1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the East.
Metaphysically interpreted, Jacob's journeying toward the East is a way of saying that the illumined intellect is penetrating deeper into the inner spiritual consciousness.
2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and lo, three flocks of sheep lying beside it; for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large,
3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place upon the mouth of the well.
The well of water symbolizes an innate spiritual life capacity in the body consciousness. The three flocks of sheep represent three states of physical existence, each on its own plane expressing the innocent, obedient activity of life. The people Jacob visits are living in Haran, the name of which means "strong," "exalted," "mountaineer"; the people being not necessarily spiritual but having high ideals. Their concepts are limited in expression ("they put the stone again upon the well's mouth in its place").
4 Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where do you come from?" They said, "We are from Haran."
5 He said to them, "Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?" They said, "We know him."
6 He said to them, "Is it well with him?" They said, "It is well; and see, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep!"
7 He said, "Behold, it is still high day, it is not time for the animals to be gathered together; water the sheep, and go, pasture them."
8 But they said, "We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep."
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she kept them.
10 Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
11 Then, Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.
12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father.
13 When Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things,
14 and Laban said to him, "Surely, you are my bone and my flesh!" And he stayed with him a month.
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
Laban represents the unsophisticated natural man whose pure high ideals are expressed by Rachel and Leah (they shepherd his sheep or thoughts). Jacob (related through his mother to this divine-natural plane of consciousness) now makes a closer contact that brings about prosperity for all concerned.
16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
17 Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful and lovely.
18 Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel."
19 Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me."
20 So, Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
21 Then, Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed."
22 So Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.
23 But in the evening, he took his daughter, Leah, and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.
24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.)
The name Zilpah means "distilling," "leaking." Zilpah symbolizes the unfolding soul of man in which as yet too much of the human is in evidence.
25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"
26 Laban said, "It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born.
27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years."
28 Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to wife.
When unselfish love touches the heart, self drops out of the mind. Love in the heart lifts us out of the time limitations of sense consciousness into the joy of the eternal present. When we forget ourselves in the service of love, the selflessness of God takes possession of our being. Yet, the selfless man is ever the self-possessed man, such is the paradox of spiritual law.
The Higher Self in man loves the pure natural soul (Rachel) and works joyously to possess it. The
Higher Self also loves the human part of the soul (Leah) with an objective love and feeds it with the enduring substance of true thought. Jacob was true to Leah. We can sustain the whole consciousness in health and unfailing strength by recognizing it as the essence of invisible substance.
29 (Laban gave his maid, Bilhah, to his daughter, Rachel, to be her maid.)
The name Bilhah means "bashfulness," "timidity," "tenderness." Bilhah represents a tendency of the soul toward self-abasement.
30 So, Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
31 When YHVH saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, "Because YHVH has looked upon my affliction; surely now my husband will love me."
The first child born to Leah was Reuben. At his birth she cried, "YHVH hath looked upon my affliction." The emphasis is on the word looked, and we find that the name Reuben means "a son seen," "vision of the son." Thus the mother revealed the character of the faculty represented by the child, and this is likewise true in the case of each of the sons.
The first faculty brought forth in man's spiritual development is vision, the ability to discern the reality of Spirit that is behind every form or symbol in the material world. It is brought forth by the human part of the soul, once the soul is being fed true thoughts\beliefs.
33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because YHVH has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also"; and she called his name Simeon.
Like Jacob, all Truth seekers are anxious to develop Faith (Benjamin) to remove mountains.
34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons"; therefore his name was called Levi.
When Levi, the third son, was born, Leah exclaimed, "Now this time will my husband be joined unto me." The emphasis is on the word joined. Levi means "uniting," which in the body is Feeling, in the soul: Compassion, and in the Spirit: Love.
The faculty of Love is the unifying principle in consciousness. It connects our forces with that on which we center our attention. When our attention is focused on Spirit, these faculties become spiritualized. When we elevate Love (Levi) to the plane of Spirit (John), it draws to us all that the soul requires. When it is kept on the lower plane as feeling or emotion it often leads to selfishness, to indulgence, even to violence.
35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "This time, I will praise YHVH"; therefore, she called his name Judah; then she ceased bearing.
The fourth son of Jacob and Leah was Judah. In Hebrew, this name means "praise YHVH." In Spirit, this is Prayer and the faculty of Accumulating Spiritual Substance. In physical consciousness, this faculty becomes acquisitiveness, the desire to accumulate material things, and if the self is dominant the faculty "hath a devil" (Judas).