God Blesses Jacob and Rachel
Study Scripture: Genesis 30: 22 – 32, 43
Background Scripture: Genesis 30
Key Verse:
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Genesis 30:43
INTRODUCTION
Everyone of us are well aware of the expression, “What goes around, comes around” which means that what you do to others will generally come back to haunt you. Christians generally will say the same thing but they will call this reaping what you sow. Some will call this the inevitability of poetic justice.
In Genesis we read about Jacob, a double dealer, a clever deceiver, who gets a double double dealer and who gets outwitted by his uncle Laban who arranged to have him first marry Laban’s eldest daughter Leah when he had bargained to marry his beloved and beautiful Rachel, his first and only real choice.
We are therefore looking at a tale of a family filled with strong emotions, sibling rivalry, deception, and a rather strange kind of loyalty to a beloved wife while callously ignoring the other wife.
The story challenges us to think deeply about our lives and how God works with most flawed human beings through our flawed interpersonal relationships.
The psychology of sin in human beings is laid bare before us. We see the worst of human nature. We see inherent jealousy between sisters, the terrible behavior of a father who because of greed does not really care about his children, and in the downward spiral of the relationships we see a man of God under divine discipline ramping down to an extremely low-level where he himself hardly seems to care what is happening around him. Eventually in order to survive he turns to God for survival.
Rachel, the wife that he loves does not think that Jacob’s love for her is enough to satisfy her for she comes to realize that God has made her in such a way that she needs motherhood to be completely fulfilled. Her culture regards woman who cannot have children as objects of shame and embarrassment and since she knows this she is frustrated and in an extremely unreasonable fashion blames her childlessness on her husband Jacob. She’s so desperate for children that she will turn to her maid and turn her into a surrogate mother where the true mother does not even have the right to name her child for the child belongs to her mistress. Rachel does not consider this as inequity because she cannot live with the thought that her sister is having a lot of children while she has none. She wants children no matter the method. She realizes that her beauty will not bring her the satisfaction that she wants and she wants to get even with her sister.
We therefore note and remember the warning of Proverbs 14: 30
“A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones”.
The wise man Solomon warns us about what happens when one is in love and this love is mixed with jealousy. So he addresses one of the loves of his life and tells us in Solomon’s Song 8:6, though he is well aware of the danger:
” Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame”
The situation gets so bad that Jacob seems to be the willing victim for the love of his life, the beautiful Rachel’s schemes to have children, and really abuses him in so doing, just as he had participated in the deception of his father at the instigation of his mother. One wonders whether his conscience bothers him a lot at all. He does not seem to mind that Rachel does not give any real indication of knowing the Lord at all and it is only when her life is at rock bottom and she has failed at everything she tries that she turns finally to the Lord and prays for children.
We should not forget though that before he goes to Haran and meets the beautiful Rachel he had met the Lord and had received the great promises that God had made to his father Abraham. He even dedicated his life to serving God after trying to bargain with God. But in several chapters we see that Jacob had to learn many lessons and come under divine discipline in order to mature his faith.
Obviously we learn that when God first calls you to serve Him He does not regard you as perfect and so He will never tell you that He is through with you so that you are now free to go about living your life the way you think is best. So God constantly works in our lives to make us a better person. He will work as long as we are alive and living on earth. So when you read about the escapades that Jacob was involved in don’t pretend that you disapprove so much about what he did that you then stop thinking about your own life and the things in your life that God has to work on. Remember that God, after you are ‘born again’ will allow you to carry out your deceptions, but will bring tragedies and pain in your life to teach you to trust Him more.
We can learn much about Jacob from looking at what he does and we can learn much about Rachel by looking at how she behaved.
When Jacob traveled and reached near to Haran he stumbled on some shepherds who were waiting with their flocks at a local well until the owner gave permission for the stone that covered the mouth of the well to be rolled away so they could water their sheep. He learned from the shepherds that his uncle Laban and family were alive and well and then they pointed out to him that his daughter Rachel was coming to water her family’s sheep. Ignoring the local custom to wait until all the sheep were gathered he took it on himself to roll the stone away from the well and watered Rachel’s sheep, and in a most unusual and probably inappropriate gesture then kissed her and began to weep aloud telling her he was a relative of her father and the son of Rebekah.. He then stayed with her father Laban for a month most likely during that time showing that he was a good worker. Laban was so impressed he agreed that Jacob would work for seven years to obtain Rachel for a wife. He had to work for her since he did not have any dowry to offer.
So he worked and on his wedding day he certainly in great anticipation enjoyed the marriage feast and then went into the tent to consummate the marriage with the woman he thought would be Rachel. But next morning he saw that the woman in his arms was not Rachel but her elder sister Leah. Jacob who earlier had deceived his blind father Isaac by impersonating his older brother Esau is now deceived by his uncle Laban who substituted his elder daughter for Rachel in the marriage bed in the dark tent. The very upset Jacob now has to agree to work seven more years for Rachel. He now had two wives and two maids for each wife had been given a maid.
The competition between the two sisters for the affection of their husband now was in full swing. The beautiful Rachel was the preferred wife and she is described as having a physically good figure as well as a pretty face. The elder sister Leah is generally thought to be the opposite of the beautiful Rachel. Scholars however disagree on the normal representation of Leah who is described as having ‘weak eyes’ and being homely looking. We are told by one writer:
“Few women have been so misunderstood as Leah. Even her name does her a great disservice, for it means ‘wild cow’. This statement that she had ‘weak eyes’ (29:17) seems to many to portray Leah as a homely girl with pop bottles glasses, who cannot see 3 feet in front of her. This kind of thinking is completely unjustified.
First, the word rendered ‘weak’ (rak) is never used in a demeaning way as is here. Never is the term used with reference to any defect. For example, in chapter 18: Moses uses this word, and there it is translated “tender”: “Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf, and gave it to the servant and he hurried to prepare it”.
Moses used the word again in chapter 33:13 with reference to the young children, who were too frail to be hurried.
If we are to take their word rak which is rendered ‘weak’ in 29:17, in its normal sense, then, we cannot think in terms of effect but in terms of delicacy. In contrast with Rachel, who may have had fire or a sparkle in her eyes, Leah had gentle eyes.
Rachel is characterized only by her physical attractiveness. She was ‘beautiful of form and face (29:17). Moses may be drawing our attention to this fact because it was the major source of attraction for Jacob. There seems to be then a significant contrast here between Rachel and Rebekah. Rebekah was selected for Isaac by Abraham’s servant on the basis of divine guidance and because of personal qualities which assured him that she would be a fine wife for Isaac. Rachel, on the other hand, was selected by Jacob for himself, but without any mention of her personal qualities, only a description of her beauty. Rebekah’s beauty was an additional plus, an unexpected fringe benefit. Rachel’s beauty was the essence of her selection.
The red warning lights should already be flashing in our minds. On this questionable basis Jacob chose Rachel, the younger, over Leah, the older, and proposed the terms of payment of the dowry”.
It is very likely that we are being warned that it is not good that man looks on the outward appearance, in contrast to God who looks on the heart. It is better for us to use the standards of God when we make judgments and choices.
We note that the practices of the patriarchal tribal society which treats marriage as an alliance between men involving the exchange of women has little biblical support, for marriage is not primarily an economic or status arrangement, but a commitment between individuals intending to share their lives together.
In addition, polygamy is an objectionable arrangement and according to Leviticus 18:8 marriage to sisters is a prohibited practice even in ancient times. But what is worse as one writer points out is the fact that:
“Jacob’s singular passion for Rachel strands her older sister in the loveless marriage that Laban has orchestrated to provide for his eldest daughter. God’s favors Leah as the unloved wife by giving her many children, but still the tragedy continues. Leah names her sons to express her unfulfilled desire of gaining her husband’s affection through childbearing. Only with her fourth son, Judah, whose name is based on the Hebrew root meaning ‘to praise’ or ‘to thank’ does Leah cease her striving to please her husband and give thanks to God instead. (Genesis 30: 35).
Rachel, for her part, envies her elder sister’s fertility, as she herself desperately tries to conceive.
Through their unrelenting jealousy and competition, the two sisters and their servant woman there result a large family capable of fulfilling God’s promise to Jacob that his descendents would be as abundant as the dust or topsoil, covering the ground in every direction for the purpose of blessing on the families of the earth”. (Genesis 28: 14).
This Lesson Study is intended to make us aware and identify with the very intense emotions in our families and the preferences, deceptions, competitions, and jealousy that we face in our families every day. Women in our society know that this story brings to their mind feelings of being judged by their appearance and their inability to have what the society demands of them.
As we read the Text we should note that the tragedy in the chapters about the experience of Jacob is that everything that took place was really unnecessary, for Jacob should not have sinned and separated himself from the wealth of his father and having to depend on the work of his own hands. But perhaps Isaac did this for Jacob to learn the value of hard work.
Sin brings often physical and emotional separation from those we love. Our Study also warns about trying to get ahead in life by deception for those who seek to deceive shall be deceived. God wants us with Jacob to see the difficulties they had so that we learn about human nature and the nature of the saints realistically.
We will now learn the necessity for continuing sanctification. When we come to Christ we are in a sense sanctified, that is, we are in the position of the sanctified, but then we are still flawed personalities and like Jacob we are often a long wait from being really perfected and sanctified.
The relationship between Rachel and Leah demonstrates the craving of human beings for love and for recognition. We should be careful therefore how we struggle in the home for affection for how we do that can often be fatal to peace.
THE TEXT
Chapter 30
Verses 1-21. God saw that Rachel was loved in a passionate and intense way and Leah was not loved so He closed the womb of Rachel. Leah had sons named Reubén, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. She declared that God had seen her misery and now she had many sons her husband would love for. Then she said with her second son that God had seen that she was not loved and so gave her another son. With her third son she was sure that her husband Jacob would now begin to love her and so she called him Levi. But on the birth of her fourth son Judah she said she would praise the Lord. She then stopped having children.
These births by Leah led Rachel to envy and the grief she experienced was intense for she was unable to have children. She helplessly watched her sister have children. She told Jacob to get her children or she would die and in response Jacob angrily told her that he was not God and only God has the power to open or close her womb.
She then told Jacob to have sexual relationships with her handmaid Bilhah to produce children for her as the custom of the day allowed and Jacob went along with her.
We recall that Abraham and Sarah did the same thing and Sarah’s maid Hagar had a child named Ishmael and this led to tremendous trouble in the Abraham family. But Rachel did not care about that possibility. Bilhah conceived and had a son and Rachel accepted the child as her own and called him Dan, a word which meant ‘judge’. She declared by so naming the child that God had accepted what she had done and she was justified. She says that God heard her prayers, given her a gift, showed mercy to her and God had graciously dealt with her, taking her part and bringing righteous judgment.
Rachel’s maid conceived again and had a second son for Jacob and Rachel called him Naphtali because she said she had wrestled and strived in prayer with God, persistently and with strength, and she had prevailed.
We can be sure that God provided some happiness for Leah through her having children. But still her husband did not really love her and we can be sure that she probably had taunted Rachel with their inability to have children by herself.
But clearly we know that God loved Leah as well as Rachel and God gave honor to Leah by picking the children of Levi to be the priests of Israel and also selected Judah to bring about the family through whom the Messiah would come and bring blessings.
The competition between the two sisters continued unabated. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. She bore Jacob a son named Gad, stating that God had given her good fortune. Then Zilpah had a second son with Jacob and Leah called his name Asher.
The tragedy continued when Rubén went out into the field and found some mandrake plants which in those days were considered to be an aphrodisiac, and which made women fertile and able to have children. But to sleep with Jacob Leah negotiated with Rachel and in exchange gave up the mandrakes to her. She obviously thought that she didn’t need the mandrakes to get pregnant with Jacob for she trusted in God’s ability to help her in her distress.
Incredibly when Leah met Jacob and told him of the bargain with the mandrakes he went along with this scheme and slept with Leah. She conceived and bore Jacob another son which she described as a precious gift from God. She named him Issachar. Then she conceived again and added the sixth son which she named Zebulon. She thought that by now Jacob would love her and treat her with honour for she gave him six sons.
The scorecard was now Leah 6, her maid Zilpah 2, Rachel 0, Rachel’s maid Bilhah 2.
To make matters worse for Rachel Leah at sometime gave birth to a daughter named Dinah.
Verses 22-24. Now Rachel continued to pray and God remembered her, listened to her and opened her womb and she became pregnant. She had a son named Joseph and she then said God had taken away her disgrace. She continued praying to God to have another son.
There was no mention anymore of the mandrakes. She now accepted she should be depending on God for she had given up all hope. She had been waiting desperately and pleading for many years, approximately 7 years without God responding to her prayers. Now God had listened and she properly attributed her having a son and a removal of her barrenness to the Lord.
God has been good to her and she thanked God for His goodness and for taking away her reproach among her neighbors and the reproach that Leah had inflicted on her.
The name Joseph means “he will add” or “may he add”, indicating that she not only thanked God but had faith that God would give her another son.
Clearly, God does not like to share His glory with “human efforts”. He wanted Rachel to walk in faith’. He also wants us to “walk in faith”.
Note also that Moses spent a lot of time discussing the life of Joseph more than any other of Jacob’s sons in succeeding chapters. Obviously Joseph was not like the other children which were concentrating on the flesh and worldliness.
His coming had taken a long time and he became Jacob’s favorite.
Joseph would be God’s man and God would send much blessing through this 11th child of Jacob.
Verse 25. Once Joseph was born, the son of his favorite wife, Jacob was ready to go to his own place in Canaan since God promised to bring him back to his old homeland. He wanted permission to leave with his wives and children for he had served Laban for many years. He had fulfilled his contract and rendered payment for his two wives as per the agreement they both had made.
So Jacob requested that Laban send him away with his family in peace. We can be sure that Laban had been counting the days and knew the truth of what Jacob was saying even though later he would claim that Jacob’s daughters and grandchildren were really his.
Verse 27. But Laban knew Jacob had been a source of wealth for him and he admitted that he knew the LORD, the covenant keeping name of God, has blessed him because of Jacob’s sake. So the devious and crooked Laban sounded so humble on this occasion for he did not want Jacob to leave. Literally be told Jacob that he had learned by divination that the LORD had blessed him because of Jacob. Remember that Laban was still an idol worshiper and would be relying on esoteric arts as well as his experience.
Clearly Laban was not a true believer and he depended on magic and other things to guide him.
Verse 28. He told Jacob to name his price, the salary or wages that he would want.
Verses 29-30. Jacob agreed to stay but first he rubbed it in a little bit to make Laban realize that certainly it was because of his work and his presence that God blessed him. Before he came to stay at his home and married the girls Laban had relatively little but now because of Jacob’s work he had become quite wealthy. He now wanted his independent home. Jacob now wants to provide for his family to get away from the pagan influences in the area in which he lived.
Verses 31-32. Jacob now told his father-in-law that he wanted to trust the Lord and was willing to start from a position of disadvantage. He knew that the Lord had told him that He would bless him in acquiring wealth. But in spite of that Jacob came up with a little funny scheme. He resorted to using deceit and this he did in the same way he had always run his life, obtaining things by devious means, even though God promised him otherwise. He seemed to be implying that it was impossible for God to bless him tremendously so he wanted to help God a little bit.
He did not want any money from his father-in-law. He would keep the herd for his father-in-law in exchange for a rather strange request.
He would walk through the herds and pick out the speckled and spotted sheep and goats and those would be his wages. These would be the smaller part of the herd. The ones he would take would not be the normal ones but the rare ones and he would trust the Lord to multiply those for his benefit.
Jacob’s father in law was a little bit afraid of Jacob and he was suspicious of him so we are told that he later removed the speckled and spotted and striped animals out of the flock and took them three days journey away so Jacob could not steal them. Jacob would now have to start from scratch. But remember now we are dealing with two unprincipled men who were trying to outwit one another. We can consider Jacob to be a rogue, but Laban was a bigger rogue.
Verses 33-43. In spite of what his father in law thought Jacob’s devised strategy to get animals from the herd to come out striped, speckled, and spotted.
Jacob used three strategies. First, he peeled rods and put them in the troughs based on his feelings that when the animals that would give birth to their offspring saw the rods that had been peeled of its bark and saw the whites then they would give birth to speckled and spotted animals.
We now know that that is a totally unscientific idea for studies have shown that there is no way one could work those kind of prenatal influences in animals or in human beings. Some believe that a mother can mark her offsprings in the way that Jacob thought he could do with the markings, but that is really not so. One writer points out that:
“Modern genetic studies on dominance and latency have cleared this incident of any scientific significance. So Jacob’s success is attributed to selective breeding and particularly to divine intervention.
So the peeled rods were tried first and then when the animals were born, he would turn the animals around and have them look at these speckled and spotted and striped animals. That was the second artifice.
And significantly, he would use this at a particular time of the year, so he would have the strong animals and Laban would have the weak ones”.
We are sure that Laban would have noticed that he was getting a smaller growth in his flock but perhaps he was afraid of Jacob. But with divine help Jacob continued to prosper and his flocks grew tremendously while Laban’s flocks did not do so well.
Note however that despite his weakness and faults God honoured Jacob by blessing him and his beloved Rachel. God clearly is gracious and faithful to his promises. God had affirmed that He would bless Jacob wherever he went.
CONCLUSION
Jacob had forgotten most of the time that God had said that He would keep him wherever he went. We should never forget that the Apostle Paul told us that we should be confident that God who had begun a good work in us would perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to worry about anything for God will accomplish His work in us. We do not have to fight, strive, scheme and maneuver for in doing so we will only make life more difficult for ourselves.
Jacob and his wives learned the bitter lesson the hard way. We do not have to use the methodology of the world. They might be roguish but we do not have to be like that. God determines our future. He will help us through all the difficulties we face. He will give us what is best for us.
One writer discusses the biblical principle for living:
“We meet fraud by faith. We meet conning by conscience. We meet violence by divine virtue. Just because Goliath wears a great big armor, should David wear it? David put on some armor and took three steps before the armor moved. Finally he threw it off. He said, “There is no reason for me to fight with the kind of armor that Goliath fought with. I will use what God gave me”. That little slingshot, it was that little slingshot, of course, that won the victory for him for our weapons are not carnal weapons. They are not weapons of the flesh. They are weapons of the spirit. They are weapons of dependence on God, and by dependence on God, we can see the remarkable things that the Lord God accomplishes, and He gets the glory and not men..
He might say business is business. Other shepherds practice it. Laban knows all about it. When you are with the Chaldeans you do as the Chaldeans do. Laban was a Chaldean. But he’s got to learn another principle. Let all men break human law; it stands abrogated on the statute books. If no one keeps the law, there is no law, but in the case of the divine laws, it’s different. If everybody breaks the divine law, then the punishment still comes. There are many laws on our books that are not carried out. They are worthless because no one follows them. You can break them without any fear of suffering punishment. They are human laws, but God’s laws are not like that. His laws are always applicable, and consequently to say business is business, now that’s something else”.
Jacob was showing also the struggle of the flesh and the spirit. Success comes through the Spirit who works on the principle of grace. The principles of God are most important.
We have seen the sad results of marriages not consummated in harmony with the word of God. We are often told that few things are as important to women today as beauty and men have the same values. Rachel was really beautiful but beauty must be given secondary consideration. We cannot look at the exterior and refuse to look at what is inside. Proverbs 31:13 reminds us:
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised”.
The same principle applies to men. Men and women must look for character and not simply seek to marry a showpiece. Look for character.