Rachel

Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

~Genesis 29:30

How do you think most women would respond to the situation in which Rachel found herself?  With love and concern for her unloved sister?  Or with a spirit of superiority and pride?

• Good question!  Eventhough Rachel did get married to Jacob, on their very wedding night, it was Leah that was sent to lay with Jacob!  Rachel had to have been livid with her father Laban for pulling such trickery!  After Jacob settled the fiasco, the couple finally got to have their moment of bliss.  I would think that most women would respond with some spirit of superiority or pride in this situation because they would feel tied to their husbands; they are their husband's and their husbands are theirs.

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

~Genesis 30:1

The agony expressed by Rachel's words here is an agony experienced by many women over the centuries.  How did Rachel's close relationship with Leah increase her pain?  Is there any way their relationship could have eased her pain instead?

• I think the pain was more unbearable because Rachel was jealous of Leah being more fruitful in bearing children.  Pehaps how the pain could have been more bearable would be if she kepts praying to God for patience?

Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.  When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.

~Genesis 29:30-31

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

~Genesis 30:1

These two sisters each has something the other wanted.  What did Rachel have that Leah wanted?  What did Leah have that Rachel wanted?

• Leah wanted to be loved like Rachel was
• Rachel wanted to be able to conceive children like Leah did

Discontentment is an insidious thing, trapping us into thinking that which was enough is no longer enough, and that which was satisfying is no longer satisfying.  Do you ever feel discontnet because you didn't "have it all"?  What can you do to resist such sentiments?

• I'm sure I have felt like this before.  Of course, we can never have all that we want, or at least, not right away.  The one thing I can think of that would serve as resistence would be to be at least thankful for the things you have and that maybe later on in life, you will get what you want in time and in patience.

When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.  "Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”

  Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.  But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

  So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.  Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

~Genesis 31:19, 30-34

Why would Rachel even have such idols?  Why do you think she hid them from her father?

• In a way, I don't think she took them along with her to worship them herself, it could be possible that she took them from her father so she could send an indirect message that there is something much better out their to worship. 
• She probably hid them from her father because she was probably thinking the same thing  Jacob was; that she would be forcefully returned to her home.

When have you been in a situation that caused you to lie or cheat to protect yourself or someone else?  Describe it.  What could/should have you done differently?

• I think there have been lots of times when I was in a relationship with someone that I may have felt like I need to lie to my parents about what they may have said or if something happened while me and that person argued.  I did everything in my power to confide everything in that person because I loved them.  With that, I also didn't want anyone to know that anything was wrong with us.  I thought a lot of the time that I was a big enough girl to take care of my own issues on my own.  I know it's a sin to lie to people, so all I can think that what I could have done differently would be to just tell the truth.

Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.  And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”  As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

  So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).  Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.

~Genesis 35:16-20

Given the fact that they were on a journey, desribe in your own words the situation under which Rachel likely gave birth.

• I can see that the needed to pull over on the side of the road, and Rachel would have had to be propped up against a tree or rock.  I can see that the sun might have been bearing down on everyone in company, particularly Rachel.

It's one of the paradimes of life, revealed here in this tragic story of Rachel's death, that what we most want from life we often can only gain by giving up something else that's equally important to us.  Can you think of an instance in your own life in which gaining something you wanted required giving up something else?

• Yes, I believe I can.  While I was in college, it was tough for me to get my GPA up to a 3.0 in order for me to student teach.  Twice I tried to be apart of the practicum class that I needed to take before entering student teaching.  Then, somewhere in the middle of the semester, I would find out that I would not gain enough points to be able to student teach.  I had been involved in a lot of ensembles in my day.  When it came to the next fall semester, I had came to the realization that I had already put in four years worth of college marching band, so I made the hard diecision of giving up that ensemble, in order to allow more time for my studies.  Needless to say, it paid off.

Jacob renamed his new son Benjamin, which means "son of my right hand."  What does this new name reveal about Jacob's hope for the future?

• It could be a very far off prediction that someone will come and save us all.