Daily Devotions
Genesis
"May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord rejoice in His works." Psalm 104:31
Text: Genesis 30:1-43
BATTLES IN THE FAMILY
From the earliest times, there were battles in the family. Cain had difficulties with Abel. He was envious of the Lord’s approval given to his younger brother. In a fit of anger, he slew his brother.
Esau and Jacob had difficulty relating to each other. The younger brother had schemed all his life to wrest away the blessings that were due to the firstborn. The strife saw Jacob fleeing for his life from the wrath of his brother.
A different kind of a battle was fought between Leah and Rachel. There is no mistaking the sinful tendencies in both of them as they fought to rival each other for Jacob’s affections. Sin had taken a greater hold than most realized or would admit!
RACHEL’S FRUSTRATION
Rachel longed to have children of her own. But she was just unable to have any children. Great was her sense of frustration!
“Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children,
Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob,
‘Give me children, or else I die!’
And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said,
‘Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you
the fruit of the womb?'”GENESIS 30:1-2
“Give me children, or else I die”
This phrase expressed Rachel’s depth of frustration! She was essentially saying that she preferred death rather than continue with the problem of barrenness! The sense of frustration was increased further because of the great envy she felt towards her sister. How could two sisters be so different? One was fruitful while the other was barren? Both came from the same set of parents!
“Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
Jacob knew that somehow, the answer to the problem of Rachel’s barrenness was to be found in the Lord. He did not suspect that he was partly to blame for Rachel’s barrenness! He had failed to give due attention to Leah! He had failed to show the affection due to his first wife! (Genesis 29:31)
DRASTIC MEASURES CONSIDERED
Rachel was going to make the same mistake that Sarah made. It is unlikely that she was not aware of the anger and frustration Sarah felt after Hagar became Abraham’s second wife. Most likely, Rachel was more consumed with her feelings of anger and frustration, that she was prepared to consider drastic measures to have children – even if that meant having Bilhah as the surrogate mother! Technically, if Bilhah bore children, Rachel could claim them as her own, simply because she was her maid!