Bible Study Online Article
Leah had been placed in a privilege position to be able to bear Jacob his first four sons. Because of Leah's new found favor when it comes to child bearing, we now find that Rachel has become very envious and jealous of her older sister. Leah was very fortunate to give birth to Jacob's first four boys in whom she named Reuben - Simeon - Levi and Judah. Because of this Rachel had become upset which caused her to become very competitive with Leah. Rachel who once held the advantage because of her looks and the love that Jacob has for her, now finds herself adopting desperate child bearing measures in order to keep up with Leah. "Give me children, or I'll die!" Rachel would gripe at herhusband. This statement that Rachel had made caused Jacob to become upset, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?" "Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family," Rachel would say out of desperation. You would hope that with Jacob being a seeker of learning history when it came to his forefathers, he would have remember how his grandfather Abraham who went by the name Abram at that time had given in to this same type of proposition that he too had received from his wife Sarah who was known as Sarai at the time. "Go slept with my maidservant named Hagar, perhaps I can build a family through her," Sarai would ask of her husband. So Abram agreed to Sarai's proposal and married the Egyptian maidservant Hagar and laid with her. Hagar would become pregnant with Abram's seed. Now soon after Hagar attitude towards Sarai would change for the worse. She would begin to despise and look down on Sarai. Being that she was barren and could not bring Abram an heir, Hagar began to boast that she was a better woman than Sarai. Now in the meantime Sarai becomes extremely upset and confronts Abram about Hagar's behavior towards her, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows that she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me?" So Abram would try to counter this argument, "Your servant is in your hands. Do with her whatever you think best, Abram would tell his angry wife. So Sarai would begin to mistreat to Hagar, so much so that the Egyptian maidservant would leave Abram's household. Rachel would present her maidservant Bilhah as a wife to Jacob, in which he would accept and consummate by sleeping with her. Because of this Bilhah would in fact bear Jacob a son. "God has vindicated me, he has listen to my plea and given me a son," Rachel would say as she named him Dan which means - judge. She names the boy accordingly to the way she had felt about her current child bearing situation. Rachel felt that she was being judge by God by having to endure a season of barrenness, and that she had won the verdict because God allowed her maidservant to bear a child in her place. Bilhah would bear Jacob a second son which would make Rachel even happier than before, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won," Rachel would say as she named him Naphtali which means - wrestling. The naming of this child would follow behind the same reaction behind Rachel's emotions. She had felt like she had wrestled with God in many nights of fervent prayer and through God's grace and mercy she had prevailed. We must understand that Rachel was so determined to compete with her sister when it came to Jacob's love, that she would take any type of progress when it came to child bearing as a victory. It didn't matter to her that those boys had come from Bilhah womb and not hers. She would also ignore the fact that not only did Leah's children had came directly from her own womb, but Leah also held the propriety advantage as well. Will she be satisfied with her current advantages over Rachel? Or, will she make a mistake and give away ground because of her history of being insecure? Start at: The Introduction of Abraham Start at: The Birth of Isaac Start at: The Birth of Esau & Jacob 43) Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty 44) Jacob - The Stone Pillow Dream 46) Jacob - The Love Season of Reaping 48) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 50) The Mandrake Plant of Love  CrossDaily.com Web Search where you can VOTE FOR THIS SITE & other great ones. Christian search engine, directory & voting index. You'll find Bible, chat, churches, jobs, music, reviews, software, theology, & more. See the best sites!
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