GENESIS 35:16-20
"And Rachel travailed, and she
had labour, and the midwife said unto her, Fear not. .
."
It seemed to be soon after Jacob’s
revival at Bethel, that Rachel went into "hard
labor." Remember that was the place
where she and others gave up all their strange gods, as
well as their idol earrings. Those were the kinds of
idols that previously Rachel had stolen from her father.
Perhaps some of them were the very ones that were taken.
That was when they left the farm to return to the Canaan
land. The giving away of her idols spoke of her
dedication to the true God, as well as her obedience to
her husband.
Prior to her pregnancies, Rachel’s
constant mantra was, "God give me a baby!" Otherwise,
things would have been fine between Rachel and her
husband. The jealousy she felt for her sister Leah had
been snuffed out with her first pregnancy.
It seemed that soon after the altar
at Bethel, and all that spiritual renewal, her new baby
would arrive--a second boy child! Joy would come in the
morning for Rachel! It should have. Only it did not.
Rachel would die of childbirth. In
those days, many people died in child birth because the
medicines we have today were unknown in that day. It is
good to read that during her endless labor, her mid-wife
tried to comfort Rachel, "Fear not, thou shalt have this
son also." Could the mid-wife see a partially born child
to discern such news? Or was she just saying this? I
don’t know. Nor do we know why Rachel died. Was it a
breach birth? Was the baby turned the wrong way in the
womb? Did she lose too much blood? Did some child-birth
disease overtake her?
Why did the baby live and Rachel die?
If it had been today, perhaps there would have been a
cesarian procedure--thus sparing the baby as well as the
mother. Did she have "child-bed" fever? Was the birth
too much for her heart? All we know is what the Bible
says "And it came to pass, as her soul was departing. .
.that she called his name Benoni," which means "son of
my sorrow."
We can well-imagine the sorrow Jacob
had as he buried his sweetheart on the way to Bethlehem.
The tears must have flowed uncontrollably. I wonder what
Leah thought. She knew Jacob’s love was towards her
sister and not herself. This was no secret. But because
Rachel was Leah’s sister, she had grief, too. It must
have been triple grief for Leah--grief for her sister,
grief for her sister’s motherless children, and grief
that it would be impossible to comfort Jacob. How he
loved Rachel!
No wonder young Joseph and little
Benjamin were special to their father! They were all he
had left of their mother--except for a pillar upon her
grave that marked where Rachel’s body lay. When we were
in Israel a few years ago, I remember that some of our
group saw Rachel’s grave. Little did I know the
significance of that place. I wish I had gone, too--but
it is too late now. (ysw)
And Sarah heard it in the tent door,
which was behind him. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And
he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will
certainly return unto thee according to the time of
life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. (Genesis 18:10)
Under God's Care,
Yvonne S. Waite
