The wedding veil is an ancient symbol of modesty. The first we read of a veil in the Bible was when Rebekah covered herself with a veil before she was introduced to her future husband ,Isaac, in Gen. 24. Commentators speculate that it was also used to play a trick on Jacob during his marriage to who he thought was his beloved Rachel.( Remember when he played a trick on his “dim-eyed” father , pretending to be Esau?) Leah’s identity was not ascertained until the morning. A belligerent groom was quick to confront his father-in-law and Rachel was promised to Jacob after Leah’s bridal week was fulfilled at the cost of seven more years of labor. The Lord blessed Leah with six sons and we see a progression of her faith with the naming of these boys: Reuben[See, a son!]; “because the Lord has seen my humiliation; now my husband will love me.” Simeon [God hears];”because the Lord heard that I am despised”. Levi [companion]; “now this time my husband will be a companion to me”. Judah [praise]; “now I will praise the Lord”. Issachar [hired]; “God has given me my hire. And Leah became pregnant again and bore Jacob her sixth son. Then Leah said, ‘God has endowed me with a good marriage gift; now he will dwell with me because I have borne him six sons’; and she named him Zebulun[dwelling].” Faithful Leah was buried by Jacob in the cave of Machpelah along with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah … a space reserved beside her when he too would “be gathered to his people”.
While we do not go around in long veils today, modesty is still required by women of God. If the LORD has commanded men to “treat older women as mothers and younger women as sisters, in all purity”, (1 Timothy 5:2) we should make every effort to not put temptation before their eyes. Let’s teach modesty by word and example to the girls in our sphere of influence. You might consider a special evening class or “sleep-over” to really go into depth with this vital teaching.
The worksheet includes Leah’s wedding dress, one “modest” outfit, and one inappropriate outfit for you to discuss…(if you have boys in your class..please cut off the bottom two outfits and only give them the top portion.) Color Leah and cut a rectangle …from the edge 3 3/4 inches and 8 1/4 inch tall…leaving a space to write the verse from 1 Timothy. Cut out the space for Leah’s eyes to show through. If you choose to, you may cut more of the veil off to show more of her face.
Leah with face showing
Color dress and cut out. Save the heavy duty foil seals that come on coffee cans or nuts, and cut them with a hole-punch …glue above eyes after gluing the veil which is cheese cloth or other gauzey material. Have the girls toss the immodest outfit in the trash to further illustrate your lesson.
Leah – modesty w/text
The worksheet and instruction for Korah’s Rebellion is now posted.
aunties bible lessons 
I stumbled on your blog post while looking up ideas for a lesson about Rachel and Leah in my own church’s children’s ministry. While I agree that modesty is a valuable lesson for girls to learn, I am really uncomfortable with the idea of using the Leah’s story as a way of teaching modesty. Modesty is certainly not the takeaway of the story in Genesis. It’s not even close. Rather than a lesson about modesty and purity, I think this is a story about faith, hope, and God’s love of choosing the unwanted to carry out His promises. I would encourage someone looking for a lesson on modesty to look elsewhere in the Bible (Proverbs, maybe?) and use this story as a lesson about the fact that God sees our hearts, rather than our outer beauty.
There are many lessons to be gleaned from each story in the Bible. Thank-you for taking the time to comment. I expect all of you Bible teachers out there to fully relate the stories with the Holy Spirit’s help. The worksheets that are provided on this site just illustrate one aspect of each story…not necessarily the “takeaway” point. They are mainly to inspire and encourage you as you joyfully serve our LORD by blessing His little ones. Bible Auntie