Transcendence

Thirteen: A Favorite Child

In that day the idea of marriage had gotten twisted. When sin abound in the land the words 'to love and honor' became 'to desire and dominate'. Most men valued women only for the children they bore and the desires they fulfilled.

Rachel knew how important children were. It was the difference between success and failure as a wife. It was the difference between whether or not she was an important woman in those days. Having kids was her one and only desire. But as time went on she felt more and more sorrowful and truly believed that she was not going to have Jacob any children. She became increasingly jealous of her sister Leah. In complete despair she told her husband, "Give me children or I will die!"

Jacob couldn't understand why God hadn't given Rachel children. He became angry that his barren wife put all the pressure on him. He yelled at her, "Am I in the place of God, isn't it He who has kept you from having children?"

Rachel began to contemplate other ways to start the family she so desperately wanted. She saw no other solution and finally decided she would give her maidservant Bilhah to her husband in hopes of building a family through her. Jacob wanted his wife to be happy so he took Bilhah as his wife and very soon she became pregnant with a son. Though Rachel would have preferred to have her own child, she was delighted about Bilhah's pregnancy. When she saw it was a boy she named the baby Dan, claiming God had vindicated her and finally heard her plea. Bilhah got pregnant a second time and had another son. Rachel claimed that since things were finally looking up for her after such a long battle with her sister, feeling in a sense she had finally won, she decided to name the baby Naphtali. ( The competition, or battle, between Leah and Rachel was built entirely on jealousy. Rachel was jealous that her older sister Leah was having many children and she could have none. Leah on the other hand was jealous because their husband Jacob only had love for Rachel. The bitterness grew over the years. The fact that Rachel was finally having sons, albeit through her maidservant, gave her a sense of victory over Leah, even going so far as to give her son a name that meant 'my wrestling'. )

Leah's jealousy flamed more prominent when she saw that Rachel by then had two sons through her maidservant, meanwhile she, herself had stopped having children. As her frustration grew so did her desire to reproduce. Finally she decided she could play at the same game her sister had and give her own maidservant, Zilpah, to Jacob as a wife so that she may have more children through her. Zilpah and Jacob were married at once, and she became pregnant quickly. Leah felt that she had received good fortune with a baby boy arriving so soon and she named him Gad. Later Zilpah bore Jacob another son, Leah felt very happy and named him Asher.

Some time later Leah's first born son Reuben was out during wheat harvest and found some Mandrakes. He proudly brought them home to his mother. Rachel saw them and asked for some. Leah coldly replied, "Wasn't it enough that you take away my husband, but you want my son's mandrakes also?" ( Mandrakes were sweet - smelling fruits that emerge in a cluster in the center of a low growing plant. They were believed to help with fertility and conception in barren women which was why Rachel wanted them so badly.)

"Very well," Rachel said, "Jacob can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes." Leah eagerly agreed. ( The most important things to each of the women were exactly what the other woman had. It was painfully obvious how badly Rachel wanted children of her own, and just as obvious how badly Leah wanted her husband to love her. )

So when Jacob came in from the fields Leah told him he was to sleep with her for she had hired him with Reuben's mandrakes.

God listened to Leah's prayers about having more children and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son, and named him Issachar. Then again she conceived and had a sixth son. By then she was truly convinced Jacob would treat her with honor since she had given him six sons. She also believed God had presented her with a precious gift so she named the baby Zebulun. Some time later she also gave birth to a daughter she named Dinah.

It was around the time Leah had her daughter that God remembered Rachel. He listened to her pleas to become pregnant, and much to her amazement and surprise after all the years, He opened her womb. (In God's time, when He saw fit, He answered her prayers.) She was thrilled when she became pregnant. Jacob was very excited with the great news that God had came through and answered their prayers. He was so happy to see his most adored and loved wife Rachel so happy. They were both even more thrilled when she gave birth to a son. Rachel believed God had finally taken away her disgrace and gave her a great gift so she named their son Joseph . Jacob and Rachel instantly loved their son very much. He was considered a gift from God, an increase and a miracle. 

It wasn't a secret that baby Joseph became the favored child.

After her first baby and feeling all the love and success of finally becoming a mother, Rachel began praying for another child.

When Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob felt ready to go back to his home land. He had stayed with his Uncle for many years. He wanted to take his family, his wives, along with all his children and go back to where his father and mother raised him, back to Canaan, the land God promised him.

He knew it was going to be a hard request, but He approached Laban and asked for his blessing to send him on his way, reminding him how hard he had worked through all the years.

Laban said, "Please stay if I have found favor in your eyes. The Lord has blessed me because of you. Please, name your wages, and I will pay them." Laban could see that God was with Jacob blessing him and protecting him. Not only did he want to continue benefiting from that, but Jacob would be taking with him Laban's daughters and grandchildren.

Jacob didn't want to disappointment Laban, but he remembered God's promises of the beautiful land in Canaan that he knew would be his. He also missed his parents and the place he grew up. He continued to plead for Laban to understand. He explained all he had done, and all that Laban had accumulated because of him. He said, "When will it be my time? When may I do something for my own household?"

Laban relented, seeing that Jacob was set on leaving and finally asked, "What shall I give you?"

Jacob thought about it before he replied then said, "Don't give me anything. Instead I will continue to watch over your flocks. I will go through them and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, dark lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. Those blemished animals will be my wages. The pure ones will all be yours. You will be able to check on me and can consider any flock that isn't spotted or speckled to be stolen. (Jacob was back to his scheming ways. In offering this deal, Jacob was putting all his faith in an animal-breeding trick in order to produce more spotted animals, thus increasing his wealth and taking advantage of his uncle.)

Laban quickly agreed to Jacob's deal. (Not to worry, Laban was also scheming his own plan to take advantage of his nephew. He thought he would stay one step ahead of Jacob by removing all the speckled or spotted males from the flocks and placing them in the care of his sons. In this way he would only leave Jacob to tend to the pure animals, who would only produce more pure animals - thus leaving Jacob no wages and increasing his own worth.) Laban then put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend to the rest of Laban's flocks.

Jacob began with his test and started the animal-breeding trick by taking fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plain trees. He then put white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. He placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so they would be directly in front of the flocks when the came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink they mated in front of the branches. Thus they bore young that were streaked, speckled and spotted. ( This reproductive phenomenon would not be explained through science, but factor in God's ability to do anything and you have the works of a mighty powerful Lord who was favoring Jacob. When God wants to bless someone he can and will no matter what the circumstance. Laban's animals should have been producing only pure offspring from spotless animals, but that wasn't God's plan.)

As the young were born Jacob set apart the blemished for himself and made sperate flocks for Laban. If the animals were strong he would place them so that they would mate in front of the branches, but if they were weak animals he would keep them away. Therefore the weak animals went to Laban and the strong, though spotted or speckled were his. In this way Jacob became exceedingly prosperous and owned large flocks.

(LIfe Question: How do you handle seeing no answers for prayers you have begged God to answer? In Rachel's desperation for children she took matters into her own hands. Have you ever tried to fix a situation you knew was only God's to control? Did it backfire? )