Longing For Love
God is the source of genuine love.
Genesis(61) (Part of the Origins(60) series)
by Stuart Johns(68) on January 11, 2026 (Sunday Morning(86))
Forgiveness(1), God Hears(2), God Sees(2), God's Help(2), God's Love(2)
Origins
Longing for Love
(Genesis 29:31-35)
INTRODUCTION
“PBS’s The Great American Read is an eight-part series that explores America’s 100 best-loved novels. The series notes that one theme emerges often in these 100 best-loved novels—the quest for love, especially a romantic love that will endure.
Here are some quotes from literature experts commenting on the series and the novels:
‘Love is the driving force behind everything that we do. So I think reading about all these different types of loves and the ways in which they present, is one of the great human questions.’
‘I love a good love story. I think everybody wants it. If you don’t want it you’re trying to get it. If you have it, you’re trying to keep it.’
‘Every book on this list is about love and death. And finding love that transcends death. I mean, who’s not going to love a love story?’
‘We are fascinated by the fact that things can go wrong in love. We don’t want to go there. We don’t want this sort of thing to happen to us.’”
Possible Preaching Angles: Romantic love and marriage are among God’s greatest gifts to humanity. Even higher than this is God's love, expressed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The ultimate love story is when God chose us and made the ultimate commitment and sacrifice through his Son.
Source: “The Great American Read: What We Do for Love” PBS.com (9-9-18).
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2019/september/quest-for-love-endures.html].
BODY
ME
Harvey Cedars Bible Conference
Our family vacationed at Harvey Cedars Bible Conference every summer for many years [#1 – Young people, where did Pastor Stuart and his family vacation every summer? (Harvey Cedars Bible Conference)]
As a young teenager, I worked there for three summers
It was not unusual for summer love to blossom between male and female staffers
That was my hope for the summers I was there, but love never blossomed for me
It wasn’t for lack of effort on my part
The girls that I was interested in loved to talked to me, but that was where the love stopped
I was longing for love
I can look back on those summers, now, and realize that God had a better plan for me
WE
How many of us have experienced a longing for love?
That was exactly what Leah was longing for. She thought that bearing children for Jacob would change his love for her. She realized after the first three sons, that having children for Jacob did not change his love for her. Her pursuit of love needed to be focused in a different direction. Instead of pursuing love from her husband, she needed to pursue the perfect, genuine love of God. The same is true for us. Human love can be fickle and it is definitely imperfect and sometimes disingenuous. We need to realize that…
BIG IDEA – God is the source of genuine love.
Let’s pray
GOD (Genesis 29:31-35)
Condition (v. 31)
Fertile (Leah)
The Lord saw that Leah was not loved
Last week we talked about the fact that Jacob did love Leah, but not in the same way he loved Rachel
Leah was obviously keenly aware of Jacob’s favoritism for Rachel
Leah wanted what Rachel had, but she was pursuing love and acceptance in the wrong direction
Leah needed to realize that God is the source of genuine love.
Jeremiah 31:3, The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
Acts 10:34-35, Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. (Gospel for the Gentiles too)
Romans 2:11, For God does not show favoritism. (God’s judgment)
If God does not show favoritism when it comes to the Gospel and His judgement, we can be sure that He does not show favoritism when it comes to His love
That needs to be true for us also, we should not show favoritism
James 2:1, My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.
Jacob showed favoritism to Rachel
God saw that and did something about it
PRINCIPLE #1 – God is all seeing.
The Lord saw that Jacob was showing favoritism to Rachel over Leah
He sees when we show favoritism in our lives (child, parent, friend, coworker, sibling, etc.)
Take a moment to reflect on your life right now
Are you showing favoritism at home, work, or school?
The Lord sees how you treat those at home, work, or school
What changes do you need to make so you are treating everyone equally and fairly?
Do you need to ask a family member, coworker, or friend to forgive you for treating them unfairly?
#1 – My Next Step Today Is To: Ask _________ (name) to forgive me for not treating them fairly and equitably.
When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved the same way by Jacob, He opened her womb
The Lord opened Leah’s womb
PRINCIPLE #2 – God is gracious and merciful to those who are unloved.
The Lord provided for Leah as the unloved wife of Jacob
He was intimately aware of her circumstances
He saw that she was unloved, so he opened her womb
The Lord will provide for you when you are unloved
He is intimately aware of your circumstances
He sees that you are unloved
Out of His great grace and mercy, He will provide for you
I don’t know exactly how He will provide for you, but I know that He will
His provision will meet you right where you are
#2 – My Next Step Today Is To: When I am feeling unloved, turn to the Lord and receive His grace and mercy.
Perhaps Leah had turned to the Lord
The Lord opened her womb, while her sister’s womb remained shut
Barren (Rachel)
Rachel’s condition was a closed womb that was barren
She was not able to conceive any children
As we will see over the next two messages, Rachel’s condition lasted for a long time
While Rachel was barren, Leah was fertile and she was blessed with four sons
Conception (vv. 32-35)
Reuben (reh-oo-bane’/ray-oo-vein)
Leah became pregnant
God is the One who opened Leah’s womb
God is the One who enabled her to conceive
PRINCIPLE #3 – God is the One who gives life. [#2 – Young people, who is the One that gives life? (God)]
He is the Creator of everything, so He is the One who gives physical life
God is also the One who gives spiritual life, eternal life
John 1:10-13, He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish by have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
What did Jesus have to save us from? (sin)
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8
1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 (how that Christ died…)
#3 – My Next Step Today Is To: Receive Jesus into my life and believe in His name, so I can be saved and have eternal life.
God allowed Leah to conceive and she gave birth to a son and named him Reuben
Etymology
His name means, “see, a son”
His name sounds like the Hebrew for “he has seen my misery”
In the text, we saw that Leah expressed what the Hebrew sounds like when she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery”
The same was true for Hagar and her situation (Genesis 16:11)
PRINCIPLE #4 – God is concerned about and cares for the unfortunate.
Leah
The Lord knew all about Leah’s heartache and her desire for genuine love
Her condition was not lost on the Lord
He knew exactly what He was doing
Us
The Lord knows all about your heartache and desire for genuine love
God is the source of genuine love.
Your condition is not lost on the Lord
He knows exactly what He is doing about your situation, so you can trust Him!
Reuben was Jacob’s first born son
First born
As the first born son of Jacob, he stood to inherit a double portion of his father’s estate
Unfortunately, he forfeited that position by defiling his father’s bed
Genesis 49:3-4, “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.”
Genesis 35:21-22, Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.
Leah’s focus
Notice where Leah focused her desire for love
She focused on the love of her husband, Jacob [#3 – Young people, from whom was Leah trying to receive love? (Jacob)]
She believed that providing a male heir for him would change his love for her, but Jacob was human and fallible
God is the source of genuine love.
Leah conceived a second time
Simeon (shim-one’/shim-own’)
She gave birth to another son
PRINCIPLE #3 – God is the One who gives life.
Etymology
His name probably meant, “one who hears” or “hearing with acceptance”
Leah once again expressed her hopes with the birth of Simeon when she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.”
PRINCIPLE #5 – God is all-knowing!
God not only saw Leah’s unloved condition, but he also heard about it
She probably cried out to the Lord about her condition
The same is true for us – the Lord hears our cries and sees our condition
Psalm 18:6, In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
Psalm 34:17-18, The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
#4 – My Next Step Today Is To: Cry out to the Lord about _________ (situation, circumstance, condition, etc.)
Simeon was human and struggled with sin, just like we do
Simeon’s Condition
Since Reuben forfeited his position as the first born son, perhaps it would fall to Simeon
Unfortunately, that was not the case
He also forfeited his position and blessing in the family
Genesis 49:5-7, “Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.”
Simeon and Levi killed all of the male Shechemites as revenge for Shechem defiling their sister Dinah (dee-nah’)
Genesis 34:25-26, Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.
Once again we saw that Leah was seeking love and approval from her husband
Leah’s focus
She was lamenting again that she was not loved by Jacob
Her desire was to be loved by Jacob the same way he loved Rachel
“She yearns to change her status from the rejected to the preferred wife (cf. 29:34). As Armstrong expresses, ‘Yet we see the depth of Leah’s pain in the names she gives her children. When Reuben…was born, her triumph was mingled with bitterness and a forlorn hope….Each time she conceived, she nurtured the same yearning, but always in vain.’” [Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary, 410]
She was stuck in the cycle of comparing herself to her sister
PRINCIPLE #4 – God is concerned about and cares for the unfortunate.
Perhaps the Lord was trying to get Leah to change her focus by providing her with a second son, but she was blinded to the love and blessing of the Lord
She was not yet ready to accept the truth that God is the source of genuine love and not another human being
It was going to take some time before she came to that realization
The Lord heard that Leah was unloved and provided her with Simeon
She was not finished having children
Levi (lay-vee’)
She conceived a third time and had another son
PRINCIPLE #3 – God is the One who gives life.
Etymology
Levi’s name literally means, “adhesion, or garland, crown”
His name sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for “attached”
Leah named him Levi with the hope that Jacob would now become attached to her in the same way he was attached to Rachel
“She has not yet given up on Jacob.” [Hamilton, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18-50, 268]
Levi’s condition
As we saw in Genesis 49:5-7, Levi’s actions and anger were cursed by Jacob because he had joined his brother Simeon in killing the Shechemites (Genesis 34:25-26)
Unlike Simeon, Levi’s line was redeemed
The tribe of Levi was set apart for the service of the sanctuary
Aaron was from the line of Levi and became the first high priest
Just like you and I, Leah continued to seek love and acceptance from another human being, Jacob
Leah’s focus
Her desire was to be attached to Jacob
“She must learn to find her emotional fulfillment in the Lord’s grace alone.” [Waltke, 410]
The Lord wanted her to be attached to Him as her genuine source of love
The Lord wants us to be attached to Him as our genuine source of love and acceptance
John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” [#4 – Young people, to whom should we be attached? (Jesus, the vine)]
The Lord had another blessing for Leah
Judah (yeh-hoo-daw’)
Leah conceived again and gave birth to a fourth son
PRINCIPLE #3 – God is the One who gives life.
Etymology
Judah’s name literally means “praise”
Leah’s focus had changed, which was reflected in what she said when Judah was born, “This time I will praise the Lord.” [#5 – Young people, what did Leah do after having her fourth son? (praised the Lord)]
Judah’s condition
We know from Biblical history that the line of Judah was the line of the kings, the monarchy
It was also through Judah’s line that Jesus came
Read Genesis 49:8-12
Leah’s focus
Notice that Leah did not lament about her misery, her loveless condition, or being attached to her husband
She did not even mention Jacob after the birth of her fourth son
Her focus shifted from her husband to the Lord
She finally realized that God was the source of genuine love, so she praised Him
The same is true for us
God is our source of genuine love.
His love for us is prefect and never ending
Psalm 103:17-18, But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
Jeremiah 31:3, The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
Lamentations 3:22, Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
#5 – My Next Step Today Is To: Seek God’s genuine love.
Stop trying to seek the love and acceptance of other humans, because it is not perfect or everlasting
God is the only source of genuine love
Cessation
After having four sons, Leah stopped having children at least for a little while
“Leah was no longer fretting because her sister had so effectively monopolized Jacob’s heart. Leah had found an outlet for her love in the Lord. She no longer needed people to make her happy, her joy and praise was in God. Having reached that high note in her spiritual life Leah ceased having sons. What need had she of further assurance? The Lord was better to her than a hundred sons’ (Phillips, 243) [Gangel & Bramer, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Genesis, 248]
YOU
Are you ready to ask for forgiveness from those you have not treated fairly or equitably?
When you are feeling unloved, remember to turn to the Lord and receive His grace and mercy.
You can receive Jesus into your life and believe in His name, so you can be saved and have eternal life.
You can cry out to the Lord about the situation, circumstance, or condition you are currently experiencing.
Choose to seek God’s genuine love.
WE
We may need to ask for forgiveness from those we have not treated fairly or equitably.
We can cry out to the Lord about the situation, circumstance, or condition we are currently facing.
We can choose to seek God’s genuine love.
CONCLUSION
In the fall of 1937, Ed Keefer was a senior in the school of engineering at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Tall, slender, and bespectacled, Keefer was the president of the calculus club, the vice-president of the engineering club, and a member of the school’s exclusive all-male honor society. He also invented the Cupidoscope.
The electrical device could not have been more perfectly designed to bring campus-wide fame to its creators, Keefer and his less sociable classmate John Hawley. It promised to reveal, with scientific precision, if a couple was truly in love. As the inventors explained to a United Press reporter as news of their innovation spread, the Cupidoscope delivered on its promise ‘in terms called ‘amorcycles,’ the affection that the college girl has for her boyfriend.’
Built in the school’s physics laboratory, the Cupidoscope was fashioned from an old radio cabinet, a motor spark coil, and an electrical resistor. To test their bond, a man and a woman would grip electrodes on either side of the Cupidoscope and move them toward one another until the woman felt a spark—not of attraction, but of electricity. The higher her tolerance for this mild current, the more of a love signal the meter registered. A needle decorated with hearts purported to show her devotion on a scale that ranged from ‘No hope’ to ‘See preacher!’
It all sounds like a slightly painful party game—but the Cupidoscope was one experiment in a serious, decades-long quest to quantify love. This undertaking garnered the attention of leading scientists across the United States and in Europe in the early years of the 20th century, and it is memorialized most prominently in the penny arcade mainstay known as the Love Tester.”
Possible Preaching Angle:
“How do you measure love?” The Bible gives an answer to this important question: It is measured by the self-sacrifice of the Cross—“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16); “Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:17-19).
Source: April White, “Inside a Decades-Long Quest to Measure Love,” Atlas Obscura (2-10-23).
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2023/march/how-do-you-measure-love.html].
