“When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”
This is the second time we’ve seen envy pop up in the book of Genesis. First, we saw it in the hearts of the Philistines whenever they became envious of Isaac’s harvest being blessed by God during the famine. And now we see it in the heart of Rachel as she’s grown envious of her sister being able to have children.
We talked about this a few weeks ago, but that word envy in the Septuagint is the same word used in Galatians 5, which describes envy as a work of the flesh—
“[19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21] envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25] If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. [26] Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Envy (phthonos) is the act of desiring what other people have. It’s you being unhappy about someone else’s blessings instead of being thankful for our own. It’s you not being content with where the Lord has you or with what the Lord has given you. It’s ultimately you shaking your fist at God, saying, “I want what they have.”
At the heart of envy is you grieving over someone else’s blessing because it isn’t your blessing. Envy is rooted in discontentment with God’s providence. Envy is a quiet accusation that God isn’t good!
This is exactly where Rachel is at this moment in time! Instead of rejoicing over the fact that Leah’s womb has been opened, she’s angry that hers has been closed. She desperately wanted what her sister had, children.
Church, envy is a dangerous thing. It’s a weed that will choke out every flower of gratitude in our heart. It is a poison that will destroy our joy. It often lurks behind the curtains of our hearts, hiding in the shadows of the bright light of God’s blessing. When we see God’s blessing on someone else, our flesh quietly whispers, “Why not me?”
There are countless ways this temptation appears in our life. We can envy another person’s paycheck, marriage, family, home, influence, gifts, opportunities, or success.
But, in our attempt to draw application, I don’t want to wander too far from the text this morning.
Scripture tells us that children are a blessing from the Lord. And by God’s grace, Harbor Community Church is filled with little blessings—forty-nine of them to be exact.
For many women, the desire to be a mother runs deep in their veins. It’s a beautiful, God-given longing. But every God-given desire can become a place of temptation when it goes unfulfilled.
If the Lord has not yet given you children… or if your family looks different than you hoped… it can become very easy to look across the room at another family and begin walking the same path Rachel walked.
Church, please guard your heart.
May the LORD continue to bless our church! May he graciously fill this room with more children in the future! But, as He blesses others, may we understand that our greatest battle may not be against barrenness, disappointment, or waiting. It may be against envy.
So, don’t let envy take root in our hearts. Don’t water that weed. Don’t feed that monster. Don’t drink that poison. Crucify it! Nail it to the cross! Ask the Spirit to replace envy with thankfulness, comparison with contentment, and resentment with genuine rejoicing in the blessings God gives to others.
So, with a heart full of envy, Rachel says to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”
At first glance, that sounds a little dramatic. It almost sounds like me saying, “If I don’t eat soon, I’m going to die,” after skipping breakfast and it’s only 11:30am.
But, I don’t think Rachel is being completely dramatic here.
Yes, her seemingly dramatic words here are rooted in a heart full of envy. Therefore, they can’t be completely rational. But, culturally, her words could have some legitimacy here.
In our day and age, if a woman’s husband dies without children, there are often other means of provision (family, employment, insurance, savings, and community support). But in Rachel’s time, things were very different. For her, a widow without children was incredibly vulnerable. If Jacob were to die, she would have had no son to care for her, protect her, or provide for her in her old age. Therefore, when Rachel says, “Give me children, or I shall die,” she’s not simply exaggerating. She’s expressing what she believes to be the difference between life and death.
It seems likely that Rachel understood children to be a sense of security. For her, children were what she believed would sustain her long after her husband was gone.
Now, this may be a bit of a stretch. But does Rachel’s way of thinking here ever reflect our way of thinking? Do we ever look to something other than God to give us only what God can give?
To Rachel, a child was the source of her joy, it was the source of her identity, it was the protector of her life. So, is there ever anything in your life that you look to, instead of God, as the source of your joy, the source of your identity, or the protector of your life?
Perhaps your job? Perhaps your marriage? Perhaps it’s your children? Perhaps it’s your financial security? Perhaps your health?
Do you ever begin to think, “If only I had this, then I’d finally be okay!”
In doing so, we’re asking something other than God to be God. We’re elevating the creation above the creator. We’re worshipping the gift over the giver.
Do you ever look to something other than God to give you only what God can give? May we be careful to never develop the idea that anything other than God can sustain our lives. Only God can do what God can do!
Rachel says to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”
In response, Jacob grows frustrated. His anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
Although Jacob’s words here seem to have a little bit of bite to them, it seems like Jacob is learning. Jacob is beginning to recognize a truth that he hasn’t always acknowledged. He’s learning that God is the author of life. God is the one who fills the womb. Children are not simply a product of human effort; they are gifts from the LORD.
Now, despite Jacob’s proper theology, his actions were once again flawed.
The proper response would have probably went something like, “Baby Girl, I know your heart is breaking. I know this burden feels unbearable. But you and I both know that only God can give life. I remember hearing how my father prayed for my mother when she was barren, and the Lord heard his prayer and opened her womb. So let’s do what my father did. Let’s go to the Lord together. Let’s pour out our hearts before Him and ask Him to be gracious to us.”
Wouldn’t that have been a dope response? Wouldn’t that seem to be the most Godly? Yet, there’s no proof of Jacob praying for Rachel. Instead, he speaks truth with no tenderness. He redirects Rachel’s frustration toward God, but there’s no proof that he sought to lead her to God. There’s no prayer, no comfort, no invitation to seek the LORD together. Instead, he leaves her to figure out her next steps without God.
Men! May we not follow Jacob’s example here. May we lead our families to God, not away from him. May we pray for our wives, not scold our wives. May we be men who have a high view of God and may our high view of God be demonstrated in and through how we pray for (and with) our wives.
Church, good theology should always produce Godly compassion. A healthy view of God’s sovereignty ought to lead to us running to the sovereign God!
Now, Jacob’s response leaves Rachel feeling empty. In response to Jacob’s furious response, Rachel takes matters into her own hands. She says to Jacob, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Does this sound familiar?
Just as Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham, Rachel now gives Bilhah to Jacob.
Patience is not a virtue for Rachel. Rather than wait on God, Rachel seeks to take matters into her own hands.
This led to Rachel saying, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.
Dan sounds like the Hebrew word for “judged,” which is why she’s named him this. In other words, Rachel is saying that God has finally ruled in her favor.
Following this in verse 7, we see that Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.”
Naphtali sounds like the Hebrew word for “wrestling,” which is why she named him this.
Notice Rachel doesn’t celebrate the gift; she celebrates the victory. She’s living in competition with her sister. Her focus isn’t on God’s blessing; it’s on beating Leah. Rachel isn’t simply seeking to find security in a child; she’s allowed envy to rule her heart as she’s fighting for the attention of her husband over her sister. A child has simply become a point on a scoreboard.
Parents, be careful to not use your child as a means to compete with your peers.
Following this in verse 9, Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, so she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.
Gad sounds like the Hebrew word for “good fortune,” which is why she named him this.
Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher, which sounds like the Hebrew word for “happy.”
What another tragic moment we have here. Rachel is chasing victory over her sister, while Leah is chasing validation from her husband. Leah believes this child will provide her with the happiness she longs for.
This family is a mess! It’s full of competition and rivalry. It’s almost as if these women are racing to prove who is more loved, more blessed, and more valuable.
So, at this point in the story, if you’re keeping score, Leah is up 6-2 against Rachel. Rachel may have the heart of Jacob. But, Leah has the lead in babies born. But, then the scene shifts in verse 14. And it’s in verse 14 that things start to get weird[er] for us!
In verse 14, during the wheat harvest, Leah’s oldest son, Reuben, goes out into the fields and finds some mandrakes. He brings them home to his mother. Rachel sees this, which leads her to say to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
Now, you might be asking (like I did), “What in the world is a mandrake?”
Well, a mandrake was a plant that many people in the ancient world believed to possess special powers related to fertility, love, and conception. In other words, people believed mandrakes could help barren women become pregnant.
Now, just to be clear, Scripture does not endorse this mentality. In fact, I think Genesis 30 is showing us the lack of power Mandrakes possess when it comes to conception. I think Genesis 30 is showing us the unfortunate reality that Rachel is looking everywhere but to God when it comes to her barrenness.
She’s hoping that creation can accomplish what only the creator can accomplish. Maybe if she can get her hands on these plants, she will finally be able to conceive a child of her own.
This leads to Leah saying, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?”
Leah’s words here reveal Leah’s heart. Rachel envies Leah because Leah has the kids and she doesn’t. And Leah envies Rachel because Rachel has her husband’s affection and she doesn’t. Rachel has taken away her husband.
Now, I think Leah’s words are a bit ironic here. The irony here, to me, is that Leah is willing to overlook the fact that she’s guilty of the very thing she’s accusing Rachel of here. Although Leah wasn’t the mastermind of deceiving Jacob into marrying her, she was certainly an accomplice. She played a vital role in deceiving Jacob into marrying her whenever Jacob thought he was marrying Rachel. So, Leah is overlooking the log in her eye as she’s addressing the log in Rachel’s eye.
Friends, we’re often guilty of the very sins we’re most disgusted by. Yet, we’re really good at spotting the speck in someone else’s eye while remaining blind to the log in our own eye. The sins that frustrate us most in others are often the very sins we’re guilty of ourselves.
This leads Rachel to say to Leah, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
What a mess! Rachel and Leah are negotiating who gets to sleep with their husband at night. In exchange for her son’s mandrakes, Leah gets to sleep with Jacob when he comes home from work. So, when Jacob came home from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said,
“You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”
So he laid with her that night.
This breaks my heart for Leah. Can you imagine having to say this to your husband? “I have hired you.” The woman who longs to be loved by her husband has to hire her husband. So, God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. And Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar, which sounds like the Hebrew word for “wages” or “hire.” So, Leah believes God has rewarded her or repaid her for the bargain she made with Rachel.
And Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun, which sounds like the Hebrew word for honor.
So, even after six sons, Leah is still holding out for hope while desperately longing for the one thing she doesn’t have, which is Jacob’s love.
Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. Remember this name because she will become important later in Genesis!
But, then the story shifts back to Rachel. God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”
What a moment! After all the striving, after all the bargaining, after all the manipulation… God remembered Rachel! When the schemes wore out, after the mandrakes left her system, God opened her womb.
Friends, Genesis 30 reminds us that God can do what no one else can do, even when we look to anything and everything other than God to provide what only he can provide! The stories of Genesis hide none of the blemishes of God’s people. They are a broken and flawed people that God has chosen to bless despite their flaws. And, through this broken and flawed people, the Messiah has come. And he has lived the life we could not live, and he has died the death that we should have died. As we watch God continually pour out grace and mercy on this undeserving family, we’re reminded that our relationship with Him has always rested on grace, not works.