Focus: Higher Hope

Text: Gen.30:20

"And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband DWELL WITH me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun."

God will fulfill the longing of your heart in ways far beyond what you have ever dreamed or imagined. Paul tells us that God is "able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Eph.3:20). God always exceeds our expectations. He does much more than we think or ask for. Men may make us yawn by their disappointing character, but God certainly satisfies the yearning of our hearts.

Leah constantly expressed the hope of one day securing Jacob's love and affection. When Zebulun arrived as her sixth son, Leah looked forward to Jacob dwelling happily with her, even enjoying his warmest embrace and sweetest company. But Leah lived and died without experiencing the reality of her expectation. Her hopes were dashed.

Jacob always preferred Rachel to her. In Jacob's eyes Leah meant nothing. We find in Leah the story of a neglected wife and a lady so despised and so unloved.

Amazingly, Jacob's greater son fulfilled the longing of her heart. The promised seed, Jesus Christ Himself dwelt in Zebulun's territory for years. Nazareth was a village in Zebulun. In Mt.2:23 we read, "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth…" He made Nazareth His home. Even His name, Jesus Christ, is forever attached to Nazareth.

On the cross He was known as "JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Jh.19:19). He died on the cross as Jesus of Nazareth. On the day of His resurrection, the angel announced, "Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him" (Mk.16:6). He rose from the dead as Jesus of Nazareth. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, the Lord Jesus says to Saul of Tarsus, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest" (Act.22:8). He ascended to heaven, sat at the Father's right hand, and appeared to Saul as Jesus of Nazareth. Interestingly, Nazareth falls within the region of Zebulun. Jesus Christ is known as the man of Galilee, and Isaiah describes Galilee as "the Galilee of the Gentiles," and says concerning the area, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined" (Isa.9:1,2). Matthew records, "And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim… The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles" (Mt.4:13,15). Zebulun and Naphtali possessed the whole area bordering the Sea of Galilee. Zebulun provided great safety harbors or haven of refuge for ships and sailors. The tribe of Zebulun was more involved in commerce than they were in animal husbandry. It was in the vicinity of Zebulun that prophet Jonah and some of the Apostles of Christ lived, namely, Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Jesus Christ Himself spent 30 years of His life here in the territory of Zebulun. It is most likely that He must have rested on Zebulun's harbors in times of storm.

It is also interesting to note what Solomon said to the Lord at the dedication or opening of the temple. He said, "I have surely built thee an house to DWELL IN, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever" (1Kgs.8:13). The words 'dwell in' are one word in the Hebrew, which is 'zebul.' That is the same as Zebulun, meaning that his name is connected to the temple of the Lord. The temple is God's Zebulun - His dwelling place. Zebulun means, dwelling, habitation, at-home-ness with. It also means to be honored or to be exalted. Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry…" God exalted and honored her. She felt the blessings of God on her life. No evil done to her by man could hinder God's plan for her life. She was a fruitful woman and a mother of nine children: six biological sons and a daughter, and two wonderful sons from her maid. That means that while she was hated by Jacob and hissed at by Rachel, she was being highly favored and honored by God. 

No man can stop God from favoring and blessing you. Man's judgment is different from God's. Man's conclusion is different from God's.

Leah was sadly demeaned by man, but greatly esteemed by God. God saw treasure where man saw trash. Man may reject you for the junk he sees in your trunk, but God sees and takes that same junk and transforms it into a jewel, and the next time man looks into the 'trunk' of your life, he will greatly marvel, for all he sees will be only jewels. In Christ we find all our aspirations fulfilled. God never disappoints. Man cannot give you what is in God's hands alone to provide. 

Do not look to man for what does not lie in his power to provide. Man cannot give you even the smallest of what he does not possess.

Jesus Christ says, "A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven" (Jh.3:27). James says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (Jam.1:17). God says by the mouth of Hosea, "I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel" (Hos.2:21-22). That is the divine principle and a supernatural chain reaction. 

Until God gives, no man will look your way. God first responds, and then we will have all other responses in their order. Everything flows from God to the heavens to the earth to the produce of the earth and finally to man - the user and consumer of God's bounty. The psalmist says, "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him" (Ps.62:5). What Jacob could not do for Leah, her messianic son had done for her. Christ dwelt in Zebulun's land, Leah's sixth son and Jacob's tenth son. God knows how and when to satisfy the yearning of your heart. Christ felt at home in Leah's land. His light shone in the region even as He blessed the people of the area with His precious presence. That is surely the higher hope. Jesus Christ declares, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (Jh.14:2,3). This is the highest hope: to be with Jesus Christ and enjoy His presence for all eternity!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter