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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'1-');">Gen 30</a> - The Children Born to Jacob</h2>
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<p>A. Two sons born to <span>Bilhah</span>.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'1-4');">1-4</a>) Rachel, out of frustration, gives her maid <span>Bilhah</span> to Jacob in a “surrogate mother” arrangement.</p>
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<p class="c2">Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” So she said, “Here is my maid <span>Bilhah</span>; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.” Then she gave him <span>Bilhah</span> her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Give me children, or else I die!</span></b> Despite Rachel’s great beauty, she also was near despair. No doubt, Leah often said, “If I only had my sister’s beauty and the love of my husband as she does.” And, no doubt, Rachel often said, “If I only had sons like my sister.” Beautiful or plain, we all have our problems. Stop looking to how God deals with others and set your eyes on Him!</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Rachel envied her sister . . . Give me children, or else I die . . . Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel</span></b>: The tension in this family is apparent. At least Jacob saw the hand of God in the matter, even though he stated it to Rachel cruelly.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Can you imagine how vain Rachel was, knowing Jacob worked <i>14 years</i> with no pay out of love for her, and knowing Jacob would not have worked one day for Leah?</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Here is my maid <span>Bilhah</span>; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her</span></b>: Much like Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham in a surrogate-mother type arrangement (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',16,'1-');">Gen 16</a>), Rachel gives her maid <span>Bilhah</span> to Jacob.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">On my knees</span></b> refers to the custom where the husband impregnated the surrogate while the surrogate reclined on the lap of the wife, and how she might even recline on the wife as she gave birth. The symbolism clearly showed the child was legally the child of the mother, not the surrogate, who merely “stood in” for the wife both in conception and birth.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">She gave him <span>Bilhah</span> her maid as wife</span></b>: This does not mean that Jacob actually married Bilhah. It means Jacob did with <span>Bilhah</span> what a man should only do with his wife.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'5-6');">5-6</a>) <span>The</span> birth of Dan.</p>
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<p class="c2">And <span>Bilhah</span> conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">She called his name Dan</span></b>: Jacob’s fifth son, born to him through <span>Bilhah</span>, the maid of Rachel, is named by Rachel <b><span class="c3">Dan</span></b> meaning, “judgment.” Because of her own envy, she viewed this child born of the flesh as a victory and a vindication for her.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son</span></b>: “Can a woman get so low that she will hit her sister over the head with a baby? Rachel did.” (<span>Barnhouse</span>)</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'7-8');">7-8</a>) <span>The</span> birth of <span>Naphtali</span>.</p>
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<p class="c2">And Rachel’s maid <span>Bilhah</span> conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With great <span>wrestlings</span> I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name <span>Naphtali</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">She called his name <span>Naphtali</span></span></b>: Jacob’s sixth son, born to him through <span>Bilhah</span>, the maid of Rachel, is named <span><b><span class="c3">Naphtali</span></b></span> by Rachel, meaning “wrestle.” Relationships in this home have broken down to the point where Rachel will openly acknowledge this “baby competition” between her and her sister by naming the new baby <i>wrestle</i>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">With great <span>wrestlings</span> I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed</span></b>: This seems strange. How do two sons prevail over four? Perhaps she meant it in the sense that now Leah seemed to have stopped having children.</p>
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<p>B. Two sons born to <span>Zilpah</span>.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'9-11');">9-11</a>) <span>The</span> birth of Gad.</p>
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<p class="c2">When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took <span>Zilpah</span> her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. And Leah’s maid <span>Zilpah</span> bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, “A troop comes!” So she called his name Gad.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">She took <span>Zilpah</span> her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife</span></b>: Leah, who has stopped bearing children, figured she could use the same “surrogate mother” method to increase “her” number of children, so she gave her maid <span>Zilpah</span> to Jacob as Rachel gave her maid <span>Bilhah</span> to Jacob.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">She called his name Gad</span></b>: Jacob’s seventh son, born to him through <span>Zilpah</span>, the maid of Leah, is named <b><span class="c3">Gad</span></b>, meaning “troop” or “good fortune”; the wives of Jacob are still using their children as pawns in a power struggle within the home.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Leah has apparently lost the peace she had when her fourth son was born; she no longer has the peace “praise” brings.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'12-13');">12-13</a>) <span>The</span> birth of Asher.</p>
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<p class="c2">And Leah’s maid <span>Zilpah</span> bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">So she called his name Asher</span></b>: Jacob’s eighth son, born to him through <span>Zilpah</span>, the maid of Leah, is named <b><span class="c3">Asher</span></b>, meaning “happy”; Leah is more concerned about the status the child will bring her (<b><span class="c3">all the daughters will call me blessed</span></b>) than about the child himself.</p>
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<p>C. Leah herself bears two more sons and a daughter.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'14-18');">14-18</a>) <span>The</span> birth of <span>Issachar</span>.</p>
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<p class="c2">Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest 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.” 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?” And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night. And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name <span>Issachar</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Found mandrakes</span></b><b><span class="c3"> in the field</span></b>: The mandrake is a root, called “love-apples” in Hebrew. They were thought (and still are among some peoples) to increase fertility in women. Because Leah had the mandrakes, she knew Jacob would have relations with her, believing there was a greater likelihood she would become pregnant.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. We don’t know if the effect of the mandrakes was something biological, or if it functioned more as a placebo. But under the guiding hand of God, the mandrakes seemed to “work” in the case of Leah and Jacob. Whatever strange agencies God may allow to be used (such as mandrakes)<span>,</span> the real factor is His sovereign will (<b><span class="c3">God listened to Leah</span></b>).</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">You have taken away my husband</span></b>: The hostility between Leah and Rachel is as obvious as it is painful. It must have been terrible living in a home where one wife believed the other had stolen her husband from her.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. This confirms the wisdom of God’s original plan, as expressed in <a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,24);">Gen 2:24</a>: one man to be joined to one woman in a one-flesh relationship.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. “Is it any wonder that this family had a history of strife and bloodshed? Children reflect the atmosphere of the home.” (<span>Barnhouse</span>)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. Later, <a onclick="return mV('Lev',18,18);">Lev 18:18</a> forbids the marrying of <span>sisters,</span> and this shows why!</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">So she called his name <span>Issachar</span></span></b>: Jacob’s ninth son, born to Leah, is named <span><b><span class="c3">Issachar</span></b></span>, meaning “reward”; Leah saw this son as a reward from God because she was “generous” enough to offer her maid to Jacob.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'19-20');">19-20</a>) <span>The</span> birth of <span>Zebulun</span>.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name <span>Zebulun</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">So she called his name <span>Zebulun</span></span></b>: Jacob’s tenth son, born to Leah, is named <span><b><span class="c3">Zebulun</span></b></span>, meaning “dwelling.” In the pain of her heart, she still waits for her husband to truly love her and live with <i>her</i>, and she hopes the sheer quantity of sons will win his heart to her.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,21);">21</a>) <span>The</span> birth of Dinah.</p>
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<p class="c2">Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Afterward she bore a daughter</span></b>: Finally, after ten children, Jacob becomes father to a daughter through Leah, who is named <b><span class="c3">Dinah</span></b>. Apparently, there was nothing symbolically significant in her name.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. The ungodly competition has, in one sense, ended. Leah and the two maids will have no more children.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. But the wives fought each other as in a poker game:</p>
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<p class="c5">“I bid one wife, loved and beautiful.”</p>
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<p class="c5">“I bid one wife and four sons.”</p>
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<p class="c5">“I’ll match your one wife and raise you a concubine and the concubine’s two sons.”</p>
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<p class="c5">“I’ll raise you another concubine and two more sons by her; plus two more sons on my own, and I’ll throw in a daughter. I’ll stand with one wife, one concubine, six sons, and one daughter.” Nobody was the winner at this competition.</p>
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<p>D. Rachel herself bears a son to Jacob.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,22);">22</a>) God’s sovereignty over the womb.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">And opened her womb</span></b>: The idea of God’s sovereignty over the womb is a persistent theme in the Bible; God granted twins to <span>Rebekah</span> (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',25,21);">Gen 25:21</a>); He opens the womb of Leah (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',29,31);">Gen 29:31</a>), and closes the womb of Hannah (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',1,5);">1Sa 1:5</a>). The purposes of God in opening one and closing the other may be completely unknowable, but God has His purpose.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'23-24');">23-24</a>) <span>The</span> birth of Joseph.</p>
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<p class="c2">And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The <span class="c6">Lord</span> shall add to me another son.”</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">So she called his name Joseph</span></b>: The eleventh son born to Jacob, through Rachel, is named <b><span class="c3">Joseph</span></b>, meaning “may he add”; Rachel feels she has been “vindicated” by the birth of one son, but longs for more children to continue the competition with her sister Leah.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. At this point, none would think this eleventh son would end up being the key son used to further God’s redemptive purpose through this family. Yet <a onclick="return mV('Isa',55,'8-9');">Isa 55:8-9</a> is true: <i>“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways <span>My</span> ways,” says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are <span>My</span> ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”</i></p>
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<p>E. Jacob’s agreement with <span>Laban</span>.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'25-27');">25-27</a>) Jacob knows it is time to go back to Canaan.</p>
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<p class="c2">And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne <span>Joseph, that</span> Jacob said to <span>Laban</span>, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.” And <span>Laban</span> said to him, “Please <span>stay,</span> if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has blessed me for your sake.”</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country</span></b>: Though Jacob was in <span>Haran</span> with <span>Laban</span> and his daughters for more than 14 years, he knew that he belonged in the land promised to him by God, through the covenant made with his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. After 14 years, Jacob still called the Promised Land <b><span class="c3">my country</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has blessed me for your sake</span></b>: <span>Laban</span> knows Jacob has been an invaluable worker for him. <span>Laban</span> says this knowledge was <b><span class="c3">learned by experience</span></b>. Literally this means, “<span>learned</span> by divination.” <span>Laban</span> practiced occult divination and by this he knew the source of blessing.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'28-34');">28-34</a>) Jacob negotiates a deal with <span>Laban</span> to start building a flock of sheep and goats for himself.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?” So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.” And <span>Laban</span> said, “Oh, that it <span>were</span> according to your word!”</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages</span></b>: Jacob will take the <b><span class="c3">speckled</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">spotted</span></b> offspring, but will separate the currently speckled or spotted animals from the rest of the flock, so the odds are set against him. Allowing the speckled and spotted sheep and goats to remain in the flock would increase the likelihood of more speckled and spotted offspring coming from the flock at large.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <span><b><span class="c3">Laban</span></b></span><b><span class="c3"> said, “Oh, that it <span>were</span> according to your word!” </span></b>This is an agreeable deal to both parties. First, it was a foolproof way to distinguish between the flocks of <span>Laban</span> and Jacob. As well, <span>Laban</span> liked the deal because the odds were stacked in his favor. Jacob may have proposed the deal because he was willing to trust in God.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'35-36');">35-36</a>) <span>The</span> agreement is made, and the flocks are separated.</p>
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<p class="c2">So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of <span>Laban’s</span> flocks.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Jacob fed the rest of <span>Laban’s</span> flocks</span></b>: Jacob now will care for the large flock of his father-in-law <span>Laban</span>, made up of solid-colored animals, and Jacob will receive any speckled or spotted offspring of this flock. Obviously, if there was a way Jacob could encourage these solid-colored sheep to bring forth spotted and speckled offspring, it would greatly increase his personal wealth.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">He put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob</span></b>: So there would be no mixing of the flocks, <span>Laban’s</span> sons took care of all the existing speckled and spotted sheep and goats, keeping them a three-day journey from the main flock. Jacob himself would take care of the solid-colored flock of <span>Laban</span>, as well as their speckled and spotted offspring, which belonged to him.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'37-43');">37-43</a>) God blesses Jacob’s method of breeding, and he greatly increases in wealth.</p>
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<p class="c2">Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of <span>Laban</span>; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with <span>Laban’s</span> flock. And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the <span>gutters, that</span> they might conceive among the rods. But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were <span>Laban’s</span> and the stronger Jacob’s. Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees</span></b>: When Jacob put these branches in the <span>the</span> drinking troughs of the flocks it apparently increased the number of speckled and spotted offspring from the solid-colored flock Jacob managed on <span>Laban’s</span> behalf.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">So the feebler were <span>Laban’s</span> and the stronger Jacob’s</span></b>: Jacob also used selective breeding to increase the strength and vitality of his flock. We don’t know exactly how this method worked. It is possible Jacob knew more about animal husbandry than we do today; but it is more likely Jacob did the best he knew, and God blessed it.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous</span></b>: The ancient Hebrew says, “<span>the</span> man burst out exceedingly <span>exceedingly</span>.” God blessed Jacob, but it was not because Jacob was especially good. It was because of the promises God made to Jacob (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',28,'13-15');">Gen 28:13-15</a>) and the covenant made to Abraham. In the same way, blessing comes from the <span class="c6">Lord</span> to us, not because we are great or good, but because of the covenant God has made with us through Jesus, and promises He has given us in His word.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. We may note Jacob’s principles for prosperity:</p><ul class="c6"><li>Don’t make wealth your goal (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'25-26');">Gen 30:25-26</a>)</li><li>Don’t be afraid to work for others and try to increase their wealth before or as you work to increase your own wealth (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,27);">Gen 30:27</a>)</li><li>Work hard, dedicating yourself to your employer’s success (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,26);">Gen 30:26</a>, <a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'31-42');">31:38-42</a>)</li><li>Trust God (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,'31-33');">Gen 30:31-33</a>)</li></ul>
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