Genesis Chapter 30
Jacob married two sisters, Leah and Rachel. He was tricked by his father-in-law into marrying Leah and then Jacob made the decision to also marry Rachel to get the woman he had fallen in love with. This decision only caused a lot of pain and heartache between the sisters, especially when Leah began having children and Rachel was not able to. Trying to win the sole loyalty of Jacob’s love became a contest between the sisters. This was not God’s design; it was a horrible situation. They were fighting to be loved.
Let's Reflect
1. For a long while Rachel was barren. How did she feel about her sister Leah having children with Jacob?
2. What solution did Rachel offer to produce children on her behalf? Would this desperate idea cause her husband to love her more?
3. To get an idea of how bitter the sisters had become towards each other, look at verses 7-8. What did Rachel choose for the name of her servant’s baby and what did it mean?
4. Leah decided she needed to produce more children to win the contest, but she had stopped getting pregnant. What was her solution to getting more babies?
5. We don’t know exactly what was believed about the mandrake root whether or not it caused fertility or if it was just a placebo. But to show how bitter these two had become with each other, there is written here in scripture an argument they had about some mandrake roots. Who ended up with the roots? And who became pregnant?
6. Rachel finally became pregnant. The Bible says that God remembered Rachel. It is not that He forgot about her, but it was His sovereign time to answer her prayer. What did she name her son?
7. As soon as her son was born, Jacob began to make plans to leave his father-in-law’s farm. What plan did he put into play to separate the herds into some for himself?
8. Jacob may have known more about animal husbandry than we do today, but for some reason he used sticks to cause the breeding of the animals to work in his favor. Or could it be that God had made a promise to bless and multiply Jacob and that is exactly what God did? God blessed Jacob in every area of his life; not because Jacob was a really good person, but because God said He would. God was keeping His covenant.
