Week 6 RACHEL

 

WOMEN OF THE BIBLE – 52 WEEK STUDY

Week 6 Focus: RACHEL: The Woman In Whom Romance And Tragedy Were Blended

Scripture Reference:

1.       Genesis 29; 30; 31; 33:1,2,7; 35:16-26; 46:19,22,25; 48:7;15

2.       Ruth 4:11

3.       1 Samuel 10:2

4.       Jeremiah 31:15

5.       Matthew 2:18

Reference Material:

1.       The Holy Bible

2.       All the Women of the Bible -Herbert Lockyer

3.       Women of The Bible: 52 Bible Studies –Jean E. Syswerda

4.       Women Who Gave Birth to a Nation - Kathryn Capoccia (online)

Synopsis:

Manipulated by her father, she had little say over her own life circumstances and relationships. But rather than dealing creatively with a difficult situation, she behaved like a perpetual victim, responding to sin with yet more sin, making things worse by competing with her sister and deceiving her father in return

More About Her:

Rachel name means “ewe”, a title of endearment like lamb. Laban (Rachel’s father), accustomed to tenderly nursing the weak ewes as they were born, thought “ewe” to be a fitting name for his second daughter.

Rachel was the daughter of Laban, the son of Bethuel and Rebekah’s brother. Rachel became the 2^nd wife of her cousin Jacob and the mother of his two sons, Joseph and Benjamin

Rachel was the much loved wife of Jacob, the mother of Joseph, Israel’s savior and also Benjamin

She was no ordinary woman even though she shone with reflected glory.

She was naturally beautiful

She was divinely guided – the meeting between Jacob and Rachel was of God, and it was His providence that ordered the first glimpse of each other at the well

She loved deeply. While Leah had the keys to Jacob’s house, Rachel had the keys to Jacob’s heart. Leah influenced his judgement but Rachel never ceased to hold his love.

She was cruelly deceived by her father (marriage to her sister instead of her)

She was lamentably but not finally barren –Rachel’s whole being was bound up in the desire to become a mother

She birth one of the most godliest, greatest and renowned of the Bible, Joseph

She was tragically taken –hers is the first recorded instance in the Bible of death in childbirth.

Lessons

1.       The battle is the Lords, not ours to “do” in our flesh. When Rachel was barren she demanded that Jacob give her children (GEN 30:1) and resorted to using mandrake plants as a fertility drug (GEN 30:14,15).

2.       Stay away from IDOLS: Rachel stole idols from her father's house and brought them with her when the family left Laban's camp (GEN 31:19,34).

3.       Sin births Sin:  Rachel she lied to and deceived her father to conceal her theft (GEN 31:34,35).

4.       God answers pray: Rachel prayed for a son and God answered her (GEN 30:22).

5.       Bless God at all times! When Rachel became pregnant she acknowledged that God had done               it and she named her fist son "God shall add" saying, "May  the LORD add to me another son" (GEN 30:22-24).

6.       The most seemingly ordinary incidents in life are as much of the divine plan as the smallest parts of the a watch, and upon these smallest parts of the plan all the others depend –Our steps when ordered by the Lord lead to great issue (Herbert Lockyer)

7.       True love can be pass the test of time and hard work (Jacob for long labour for Rachel)

8.       “Barrenness” (struggles, disappointment) is only for a season – God has not forgotten us

9.       God still blesses us despite our mistakes

Legacy In Scripture: (From Women of The Bible: 52 Bible Studies –Jean E. Syswerda)

READ GENESIS 29:30; 30:1

1.       How do you think most women would respond to the situation in which Rachel found herself (29:30)? With love and concern for her unloved sister? Or with a spirit of superiority and pride?

2.       The agony expressed by Rachel’s words in Genesis 30:1 has been experienced by many women over the centuries. How did Rachel’s close relationship with Leah increase her pain? Is there any way their relationship could have eased her pain instead?

COMPARE GENESIS 29:30-31 and 30:1

3.       These two sisters each had something the other wanted. What did Rachel have that Leah wanted? What did Leah have that Rachel wanted?

4.       Discontentment is an insidious thing, trapping us into thinking that which was enough is no longer enough, and that which was satisfying is no longer satisfying. Do you ever feel discontent because you don’t “have it all”? What can you do to resist such sentiments?

READ GENESIS 31:19, 30-34

5.       Why would Rachel even have such idols? Why do you think she hid them from her father?

6.       When have you been in a situation that caused you to lie or cheat to protect yourself or someone else?

READ GENESIS 35:16-20

7.       Given the fact that they were on a journey, describe in your own words the situation under which Rachel likely gave birth.

8.       It’s one of the paradoxes of life, revealed here in this tragic story of Rachel’s death, that what we most want from life we often can only gain by giving up something else that’s equally important to us. Can you think of an instance in your own life in which gaining something you wanted required giving up something else?

9.       Jacob renamed his new son Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.” What does this new name reveal about Jacob’s hope for the future?