Daily Devotions
Genesis
"As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him." Psalm 103:13
Text: Genesis 30:1-43
TWO MORE CHILDREN FOR LEAH
Leah must have been glad to have given to Jacob five healthy sons. She would love to
have given him more, if that would have helped her husband to love her.
“Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
And Leah said, ‘God has endowed me with a good endowment;
now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him
six sons.’ So she called his name Zebulun. Afterward she bore
a daughter, and called her Dinah.”GENESIS 30:19-21
There was no question as to who was winning this terrible contest! Leah risked much to give giving birth to children. Zebulun was the name she gave to her sixth son. The name, which has the root idea of ‘dwelling’ expressed her hope that Jacob would choose to dwell with her rather than with Rachel.
At last, there was a daughter in the family. Dinah was the name of the only daughter that Jacob had! Six sons and one daughter. That was the total tally of the children Leah bore Jacob!
SEEKING THE LORD HUMBLY
Rachel once quarreled with Jacob concerning her problem of barrenness. That heated discussion yielded no results (Genesis 30:1). Then she hit on the idea of giving Bilhah to Jacob as his wife, so that the offspring that her maid bore could be regarded as her son (Genesis 30:2-8). She also tried the way of ancient folklore. What if she partook of mandrakes, would that help her?
To her dismay, Rachel discovered that all her efforts were in vain. Nothing seemed to be able to help her overcome the problem of being barren. Perhaps, it would be wise to specially seek the Lord now!
“Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her
and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore a son,
and said, ‘God has taken away my reproach.’ So she called his
name Joseph, and said, ‘The Lord shall add to me another son.'”GENESIS 30:22-24
“God listened to her…”
It must have been out of abject sorrow that Rachel cried out to the Lord for His mercy! Over the years, Rachel mellowed out much more and she found herself crying out to the Lord in anguish. And the Lord took pity on her and she gave birth to a son, Joseph. Even as she named her son, she believed with all her heart that God would not fail to give her yet another son!
“Then God remembered…”
God had never forgotten! He had waited patiently for her to seek Him in humility, before granting to her, the fondest desire of her heart!