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Genesis 30 begins with a baby battle between two wives. Rachel and Leah are fighting it out to see who can give Jacob the most sons…whether by their own doing or by having him sleep with their servants.
At no point does Jacob step in and say, “Whoa whoa whoa, ladies. Let’s all calm down a minute.” In fact, we don’t see any objection from him at all.
In verse 15 and 16, we have two of my favorite lines in all of scripture.
15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. Genesis 30:15-16, ESV
This is one of those stories that gives credence to my belief that the Bible is true. These are details no sane person would put in a story that had been fabricated. What we see here is, again, no objection whatsoever from Jacob. You would expect some sort of dialogue here. “Wait…Rachel would rather have mandrakes than share a bed with me? Wait. What?! Ah, c’mon!” Nothing. Just prolific acquiescence.
Unsurprisingly, the power struggle between Rachel and Leah extended to their offspring. From this point on, we’ll see jealousy, infighting, and strife between these brothers. Eventually, we’ll even see Civil War between the offspring of these brothers. But, there’s an interesting twist. Verse 22:
22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!” Genesis 30:22-24, ESV
In the midst of a battle between women, God listens to Rachel. I’m going to jump ahead a bit because I think it’s important to reflect on how important this chapter is in the grand scheme of things. It’s important because the son God gives Rachel in verse 23 would be the savior of the entire family line…including Leah’s son Judah. Of course, this is a rather important turn of events for Christianity. Without Judah, we’ve got a problem, theologically speaking. No Judah, no Jesus.
Let’s summarize the story that begins in this chapter. God puts life in Rachel’s barren womb. This life, Joseph, is despised by his brothers to the point that they strip him of his dignity, sell him out for twenty pieces of silver, and abandon him to die. Despite this, Joseph ends up miraculously rising to power in the land of Egypt. As a reminder, Egypt in the Bible is often a parallel for a sinful, oppressive place…a symbol for the fallen world. Joseph, rises to power there and controls the food supply, ultimately giving him the power to give life or withhold it from his family…and pretty much everyone else. Joseph’s brothers feel that starvation is coming due to famine, so they head to Egypt to beg for mercy. They don’t recognize their brother…mainly because they didn’t expect him to come to power…and certainly not after they abandoned him. Joseph eventually saves them all in a remarkable act of grace.
Of course, this sets the stage for Jesus’s role in God’s ultimate salvation plan. Jesus is woven into the fabric of the Joseph story; or, actually, it’s the other way around.
This week, Genesis 30 yet again reminded me that the story of Jesus is the greatest story ever told. And, the Jesus story wasn’t confined to the gospels. The story began in Genesis 1:1. The plot thickens in Genesis 30. The story flows through the past, present, and future. And here’s the best news: today, you and I are both observers of and participants in that same salvation story.
Here’s this week’s AI rap summary: