GENESIS 30:1 (NIV)
¹ When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"

Some people get jealous for what others have. Rachel was barren and jealous of Leah who could give Jacob many children. We can stop being jealous by focusing on appreciating what we have and develop a grateful attitude. Actually Rachel shouldn't be jealous with Leah because despite of everything that happened, it was Rachel who Jacob truly loved. But Rachel's jealousy leaded her to focus only on the negative sides and made her angrier, more hurtful.

It wasn't Leah's fault Rachel couldn't bear children. Rachel shouldn't get angry with others for being barren. It was Rachel who Jacob desired to marry in the first place; she was the "favored" wife. Leah was an unloved wife. But jealousy always causes people to become irrational and make bad choice.

Rachel was very frustrated and jealous, she told Jacob to give her children or she would die. The offense caused Jacob into a defense mode and angry with Rachel. Rachel should ask God first if she wanted to a child, not Jacob. Rachel reached out the wrong person.

1 SAMUEL 18:6-9 (NIV)
⁶ When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. ⁷ As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." ⁸ Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?" ⁹ And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

Next, we will also learn from another person who got jealous. David had just killed Goliath and he was returning home with King Saul. All the people came out to meet them singing "Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands." Saul was angry at that remark and jealous of David because his people had credited David more than him. Again, in this case of Saul, he didn't have to be angry with David. After all David had saved the people and they were just overjoyed because of that they praised him. And from that time, Saul kept a jealous eye on David. His jealousy slowly turned into hatred and caused him to want to kill David.

Jealousy could lead people towards aggressive attitude, which sometimes reach into death wishes. Saul wanted David dead and in the end it was Saul who killed himself. Like Rachel, she too wished to die and all because of jealousy.

David did nothing wrong and so God protected him from Saul's obsession to kill him. People who are jealous would never win. So, don't let jealousy lies in our heart. Instead ask God what we wish for.

GENESIS 30:2 (NIV)
² Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"

Jealousy can cause perfectly rational people to suddenly turn in raging creatures of anger and in seconds, jealousy can destroy relationships with others. Jacob angrily thinking of how could he help her bear a son, as her infertility was neither his nor Leah's faults.

Jacob said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?" pointed out that is was God who could give her have children. So, Rachel could not blame Jacob and jealous with Leah, but Rachel should pray to God asking Him for having children. Jacob should encourage Rachel's faith. But it appeared that Jacob too lacked spiritual leadership.

GENESIS 30:3-8 (NIV)
³ Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family."  ⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, ⁵ and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; He has listened to my plea and given me a son." Because of this she named him Dan.  ⁷ Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won." So she named him Naphtali.

Rachel didn't listen well when Jacob told her why she was not able to have children and she should pray to God more. Instead she gave her maid Bilhah as a wife. Bilhah bore two children and Rachel made them hers. Rachel named the first one, Dan because she said "God has vindicated me; He has listened to my plea and given me a son." It got nothing to do with God. When Rachel gave Bilhah to Jacob as his wife, Rachel did not pray, it was all Rachel's own plan out of her jealousy and frustration.

Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won" proved that she was still jealous with her sister for her infertility. She wanted to have children for the wrong, wicked reason.

GENESIS 30:9-13 (NIV)
⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, "What good fortune!" So she named him Gad.  ¹² Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, "How happy I am! The women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.

Now the war between Rachel and Leah intensified. Since Rachel gave her maid to Jacob and adopted two children from her, now Leah also took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Jacob should have been an example of faith and godliness to Rachel and Leah. He should have rejected their plans to marry their maids and turned to God in prayer instead. He should have learned from his ancestors' mistake, the conflict in Abraham's household: Sarah, Hagar, and their children. But Jacob followed the same mistake Abraham did.

There it was, history repeated again. We learn from the story that later the children that Bilhah and Zilpah bore were a "threat" to the life of Rachel and Leah's own biological children. They plotted to kill Joseph (Rachel's son) while Reuben (Leah's son) didn't dare to stand up for Joseph and against them but he could only suggest them to throw Joseph into a dry well instead of killing him. So, all Rachel and Leah's saying of the "good fortune and blessing from God" about their maidservants' children were "not blessing" after all. Instead they brought only danger for their own biological children. From this story, we could see that jealousy destroy people from the inside out and might harm those people who are dear to us.

What would happen to Joseph's life if Rachel had waited for God's right time in giving her Joseph? It was possible Joseph's life be better and happier. I said, "Possible" because the truth is we don't know the answer to those questions. But we know this for sure: God has our best interest at heart and He causes all things to work together for good to those who obey Him. For example, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, but God could use Judas' betrayal to accomplish His purposes. But may we remind ourselves not to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

GENESIS 30:22 (NIV)
²² Then God remembered Rachel; He listened to her and opened her womb.

The Bible shows that God remembered Rachel; He listened to her and opened her womb. Of course God never forget about Rachel. Apparently, Rachel began to pray and God "noticed" her. For all Rachel's maneuverings, yet it was God who gave her children of her own. The lesson of the story is that "birth" is not accomplished by human action but by God. Rachel had to wait a very long time before she had her first child. Yet, God came through for her. Rachel should come to God first and ask Him in faith to bless her with a child. That way she wouldn't create so much trouble in her life. In most of the cases, it is our own stupidity, which delays us from victory.

James 4:2 summarize the story of Jacob-Rachel-Leah. It says, "You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you can't have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God." In this story, Rachel wanted what Leah had and it created awful jealous battles. Rachel didn't ask God to give her a child; instead she presented her servant, Bilhah to Jacob to give her children. She became obsessed with the children-bearing-competition with her sister. Her jealousy had twisted her motives of having children into more conflict.

GENESIS 30:23-24 (NIV)
²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace." ²⁴ She named him Joseph, and said, "May the LORD add to me another son."

Her jealousy plot gave her two sons from Bilhah, but they didn't bring her joy. Then God gave her son name Joseph; he was a great and precious gift God ever gave to Rachel who through him God would save Jacob's entire household. God also made great plans for Joseph for he would rule over Egypt.

Rachel prayed again hoping that God would add another son for her. God answered her prayer. Rachel was pregnant again, but she suffered a hard labor and died in childbirth. We could imagine what might happen if Rachel prayed to the Lord from the beginning, she would not wait for years to give birth. Possibly, she was still young and strong and could watch her sons grew up, even watched Joseph to be the ruler of Egypt.

Joseph and Benjamin were God's greatest miracles for Rachel. Because she was barren then God opened her womb. But it was sad when in the end she had to die before she had a chance to raise her sons. Rachel's jealousy has postponed God's blessing for herself and her family.

God teaches us in Isaiah 30:15-17 to rest ourselves completely in Him; trust in Him as His plan for us is good. He wants us to be tuned in to His plan and into His salvation. Not living in jealousy and anger, but focus our thoughts on Jesus Christ. And so, He would pour out His blessings to all of us. And His favors will not be delayed anymore and would be here to be enjoyed. Amen.