God's Plan Amidst Family Strifes || Genesis 29:31-30:24 || Session 49 || Verse by Verse Bible Study

What happens when jealousy, favoritism, and God's plan collide within a family? This verse by verse Bible study episode takes you on an emotional journey through Genesis 29 and 30, where we dissect the deep-seated issues in Jacob's household. We explore God's compassionate response to Leah's plight by opening her womb while Rachel remained barren, raising thought-provoking questions about the complexities of God's timing in His plan. Our conversation also touches on the dangerous path of favoritism and its lasting impact on Jacob's lineage, with echoes that resonate throughout the history of Israel. Through these stories, we encourage listeners to find faith in God's grand design, even amidst temporary hardships. Join us as we unravel these rich, foundational narratives and their enduring lessons. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:19

We are in Genesis, chapter 29, and, if you remember, we've been following Jacob. He's living and working for Laban. Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, but Laban tricked him and gave him the other daughter, the older daughter Leah, first. Now Jacob has gotten a taste of his own medicine. Jacob, of course, had deceived his father. Now he's being deceived. That's where we pick up the story. So, if you have your Bibles, turn to Genesis, chapter 29,. Starting in verse 31, says this Now, the Lord saw that Leah was unloved and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Now, steve, here we have these two women and it says that God opened the womb of one of them, but not the other one. Rachel was barren. Who is in control of the womb?

Speaker 2 1:12

We've talked about it before, that God is in control of the womb.

Speaker 1 1:14

We have here an interesting thing, because there's two women and one of them gets pregnant and has a child and the other one does not. It says here God has compassion on Leah and opens her womb. In the end we know those of us that read the rest of the story Rachel's going to get blessed too, but Rachel doesn't know that. Now, at this point in the story, all Rachel knows is she wants to have a child. And cannot you kind of feel for Rachel because she's wanting children? Children are a blessing and she's wanting children Children are a blessing and she's not having them. Why in the world would God open one womb and not the other? It leaves us with these moral questions of why God does things. We're told by some Bible teachers that God only does things that feel good. God only rains down a blessing. But here we see very clearly God doesn't do that. He leaves Rachel there with emotional pain. Would God do?

Speaker 2 2:14

such a thing. I think an indication that we have is in the word here in 31 that's termed unloved. The actual Hebrew word is hated. This word is the one that's also used over in Malachi, but unloved is the true meaning or connotation of the word Leah her name gives you the idea that she's not real attractive, said she was weak in the eyes. It could be that the Lord is showing a little bit of favoritism on Leah by Rachel being barren at this moment as the story progresses. Leah has four children before Rachel does so. Does God do these things? Yes, we have an indication that he does, but he's not doing it just arbitrarily. He's not doing it out of spite or out of meanness or because he's showing unkindness towards Rachel. But it also gives an indication that Jacob is giving his attention to Leah because Leah can have children at this time and Rachel can't.

Speaker 1 3:17

We see here God granting compassion on one and not the other. It would seem like if you're in Rachel's shoes, why isn't God having favor on me? Well, god has a plan and he's working the plan. It's difficult for Rachel to see the answer at this point, but in the end, god has a plan for her too. All of us need to have a realization that God works these things out and he has a purpose and we need to bend to His will and not ours, even though it might be painful at the time. To God, get the glory. He has a wonderful plan for all of us.

Speaker 1 3:55

Remember, genesis is the book of beginnings and this section starts the beginning of the country, the nation of Israel. The 12 sons of Jacob end up becoming the 12 tribes of Israel. Take note of the relationship here between these two wives of Jacob. It says here he loved Rachel more than Leah, because Jacob was playing this favoritism and because of the deception of Laban with the two wives. It ends up causing consequences later, because not only were the wives into being mothers showing favoritism, but their sons ended up showing favoritism. Really, the whole last half of the book of Genesis, from here on till the end, the dynamics happen because of this favoritism between these two wives.

Speaker 2 4:49

One last thing on this, before we move on, glenn, is that Laban's deception wasn't just to Jacob. It has this rippling effect out to the marriage of Jacob and then to the children of Jacob. When people go and deceive other people, there's ramifications that they don't always know is going to happen.

Speaker 1 5:09

Our sin always has implications of which becomes out of our control, the sin dominoes and ends up affecting other things. That's what happens here with Laban. The last several verses in chapter 29 talk about the names of the children that Leah have. She gives birth to Reuben, simeon, levi and Judah, and it talks about those one by one. Rachel therefore has to watch Leah bear four sons while she is still barren, and so we can almost feel the emotional pain here that Rachel is going through. That brings us to chapter 30. And the first four verses say this Now, when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children she became jealous of her sister and she said to Jacob give me children or else I die.

Speaker 1 6:02

Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel and he said she said, here is my maid Bilhah. Go into her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may have children. So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went into her. Now, steve, where else in the book of Genesis have we seen a similar story, where the wife gives the maid to the husband because she can't have any?

Speaker 2 6:32

children. We saw that back with Sarah and Abraham, that Sarah came up with the same type of plan to give Abraham her maid so that they could have children. We also saw that that didn't necessarily work out the way that Sarah thought it was going to.

Speaker 1 6:50

That was my next question. That happened back in Genesis 16. It didn't work out the last time. What makes them think it's going to work out this time? I mean, jacob should have known or heard the story that these things don't work out. It creates issues, problems. They're going to have to relearn the lesson here. In verse one. What emotion is going on between Rachel and Leah? In verse one.

Speaker 2 7:13

It's an emotion of one sister that can't have children in relation to the other sister that can have children. There's a little bit of jealousy that's going on, I think.

Speaker 1 7:24

What happens to families when jealousy gets a foothold in the family and it just starts eating at one or two of the members of the family, gets in between people.

Speaker 2 7:34

Jealousy breeds thoughts. It breeds people coming up with ways to take care of the jealousy. It's probably not the right term. It comes up with ways to get back, maybe at the other person, because this jealousy is building up inside the person.

Speaker 1 7:51

Once things like jealousy take a foothold in our life, then it almost grows, it almost starts to feed on itself. We start getting jealous over even little petty things, and we're going to see that as we go through this chapter. How could we keep jealousy from taking over our lives? What practical techniques can people do to not let jealousy or covetousness take a foothold and destroy our family and our other relationships?

Speaker 2 8:20

We should keep our focus on God, on Jesus Christ and building a relationship there, and turn any issues or things that you might have over to him. Ask guidance from him as to take care of certain situations. Ask guidance from him as to take care of certain situations. In this situation, rather than being jealous of Leah, Rachel should just continue to petition God so that she could have children.

Speaker 1 8:44

Focus on the Lord and be satisfied with what we have. I mean, the Ten Commandments talk about covetousness and it's the greed or the wanting after something that somebody else has. And somebody else has something that I don't and I get jealous of it. I remember I commonly see children in a room and they both have a lot of toys. Well, what do they want? They want the one that the other child has and they get mad trying to take that one instead of being satisfied with what they have. Well, adults are just as childish.

Speaker 1 9:17

Sometimes we let greed and covetousness and jealousy take over because of what somebody else has, rather than be satisfied with what we have. If we realize God is in control here, we approach God with open hands and let him take things out and put things in as he sees fit. Then jealousy goes away and we get happy for other people. Wow, look at them, look what they've gotten. But we don't get jealous of it, because the jealousy ends up eating us away and doesn't hurt the other person at all, it's the one that eats us away.

Speaker 2 9:53

The other thing that's happening here is is then Rachel then turns on Jacob and she becomes angry at Jacob because of the situation. Again, Jacob is only married to Leah because of the deception of Laban. Jacob worked another seven years for Rachel, who is his first love, Yet Rachel is turning on him in this whole situation.

Speaker 1 10:15

We see people like Jacob in these Old Testament stories that have multiple wives. Does it ever work out well?

Speaker 2 10:24

Usually it doesn't, no, no, it doesn't seem to Seems like there's always some sort of strife that brought in between the wives, between the husband, and just when the families there are indeed cases such as Jacob and others, especially in the Old Testament, they never work out well.

Speaker 1 10:42

It always creates issues In our day. What we've seen is in the past there have been some groups that have been polygamous. Nowadays, as society continues to disintegrate, we're starting to see these kind of multiple relationships. Polyamorous is one of the terms that gets batted around People trying to have these multiple partner relationships. It didn't work back in the Old Testament. It didn't work for the polygamist and it's not going to work in any other case either. If we just follow God's parameters and God's guidelines, then our family and our societies will stay together. But part of the problem here is because of the two wives. They're jealous of each other. One of them's having children, the other one's not. The problem's just domino, as we're going to see. It results in plots for murder and all kinds of problems, all because of this polygamy that's going on here.

Rachel's Desperation and God's Faithfulness

Speaker 1 11:40

The next several verses, starting in verse 5 and going through verse 13, they explain how Jacob has two sons through Bilhah the maid. Those were Dan and Naphtali. Then Jacob has two more sons through Zilpah, the other maid, gad and Asher, and it gives their names as we go through this passage. Jacob, if you remember, already had four sons through Leah, reuben, simeon Levi and Judah. At this point, rachel has no children and has had to watch Leah and these two maids. Father eight sons through Jacob Steve. How do you think Rachel feels at this point?

Speaker 2 12:26

Left out. Here are these other women who can bear children, yet she's barren.

Speaker 1 12:32

She's barren and back in verse one of this chapter she already was so emotionally distraught. After the first four she says give me children or I die. She was already at a point of desperation, thinking I just have to have children and really wanting them. I've seen families that really wanted children and weren't having them and it is a great pain. She was already distraught. Now she's had to watch these other three women bear a total of eight sons and she must be in a very bad spot emotionally. We always have to keep track of what are the motivations of the people in the story. So, steve, if you could start at verse 14 and read through verse 16.

Speaker 2 13:17

Now in the days of wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes. But she said to her, is it a small matter for you to take my husband, and would you take my son's mandrakes also? So Rachel said, therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes. When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said you must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes. So he lay with her that night.

Speaker 1 13:53

So, steve, what are they fighting over? These women are fighting over mandrakes. What in the world is a mandrake and why would they be fighting over them?

Speaker 2 14:03

A mandrake is from my study in here. It has to do something with maybe thinking it was some type of an aphrodisiac help fertility in some sort of way. It was something that was valued, though associated with bringing about children.

Speaker 1 14:20

Mandrakes were plants that were found and the roots of the mandrake plant were used as an herbal supplement or herbal medicine. One of the medicinal uses of mandrake plants was to cure depression. That was one. Another one is she may have been using it for as a fertility drug. Nevertheless, they wanted these plants, these herbs. Leah's son found the mandrakes and Rachel says hey, can you give me some of those mandrakes? So they start fighting over mandrakes. This is just one example of how jealous people are going to fight over small things. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, not that big of a issue it's certainly not worth having a family fight over. But what comes to mind, steve, is if they're going to fight over a basket of medicinal roots, what else are they going to be fighting over? What's the family dynamic going to be like in this family? If they're going to be fighting over hey, they found some medicinal roots what do you think the home life is like?

Speaker 2 15:22

for these two women? Maybe petty arguments. You know sisters, the dynamics of sisters and brothers. They kind of pick at each other all the time anyway. So you can maybe see that that is something that these sisters are doing. But now it's in a dynamic where they're married to the same husband and we've already discussed it One's having children, the other is not having children. It just seems like it's petty thing after petty thing after petty thing that's coming up in this family.

Speaker 1 15:50

Most of the fights that families have is over petty things. We, as Christians, should realize the important things and not fight over petty things. And we, as Christians, should realize the important things and not fight over small things. Look at verse 15. In verse 15, notice the terms that Leah uses here when she's talking to her sister, again married to the same husband. She said to her is it a small matter for you to take my husband, and would you take my son's mandrakes also, and tonight he may lie with you talking about mine and yours? There's no hours here. What's the dynamic here going on when she's talking about oh, this is my husband.

Speaker 2 16:30

It sounds like to me that they're talking about Jacob like he's a piece of meat. What I mean by that is that he's being bargained for with these mandrakes and this conversation as to who's going to get to lie with him. So, in a way, Jacob is not really being looked at in a loving way, at least not in this situation. He's looked at in a way of a kind of a sexual way for them who's going to be able to lie with them next?

Speaker 1 16:59

When we get away from one man and one woman for one lifetime, we end up with these dynamic problems. People like to convince themselves that, oh, we can all be happy with multiple people here, but they're not. I mean, leah is saying, oh, this is my husband and we're already like two kids fighting over this is my toy, instead of we could play together. Then, in verse 16, what word does Leah use to say Jacob must have relations with you, leah?

Speaker 2 17:33

uses the word hired. I've hired you. That's kind of what I was talking about. He's just being looked at as an object rather than being a husband.

Speaker 1 17:40

He says I've hired you. I've hired you by paying for you to have sex with me. This is her husband. That's the problem. Is this? Polygamy just never works. It turns into a power struggle. What kind of a husband-wife relationship do you have now, where you have to buy intimacy from the other person? Polygamy never works.

Speaker 2 18:06

And it goes back to that word before where Jacob unloved Leah. He loved Rachel more than he did Leah. We see Leah. Even though she has these children, she's still having to come up with certain types of schemes to have Jacob lie with her.

Speaker 1 18:24

Starting in verse 17,. Going down to 21, jacob has two more sons and a daughter through Leah, issachar, zebulun and Dinah. At this point Jacob has fathered 10 sons and one daughter through three women. But Rachel was still barren. Remember, all the way back in verse 1, she was already after the first four. She was saying give me children or else I die. She was distraught. Now down here there's been 11 children and she's barren. She must have been very emotionally precarious situation right now. She must have been very desperate. If we were to try to describe her feelings, I have a hard time even trying to describe it. What kind of emotional state, steve, do you think she's at at this point?

Speaker 2 19:14

Well, her biological clock is ticking as well. I mean, you think about it. Jacob has worked 14 years and Rachel still hasn't had any children. By the time that Jacob leaves, it's been 20 years that he's there. This isn't a short amount of time that we're talking about here. This is a long period. You can just feel Rachel is starting to feel look, if I'm going to have children, I need to have children pretty quick.

Speaker 1 19:39

If I were to try to imagine Rachel being in front of me asking for advice or going to a pastor for counseling I'm struggling with what advice I would tell her. If I ask myself, what would I say to Rachel at this point? She desperately wants children and has had to watch her husband father 11 children through three other women. It must have been very painful for her. The words seem hollow, but nevertheless it's true. God has a plan and he's working out the plan and we we know the rest of the story. So there's a great benefit that's coming Rachel's way, but she doesn't know this yet. For all she knows, she'll live this way the rest of the story. So there's a great benefit that's coming Rachel's way, but she doesn't know this yet. For all she knows, she'll live this way the rest of her life, as a counselor, a pastor.

Speaker 1 20:24

Sometimes words are kind of difficult, but nevertheless the true answer is wouldn't you think, steve? We need to realize that God has a plan for all of us. We're not here because of my own personal joy here. We're here to bring glory to God. If God can bring glory through her barrenness, then praise.

Speaker 2 20:46

God. It's tough sometimes to come to that conclusion, but it is something that builds one's faith, especially when, after the situation or after things happen, you look back on it and say, okay, I understand why that's happening this way.

Speaker 1 21:03

Rachel is probably at the bottom of the barrel emotionally. Here let's read what happened next, starting in verse 22. Then God remembered Rachel and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. So she conceived and bore a son and said God has taken away my reproach. She named him Joseph, saying May the Lord give me another son. So in verse 22, god remembered Rachel. Does God forget his children is one of the questions we have. Says he remembered Rachel had been years. Does he fall asleep and forget the needs of his children, or is there something greater in the works here?

Speaker 2 21:41

No, and this word remembered here in the Hebrew, it doesn't mean that he had forgotten about her and he goes. Oh wait a minute, there's this person by the name of Rachel. It means, and it gives the meaning of, that he remembers her pleas to him, her prayers to him. He's having compassion on her and remembering her in the way of opening her womb so that she can have a child.

Speaker 1 22:03

After many years of heartache, god blesses Rachel with a child. God will work, but he works in his timing, not ours. The rest of Genesis we follow this son, Joseph. Remember, all of Genesis mainly follows four people Abraham, isaac, jacob and Joseph. Now Joseph is born. We're going to follow Joseph and his brothers because of the relationship between Jacob and the two wives, rachel and Leah. Then their issues domino into the sons and the sons end up realizing that there's favorites, which creates issues, but in the end God will work through that as well, all of the pain and heartache. One of the central messages of the book of Genesis is that through all these family problems, god's hand of providence is there working out something good for his glory, and we can take comfort in that. It's a little hard when you're right in the middle of it, like Rachel, but in the end, if you know the end of the book, to God be the glory.

Speaker 2 23:06

What you're saying is, glenn, is that, while Rachel only ends up having two of the 12 children, really Joseph is the one, like you said, through the rest of Genesis, and he's the one that ends up saving the family through his circumstances. While we see Abraham, isaac and Jacob out of the 12, joseph becomes the greatest of those 12. Is that what you're kind of saying?

Trusting God's Plan and Timing

Speaker 1 23:31

Right. Joseph ends up saving the rest of the family. Rachel dies, not never seeing that, but nevertheless our lesson today is that we need to realize we don't always see the end of the book, we don't always see the end of God's plans, but nevertheless God is working out his plan and his timing. We just need to realize that God is in control. He's not falling asleep, he's not lost control. He will get the glory in the end. We just need to realize that he may bring into our lives something that may be painful for a season, but in the end it will all bring glory to Him, isn't that?

Speaker 1 24:06

great, so we'll stop there for today. We're at a point where Joseph has just been born, and so we'll end up reasoning through the rest of Genesis when we come back next time.

Speaker 2 24:16

Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.