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5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, "God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan. 7 And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, "With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali. ~ Genesis 30:5-8
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 30 where we have been introduced to a sibling rivalry between the two wives of Jacob. What we have in this chapter is an all out war between two women who were largely doing what they were doing by feeding the evil desires that were within them. Amazingly, even though they were quite myopic to the reality of the life that God desired for them, God brought a lot of good out of their efforts. Their story mirrors the believer's civil war within between the Spirit and the Flesh.
In Galatians 6:7-8 we read, "7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."
The word "mocked" in this verse means "to turn one's nose up at God." Rachel revealed through her decision to feed her flesh that she thought the laws that God had created for all mankind did not apply to her. She arrogantly thought she was above God's law, but she was mistaken. Throughout the Bible we learn that what we sow we will also reap. Rachel fed her flesh by fueling envy and jealousy and she thought those works of the flesh would not turn on her. Again, she was gravely mistaken even though God used her bad decisions to bring about a lot of good for the people of Israel.
In v.5 of today's passage we read, "And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son."
Even though it is not the focus here but when Bilhah conceived a son, Rachel’s barrenness was highlighted and her barrenness was actually a gift from the Lord. In Deuteronomy 23:5 we read, "The Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you." Anything that drives us to the Lord is a blessing. The word "curse" occurs nearly 160 times in the Bible and in the New Testament we are told the Lord Jesus became cursed so that we might know the blessing of a personal relationship with Him. If we allow Him God will use the darkness that we encounter in this world to bring about a deeper intimacy with Him. Our responsibility is to draw near to Him through our trials.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "Then Rachel said, 'God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.' Therefore she called his name Dan."
The name "Dan" means "Judge." Rachel named him accordingly indicating that she believed that God judged in her favor. Sadly, the tribe of Dan is known for its tendency to follow man-made religion over biblical faith in God. In fact, the tribe of Dan was the first of the twelve tribes to engage in idolatry. Much later in this narrative God assigned certain areas of territory to each of the twelve tribes. The tribe of Dan was the last tribe to receive its land. It was given a tract of land that was smaller than the other land grants but was fertile and also had a boundary along the Mediterranean Sea where there was fishing and commerce available to them. However, the tribe of Dan never fully conquered their assigned land due to their lack of faith in God.
Later, the kingdom of Israel was divided after the reign of Solomon. The kingdom split into Israel’s ten tribes in the north and Judah’s two in the south. The people of Dan had long moved from the south to the north in search of a better land and so this tribe ended up in the northern kingdom of Israel. King Jeroboam was afraid that those who lived in his kingdom in the north would still go down to the southern kingdom to worship at Jerusalem, since that was where the temple that God had authorized was located. So Jeroboam built two additional altars for the people of his nation to worship. He established worship in the south at Bethel and in the north at Dan. He built a golden calf at each location and instituted special days and feasts when people would meet. Sadly, this man-made worship at Dan led the people away from worshipping the God of the Bible.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son."
This is the sixth son of Jacob and the second born for Rachel by Bilhah. One thing is clear here through this intense sibling rivalry and it is that feeding the flesh is sin which allows decay and destruction into our lives. Sin is anything that separates us from God and the life He desires to give us. Sin always leads us down roads that we would not directly choose for ourselves and our posterity. Sin always yields various forms of death. Even though by this time in the narrative one half of the twelve sons of Jacob had been birthed, what we actually are left with is one of the longest courses in what it looks like to resist the leading of God's Spirit and serving the flesh.
In v.8 of today's passage we read, "Then Rachel said, 'With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.' So she called his name Naphtali."
With the birth of this next son much is revealed about Rachel. Naphtali means "my twisting." With the naming of this next son of Jacob, Rachel was saying that through her struggle against her sister, she had prevailed. The flesh always twists the truth and makes lies appear more attractive than they really are. Rachel clearly wasn't getting the message and her response only fed the flesh which unbeknown to her was out to destroy her.
When it comes to resisting the powerful demands of our flesh, the Bible describes it as a kind of dying. That’s because our deceived, corrupt flesh believes our life will be happier if we gratify it. Denying the flesh can feel like dying to something life-giving. When we, in following the Spirit’s direction, die to our flesh, we actually die to that which desires to destroy us. In this scenario, we die to death itself. This kind of dying is worth dying every day because in doing so, we choose life. Sin had wrecked our lives, but God’s grace has overcome it through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. It is through being taught by God's grace that we are enabled to see the ultimate value of saying "yes" to God and saying "no" to the flesh.
