However, the Bible is inspired by God (Timothy. 3: 16). The Bible records not only historical facts, but also spiritual teaching materials. Rachel's tragic life is really worth learning from. Don't make the same mistake again.
The appearance of Rachel is recorded in Genesis Chapter 29, 1 ~ 12. After deceiving his father Isaac's blessing, Jacob was afraid that his brother Esau would harm him and traveled thousands of miles to Bataan Aram, his mother Rebekah's hometown. As a result, he met the beautiful Rachel by the well. The scene where they met is strikingly similar to the scene where Abraham's old servant married Isaac decades ago and happened to meet Rebekah (Gen. 24: 10 ~ 27). It was a coincidence that they met at the well, and they all met hardworking and beautiful women. Rebecca draws water for her family, while Rachel grazes the sheep at home. Although their family is rich, they don't stay at home like well-off rich women, but work hard.
But Rebecca's story ended in a comedy. She married Canaan and Isaac and lived a happy life (Gen. 24: 67). Although Rachel met Jacob who fell in love with her at first sight and finally got married, her married life was not happy and ended in tragedy. Although there was a personal reason, Abraham's servant asked for relatives in a way that was in line with God's will. The process of asking for relatives showed God's leadership, which enabled Rebekah to be successfully brought back to Canaan. Jacob, on the other hand, was tricked by his father-in-law Laban by using people to please his relatives. Polygamy has brewed the bitter wine of future family discord. But the woman has an unshirkable responsibility.
From the perspective of the world, Rachel's marriage should be perfect. Her love for Jacob is so deep. "Because she loves Rachel deeply, these seven years (Jacob worked hard for Laban for seven years to marry Rachel) seem like a few days" (Gen. 29: 20). Coupled with their efforts, why does the ending of love backfire? The root cause is that she didn't really put God into her life.
Rachel should know God very well. As far as family theory is concerned, it can be seen from Rebecca's marriage process that Laban family still knows God. After marriage, Jacob must have told her many things about God, such as God's promises to his family, wonderful deeds, and his personal experience of God appearing to him (Gen. 28: 10 ~ 17). However, in Rachel's record, instead of praying and praising God, she complained about God. The Bible records her first words (to Jacob). She is full of resentment: "Give me a child, or I will die" (Gen 3 1). In Rachel's life, she has always regarded having children as her only life goal and pursued it at all costs.
The desire to have children is reasonable. If people sincerely pray to God, the merciful God will listen. Such as Hannah (1 Sam. 1), she was in a similar situation to Rachel. When her husband had two wives and could not have children, she came to God and prayed sincerely. God blessed her greatly and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. 2: 2 1), and the eldest son Samuel was greatly used by God under her education, which was a blessing for her. However, Rachel has made having children her only goal in life, and always tries to achieve this goal by her own cleverness. As a result, she was taught by God and suffered many setbacks. Let's look at these setbacks and whether Rachel has learned the lessons taught by God.
In the first round, when Rachel complained to Jacob that she was barren, and Jacob suggested that she go to see God, she had a well-thought-out plan to let her maid Bilhah have children with Jacob instead of her. As a result, Bilhah gave birth to two children in succession. Rachel was very happy at this moment and felt that she had finally gained the upper hand in the struggle with Leah (Gen. 38). But not long after, Leah did the same thing, gave her handmaid to Jacob as a concubine and gave birth to two children. The family has changed from two wives to four wives, and the children have changed from four to eight. None of them were born by Rachel herself. Rachel also saw that the maid's child was not her own, and she still had to find a way to have a child of her own.
The second round is the wind eggplant storm (3 14 ~ 17). Rachel saw that Leah had an eggplant that was said to promote pregnancy, so she exchanged it for the right to sleep with Jacob. Rachel pinned her hopes of pregnancy on eggplant (perhaps the latest technology at that time), thinking that she could use it to get pregnant and have children. As a result, Leah gave birth to two more sons and a daughter, but Rachel was still empty-handed.
At the end of their tether, God finally got pregnant and gave birth to Yue Se out of pity. Although Rachel thanked God for removing her shame, she was still not satisfied and continued to ask God for another child (Gen. 30: 24). She still doesn't understand why she suffered these setbacks, and she still lives a life that I am never satisfied with in my old self.
Later, Jacob left Harlan and returned to Canaan with his family. Although her family was in danger and Rachel stole her father's idol, she still believed in idols instead of God. Although it was not exposed by the grace of God in the end, the idol did not bring her any blessing, and it was probably buried under the oak tree in Shechem with other foreign gods (Gen. 35: 4). At this time, Jacob was resurrected and led his family back to Hebron, where his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac lived. God also took Rachel, whose mind was not updated, away from this world, and she died on the most promising thing in her life-giving birth to a child. She named the child Benoni ("the unfortunate son") (Gen 35: 18). At this time, she finally saw the vanity of pursuing children all her life, but it was too late and her life came to an end.
Rachel, who is hardworking, beautiful and enjoys beautiful love, leads a miserable life, which is a serious warning to every Christian. Rachel died in the beautiful love given by God, which is also a microcosm of Israel's later death in the promised land given by God. Many Christians just regard God as a helper to achieve their personal goals, and perhaps hope that God can bless him with a satisfactory job and a happy marriage. However, once you get these things, God loses his position. His service to God, or more accurately, his use of God, ends here. Since then, I have devoted myself to pursuing career development or family comfort in this world. Many Christians who used to serve God enthusiastically rarely saw them in church after work or marriage. However, God is not a servant of God and can come and go at any time. If we don't serve God wholeheartedly, he will set up many setbacks in our lives to discipline us. Those who don't really put God first in life and pursue worldly things with their intelligence will eventually realize the emptiness they pursue. I hope people will wake up before Rachel and remember Moses' warning: "Love the Lord your God, obey his words and rely on him;" Because he is your life, you care about him for a long time "(Deuteronomy 30: 20).