“Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to
her and opened her womb. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said,
“God has taken away my disgrace.” She
named him Joseph, and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.” [1]
Jacob loved
Rachel, and worked for years to gain her as his wife. After agreeing with her brother Laban to work
7 years in exchange for her hand in marriage, he was deceived on his wedding
night into marrying Rachel’s sister.
When Jacob confronted Laban he was told, “Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger
one also, in return for another seven years of work.” Wow.
What would you do in his shoes?
Yet the Word records, “And Jacob
did so.” [2] Say what you want, that is probably the most
tangible demonstration of love someone can make!
What often
gets overlooked is the fact that all that time, Rachel would’ve understood her
engagement to Jacob as binding. How she
dealt with the waiting is unknown, because the Word doesn’t tell us. Certainly it would be a challenge
though. Her culture valued marriage and
children. She had to wait 7 years to be
married to even think about bearing children, and when the wedding actually happened,
she was deprived again through trickery.
To add to that sorrow, Rachel doesn’t bear any children to her beloved
for yet another 7 years.
Instead, the
Word records that her sister Leah gives birth to Reuben after a time. Then Simeon, then Levi, then Judah. That’s ~4 years. Rachel then gets desperate and gives Jacob her
maid Bilhah as a wife. In spite of that
being a practice that got his grandfather Abraham into a heap of trouble, Jacob
proceeds to gain sons Dan and Naphtali through Bilhah. Rachel does take these
as victories, and says, “God has
vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” [3] Leah then uses her maid Zilpah as a
substitute womb, and brings Gad and Asher into the world. After which, Leah gives birth three more
times – to Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah, Rachel realizes she is loosing both the
struggle to her sister and the blessing of bearing children herself. It’s been almost 14 years since she was
betrothed to Jacob. Almost 14 years of
dreaming of the day she’d be a mother to her own child. That’s a long time.
During those
years God had blessed her. Her husband
had become wealthy, and she did have Dan and Naphtali as ‘her own’ from a
social perspective. She was part of a
blended family, which has unique joys and privileges. But for His own reasons, the Lord had shut up
her womb till just now.
“Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to
her and opened her womb.”
What that
tells us is that Rachel was speaking to God about it. Not only right then, but she had done so in
the past (for God remembered). From that we can gather that Rachel had
been praying all that time for her own child.
Wherever the line is between persistant prayer and persevering prayer,
Rachel crossed it.
There are many examples of persevering prayer in the Scripture. Most likely that’s because at some point or on some level, we all need to be persevering in prayer for something. For Rachel, it was the opportunity to bear her own child. For many of us, it is the opportunity to see our children come to faith (and bear both a physical and spiritual child in the same person). But whatever your reason is, know that you are in good company in doing so. As the Psalmist writes, “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” [4] Amen.
[1] The Holy Bible:
New International Version. (1984). (Ge 30:22–24). Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan.
[2] The Holy Bible:
New International Version. (1984). (Ge 29:27–28). Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan.
[3] The Holy Bible: New International Version.
(1984). (Ge 30:6). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[4] The Holy Bible: New International Version.
(1984). (Ps 116:1–2). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
