JACOB SERIES: MULTIPLICATION OF CHILDREN AND LIVESTOCK

Jacob’s love was not enough to sustain Rachel when she realized she was barren and her sister Leah was fruitful, so she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” Angered by Rachel’s words, Jacob responded, acknowledging the sovereignty of God and that it is God who causes increase.

So, following the custom of barren women, Rachel gave her handmaiden, Bilhah, to Jacob as a substitute for her, and Bilhah bore sons for Jacob. The first son Rachel named Dan, which meant God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son. The second son she named Naphtali, meaning with great wrestling have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed.

Realizing, after having four sons, that she was no longer becoming pregnant, and seeing her barren sister Rachel give her handmaiden to Jacob to bear children for her, Leah follows her sister’s example and gives her handmaiden, Zilpah, to Jacob. Zilpah bore two sons for Jacob; Leah named the first, Gad, which signifies a troop cometh. The second son, Asher, signified that she was happy, as the daughters would call her blessed.

During the wheat harvest, Reuben, the first son of Leah and Jacob, found some mandrakes in the field and brought them home to his mother. Believing their usage could result in her becoming pregnant, Rachel asked Leah to give her some of them. Leah replied, “Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? Sensing her sister’s hostility, Rachel made a bargain with Leah that Jacob would spend the night with her. Therefore, when Jacob came home in the evening, Leah informed him of the arrangement, and he complied.

From this intimate time Leah had with Jacob, she conceived and had a son whom she named Issachar, because she felt God had given her hire for giving her handmaiden to her husband. Leah again became pregnant and bore her last son, whom she named Zebulun, because she assumed God had endowed her with a good dowry; and so her husband would dwell with her because she bore him six sons. Lastly, Leah had a daughter whom she named Dinah.

Then, in verse twenty-two, God remembered Rachel, hearkened to her, took away her reproach, opened her womb, and she conceived and bore a son whom she called Joseph, which meant the Lord shall add to her another son.

After the birth of Joseph, Jacob’s contractual time of serving his father-in-law came to an end, and he discussed returning home with Laban. Howbeit, Laban admitted that he realized his house had been blessed because of Jacob, and he asked Jacob to stay on, and for staying, he would pay whatever Jacob requested. Jacob agreed that Laban was blessed and had experienced an increase because of him, and he would stay if Laban would allow him to keep all future speckled and spotted sheep and the black and multicolored goats, to which Laban agreed.

From a dream Jacob had, as shared in Genesis 31, he chose these particular livestock and used the method of peeling rods from trees, which left them with white streaks. Then he placed the rods in the water when the livestock was drinking, mating, and conceiving. In this manner, he used selective breeding, mating the weaker sheep and goats for Laban and the stronger ones for himself.

Thinking he was outsmarting Jacob, Laban removed all the speckled and spotted sheep and the black and multicolored goats from the flock and gave them to his sons, who were a three-day journey from the flocks Jacob supervised. In doing this, Laban felt he was in control of Jacob’s destiny. However, Genesis 30 ended stating, “And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.”

Additional information and nuggets on Genesis 30:

Love is not enough to sustain a barren woman. During biblical times, being barren placed an emotional stigma on the childless woman and caused her self-worth to diminish in the eyes of those around her and herself. Having a child, particularly a male child, was her primary focus in life.

Customs, though socially accepted, do not mean they are right or good. In biblical times, handmaids had no rights; they were at the disposal of their owners, who made decisions concerning their lives. All that she had or bore belonged to her owner.

Mandrakes were a beet-like root that Orientals believed to be an aphrodisiac.

Some individuals believe that during a female’s conception and gestation, if something makes a great impression on her mind, it will, in turn, influence the fetus’s mind or body. 

Jacob realized it takes the sovereign God’s intervention to produce.

Both Rachel and Leah were willing to manipulate another person’s life to get what they wanted. Furthermore, both believed God approved of their actions.

Both Leah and Rachel desired what the other sister possessed.

In naming the two sons Bilhah had for her, Rachel displayed the rivalry and dislike that existed between her and her sister, Leah.

Leah’s one desire was to gain the love of Jacob, which the scriptures revealed never came to fruition; the naming of her sons confirmed this.

Understand, no matter what means of conception that is used, it is God who gives the increase.

The promise of blessings that God made to Jacob at Bethel was manifested as read in the last verse of Genesis 30.

In the lineage of Rachel, she had the world’s future Savior (Jesus), and in the lineage of Rachel, she had Israel’s present Savior (Joseph).