I have been studying Rachel and Leah and Jacob for almost 2 years now and have found in their story a very rough type picture. I'm still unable to fully put it into words, but I would like to share some of what really stands out.
Concerning the typology presented in the picture, consider this. Jacob typifies the nation of Israel, Leah typifies the Law, Rachel typifies Grace/Christ, and Laban typifies God the Father. The name "Leah" means "weak or tired," the name "Rachel" means "ewe" and comes from an unused root word which means "to journey," and "Laban" means "white." Jacob, we know, means "usurper."
Leah/the Law was given to the nation of Israel by means of a marriage covenant in Ex. 24:1-11. After all was said and done, one may say that Israel was far from pleased with the Law that was given to them. BTW, Leah/Law may also be the “wife of [Israel’s] youth” mentioned in Malachi 2:14.
You’ll remember that Leah gave Jacob 4 sons in succession (without a handmaid), the last of the first 4 being Judah, the one that Christ is descended from –
Galatians 4:4
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
It is also no small matter that Leah “stopped bearing children” after Judah (Gen. 29:35 – yes, she bore more later, but there it is recorded that she stopped bearing for a time), and Israel bore no fruit after producing the Christ under the Law. Also, after the birth of Judah, Rachel got jealous of Leah and the two become at odds with one another. During the time the sisters are at odds, the handmaidens bear the children for Jacob, for God closes both of the sisters’ wombs. And of course we see that when Christ came offering His new covenant (of grace) to the nation of Israel, to do away with the old covenant (law), there was much consternation.
Now about Rachel (Christ/Grace/New Covenant), she produces her last child (fruit) with Jacob (Israel) after Jacob becomes Israel (name change signifying overcoming), after the wrath of Laban subsides and they make a covenant (Laban and Jacob), after peace is made with Esau (who typifies the flesh), after the wrestling with the angel, and this last child from Rachel (“to journey”), Benjamin, is born between the cities of Bethel and Ephrath (another name for Bethlehem). Bethel means “house of God” and Ephrath means “fruitfulness.”
Jacob “makes due,” so to speak, with Leah, though we know it is Rachel that he truly loves. But isn’t it interesting that even after acquiring Rachel he turns back to Leah? He wants to keep both, doesn’t he? And isn’t that what Israel did? They wanted their Law and all of their man-made traditions and wouldn’t give themselves whole-heartedly over to Christ.
Galatians 4:9
But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak [the name “Leah” means “weak”] and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
Just look at Jacob, who seemed to have no issue with fathering all of those children with 4 women… and yes, handmaidens still constitute adultery. The same man having two wives was just simply way too complicated… and completely against God’s intent for marriage.
Perhaps we can see why, when Christ came with the new covenant, His requirement was such that it was– to repent and be baptized. Read the following passage carefully –
Romans 7:1-6
Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were [aroused] by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
The nation of Israel was married to the Law, and in order to be married to another (grace/Christ), there needed to be a death, for they could not be married to both. Hence, the command to “Be baptized” in proclamation of their own ‘death.’ However, they chose not to die, so in order to still free them from their covenant with the Law, Christ/God died… freeing them from their old covenant (Mosaic covenant). Those Jews that chose to die with Christ after Calvary were of course freed to marry Him, having become Christians (since the Nation was set aside for a time).
Hebrews 9:16-22
For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.
Like I said, there are a LOT of gaps in this and it has taken quite a bit of study of the whole of Scripture to see the pieces come together.
There is another thought, and one that seems so blatant that it can’t be ignored. I’m just not sure how it all fits together with this picture (or if it’s just another type picture still yet to be seen). After Solomon’s reign, the kingdom of Israel was divided. Once it was divided into a northern and southern kingdom, God looked upon the divided nations as “sisters” (whereas before he looked upon Israel as his wife)–
Jeremiah 3:6-11
Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7 "And I thought, 'After she has done all these things, she will return to Me'; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 "And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. 9 "And it came about because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 "And yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the LORD. 11 And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
It seems clear that we should see Leah and Rachel, sisters, as typifying the divided kingdom. Not sure where else to go with that, though.
Anybody have any comments, questions, or thoughts to add?
| 
