Jacob's Second Seven Years in Haran

JACOB’S SECOND SEVEN YEARS IN HARAN

An Exposition of Genesis 29:31-30:24

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: September 17, 2023

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

INTRODUCTION

Last week we unpacked Genesis 29:1-30, which covered Jacob’s first seven years in Haran. After arriving in Haran, meeting his Uncle Laban, and staying with Laban for a month, Jacob then entered into and fulfilled a marriage contract: he served Laban seven years in order to acquire Laban’s younger daughter. After Jacob’s seven years of service were completed, a wedding celebration did indeed take place, but through deception and disguise Laban schemed to have Jacob unknowingly marry his older daughter Leah. Laban still permitted Jacob to marry Rachel, which Jacob did about eight days after he married Leah. But Laban required Jacob to serve him another seven years.

So, Jacob goes into his second seven years in Haran with two wives, Leah and Rachel, and each of his wives has a maidservant who will prove consequential in the unfolding drama: Zilpah is Leah’s maidservant, and Bilhah is Rachel’s maidservant. The passage that we are studying this morning is Genesis 29:31-30:24, which covers Jacob’s second seven years in Haran – seven years is a round number, it might easily have been seven-and-a-half years. Although Jacob is working hard in Laban’s fields and with Laban’s livestock during this second seven years, the focus of our passage is the competitive and productive childbearing that took place during these seven years: one man, with his two wives and their two maidservants, generated eleven sons and one daughter in these seven years.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

³¹ When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

30 ¹ When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” ² Jacob's 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?” ³ Then she said, “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.” ⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷ Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.¹⁰ Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad. ¹² Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

¹⁴ In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.”¹⁶ When Jacob came from the field in the 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 lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!” (Genesis 29:31-30:24)

THE LORD IS IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD MESS

Right off the bat, I want to speak an important word of application to those of you who are part of a covenant household. By covenant household, I mean a family that, through baptism and confession, bears the name ‘Christian’; a family in which at least one spouse or at least one parent has pledged loyalty to the Lord God; a family that enjoys the privileges, responsibilities, and warnings of belonging to God’s gracious covenant of redemption. If you are part of a covenant household, then the Lord is in the middle of your household mess. The Lord is in the middle of your family drama. The Lord is in the middle of your heap of complicated relationships.

The alternative is to believe that you are alone in your own chaotic mishmash, and that you have to fix it in order to get God’s attention and help. Then, if perhaps you fix it well enough to impress God’s holy gaze, then God might start helping you to perfect the work that you already started. I suppose there are many religious homes that operate according to this ‘God helps those who help themselves’ lie, but it is not a biblical way of operating.

Just think about Jacob’s household. He had two wives, Leah and Jacob. Although God permitted polygyny in the Old Testament, it falls far short of God’s original design for one man to be happily wedlocked to one woman for life. Polygyny is bound to be unsatisfying and problematic for the husband and his wives. Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah” (Genesis 29:30). Jacob’s lack of love for Leah amounted to hate (Genesis 29:31), and Leah experienced this hate as an affliction (Genesis 29:32). That said, Leah was bursting forth with children: four sons in Genesis 29:31-35, and then two additional sons and a daughter in Genesis 30:14-21. Meanwhile, Rachel was barren for several years, and she looked upon her fruitful sister with envy (Genesis 30:1). However, Rachel had the majority share of the marriage bed, and in Genesis 30:14-16 Leah transacted a deal with Rachel in order to secure conjugal privileges for the night. This friction and competition between Leah and Rachel was compounded by their use of their maidservants in order to obtain additional children. Just as Sarah gave her servant Hagar to Abraham as a wife in order to obtain children through her (Genesis 16:1-4), so in Genesis 30:4-8 Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob as a wife – and Bilhah bore Jacob two sons. Not to be outdone in the maidservant department, in Genesis 30:9-13 Leah gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife – and Zilpah also bore Jacob two sons. Although the purpose of our passage is not to describe parenting dynamics or sibling dynamics, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to understand that children growing up in such a setting are bound to learn and imitate the family’s political drama. And so it comes as no surprise that, some years later, the first ten sons egregiously and wickedly conspire against the eleventh son, Joseph. Joseph was the beloved son of the favored wife, and through hate and envy Jacob’s older sons sold their brother into slavery. And you thought that your family has problems?

But here’s the thing: your family does have problems. After all, your family is made up of sinners! Though polygyny is probably not on the table, it may well be that a husband fails to love his wife as he ought, and the wife feels afflicted. Instead of a wife finding rest in her husband’s love, she may rely too much on her children to boost her own fragile identity. Children are a precious gift from the Lord, but they are no substitute for a healthy marriage. A husband may be upset by the unrealistic demands of a frustrated wife, as when Rachel said to Jacob: “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1) For one reason or another, how many marriages among Christians hobble on, with each new day compounding the unresolved issues from the past? To broaden the scope of possible problems, parents may have profound regrets about past decisions and actions related to work, to the marriage relationship, to household finances, to parenting and childhood education strategies, and to priorities related to church and sports and extracurricular activities.

If Jacob had an ideal picture in his mind of what his marriage to Rachel would look like when he first fell in love with Rachel during his first few weeks in Haran, we can be sure that the ideal picture was quickly and severely shattered – indeed it was shattered as soon as Leah entered the picture as Wife Number 1, and the shattering continued with all the friction, envy, and internal family politics, and the shattering reached its climax when his guilty sons lied to him and told him that his beloved Joseph was dead. At that time Jacob “refused to be comforted” (Genesis 37:35) and he lived in depression for over twenty years, until his spirit was revived upon learning that Joseph was alive down in Egypt (Genesis 45:27). You also may have had an ideal picture in your mind of marriage, of children and family life and the flourishing of your household. And yet, your soul aches at the realization of failures, trials, pressures, and relational dynamics that you haven’t resolved. The ache lingers. The pain is palpable. Regrets haunt you. Complexities make you want to scream or give up. And in the face of all that, my question is: do you believe that the Lord is with you in your messy family life? Do you believe that the Lord is in the middle of the challenges facing your household? Do you believe that the Lord is near, that He is a rock of refuge for you and your loved ones, that He offers Himself to you as a strong support in the midst of your weakness, that He is building something beautiful out of the unimpressive raw material that your life and family represent, that He is superintending your mixture of favorable and unfavorable circumstances in order to accomplish His purposes in your life? Do you really trust Him? Or do you mostly just feel that you have to pick up and sort out the broken pieces on your own?

Remember that Genesis 29:31-30:24 wasn’t written for the benefit of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel – they were living all this stuff in the moment. Instead, this passage was written down for our benefit, so that we might derive encouragement and hope. Therefore, let us observe the Lord’s activity in Jacob’s family so that we might have confidence that this same Lord is also at work in our families.

WALKING THROUGH THE PASSAGE

So, you can read this passage and easily discern the problems that they had, but here’s the thing: don’t miss the fact that the Lord is right in the middle of it – the Lord is present with Jacob and his family in order to fulfill his promises to and through Jacob.

The Lord opens Leah’s womb

First, notice the Lord’s sovereign act to open Leah’s womb: “When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” (Genesis 29:31) The sovereign Lord opened Leah’s womb but did not open Rachel’s womb (until much later). The Lord’s decision was not random, but in response to the fact “that Leah was hated”. Do you remember the song I quoted in last week’s sermon, that the Lord mingles a portion of pain and a portion of pleasure in our experience, and that we are to trust His wise bestowment through it all? In today’s passage, we see another example of the Lord’s wise bestowment. On the one hand, the Lord gives Leah the pleasure of bearing children as a way of compensating for her pain of being unloved by her husband. On the other hand, the Lord moderates Rachel’s pleasure in being loved by Jacob by keeping her womb barren for many years. The Lord’s sovereign decision to do this or do that cannot be subjected to human scrutiny; the Lord does not answer to humanity’s fickle philosophies of fairness. The Lord is in the heavens; He does whatever pleases Him; no one can stay His hand, and no one can find fault with His administration of the universe. Here, the Lord shows compassion to Leah by opening her womb. The Lord sees and hears Leah’s affliction, and responds with compassion. The Lord sees and hears your affliction, and responds with compassion. Do you find comfort in His compassion?

Leah has four sons

For Leah’s part – keeping in mind that Leah is no paragon of virtue, having just participated in her father’s plan to deceive Jacob into marrying her – for Leah’s part, she demonstrates faith by rightly interpreting her fruitful womb as the result of the Lord’s compassion and by naming two of her children in honor of the Lord.

Leah names her first son Reuben, which means ‘See, a son’ (see ESV footnote on Genesis 29:32), and says, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction”. Leah’s understanding up to this point is correct, although by adding “for now my husband will love me” (Genesis 29:32) she incorrectly infers that having borne Reuben will win Jacob’s love.

Leah names her second son Simeon, which is related to the Hebrew word ‘heard’, and says, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” (Genesis 29:33)

Leah names her third son Levi, which is related to the Hebrew word ‘joined’ or ‘attached’, and says, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” (Genesis 29:34)

Leah names her fourth son Judah, which is related to the Hebrew word ‘praise’, and says, “This time I will praise the LORD.” (Genesis 29:35)

Rachel and Jacob have a sharp exchange

As I already mentioned, the implication of Genesis 29:31 is that while the Lord opened Leah’s womb, the Lord didn’t open Rachel’s womb. Rachel envies her fertile sister and demands of Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1). For his part, Jacob recognizes the Lord’s sovereignty over the womb when he replies to Rachel. Jacob, angry at Rachel on account of her unreasonable demand, replies, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” (Genesis 30:2) Although Jacob is angry and is probably exasperated when he says this, nevertheless he speaks the truth: Jacob understands that Jacob is not divine; Jacob understands that Jacob cannot dictate what happens in the womb; Jacob understands that it is God’s unique prerogative to give or withhold the fruit of the womb. The same Lord who gives to one person in one circumstance withholds from another person in another circumstance. To adapt Job’s comment, ‘The Lord gives and the Lord withholds; blessed by the name of the Lord.’ Don’t go on complaining about it; only trust Him.

Rachel’s servant Bilhah has two sons

In any case, Rachel proceeds with a plan to obtain children by giving her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob, which results in two sons. Rachel names Bilhah’s first son Dan, which is related to the Hebrew word ‘judged’, and says, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” (Genesis 30:6) Rachel discerns the hand of God in the birth of Dan to her maidservant: “God has judged me” means ‘God has judged in my favor’ or ‘God has vindicated me’; and Rachel regards the birth of Dan as an answer to her prayer, saying “God… has also heard my voice and given me a son.” (Genesis 30:6)

Rachel names Bilhah’s second son Naphtali, which is related to the Hebrew word ‘wrestling’, and says, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” (Genesis 30:8) Rachel’s comment here seems exceedingly over-dramatic, but it testifies to the intense, envy-laden competition she had with her sister over the production of children.

Bilhah’s two sons were probably born in the same time period that Leah’s first four sons were born.

Leah’s servant Zilpah has two sons

Once Leah “ceased bearing children” (Genesis 30:9), she gives her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob, which also results in two sons. Leah names Zilpah’s first son Gad, which is related to the Hebrew phrase ‘good fortune’, and says, “Good fortune has come!” (Genesis 30:11)

Leah names Zilpah’s second son Asher, which sounds like the Hebrew word ‘happy’, and says, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” (Genesis 30:13)

Leah has two additional sons and one daughter

In Genesis 30:14-21, we learn of the circumstances leading to Leah’s three additional children. As Rachel was Jacob’s favored wife, Leah had less access to Jacob. At harvest time, Leah’s son Reuben – probably about 5 years old – brought in some mandrakes from the field. These mandrakes were love apples.[1] Henry Morris explains:

“The mandrake is a small orange-colored berrylike fruit, much esteemed in ancient times as an aphrodisiac and inducer of fertility.”[2]

This information helps us to understand why Leah and Rachel saw the mandrakes as valuable. Rachel wanted some of the mandrakes for herself. From Leah’s point of view, Rachel was a taker: “Is it a shall matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take way my son’s mandrakes also?” (Genesis 30:15) In response, Rachel proposes a trade: “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” (Genesis 30:15) Leah agrees and presses her claim upon Jacob when he returned home in the evening: ““You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night.” (Genesis 30:16) Far more romantic overtures could be imagined, but such things go with the territory of polygyny. However, what is truly remarkable about all this is that Scripture tells us that God is right in the middle of this mess. We might be tempted to think that God is disapprovingly absent from a situation where Wife Number 1 hires her husband for the night from Wife Number 2. But what does Scripture say: “And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.” (Genesis 30:17) God grants Leah’s request. Be encouraged: The Lord is apt to answer the prayers of his immature people who employ questionable tactics in pursuit of worthwhile goals. This is not an encouragement to remain stuck in immaturity. This is not an encouragement to employ questionable tactics. But it is an acknowledgment of the fact that although we bring a fair amount of immaturity to the table, God doesn’t write us off because of our immaturity. In keeping with this line of thought, let me share a quotation from Chad Bird and his devotional reflection on this portion of Scripture:

“Weak and wavering, we follow him. Frightened and faltering, we nonetheless limp after Jesus…. He didn’t say, “Come unto me, all you who have your act together, who boast idyllic households, who have dreamboat marriages.” No, he said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). So we do. Frustrated, like Rachel, we come. Bitter, like Leah, we come. Used, like Bilhah and Zilpah, we come. And yes, selfish and overwhelmed, like Jacob, we come.”[3]

So, let’s stand in God’s grace and be comforted by the fact that He doesn’t push us away on account of our immaturity.

Returning to the storyline, Leah names her fifth son Issachar, which is related to the Hebrew word ‘hire’ or ‘wages’, and says, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” (Genesis 30:18)

Thereafter Leah has a sixth son. She names her sixth son Zebulun, which is related to the Hebrew words ‘endowment’ and ‘honor’, and says, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” (Genesis 30:20) Whether or not Jacob did honor her, Leah rightly understood that all of her sons were “a good endowment” from the Lord.

Sometime later, Leah gave birth to a daughter whom she named Dinah. Dinah will occupy a significant role in the tragic narrative of Genesis 34.

Finally it is Rachel’s turn!

Lastly, as we come to Genesis 30:22-24, it is finally Rachel’s turn to give birth to a son. After several years of barrenness, “God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son” (Genesis 30:22-23) Rachel names her son Joseph, which is related to the Hebrew phrases ‘taken away’ and ‘May he add’, and says: “God has taken away my reproach” (Genesis 30:23) and “May the LORD add to me another son!” (Genesis 30:24)

Summary

Thus in the space of about seven or seven-and-a-half years, Jacob generated eleven of his twelve sons (some years later Rachel would give birth to her second son, Benjamin). Although Jacob and his household were flawed people, nevertheless the Lord was with Jacob (Genesis 28:15) in order to fulfill His promises to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15), and these promises included offspring. Therefore, the Lord was with Jacob in order to build Jacob’s family, indeed to build the great nation that He had promised to make out of Abraham. So, the Lord was in the middle of Jacob’s household mess, working through flawed people with complicated relationships in order to accomplish His purpose. The Lord saw Leah, looked upon her affliction, had compassion on her, and opened her womb (Genesis 29:31-32). “God listened to Leah” (Genesis 30:17) and gave her additional children. “God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.” (Genesis 30:22) Moreover, both Leah and Rachel recognized the Lord’s gracious hand  in their lives. Leah said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction” (Genesis 29:32) and “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated” (Genesis 29:33) and “God has given me my wages” (Genesis 30:18) and “God has endowed me with a good endowment” (Genesis 30:20). And Rachel said, “God has taken away my reproach” (Genesis 30:23). This messy and chaotic family had God’s attention, and Leah and Rachel knew it. Take heart: God fulfills His promises through flawed people and flawed families. Do you qualify?

APPLICATION: BUILD YOUR HOUSE!

One of the tasks that every one of us is involved in, to one degree or another, is the task of building a family, building a household, building an inter-generational legacy. I realize that Jacob’s family is unique in one sense, in that the Lord had positioned Jacob uniquely in His plan to father the children of Israel, who were the special recipients of God’s gracious covenant and through whom the Messiah would eventually come. At the same time, though, we ought to see Israel’s founding fathers and founding mothers as an example and encouragement to us. Just consider this line of thought.

Who built up the house of Israel?

First, it is evident in Genesis 29:31-30:24 that the Lord built Jacob’s house.

Second, it is evident in Psalm 127 that although the Lord is the decisive builder of a household, He does it through people: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) Men and women build houses, households, families, extended families, tribes, nations. If their building efforts aren’t backed by and consistent with what the Lord is doing, then their building efforts are ultimately in vain and will come to nothing. But if their building efforts are backed by the Lord and accompanied by the Lord’s blessing, then their building efforts are meaningful and valuable in God’s sight. Psalm 127 goes on to say:

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” (Psalm 127:3-5)

Third, in light of these two passages, it is evident that Leah and Rachel played an important instrumental role in building up the house of Israel. All their drama notwithstanding, their determination to have children matters. Motherhood matters, childbearing matters, childrearing matters. Many of you are familiar with the beautiful reflection of redeeming grace that a man named Boaz once displayed in his care for Ruth, who became his wife. When Boaz entered into the covenant of marriage with Ruth, the people and the elders who witnessed Boaz’s marriage oath said to Boaz, “May the LORD make the woman [Ruth], who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.” (Ruth 4:11)

As part of fulfilling His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord built up the house of Israel through Rachel and Leah. Together, Rachel and Leah “built up the house of Israel” and, by God’s grace, Ruth would follow in their honorable footsteps.

Beyond the physical

Inasmuch as our respective households are covenant households that are bound to the Lord through faith and baptism and Christian confession, we place high value on the household as a place where the Lord is actively at work. We value marriage. We value the gift of children. We welcome the sons and daughters that the Lord sends to us. We value the family and extended family that grows up through the offspring that the Lord gives to us. And in all this, we remember that far more is involved than simply the physical aspect: physical conception, physical birth, physical life, physical health, physical provision. The physical aspect is necessary, but the physical aspect is not enough. To truly build a house that honors the Lord requires spiritual vitality and moral beauty. Ponder these four verses from Proverbs 14:

• “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hand tears it down.” (Proverbs 14:1)

• “The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.” (Proverbs 14:11)

• “One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.” (Proverbs 14:16)

• “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” (Proverbs 14:29)

Are you building your house or tearing it down? Do you have “great understanding” that builds up? Or do you have reckless, careless, and hasty temper that tears down?

A gracious paradox

Brothers and sisters, I leave you with a paradox. A paradox is something that seems contradictory, but actually isn’t contradictory. But in paradox there is tension, and you have live in the tension. Here is the paradox: on the one hand, take great care to build your house wisely, righteously, and patiently; and yet, on the other hand, trust the Lord to build your house despite your serious shortcomings. We acknowledge our shortcomings, but we don’t go out of our way to indulge in them. In fact, we turn away from our failings as much as possible. At the same time, we pursue wisdom and righteousness and good character, but not as if our moral effort guarantees a successful outcome. We take God seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. The outcome is not in our hands. Our effort is not decisive. We never get beyond the place where we need to trust the Lord to treat us far better than we deserve. We never get beyond the place where we are debtors to sovereign grace, debtors to divine mercy, debtors to the magnificent cross.

Commenting on Genesis 29:31-35, Arnold Fruchtenbaum says, “The two key institutions of Israel, priesthood (Levi) and royalty (Judah), came from an unplanned and unwanted marriage.”[4] He is referring, of course, to Jacob’s “unplanned and unwanted marriage” to Leah. Think about that, and think about all the messiness of this passage, and then think about this: through Levi, the Lord raised up a priesthood that would administer the sacrificial system that provided a way for sinful people to maintain fellowship with a holy God; and then through Judah, the Lord would ultimately raise up a perfect priest-king who would establish His kingdom by offering Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for His people. This is what Christianity is all about: the Lord is so in the middle of our sinful mess, that “He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24) and that we might be reconciled to God (1 Peter 3:18). If the Lord was willing to go to that extent to demonstrate His great love for me and to purchase me for His kingdom, then He is most certainly willing to help me, uphold me, and work through me in the context of my household.

Husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, parents and children, older siblings and younger siblings – I bid you to follow Peter’s instruction:

“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:5-7)

Where is the Lord in the midst of your family drama? Right there, giving grace to the humble and carrying the weight of every anxiety that you cast on Him. The alternative is to proudly bear all the weight on your own, which will sink you. Therefore lean on Him, and let Him carry you and your family.

ENDNOTES

[1] Arnold Fruchtenbaum writes: “In Hebrew, the word for mandrakes is dudaim, literally meaning “love apples.” (p. 412, see bibliographic information below). Henry Morris writes: “It [the mandrake] has been called the “love-apple” (p. 468, see bibliographic information below).

[2] Henry Morris, The Genesis Record, p. 468 (see full bibliographic information below).

[3] Chad Bird, Limping with God: Jacob & The Old Testament Guide to Messy Discipleship. Irvine, CA: 1517 Publishing, 2022: p. 81.

[4] Arnold Fruchtenbaum, The Book of Genesis, p. 409 (see full bibliographic information below).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. The Book of Genesis (Ariel’s Bible Commentary). Fourth Edition. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2020.

Morris, Henry M. The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Genesis (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.