Jacob’s Children
Despite Rachel’s great beauty, she also was near despair. Each sister wanted what the other had: Leah wanted to be loved like Rachel, and Rachel wanted to have a child.
The tension in this family was apparent. Yet in it all, Jacob saw the hand of God in the matter, even though he stated it to Rachel so directly as to be cruel when he said “Am I in the place of God, who had withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”
It is interesting that we don’t hear much from Jacob in these matters. This is truly a battle of two sisters who brough in two addition women (Zilpah and Bilhah) into the conflict. We do not see Jacob putting a stop to this rivalry, but rather participating and fueling the divide.
Much like Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham in a surrogate-mother type arrangement (Genesis 16), Rachel gave her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob. Through this arrangement Bilhah gave birth to two sons, the first who Rachel names Dan which means ‘God has judged me and heard my voice and gave me a son’. Rachel viewed this child born of the flesh as a victory and a vindication for her. Rachel saw that the birth of Dan was proof that God heard her complaint. Through this birth she felt strengthened in the competition against her sister Leah. The second son born to Bilhah was Naphtali which means great wrestling I have prevailed. This name seems strange, because at this point Leah had four sons, and Rachel (through Bilhah) had two sons. Yet, Rachel said that she had prevailed. Perhaps she meant it in the sense that now Leah seemed to have stopped having children. This would be Jacob’s sixth son.
Leah, who has stopped bearing children, figured she could use the same surrogate-mother method to increase the number of children accounted to her, so she gave her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob. Zilpah birthed two sons. The first was Gad which means ‘troop or good fortune’. The second was Asher which means ‘happy’. These were Jacobs seventh and eight sons.
The wives of Jacob used their handmaids in this conflict and continued to use their children as pawns in a power struggle within the home. It appears, Leah was more concerned about the status the child would bring her (all the daughters will call me blessed) than about the child himself.
The phrase ‘bear a child on my knees’ refers to the ancient practice of surrogate-adoption. Some believe that the phrase refers only to a symbolic placement of the child on the knees of one who adopts it.
There are two biblical accounts that speak of mandrakes, and one is found in Genesis 30. There, Jacob’s two wives, Rachel and Leah, vie for Jacob’s attention. Rachel wants a child, and Leah wants more children. Leah’s son Reuben finds some mandrakes in the field and gives them to his mother. Leah then trades the mandrakes to Rachel in exchange for the opportunity to sleep with Jacob that night (vs. 14-16). Rachel, who was as yet childless, accepts the trade, believing that the mandrakes would help her conceive at a later time. Leah sleeps with Jacob that night and becomes pregnant with her fifth son (verse 17).
The hostility between Leah and Rachel grew with time. As a consequence, we will see the strife between two sisters who believed the other had stolen her husband from her, will be played out in the lives of their sons. One cannot surpass the wisdom of God’s original plan, as expressed in Genesis 2:24: one man to be joined to one woman in a one-flesh relationship. Later, Leviticus 18:18 forbade the marrying of sisters.
So, Jacob’s ninth son was born to Leah, and was named Issachar, meaning Reward. Leah saw this son as a reward from God, because she was generous enough to offer her maid to Jacob.
Jacob’s tenth son was also born to Leah, who was named Zebulun, meaning Dwelling. In the pain of her heart, she still waited for her husband to truly love her and live with her, and she hoped the sheer quantity of sons would win his heart to her. Leah then gave birth to a daughter, Dinah.
The ungodly competition had, in one sense, ended. Leah and the two maids would have no more children from this point on. Nobody was the winner at this competition.
Rachel Conceives
The idea of God’s sovereignty over the womb is a repeated theme in the Bible. The purposes of God in opening one and closing the other may be completely unknowable, but God has His purpose.
· God granted twins to Rebekah (Genesis 25:21).
· He opens the womb of Leah (Genesis 29:31).
· He closed the womb of Hannah, for a time (1 Samuel 1:5).
The eleventh son born to Jacob, through Rachel, was named Joseph, meaning May He Add. Rachel felt she had been vindicated by the birth of one son, but longed for more children to continue the competition with her sister Leah.
At this point, one might think this eleventh son would end up being the key son used to further God’s redemptive purpose through this family. Yet Isaiah 55:8-9 is true: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Jacob’s Agreement with Laban
Jacob knows it is time to return to Canaan. Though Jacob was in Haran with Laban and his daughters for more than 14 years, he knew that he belonged in the land promised to him by God, through the covenant made with his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. After 14 years, Jacob still called the Promised Land my country.
Laban knew Jacob was an invaluable worker for him. Laban said this knowledge was learned by experience. Literally this means, learned by divination. It is probable that Laban practiced occult divination, and by this he knew the source of blessing.
Jacob Negotiates a Deal with Laban
Jacob would take the speckled and spotted offspring, but first he had to separate the currently speckled or spotted animals from the rest of the flock. This set the probability of more speckled and spotted offspring against him.
Allowing the speckled and spotted sheep and goats to remain in the flock would increase the likelihood of more speckled and spotted offspring coming from the flock at large.
This was an agreeable deal to both parties. First, it was a foolproof way to distinguish between the flocks of Laban and Jacob. As well, Laban liked the deal because the odds were set in his favor. Jacob may have proposed in this arrangement because he was willing to trust in God.
The agreement is made and the flocks are separated. Jacob would care for the large flock of his father-in-law Laban, made up of solid-colored animals. Jacob received any speckled or spotted offspring of this flock. Obviously, if there was a way Jacob could encourage these solid-colored sheep to bring forth spotted and speckled offspring, it would increase his personal wealth.
To prevent the mixing of the flocks, Laban’s sons took care of all the existing speckled and spotted sheep and goats, keeping them a three-day journey from the main flock.
To make sure that the property of his employer was well taken care of, Jacob himself looked over Laban’s flock.
God Blesses Jacob’s Method of Breeding
When Jacob put the green poplar, almond and chestnut branches in the watering troughs of the flocks, it apparently increased the number of speckled and spotted offspring from the solid-colored flock that Jacob managed on Laban’s behalf.
Jacob also used selective breeding to increase the strength and vitality of his flock. We don’t know exactly how this method worked. It is possible Jacob knew more about animal husbandry than we do today; but it is more likely Jacob did the best he knew, and God blessed it.
Genesis 31:10-13 tells us that Jacob saw in a dream the blessed reproduction of speckled and spotted sheep and goats. That dream was also connected with a promise of God’s care for Jacob and a command to return to Canaan, the land of his family. Jacob became exceedingly prosperous. The ancient Hebrew says, “The man burst out exceedingly exceedingly.” God blessed Jacob, but it was not because Jacob was especially good. It was because of the promises God made to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15) and the covenant made to Abraham.
In the same way, blessing comes from the LORD to us not because we are great or good, but because of the covenant God has made with us through Jesus, and promises He has given us in His word.
Jacob’s Descendants Up to this Point:
Leah Bilhah (Rachel) Zilpah (Leah) Rachel
Reuben (1) Dan (5) Gad (7) Joseph (11)
Simeon (2) Naphtali (6) Asher (8)
Levi (3)
Judah (4)
Issachar (9)
Zebulun (10)
Dinah
Benjamin will be the next son born to Rachel, which will be Jacob’s 12th son.