Aren’t children great? They can be so much fun and their lives are open books with absolutely so much potential ahead of them. They can be or do anything that they choose. The Bible tells us, in Psalm 127:3-5, that children are a heritage and a blessing… a reward from God. While it is common today for some couples to choose to be childless, in Bible times, it was a woman’s main duty in life to bear her husband many children. Women who were unable to bear children were often the object of pity and suspected of somehow angering the Lord.
In today’s reading, we will see Jacob getting his quiver full of happiness. Our previous lesson saw him marrying two women. While this was acceptable in the culture at the time, it was certainly not acceptable to God who had established marriage, way back in the beginning, to be between one man and one woman (Gen 2:24). Jacob, meaning to marry Rachel, found himself married to her sister, Leah. But, because it was Rachel he loved, he married her also.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for Leah to wake up on the first day of her marriage. Her husband realizes he has been tricked and she is not Rachel. He must have been horrified and angry. Tremendously angry! Talk about feeling unwanted. But imagine what it was like for Rachel. Her father has substituted her sister to marry Rachel’s true love. Now, Rachel must wait another week to marry him while he has a honeymoon with Leah and then there is a lifetime of sharing her husband (true love) with her sister.
Today’s reading is the story of two desperate women. Leah, who is desperate for her husband to love her, though she knows that will never be the case. And Rachel, who is desperate to give her husband a child, and has to watch her sister do so time and again. These women are unhappy. Both are looking to husband and children for happiness and find themselves frustrated. The Bible tells us that true joy and happiness come from our relationship with a Holy God (Psalm 16:11, 35:9, 63:1-5, John 15:11).
As you read through today’s passage, make a list in your journal of the children born to Jacob, along with who their mother was, and the meaning of their names.
The first child comes along in Gen 29:31-32. Why did God cause Leah to conceive first? Things must have been difficult in this family, because of the two women, and God even things up just a little bit. This first child was called Reuben, which means “see, a son” but also sounds like the Hebrew words for “He has seen my misery”.
The second son comes along in verse 33. This one was named Simeon, which probably means “one who hears”. Why did Leah give this name to her son?
The third son is revealed in verse 34 and was named Levi, which is derived from the Hebrew word for ‘attached’. Why was this name chosen?
The fourth son comes along in verse 35 and was named Judah, which may be derived from the Hebrew word for ‘praise’. And why was this name chosen? Look at the names that Leah gave to these first four sons. Can you feel the desperation she is living through? We can see in Songs of Songs 8:7 a description of true love. Do you think this describes what Leah is longing for? Do you think a woman can produce this kind of love in a man by giving him the desires of his heart (in Leah’s case, repeatedly producing children) if it is not there already? Many women, through the years, have tried to earn a man’s love, and failed.
Read Gen 30:1-2. Now we have high drama. While her sister has already given Jacob four sons, Rachel has still not been able to conceive so she lashes out at her husband. But Jacob is helpless to do anything about it. Rachel is feeling desperate and frustrated and comes up with a plan.
In those days, if a wife was unable to bear children, it was common practice to force her female slave to sleep with her husband and become pregnant. When the child was born, the wife would then take the child away from the slave and raise it as her own. Again, just because something is acceptable in our culture does not mean it is acceptable to God. Throughout time, man has been able to justify to himself many appalling things. And though this appalling thing was cruel and inhumane, it was considered perfectly acceptable in the culture at that time. And so Rachel decided this was her answer. She did not consult God. She did not do things God’s way. She took matters into her own hands and turned to sin.
Verses 3-6 tell us of Jacob’s fifth son, named Dan, which means ‘he has vindicated’. Why did Rachel choose this name for her son? Infertility had probably subjected Rachel to some gossip that God is punishing her for secret sins. Such was the culture at the time.
But it didn’t stop there. Verses 7-8 tell us of Jacob’s sixth son. His name was Naphtali, which means ‘my struggle’. What does the name of these two sons tell you about what was going on in Rachel’s mind? It is almost as though this was about her sister just as much as it was about giving her husband sons.
Verses 9-11 tell us of Jacob’s seventh son. Leah, seeing that she has stopped having children, has also turned to exploiting her slave girl. Hence, a son named Gad, which means ‘good fortune’.
In verses 12-13 we see Jacob’s eighth son, Asher. This name means ‘happy’. Notice that Leah says women will call her happy, but she does NOT say that she IS happy. This is definitely sibling rivalry gone way out of control.
Read verses 14-16. What happens next is interesting. Leah’s firstborn, Reuben, has been out in the fields and found some mandrakes. These were a plant that, in those days, was considered quite the aphrodisiac and was often used in fertility rites. It was the oyster of its time. Of course, he brings these to his mother. Rachel asks Leah to share some with her, but Leah lashes out in jealousy. Desperate as she is, Rachel trades her night to sleep with Jacob for the mandrakes. And Leah informs Jacob that he must sleep with her tonight for she has purchased his services. What a way for a family to live!
Verses 17-18 bring us son number nine, Issachar. This name sounds like the Hebrew word for ‘reward’. Oddly enough, this next son was born to Leah, even though Rachel was the one who ended up with the mandrakes. We also see that this was God’s doing.
Verses 19-20 bring us son number ten, Zebulun, which probably means ‘honor’. Leah shows that she is still hanging on to that desperate hope. And in verse 21, we see that Leah then has a daughter, Dinah. The Bible seldom records the birth (or often, even the existence) of daughters unless they are pertinent to the story. Look to see Dinah again. She is all these boys’ little sister.
Finally, in verses 22-24, we see Rachel have a child. We see that God did this thing for Rachel. It is in His power to do anything. And she named him Joseph, which means ‘may he add’. Sometimes God answers our prayers with a ‘yes’, sometimes with a ‘no’, but many times He answers with ‘you will need to wait on my timing’. This is so hard. Jacob had so many women and they were all popping out babies left and right while Rachel had to wait. How long and unbearable that must have been! Often, we, like Rachel, think that God hasn’t heard us, but we are just in a waiting period. What desires are in your heart that you think God hasn’t heard? Is He answering in a different way or are you just in a waiting period? God can give you peace about these things if we learn to trust Him.
The two women in this story today were desperately trying to find happiness in their own way. Just the names of their children tell us what their lives must have been like living together as they were in this untenable situation. We must not choose, as they did, to frustrate ourselves chasing after happiness, but we must seek peace and joy through God (Phil 4:11, Psalm 126:5).
There were many things that were acceptable in the culture of Jacob’s time that were not acceptable to God. Jacob had two wives and two concubines, for example. His two wives were making their slave girls have his babies. And the neighbors thought nothing of it. It is that way in our culture today. There are many things that society finds totally acceptable while God says clearly that they are wrong. There is abortion (Ex 20:13, Deut 30:19), sex outside of marriage (I Cor 7:2), alcoholism and drug abuse (Eph 5:18), divorce (Matt 5:32), and homosexuality (Lev 18:22) to name just a few. We must face these issues, armed with the Word of God, seeking to follow in His ways (Isa 55:6-9).
Responding to God: Praise God and thank Him for children. Thank Him for your marriage and ask Him to strengthen and lengthen it. Talk to Him frankly about the status of your relationship to Him and seek to correct any problems that He brings to mind. Seek His guidance on how you treat others under your authority. Tell Him of those things standing in the way of your peace and happiness and ask Him to help you find the way to His peace and joy. Ask Him to help you be on the lookout for accepted things in the culture which are not acceptable in His eyes.
Further Research: Read the book of Philippians and see the peace and joy Paul was able to experience while in prison.
Add comment
Comments