Marriage Truths

 "Then he charged them and said to them: I am going to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite," Genesis 49:29

"There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah." Genesis 49:31

As I wrote recently, after being married will your husband chose to be buried with you in death? In this text we see that in this cave were buried the patriarchs and their wives. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, And soon Jacob will join Leah, not Rachel. Many widowers who marry again still choose to be buried with their first wife in death. This shows the powerful connection of men and women, especially your first marriage.

Today as I read this it seems like Jacob almost reluctantly issues the order for him to be buried with Leah. Jacob loved Rachel almost too much. But in the end Leah was a better wife and she was true to her vows and she earned a place by Jacob in death that she never enjoyed in life.

Marriage is more deep and binding than we understand. Widowers may marry again out of loneliness. But they will never love anyone as deep and as much as they loved the wife that they buried. Widows need to understand that they may get a companion for their latter years but they will never be loved like they wish they could be by a man who loved his wife until death did them part.