A Series on Women in the Bible
(Use
the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 30:1-24
[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]
Every year at Easter, we enjoy watching our grandchildren hunt for Easter eggs. Truth be known, we enjoy hiding them too. Mostly though, it’s fun watching them as they run around the backyard, picking up eggs and putting them in their baskets. The two oldest are competitive, and always check to see who has the most.
A little
competition is okay, even at Easter. But how would you like to grow up in a
family where, as an adult, you competed with your sister to see who could have
the most children. It sounds bizarre, but for Rachel and Leah, it was exactly
what happened. There was a perfect storm of circumstances that led to this.
Rachel had been
promised to Jacob in marriage, but they were tricked by Rachel’s older sister
and their Father so that Leah could marry first. Adding to this problem was the
fact that Jacob didn’t love Leah; he loved Rachel. Plus, Leah was somewhat
homely, while Rachel was beautiful. However, Leah was able to have children,
but not Rachel. At least, not at first.
The final outcome
was that Rachel became extremely jealous to the point of being suicidal!
1 When
Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of
her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” NLT
From her
emotionally fragile condition, Rachel decided to ratchet up the competition,
and told Jacob to take her servant and have a child with her. After two sons
were conceived by her servant, Rachel made this startling comment.
8 “I
have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” NIV
Apparently, Leah
took this as a challenge, and followed suit by giving her servant to Jacob to
conceive more children. After all of this, the Lord heard Rachel’s plea.
22 Then
God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have
children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a
son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. NLT
What can we learn
from Rachel through her story?
First, the Lord is
faithful. It doesn’t matter how bad our circumstances are. He is always with
us; always at work; always faithful.
Second, the Lord works through broken people. People like Rachel, Leah and Jacob; people like you and me.
Finally, we are not defined by our failures. Despite the pain and shame that Rachel felt; despite her desperation and depression; despite her overzealous competition… Rachel trusted the Lord. She continued to faithfully pray until the Lord answered.
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