Bible Study Online ArticleLocated at the Bottom of Page In the last article we read about the emotional hardships that Leah was enduring, behind the unfair treatment of Jacob. We were reminded that Jacob did not love Leah, and these feelings were shown in his treatment of her.
Be that as it may, Leah had been placed in a privileged child-bearing position by God. It is not clear if God had allowed Leah this honor of being able to bear children because of her emotional ordeal... but we do know that God had allowed Leah to bear Jacob his first four sons in spite of it. However, because of Leah's new found favor with the Lord, we now find that Rachel has become very envious and jealous of her older sister. Rachel's negative attitude towards her older sister steadily increased as Leah was very fortunate to be able to give birth to Jacob's first four sons: Reuben - Simeon - Levi and Judah. Because of this Rachel eventually adopted a competitive mindset when it came to bearing children for Jacob. Rachel who once held the advantage over Leah because of her looks and the love that Jacob has for her, now finds herself losing that upper-hand to the vantage of Leah's child-bearing. As we move forward, we find that Rachel begins to complain to Jacob: "Give me children, or I'll die!" After Jacob had heard this, he snapped back: "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?" After hearing Jacob's reply, Rachel responded desperately by saying: "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." Now you would think that when it came to Jacob and with him being aware of the history of his forefathers, he would have remembered how his grandfather Abraham, who went by the name Abram at the time, when it comes to the event that I'm referring to, had given in to this same type of proposition from his wife Sarah who was known as Sarai at the time: "Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And shehad an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, 'See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children . Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.' And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai." -- Genesis 16:1,2 So Abram agreed to Sarai's proposal and married the Egyptian maidservant Hagar and laid with her. Because of this, Hagar would become pregnant with Abram's seed. 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 her. 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 by stating: "Your servant is in your hands. Do with her whatever you think best." So Sarai would begin to mistreat to Hagar, so-much-so, that the Egyptian maidservant would eventually leave Abram's household. However, let's move back to our current account... For we now find Rachel presenting her maidservant Bilhah as a wife to her husband, just like Sarah had done before her. And just like his grandfather before him, Jacob too, would go along with his wife's plan, and he married Bilhah and consummated the marriage union by sleeping with her. Because of this, Bilhah would become pregnant and bear Jacob another 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. For we must understand that Rachel had felt like she was being judged by God as she endured her season of barrenness. But now she felt some kind of vindication because God had allowed her maidservant to bear a child in her place. But things wouldn't stop there, being that soon after, Bilhah would bear Jacob a second son. And of course this made 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 meant (wrestling). Again, the naming of this child, would follow the way that Rachel was feeling. Being that she had felt like she had wrestled with God in fervent prayer for many nights. And finally through God's grace and mercy, she'd prevailed. Understand that when it came to earning Jacob's love, Rachel was so determined to compete with her sister that she was willing to take credit for any type of progress, when it came to child-bearing - as some sort of victory. It didn't matter to her, that those boys had come from Bilhah's womb and not hers. Rachel would also ignore the fact, that not only Leah's children had came directly from her own womb, but Leah would forever hold the propriety advantage as well, being that her sons were born first. So the question remains: "How will Leah respond to this new competitive child-bearing environment, that has been created by Rachel through her pride and maidservant Bilhah?" 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? **YOUR CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE SERIES WOULD BE HERE** 43) Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty 44) Jacob - The Stone Pillow Dream 46) Jacob - The Love Season of Reaping 48) <-CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE PAGE-> 50) The Mandrake Plant of Love  |
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