The King James Bible changed my life

Boy did I get an eye opener

I grew up in a home where my mother and grandmother loaded me up with books. I had many big books of fairytales, about 30 Little Golden Books, and 5 or 6 children's Bible story books. There were also the stories I learned in Sunday school. I thought I knew all the Old Testament Biblical characters pretty well. Imagine my surprise when in the summer of 1995 when my pastor's wife added some details to the Genesis 29 saga of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah.

I knew Jacob married 2 sisters and had 12 sons who became the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of the Israelites but what I had never done was read the facts from the Bible itself. I heard the first lady of the church giving some fantastic detail that grabbed my attention because it sounded like a soap opera or a fractured fairytale.

I had wrongly assumed that Biblical characters were almost perfect and lived lives that pleased the Creator but what I was hearing was anything but. I went home that day and read the story for myself and learned all the good parts that had been left out of the children's versions. Jacob fell in love with Rachel and worked for 7 years for her father. On his wedding night, however, his new father-in-law substituted his oldest daughter Leah in place of the intended bride.

My eyes were opened to the truth

Jacob was outraged but Laban said in his culture the oldest daughter had to marry first. It would have been nice if he had told him beforehand. Imagine in the dark of night Jacob believes he is making love to hsi beloved Rachel who was the more attractive sister. her is whispering sweet nothings in her ear and saying how much he loves her and in the light of day realizes he has been tricked.

Jacob worked 7 additional years for Laban so he could have Rachael and once he married her the sisters began a war with one another. The Bible says Leah was unloved so God opened her womb. She may not have been attractive but she must have been good in bed because Jacob continued to sleep with both of his wives. Leah began having children and Rachel became jealous. She begged Jacob to give her children or she would die.

Jacob was obviously spending more time in Rachel's tent because one day Leah asked to "hire" her husband by giving her sister mandrakes. In today's vernacular Leah wanted her man and gave Rachel fruit so she would allow Jacob to sleep with her older sister that night.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

In her frustration, she gave her maid to her husband so he could have sex with her and Rachel was going to claim any children the3 maid gave birth to. I don't know about anyone reading but I was married 40 years and I would not have given any woman to my spouse to take to bed for any reason. Leah did not want to be outdone so she gave her own maid to Jacob to sleep with so this man was having himself a funky good time. He had 2 sons with Rachel who died in childbirth with her second child Benjamin. Each maid gave him 2 sons and Leah gave birth to 6 sons and a daughter named Dinah.

The point of my story is that all of this sounds like something straight from the Jerry Springer Show but according to Jewish traditions these were the forefathers of the 12 tribes of the Hebrews who were the chosen people and in Christian tradition this is the lineage that Jesus Christ came through. After this. I began reading the King James Bible and found more flawed people who did great things. I understand that some things are not fit for the ears of the very young but the sanitized kid version and the way they were taught had given me an unrealistic picture of people in Biblical times.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in rules and regulations and having moral standards but now I know even the great people of the Bible had serious issues and it makes me feel less like a failure when I fall short. These folk were off the chain and this is why I enjoy the thees and thous of the King's English and why the King James Bible changed my life. I enjoy reading the stories of broken, self-serving humans who mess up just like me yet they could still be utilized in the grander scheme of things and affected the world that we live in today.