment, Guideposts Books contacted me, asking if I’d consider writing for their Ordinary Women of the Bible series.

They agreed to let me write about Leah, and the rest–as they say–is history!

The three words–chosen, chained, and champion–though not titles–have become the concepts on which each book focuses. In Leah’s Story, she becomes a “chosen” one like Joseph. So, as you see, it’s a familiar story but told from her unfamiliar perspective.

Review & The New

Last Monday, I wrote a blog post that reviewed the biblical story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel’s rocky beginnings. Today, we’ll move forward on what happened after Uncle Laban tricked Jacob into marrying the older sister, Leah, though Jacob worked seven years to marry Rachel, whom he loved.

One of the big tasks in every biblical novel is to figure out timing. We can never be 100% certain of the year in which things happened, and scholars NEVER agree. So no matter how much research I do or which Bible teacher we listen to, there’s someone somewhere who believes differently. (Hrumph.) I do the best I can with the research I find…

Here Come Da Kids

Regardless of what year Jacob left Isaac’s camp in Beersheba and traveled to Laban’s home in Haran, we know he spent twenty years in Laban’s service.

[Jacob said to Laban,] “It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.” Genesis 31:41

We know he worked seven years before he married his wives, which means ten sons (including Joseph) and Dinah were born to Jacob in Haran. Even if Leah conceived on their wedding night, his first son, Reuben, couldn’t have been older than 12-13 when they left Haran.

Below, you’ll see the Excel sheet I used to work out Jacob’s wives and their possible birth dates as Gen. 29:31-30:24 describes it.

Twins From Two Mothers

As you see on the last row, I chose to have Leah and Rachel give birth to Dinah and Joseph close to the same time in my FICTIONAL account. This is a little different than I wrote in Love Amid the Ashes (LATA – my Amazon aff link).

Why the change?

As I dug a deeper into research, I realized the birth dates in LATA weren’t as realistic. Remember, LATA was my debut novel. I’ve learned more about how to research and find better resources.

Why Chosen?

Since the overarching theme of this first book is Chosen, you’ll see in Scripture that Leah was chosen by God even when her husband denied her love.

“When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.” Genesis 29:31

And we also see Joseph was chosen as Jacob’s favorite because he was the firstborn of his favorite wife, Rachel. We see it most prominently when Jacob prepares to meet his estranged brother, Esau.

“[Jacob] put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.” Genesis 33:2

No spoilers there, right? That’s the beautiful thing about biblical fiction. I can tell you a lot about what’s happening in Leah’s Story without revealing spoilers because you’ve already read the biblical account!

But here’s a little “sneak peek pondering” I’m sharing with you, as my newsletter subscribers, that the rest of the world doesn’t know…

Leah’s Response

Sometimes Leah responsed to her sister Rachel rather harshly. Okay, more than harshly. Downright nasty. But who could blame her?

“During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.’ But she said to her, ‘Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?’” Genesis 30:14–15

But we never see Leah (or any of Jacob’s wives) speak unkindly to his sons–or Dinah.

Here’s another thought… I made the assumption that Rachel worshiped idols because she stole her father’s household gods when they left Haran. She then lied to keep them hidden.

I believe there were others in the household who also worshiped pagan gods. We see proof of it after Levi & Simeon killed all the men of Shechem (to read more about the murders at Shechem, CLICK HERE). Jacob was shaken by his sons’ brutality, and after crying out to God, he came back to camp with these instructions:

“Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:2–3

Who Taught the Kids of Yahweh?

If Rachel worshiped pagan gods, who taught Jacob’s sons about Yahweh? Culturally, I believe the overall household responsibilities fell to Jacob’s first wife. Because Leah was favored by Yahweh, it makes sense that she would have educated the children–all the children–to know her God. Their father’s God.

How do you think Leah would have responded to the firstborn, favored son of her rival, Rachel?

• A little boy chosen above all her sons by his father.
• A little boy the same age as HER daughter–the first little girl in the clan.
• A little boy bounced on Jacob’s knee while the “twin” little girl was treated ??????

How did Leah treat Joseph? Now, if I answered THAT, it would be a spoiler!

Today’s Question:

• Let’s hear your pondering. How do you think Leah might have felt about Joseph? How would Rachel (and the other mothers) have treated Dinah? How would YOU have written this aspect of Leah’s story?