The Scorned will be Delivered

We are studying the women of Christmas this year. Last week we considered the theme of barrenness in the Bible and the ways it foreshadows the grace that God would show in the birth of his Son. Today, we come to another famous woman of Scripture, Rachel, the second wife of Jacob. You remember the story of Jacob’s love for Rachel. Jacob was sent to live with his Uncle Labon, and while there he fell in love with Rachel because she was beautiful. He agreed to work for Labon for seven years as a bride price for Rachel. But, when the time came to marry Rachel, Labon got Jacob good and drunk, then sent his older daughter, Leah, into Jacob instead of Rachel. In the light of day, Jacob realizes he’d been tricked, but he was insistent that he will marry Rachel, too. So, Labon negotiated another seven years of labor for Rachel’s hand. This story might have the feel of an ancient Romantic Comedy, and at the point that Jacob marries Rachel, we might make the mistake of thinking, “OK, now everything is going to work out. He has his true love. She’s very beautiful. Love conquers all, so the story can end now.” Well, you’d be mistaken to think that. Let’s read Gen. 30:1-24 to see the twist in this story.

As I pointed out last week, barrenness was an especially terrible curse for the women of ancient times. Their value was measured by the children they produced. And, as I pointed out with the story of Sarah, women could be driven to such desperation that they would be willing to try anything for the sake of a child. We find just such desperation in Rachel. I want you to notice three efforts that Rachel makes to try and free herself of the scorn and reproach of barrenness.

First, she tries misdirection. In verses 1-2 we see that she is barren, and she envies the fertility of her sister. So, what does she do? She blames her husband. She says, “Give me children, or I will die.” Her inability to conceive mixed with her jealousy to form a terrible concoction of anger. I’m sure she blamed her sister for plotting against her. I’m sure she blamed her husband for favoring Leah over her. So, she shifts the blame for her barrenness to those around her. In our sinfulness, we can react the same way to the judgment of God. When we hear that we are sinners and we deserve the judgment of God, one response might be to say, “Well, I can’t help it, God made me this way.” Or, “I’ve just had a really hard lot in life.” This is, after all, what the first man and woman did when God confronted them with their sin in the garden. When God asked Adam what he had done, he said, “That woman you gave me, she gave me the fruit and I ate.” Eve shifted the blame to the serpent. It is the most common reaction of the sinner to blame someone else. But, blame shifting will not deliver you from the judgment of your sin.

Second, in verses 3-8 we see that Rachel tries manipulation. Like her grandmother-in-law, Sarah, she gets the bright idea that she can give her maidservant to Jacob and have a child through her. For a while, that seemed to work, but just as it did with Sarah, this would only serve to create family strife. Again, when we face the judgment of God, we might respond with manipulation, too. We might try to hide our sins from fellow church members. We might compensate for it by giving to charity. We might manipulate the people we sin with or against to hide or lessen our guilt. But, God knows. As Numbers 32:23 says, “be sure, your sins will find you out.”

Finally, in verses 14-18, Rachel tries medicine. In those days, mandrakes were believed to be an aphrodisiac that would help with conception. Rachel is so desperate that she negotiates with Leah to gain this last best hope for a child. In the end, her scheme doesn’t work, and, adding insult to injury, Leah ends up having a child. Our reaction to the judgment of God can lead us to try and cover over the guilt through self-medication. Now, certainly, there are times when real, doctor-prescribed medications are necessary, but often we use drugs, alcohol or even cake to mask the pain of our guilt.

But, the story of Rachel, isn’t a tragedy. It is a story of God’s grace when she had exhausted all other possibilities. In verses 22-24 we read that God heard her prayers and gave her a son. That son’s name was Joseph. If you know the story of Joseph, you know that he wasn’t just a blessing to Rachel in her barrenness. He was a blessing to the whole family of Jacob, and to the great empire of Egypt, too. God used the terrible circumstances of his life to put him in a position where he could use the wisdom of God to deliver Egypt and his family from famine.

Sadly, though, Rachel didn’t get to see the great deliverance that her son would bring. She died in childbirth while having her second son, Benjamin. The death was so sudden that Jacob had to bury her on the side of the road in a little town called Ephrath. Because of her son, the Jewish people associated Rachel with God’s deliverance. And, her tomb served as a shrine and a place of prayer, because the Jewish people passed right by it as they were led away into exile in Babylon. This picture of people praying at Rachel’s tomb as they were led into exile is what Jeremiah pictures in Jeremiah 31:15 – “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” 

The little town of Ephrath, where Rachel was buried, would later be called Bethlehem. It was in the little town of Bethlehem that the once and final deliverer, Jesus Christ, was born. But, Jesus didn’t just come to deliver women from barrenness, or to deliver his people from a famine. Jesus came to deliver his people from the bondage and curse of sin. He came to set the world right. So, Isaiah prophesied, in Isaiah 9:6 – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus has come as the great deliverer who reveals the truth of God, who sets the captives free, and who brings peace between God and man.

That deliverance can only be known through faith in Jesus Christ. Today, I call you to repent of your sins. Repent of trying to shift the blame about your sins. Repent of trying to manipulate the situation so that your sins don’t seem so bad. Repent of trying to numb the guilt with substances. No amount of human effort can hide your sins or right your situation. Turn to Jesus and be forgiven by his grace.