Jealousy is not a good thing especially to have it with ur sister or family membere u should be happy no matter what God gives you.

We have a whole book full of promises that have been proven over and over. My prayer is that I and we as believers, trust what the Bible promises and in order to trust it, we need to know what it says. We should all make it a bigger priority to learn what our God has promised to us.

anyways there was that….something I found cool about the chapter is how Jacob alows God to bless him. He doesn’t go trying to get some payment from Laban with his own hands…saying ya laban you give me half of ur flock and everyother animal born after that….no he takes a little but then lets God do the rest! cool faith….

It, says that God LISTENED to her. Rachel obviously had been praying about this, and from the way that this chapter shows her attitude, it is something that she prayed about consistently, just like we talked about in small groups. We need to pray continually about the things that we want/need, and God will give them to us if there isn’t a reason not to, like the parable of the man knocking on the door for bread.

2Jacob became angry with her and said,”Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from not having children?”

in these two verses out of jealousness Rachel wants a child because her sister Leah had children. but I love how Jacob comes back by saying how if he and Sarah really needed a child, that God would give them one. we can’t try to make out our lives on our own, but fully trust in God to give us what we need.

Like some have said, this is a pretty messed up situation. And its basically Jacob’s own fault for his deception. Yet God still blessed him greatly. God is always faithful to us, even when we are unfaithful, and He works through everything for good, even our mistakes. Its so good to know that God forgives us, but instead of continuing to displease Him with sin, we should be trying to instead glorify Him for He is so deserving of it.

hope that helps!

Wow it sounds almost like a reality show! Just think all this would have happened if Jacob didn’t deceive his father.

This passage, and entire story, really expresses the importance of leaving God in control. We need to trust God that His plan is far greater than any plan we could ever think of. God is great; He knows what is best and will provide for us. We need to make sure that we ask God, through prayer, to lead of our lives. We need to allow Him to work through us. The Holy Spirit will guide us and keep our path straight. We just have to believe it!

I agree with pastor bobby…rachel being jealous was definatly not a good thing, she should have been patient! but one hting i noticed that she did was she did not give up inher prayer of asking God to open her womb. In a recent message Pastor Bobby told us to pray fervently and not to give up on what we are asking (as long as it is God’s will)…so there was a great example of that!

This shows the great amount of patience Rachel had. She was pleading with God to grant her children and after many years He finally did. This shows that if we persevere in praying and pray passionately and ask for what is in Gods will, He will answer our prayers. Sometimes it takes really long for prayers to be answered, but God never forgets our pleas and requests. We need to lift up our requests to God, but it is also essential to Praise and adore Him, confess our sins, thank him, and ask for spiritual protection.

2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

learning from the entire chapter, Persistent prayer is muy importante! rachel got angry with jacob because she didnt pray persistently! God may not give everything to us, but that’s because it doesnt really pertain to anything useful in our lives, or may not be needed at this moment in time.

Cameron, i dont get how Jacob is “reaping the punishments of his wives”. could you explain it? thanks.

this instance reminds us that we are punished for sin. as Christians, it may be easy for us to abuse the grace God has given, and if we are true Christians, we wont. however, it reminds us that though we will not face God’s wrath in hell, we have punishments for our sin, becu=ause our God is merciful, gracious, but also just. the holy God we serve cannot tolerate sin

The line “or I’ll DIE!” REALLY stuck out to me. How many things do we want so bad that we would die with out them? Although this probably isn’t how it was intended, but this could be applied to serving and living for God. Like without Him, I would DIE!!

Wow, looks like somebody is getting jealous. Never knew that there was this level of a need for children. To make your husband sleep with another woman to get children! Man oh man, Lea and Rachel are being selfish. Pretty intense chapter!

It is a sad day when competition, jealously and deceit take over our lives, replacing the love and support you would normally expect within a God fearing family. It seems to me that there is a huge focus on self gratification and little concern for the will of God or the wellbeing of others. I think Galatians 5:19-24 are great verses to consider when we may be tempted to compare ourselves to others. Our focus should always be on pleasing God and not on ourselves. I pray that we would be genuinely pleased when witnessing God’s blessing in the lives of others as we trust in Gods Sovereignty for our own.

I thought it was cool what Bobby pointed out; that even in sin God’s will is acomlished. Nothing can stop what He has planned for us and He never goes back on promises, no matter how sinfull or stupid we are.

I found it so interesting how Laban wanted Jacob to stay after all that time. AND THIS CHAPTER REMINDS ME OF A SOAP OPERA!!!! seriously! Jealously, scandals, trickery, and a lot of sin! AND A LOT OF KIDS! Those poor children are going to have to be raised to live in a home like that, it’s sad. And then I thought to myself, there are kids that are raised in homes worse than that, homes that have no Christian influence. It made me very grateful that I live in a home where I’m raised to love the Lord and God has chosen me! I think all of us can be grateful for that! But it’s a reminder that some don’t know the gospel until we tell them about it, so lets always proclaim His name where ever we go! mmmmmmmhmm And later we learn that Joseph is one of the only brothers that does grow up to become a true believer! So we must also remember that just because one grows up in a Christian home, doesn’t mean that that one person is a Christian, so we can still tell them the gospel anyways and be an example for them. :D

Sisters in competition, yikes! Rachel and Leah were being jealous over each other because one had more kids than each other. I agree with Spencer that Laban shouldn’t have tricked Jacob into marrying both of these girls, but God’s promise is being fulfilled that Abraham’s decendents will be like the number of stars.

Rachel was jealous because she wanted what Leah had, kids, and it led her to sin. Desires are not always a bad thing, in fact some desires are God-given, but when our desires become demands and we are going to sin to get them or sin if we do not get them fulfilled then we have went astray. Look at how the result of sin caused so many consequences both here in this chapter and also the past 27. God had a plan for Rachel and if she would have only trusted in His timing and providence she would have seen the result of His faithfulness. Aren’t we like that so often? We are quick to think God is being unfaithful or not hearing our prayers when we don’t get a microwave answer. How foolish that is!! Pray persistently and be patient and trust the Lord who was powerful enough to save a fallen world!

Despite the imperfections in Rachel, God graciously gave her the ability to have children. The word “remebered” in this verse is the same as in Gen. 8:1 where it says God “remembered” Noah and so he dried up the earth after the flood. My Study Bible notes say that to “remember” in the Bible means so much more than recalling someone to mind. It means to express concern for someone and act with with loving care for him or her. We should be so grateful that we worship a God who remembers us despite our sin and shortcomings. God is so deserving to be praised for his attribute of being merciful. When I do my prayer time today you can bet that I will be spending some time praising God and thanking Him for His mercy to me.

Every time I read about how they fought each other or relied on superstition instead of God, I’m convicted about how I do the same things and need the power of Jesus on the cross to make me clean. Thank You Lord for paying for EVERY sin once and for all. Help me to honor You today by living your way…

15 But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?” “Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

I really am not sure how to word this exacty, but…
I think that it’s weird that Rachel is giving Leah permission to sleep with their husband. Plus I’m wondering if Jacob would be upset that he’s being hired to sleep with someone or being told that I’m sleeping with you tonight.

Yet, through all of this God is accomplishing his will. He is blessing Jacob because He is faithful to his promises. No matter how bad things around us get we can always count on God to work them for good to those who are his people, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)!

New blog on youth pastors if you want to read it just click on my name!