04-13-2024, 01:54 AM
I want to compare these two quotes by Lisa:
^^ I find this absolutely fascinating! Jacob, being renamed "Israel" by none other than God himself, a father of nations to come, the founder of the world renowned religion we call Judaism, began his "dynasty" (for lack of a better word) by reproducing with not just two women, but four! Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun are from Leah. Dan and Naphtali are from Bilhah (a servant girl!). Gad and Asher are from Zilpah (another servant girl). And finally, Joseph and Benjamin are from Rachel. So each and every Israelite could be rest assured that they all came from the same patriarch: Jacob! But who came from which matriarch? That would have been different from one Hebrew to another (at least 3 out of 4 times).
But what I find even more fascinating is that this is how God decides to begin the nation of Israel (to "genealogically engineer" it, so to speak)--one father (Jacob) and four different mothers (Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah)--two of which aren't even married to Jacob! It makes me wonder if God was trying to begin the nation of Israel with a diverse as possible gene pool from the beginning. Leah and Rachel were sisters, of course, but the servant girls--what nationalities/ethnicities/race were they? Could this be how God plans to become a "universal" god? By becoming the God of all nations, ethnicities, races, all human kind? By mixing as many domestic and foreign genes into one bloodline? (In that case, it wouldn't matter that Bilhah and Zilpah were servant girls.)
I also find it kind of a romantic story. Jacob and Rachel, a young couple in love, but forbidden from each by Laban, Rachel's father, and tricked into marrying her older sister instead. And to make matters worse, Rachel is cursed by God to be barren, incapable of bearing sons for Jacob. But not forever--God finally lifts the curse and she is able to bear Jacob two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, but not before she dies giving birth to them. <-- It's romantic and sad... after all this sorrow and torment and unfulfilled longing for each other, the moment Jacob's and Rachel's love can finally be fulfilled (starting a family), she dies. Not only that, but her son Joseph is the one who will go off to become the instrument of God's plan and fulfill his promise to Jacob. It was like God knew that this instrument had to be born from a bond of true love. And once fulfilled, Rachel's life purpose is fulfilled, and can pass on from this world. Wow!
I guess this makes Rachel the "special" matriarch. But why the curse of infertility? Did God want to postpone Joseph's birth for some reason? Did he have to have a bunch of younger brothers? Does this figure into the story of Joseph's being sold into slavery by his brothers?
Lisa Loraine Baker Wrote:After Jacob arrived at his Uncle Laban’s, he fell in love with Rachel when he met her at the shepherd’s well (Genesis 29:9-14). Jacob offered to serve Laban seven years in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. Laban, craftier than Jacob, promised him Rachel, but because tradition dictated the younger was not given before the eldest daughter, he tricked Jacob and sent Leah to him on his wedding night. When confronted about his trickery, Laban agreed to give Rachel to Jacob after the first week of his marriage to Leah. This was based on the condition Jacob would work another seven years for Rachel also. So began a game of wills between the two sisters to “win” Jacob’s love.
Lisa Loraine Baker Wrote:Leah gives birth to (1) Reuben, (2) Simeon, (3) Levi, and (4) Judah. Then Rachel gives Bilhah, her servant girl to Jacob, “so that she may give birth on my behalf” (Genesis 30:3). Bilhah bore (5) Dan and (6) Naphtali. When Leah realized she ceased bearing Jacob’s sons (for the moment), she gave her servant, Zilpah to Jacob and she bore him (7) Gad and (8) Asher.
After this, Leah again conceived (twice) and gave birth to (9) Issachar and (10) Zebulun. Rachel finally received the blessing of conception (God has taken away my reproach—Genesis 30:23) and gave birth to (11) Joseph and (12) Benjamin, whom she bore as she died.
^^ I find this absolutely fascinating! Jacob, being renamed "Israel" by none other than God himself, a father of nations to come, the founder of the world renowned religion we call Judaism, began his "dynasty" (for lack of a better word) by reproducing with not just two women, but four! Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun are from Leah. Dan and Naphtali are from Bilhah (a servant girl!). Gad and Asher are from Zilpah (another servant girl). And finally, Joseph and Benjamin are from Rachel. So each and every Israelite could be rest assured that they all came from the same patriarch: Jacob! But who came from which matriarch? That would have been different from one Hebrew to another (at least 3 out of 4 times).
But what I find even more fascinating is that this is how God decides to begin the nation of Israel (to "genealogically engineer" it, so to speak)--one father (Jacob) and four different mothers (Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah)--two of which aren't even married to Jacob! It makes me wonder if God was trying to begin the nation of Israel with a diverse as possible gene pool from the beginning. Leah and Rachel were sisters, of course, but the servant girls--what nationalities/ethnicities/race were they? Could this be how God plans to become a "universal" god? By becoming the God of all nations, ethnicities, races, all human kind? By mixing as many domestic and foreign genes into one bloodline? (In that case, it wouldn't matter that Bilhah and Zilpah were servant girls.)
I also find it kind of a romantic story. Jacob and Rachel, a young couple in love, but forbidden from each by Laban, Rachel's father, and tricked into marrying her older sister instead. And to make matters worse, Rachel is cursed by God to be barren, incapable of bearing sons for Jacob. But not forever--God finally lifts the curse and she is able to bear Jacob two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, but not before she dies giving birth to them. <-- It's romantic and sad... after all this sorrow and torment and unfulfilled longing for each other, the moment Jacob's and Rachel's love can finally be fulfilled (starting a family), she dies. Not only that, but her son Joseph is the one who will go off to become the instrument of God's plan and fulfill his promise to Jacob. It was like God knew that this instrument had to be born from a bond of true love. And once fulfilled, Rachel's life purpose is fulfilled, and can pass on from this world. Wow!
I guess this makes Rachel the "special" matriarch. But why the curse of infertility? Did God want to postpone Joseph's birth for some reason? Did he have to have a bunch of younger brothers? Does this figure into the story of Joseph's being sold into slavery by his brothers?