†. Gen 30:22a . . Now God remembered Rachel;
Does that mean The Almighty had somehow forgotten all about her?
(chuckle) No. God's memory works just fine. Memories don't always have to
be jogged. Case in point: can you remember how many toes are on each of
your feet? Of course. You never forget things like that. You always
remember them.
†. Gen 30:22b . . God heeded her and opened her womb.
Does the word "heeded" mean Rachel finally decided to pray for a baby? I
think so. Some people are driven to drink by the problems of everyday life.
God's people are often driven to their knees.
†. Gen 30:23 . . She conceived and bore a son, and said; God has
taken away my disgrace.
It's one thing to adopt children, or take in foster kids, or become a step
parent. But nothing can take the place of having your very own. Rachel
possessed two legal children by her maid Bilhah. But those were really and
truly Bilhah's babies, not Rachel's. Until she had her very own, Rachel
remained low on the totem pole of feminine esteem.
Men just can't appreciate how important babies are to (normal) women.
Even tough women don't really feel like real women until they have a child. I
worked as a vacuum cleaner salesman many years ago when I was very
young. The owner of the business was married to a successful woman in her
mid forties who had no children of her own; and actually, never wanted any.
But whenever she was in the presence of moms, they made her feel like a
loser because in her mind, moms were the real women. In other words: she
was a freak of nature born without a mother's heart; and that is a fatal flaw
in any woman's character: business or otherwise. That woman's confession
amazed me because hers was a strong, assertive, self-confident kind of
personality with dent-proof hide like depleted uranium armor plating. But
every suit of armor has a chink in it somewhere and that was hers.
†. Ps 127:3-4 . . Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb
is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's
youth.
Arrows are not only weapons of war, but also tools of readiness, strength,
and defense. In Rachel's day, children were old age security. They still are
for many people in third world countries; and for those of us who face
retirement on fixed incomes. When my wife and I finally wax old and feeble,
we hope our son will care enough about us to make sure we don't die
hungry and poverty-stricken.
†. Gen 30:24 . . So she named him Joseph, which is to say; May The
Lord add another son for me.
Joseph's name is from Yowceph (yo-safe') which means: let him add (or
perhaps simply the active participle: adding)
Yowceph is the future tense of yacaph (yaw-saf') which means: to add or
augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing) So in colloquialism,
maybe Rachel was really saying: Yeah! Keep 'em comin'.
†. Gen 30:25-26 . . After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to
Laban; Give me leave to go back to my own homeland. Give me my
wives and my children, for whom I have served you, that I may go;
for well you know what services I have rendered you.
Jacob had agreed to remain with Laban for fourteen years. Well, time's up,
and Laban had no further moral or legal claim either upon Jacob or upon his
family.
†. Gen 30:27 . . But Laban said to him; If you will indulge me, I have
learned by divination that The Lord has blessed me on your account.
The divination that Laban was talking about was a dark art. The word for
"divination" is from nachash (naw-khash') which means: to hiss, i.e. whisper
a (magic) spell; generally, to prognosticate.
Nachash was one of the sinful practices that God condemned in the
Canaanite peoples. (Deut 18:9-14)
Apparently, somewhere along the line, Laban became very puzzled how
Jacob was doing so well in animal husbandry. In the fourteen years that
Jacob worked for him, his flocks not only increased; but they increased
beyond reason. So he consulted with a mystic seeking to find out the secret
of Jacob's success. Lo and behold, the diviner discovered Jacob really had no
trade secrets to hide at all. He was actually under Yhvh's auspices--
Abraham's god --whom Laban didn't worship himself but at least recognized
as an option.
Laban was justifiably reluctant to let Jacob go. He prospered greatly because
of Jacob's abilities and because of his faithfulness; and especially because of
his connection to Abraham's god. He was willing to strike almost any bargain
that would keep Jacob on the job working for him. Once before he had
gotten the better part of the bargain by letting Jacob name his price; so now
he made the same proposition again.
†. Gen 30:28 . . And he said; Specify your wage to me and I will give
it.
The wage Laban had in mind wasn't an hourly rate or monthly salary like we
typically think of wages. Pay was a separate matter to be negotiated later.
The deal they would make concerned what it would cost Laban to keep Jacob
working for him. In other words; a signing incentive.
†. Gen 30:29-30a . . But he said; You know well how I have served
you and how your livestock has fared with me. For the little you had
before I came has grown to much, since the Lord has blessed you
wherever I turned.
Yes, Laban knew very well how fortunate he was to have Jacob working on
his ranch. But Jacob just wanted to be sure the old man didn't think Jacob
was too stupid to know it. Jacob rarely stood up for himself. But this time
the circumstances required him to be firm and he let his uncle have both
barrels.
†. Gen 30:30b . . And now, when shall I make provision for my own
household?
Jacob spent fourteen years of his life making another man rich. Well, it was
high time he did himself some good for a change.
Cont.
/
Does that mean The Almighty had somehow forgotten all about her?
(chuckle) No. God's memory works just fine. Memories don't always have to
be jogged. Case in point: can you remember how many toes are on each of
your feet? Of course. You never forget things like that. You always
remember them.
†. Gen 30:22b . . God heeded her and opened her womb.
Does the word "heeded" mean Rachel finally decided to pray for a baby? I
think so. Some people are driven to drink by the problems of everyday life.
God's people are often driven to their knees.
†. Gen 30:23 . . She conceived and bore a son, and said; God has
taken away my disgrace.
It's one thing to adopt children, or take in foster kids, or become a step
parent. But nothing can take the place of having your very own. Rachel
possessed two legal children by her maid Bilhah. But those were really and
truly Bilhah's babies, not Rachel's. Until she had her very own, Rachel
remained low on the totem pole of feminine esteem.
Men just can't appreciate how important babies are to (normal) women.
Even tough women don't really feel like real women until they have a child. I
worked as a vacuum cleaner salesman many years ago when I was very
young. The owner of the business was married to a successful woman in her
mid forties who had no children of her own; and actually, never wanted any.
But whenever she was in the presence of moms, they made her feel like a
loser because in her mind, moms were the real women. In other words: she
was a freak of nature born without a mother's heart; and that is a fatal flaw
in any woman's character: business or otherwise. That woman's confession
amazed me because hers was a strong, assertive, self-confident kind of
personality with dent-proof hide like depleted uranium armor plating. But
every suit of armor has a chink in it somewhere and that was hers.
†. Ps 127:3-4 . . Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb
is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's
youth.
Arrows are not only weapons of war, but also tools of readiness, strength,
and defense. In Rachel's day, children were old age security. They still are
for many people in third world countries; and for those of us who face
retirement on fixed incomes. When my wife and I finally wax old and feeble,
we hope our son will care enough about us to make sure we don't die
hungry and poverty-stricken.
†. Gen 30:24 . . So she named him Joseph, which is to say; May The
Lord add another son for me.
Joseph's name is from Yowceph (yo-safe') which means: let him add (or
perhaps simply the active participle: adding)
Yowceph is the future tense of yacaph (yaw-saf') which means: to add or
augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing) So in colloquialism,
maybe Rachel was really saying: Yeah! Keep 'em comin'.
†. Gen 30:25-26 . . After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to
Laban; Give me leave to go back to my own homeland. Give me my
wives and my children, for whom I have served you, that I may go;
for well you know what services I have rendered you.
Jacob had agreed to remain with Laban for fourteen years. Well, time's up,
and Laban had no further moral or legal claim either upon Jacob or upon his
family.
†. Gen 30:27 . . But Laban said to him; If you will indulge me, I have
learned by divination that The Lord has blessed me on your account.
The divination that Laban was talking about was a dark art. The word for
"divination" is from nachash (naw-khash') which means: to hiss, i.e. whisper
a (magic) spell; generally, to prognosticate.
Nachash was one of the sinful practices that God condemned in the
Canaanite peoples. (Deut 18:9-14)
Apparently, somewhere along the line, Laban became very puzzled how
Jacob was doing so well in animal husbandry. In the fourteen years that
Jacob worked for him, his flocks not only increased; but they increased
beyond reason. So he consulted with a mystic seeking to find out the secret
of Jacob's success. Lo and behold, the diviner discovered Jacob really had no
trade secrets to hide at all. He was actually under Yhvh's auspices--
Abraham's god --whom Laban didn't worship himself but at least recognized
as an option.
Laban was justifiably reluctant to let Jacob go. He prospered greatly because
of Jacob's abilities and because of his faithfulness; and especially because of
his connection to Abraham's god. He was willing to strike almost any bargain
that would keep Jacob on the job working for him. Once before he had
gotten the better part of the bargain by letting Jacob name his price; so now
he made the same proposition again.
†. Gen 30:28 . . And he said; Specify your wage to me and I will give
it.
The wage Laban had in mind wasn't an hourly rate or monthly salary like we
typically think of wages. Pay was a separate matter to be negotiated later.
The deal they would make concerned what it would cost Laban to keep Jacob
working for him. In other words; a signing incentive.
†. Gen 30:29-30a . . But he said; You know well how I have served
you and how your livestock has fared with me. For the little you had
before I came has grown to much, since the Lord has blessed you
wherever I turned.
Yes, Laban knew very well how fortunate he was to have Jacob working on
his ranch. But Jacob just wanted to be sure the old man didn't think Jacob
was too stupid to know it. Jacob rarely stood up for himself. But this time
the circumstances required him to be firm and he let his uncle have both
barrels.
†. Gen 30:30b . . And now, when shall I make provision for my own
household?
Jacob spent fourteen years of his life making another man rich. Well, it was
high time he did himself some good for a change.
Cont.
/
