The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

Story: The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

Passage: Genesis 35:16-29

Characters: Rachel, Benjamin, Jacob, Reuben

Summary: Rachel went into hard labor. As she was dying, she named her son Ben-oni, but Jacob named him Benjamin. Rachel died and was buried on the way to Bethlehem. Jacob set a pillar over her grave. Reuben slept with his father’s concubine and Jacob found out. Jacob came to his father in Hebron. Isaac dies at 180 years and Jacob and Esau buried him.

Notes: Rachel’s death is tragic. No longer do you sense joy and pride in a son being born. Her name for Benjamin, Ben-oni, means son of sorrow. This was not a victory for Rachel, this was a defeat. I find it interesting that the competition which she seems to have based her life upon ends up costing her her life. How wrong she was when she told Jacob “Give me a son or I’ll die!” I also think her tragic death could be a result of the curse Jacob placed on whoever had stolen Laban’s idols. The pillar over Rachel’s tomb is still there at the time of the writing of Genesis. I find it interesting that this must have been a well known landmark. If Moses indeed wrote Genesis like people think, he never entered the Promised Land. So his knowledge of landmarks came from hearsay. Two sentences describe Reuben’s sin, but it is big enough to forfeit his rights as firstborn. Is it any surprise we see sexual sin from Reuben though? Look at the family he grew up with. We even read he was involved in finding mandrakes for his mother. Reuben was sucked into this struggle his parents were involved in and he never got a good idea of how marriage should look. His actions are not excused, but they are more understandable. Either way, Reuben’s sin and Simeon and Levi’s violent actions from a few chapters ago have made them unfit for God’s redemptive plan. The torch is now passed to Judah. It is interesting that Isaac now dies. If you remember, Jacob stole the blessing from Esau over twenty years before this when they thought Isaac was going to die! Esau and Jacob buried their father together. They were opposed to each other at their birth, but united at their father’s death.

Questions: Did Rachel’s death fulfill the curse Jacob placed on the idol thief? Did Rachel understand the futility of her struggle with Leah before she died? Were they on good terms? Are Jacob and Esau getting along at this point? How messed up were Reuben and his brothers as a result of the struggle between their mothers?

Lessons: It is important as a parent to be a good role model for your children. If they don’t see you following certain morals, they will have no reason to. This is what we saw happen in Reuben’s life. We also can learn a lesson from this passage about the futility of pursuing anything but Christ. Rachel wanted children, and it became the death of her. Anything of this world we pursue will ultimately fade away and be worthless. Only Christ is worth our efforts and passions.

Jacob Flees from Laban

Story: Jacob Flees from Laban

Passage: Genesis 31

Characters: Jacob, Rachel, Leah, Laban

Summary: Jacob heard that Laban and his sons did not like him anymore. God told him to return home. He told Rachel and Leah tha God had told him to return. They said they had nothing left at home and Jacob could do what he wanted. They fled. Laban pursued. He wanted his idols back which Rachel had stolen. Jacob said he would kill whoever had the idols. Laban did not find them. Laban and Jacob made a covenant and Laban returned home.

Notes: Laban did not like Jacob. I doubt he ever really did. He just liked what Jacob did for him and he was no longer on the receiving end of this relationship. Jacob had served with all his strength for 20 years but Laban had continued to change his wages and take advantage of him. Jacob gave credit to God for blessing him and bringing him through his time with Laban. This is significant since he did not yet consider God his god. God referred to Himself as the God of Bethel, where Jacob had made Him a vow. This meant God was reminding Jacob of His promise to Jacob and their deal they had made. Rachel and Leah felt regarded as foreigners in their own home. Their dowry was meant to be used for them, but Laban had used it for himself. He was not providing for his daughters, so they had nothing tying them to home. They submitted to Jacob’s leadership through following God. They said “Whatever God has said to you, do.” This is a great example for how marriage should work. The wife is supposed to submit to the husband who is to submit to Christ. If the husband is following Christ, then by following her husband, the wife is following Christ. Rachel and Leah decided to follow Jacob because they knew he was following God. Rachel stole the idols. I assume she must have believed in worshipping them. She kept it secret though. The passage is specific enough to tell us that Laban took seven days to overtake Jacob’s three day lead. God told Laban not to talk to Jacob. He failed miserably! He claimed that he wanted to celebrate with Jacob and send him on his way. I think that this is dripping with deceit. Laban did not like Jacob anymore and would not have consented to letting him leave with his daughters. The missing idols were a good excuse to chase down Jacob. I find it interesting that the passage says he felt for the idols everywhere. This was a very thorough search. I find Rachel’s method of hiding the idols humorous. Claiming she was on her period and could not move is funny to me, but even funnier is that Laban did not question it and gave up. Jacob was angry and questioned Laban’s motivation for chasing them down. Laban said that everything he saw was his: the flocks, his daughters, his grandchildren. Laban still did not acknowledge that Jacob had earned his wealth but felt it was stolen. If Laban had his way, Jacob would have never had any wages. Laban does not want Jacob to marry again showing that he does have some respect for his daughters. Jacob offered a sacrifice to God, probably to thank him for letting him survive his encounter with Laban. Jacob called God the God of Abraham and Nahor and the Fear of Isaac. I find it interesting Jacob called the God he didn’t quite know yet the Fear of Isaac. Laban left for home.

Questions: Why did Rachel want the idols? Did Jacob ever find out she had them? What did the daughters think of their father Laban? Why did Jacob call God the Fear of Isaac?

Lessons: Leah and Rachel’s submission to Jacob is a great example for marriage. Husbands can learn from Jacob’s submission to the will of God, and wives can learn from Leah and Rachel’s submission to their husband as they knew he was following the will of God. We can also learn from Jacob giving credit to God for his blessing and protection and his submission to God’s will as a result. Everything we have comes from God and belongs to God. If we can remember that, it could transform how we approach our lives. Jacob’s obedience is significant as well because while God had blessed him, it had not been easy. He had spent twenty years of hard work constantly having to overcome unfairness from his employer, yet he still trusted God and tried to follow Him.

Jacob's Children

Story: Jacob’s children

Passage: Genesis 29:31-30:24

Characters: Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph

Summary: The Lord saw that Leah was hated and opened her womb. Meanwhile, Rachel was barren. Leah had four sons. Rachel gave her servant to Jacob as a wife and she had two sons. Leah gave her servant to Jacob and she had two sons as well. Leah had mandrakes but gave them to Rachel in exchange for getting to spend the night with Jacob. She had another son. She ended up having one more son and then a daughter. God listened to Rachel and gave her a son.

Notes: This is basically terrible. First off, Joseph apparently hates Leah. God does not hate her however and gives her children. Her names for her children reveal the purpose behind all these kids though. It was a giant competition. Reuben was first, and his name means “See, a son”. Next was Simeon, which means “Heard”. This was because she said that the Lord had heard that she was hated. Next, she had Levi, which means, “attached” because she hoped Jacob would now be attached to her. Finally she had Judah, which means “Praise” because now she would praise the Lord. I wonder if this implies that Jacob now was noticing and caring for Leah. Rachel envied her sister. She told Jacob, “Give me children or I will die!” This was drastic, but it shows how much she envied her sister. Leah envied the love of Jacob which Rachel had and Rachel envied the kids Leah had. Both were too busy looking at their sister to notice what God had blessed them with. Jacob knew that God was the reason Rachel had no children and got mad at Rachel for blaming him. Rachel gave him her servant Bilhah. The deal was that any kids she had would count as Rachel’s. Sure enough Bilhah gave birth to Dan which means “Judge” because God had judged Rachel and heard her voice. She actually believed God was on her side in this dispute. Next Bilhah gave birth to Naphtali which means “Wrestle”. She wasn’t hiding it anymore, she knew she was wrestling with her sister and she literally named her son wrestle! I feel bad for that kid growing up when he explained his name to people! I also find it funny that Rachel decided she had prevailed! Her servant had two sons in contrast to Leah’s four! Anyway, Leah saw that Bilhah was having sons and they counted for Rachel so she gave Jacob her servant Zilpah. Zilpah gave birth to Gad which means “good fortune”. Next Zilpah gave birth to Asher which means “happy”. Leah was happy that she had more sons. She didn’t care about these kids, just that she was better than her sister. All of these sons were brought into the world as the after effects of a heated competition. Now we see a story involving mandrakes. Reuben had given Leah his mother some mandrakes, which were believed to increase fertility. Apparently Leah was even using her sons to help in this battle with her sister. Rachel asked for the mandrakes. The theory was that Jacob would be more likely to go to the sister with the mandrakes. Leah knew Rachel was basically asking to be more desirable to Jacob. So she set up a deal where Rachel could have the mandrakes as long as Leah still got Jacob. Poor Jacob had no part in this deal. When Jacob got home he was informed by Leah that he had been hired with Reuben’s mandrakes. Leah indeed got pregnant again and had Issachar which means “wages”. Leah believed that this was her reward for giving Jacob her servant. Leah had another son named Zebulun which means “honor” because she assumed that now Jacob would honor her. Leah then had a daughter named Dinah. God finally at this point allowed Rachel to bear a son named Joseph which means “May He add” and it sounds like “take away” because god took away her reproach and she wanted Him to add to her another son. Overall, this mess was totally the result of jealousy as a result of favoritism. Neither sister could look at her own blessings but rather looked at her sister’s blessings. As a result, Jacob ended up with eleven sons at this point and one daughter. There is a reason God set marriage up to be between a single woman and a single man. Later He also forbids marrying sisters. This is a perfect example of why that law makes total sense!

Questions: What did Jacob think of all this? How did the children feel when they realized they were the result of a big competition? Did Laban feel guilty that he had made Jacob marry both of his daughters?

Lessons: An important lesson I see here is to avoid jealousy and covetousness. If Rachel or Leah had focused on the ways God had blessed them and not wanted their sister’s blessing as well, this conflict would not have happened. Leah would have been happy having sons and raising them and Rachel would have been happy with the love she was receiving from Jacob. In the same way, if we are wanting to be blessed like someone else we know is, we need to stop and look at all the ways God has already blessed us.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

Story: Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

Passage: Genesis 29:1-30

Characters: Jacob, Rachel, Laban, Leah

Summary: Jacob comes to Haran and finds a well with shepherds around it. Rachel leads her sheep to the well. Jacob rolls the stone away from the well and waters her sheep. He then kisses her and weeps. She tells Laban what had happened and Laban comes and asks Jacob what his wages should be. Jacob agrees to work sevewn years for Rachel. When the seven years are up, Laban gives him Leah. After he wakes up and complains, Laban makes him work another seven years for Rachel.

Notes: We are about to begin reading about one of the biggest cases of sibling rivalry this world has ever seen! But for now, we have Jacob arriving at a well. Around this well are a bunch of sheep and shepherds. Jacob did not know where he was so he asked them and he found out he was in Haran. He had made it! Now this well had a large stone covering it and the shepherds would not move this stone until all of the sheep were there. Apparently it was difficult to move and they didn’t want to move it more than they had to. Rachel was a shepherdess. She led her sheep to the well and when Jacob saw her, he went crazy. Boys today will go to great lengths to impress girls with their strength. Jacob was no different! As soon as he saw Rachel he went and moved the stone himself. His immediate reaction to seeing her was to move a giant stone by himself which normally took several men to move. This cracks me up! Jacob knew she was one of Lot’s daughters and he was apparently very attracted to her! He watered her flock and then kissed her and started weeping. I want to imagine this scene from a couple different perspectives. First of all, Rachel must have been confused. She went to the well like normal and there was a strange man there who started showing off his strength, then kissed her, then started weeping. This was not an ordinary event! Now from the other shepherds’ perspective, this would have been equally if not even more odd! Now from Jacob’s perspective, this makes more sense. This was a very spiritual moment for him. God promised to grant him a successful trip and now he had been led to the correct land, to a well where one of Laban’s daughters was coming, and she was very beautiful. This event showed Jacob that God was really with him! It is no wonder he wept. I also find it funny that both with Rachel and Rebekah, watering a stranger’s animals was involved. Anyway, Laban acknowledged that Jacob was family. Remember, Jacob would have been Laban’s nephew. Laban let Jacob set his wages. Jacob only wanted one thing, Rachel. However, he would need a dowry and he did not bring anything with him, except for some oil apparently. So he offered to work seven years for Rachel. Laban’s response was very indifferent. He thought it would be better to give her to Jacob than another guy so he agreed. Seven years of work was honestly better than a typical dowry. A dowry was designed to go to the bride in case of an emergency. While Jacob provided no actual wealth, Laban was blessed because of Jacob, but as we will see later, instead of giving it to Rachel, he kept it for himself. The passage says that the seven years felt like only a few days because of his love for Rachel. Awwww. Isn’t that sweet! In reality though, this shows us Jacob’s character. In that culture, he would not be able to see Rachel as much as he would have liked. To be willing to work seven years for her, and to do it so easily shows us how willing he was to wait and be patient for his future wife. This shows how his character truly was transformed during his journey from an impulsive deceitful young man to a patient wise man whom God would use to further His redemptive story. When Jacob’s seven years were up though, he was done waiting and he did not beat around the bush. He demanded his wife. So Laban set up the marriage feast. However, when night came, Laban switched Leah and Rachel. Jacob did notice this switch until morning. Needless to say, Jacob was surprised and upset. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Genesis 29:25, “And in the morning, behold, it was Leah!” How might this have happened you ask? Well in that culture, the custom was to veil the bride until she was alone with her new husband. In this case it would have been dark at that point and I’m sure that there was some alcohol involved as well. Obviously Rachel would not have been terribly willing to go along with this plan, but the father had the ultimate authority so she would have had no choice but to give in to her father’s demands. Jacob felt wronged. He had been deceived. The man who had impersonated his own brother to get the blessing had now been tricked by a woman impersonating her sister to marry him. Laban gave a lame excuse, but Jacob could do nothing about it. Jacob who was known for his deceit was now the object of deceit. This would trigger a battle between two deceitful men. Jacob worked another seven years to marry Rachel, but Laban at least let them get married as soon as the honeymoon was over for Leah. I imagine there was some tension for those seven years between the two men though. The Bible clearly states that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Poor Leah married Jacob and then watched him complain about not marrying her younger sister, and then he married Rachel and worked seven years for someone else. She was now married to a man who did not care for her. The passage says that she had weak eyes. This could mean that her eyesight was bad, or that she had delicate, or blue, eyes. Blue eyes were considered weaker than strong brown eyes and this would have made her less attractive. Either way, Rachel was more beautiful than Leah. Once again beauty plays a role in a biblical marriage. And it will play a role in some conflict as we will soon see.

Questions: How could Jacob not know who he was marrying? What made him so attracted to Rachel from the very beginning? How big was the stone he rolled away from the well? Was Laban aware of Jacob’s deceitful nature? What did Leah think of this deal? What did Rachel think of this deal? Had Leah been attracted to Jacob over that first seven years he had worked?

Lessons: True love is worth waiting for. If you truly love someone you will be willing to do anything, even working seven years for that person. Jesus calls us to love our enemies, love our neighbors, love God, basically love everyone. This total devotion and selflessness should be evident in any relationship in your life. Another lesson to pull from this is yet another lesson against favoritism. Though we have not yet seen the consequences, the favoritism Jacob shows to Rachel will create quite a bit of conflict in the next passage.