Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, June 25, 2026
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Here again is joyful recognition of heritage and identity. On the surface it’s the old Godfather “May your first child be a masculine child” nonsense that seems to place the entirety of a woman’s value on her ability to bear sons. But there is something deeper going on here. Rachel and Leah, while they did, indeed, build up the house of Israel by giving birth (along with their maids) to 12 strapping boys, are remembered for far more than just that. We have some of their back-story. We see the ways each woman was loving and faithful in spite of challenges (Rachel’s infertility struggles, Leah’s frustration with her husband’s preference of Rachel). They were three-dimensional, flawed, beautiful, strong, and tragic. In that way, they were signs of the ways God is present with us in even our most difficult times, and can bring great joy and beauty out of adversity. So it is in the book of Ruth, which begins with tragedy and ends with joy. The witnesses wish that God make Ruth like Rachel and Leah becomes less about her churning out heirs and more about her being a beloved matriarch.
When have I experienced sorrow giving way to joy?
