A Nation Is Born


Genesis 29:31-30:24


http://www.esvbible.org/Genesis 29:31-30:24



When you condense the story of Jacob’s family down into one reading – well, it’s pretty bizarre. Here’s one man, married to sisters, who include their personal servants in the mix and wow – what a mess. It is possible that Jacob was living with 4 women who may have actually been pregnant all at the same time. We’re not told how long it takes Jacob to grow this family into 4 wives and 12 children (number 13 comes along later), but it seems to happen in less than 10 years. This all happens while he serves out his second 7 years with Laban, so we know it takes at least that long. As for the wives; Leah is just trying to get Jacob to love her and Rachel wants to eliminate the negative stigma that went along with being childless. Jacob left a dysfunctional family behind only to create a new one.



What’s with the mandrakes, you may ask. They are a root vegetable that tends to grow in the pattern resembling the lower half of the human body. As such, they were believed to have “magical” powers to bring about a pregnancy. Rachel and Leah were not above using whatever means they could think of to create children.




Ultimately, God creates a huge nation out of this rather wild family situation. Out of all these sons, only three of them figure largely in God’s story. Levi, (the third son of Leah), is the father of the priest class, Joseph (the first son of Rachel) is the one who saves God’s people from starvation, and Judah (the fourth son of Leah) is the line through which God brings the Messiah. While Rachel was the wife that Jacob loved the most, Leah is the woman through whom God sends us Jesus. God’s plans are never bound by our ideas or desires.



Whenever I read a story such as this in the Bible I am reminded that there is nothing new under the sun. Our dysfunctions and foibles are nothing new. No matter what we get ourselves into God’s plan will always emerge triumphant. I’m fairly certain that Jacob often looked around at his 4 wives and 13 children and just shook his head. There must have been moment of absolute chaos among fighting women and numerous children born very close together. But, it was the life that Jacob chose to have and it was the family through which God chose to bless the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more