Let's pray together. Our Father, as we come before
you, Lord, we do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we ask in his name, for his sake, according to his merit, Lord,
would you bless the services tonight and help us? Lord, give us understanding.
Teach us. Forgive us for Christ's sake.
Amen. All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to Genesis 30. Genesis 30. I'd like to continue
in this little study that we've been doing concerning the birth
of the sons of Jacob. Now, we've considered eight of
them that's been born. And tonight we're gonna look
at three, three sons, and then one of the sons, the last son,
will be born in about three chapters over. So we're gonna just look
at these verses, Genesis chapter 30, and the verses that we're
gonna consider are truly, they're very weighty, and we would desire
that the Spirit of God lead our hearts and minds to behold the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember, now we're looking
at these boys that are being born, and we're considering their
names, the meanings of their names, but we're considering
also the comment that is made by the mothers, actually by Leah
and Rachel. Some of the boys have been born
by the handmaids, but by the two wives of Jacob. Great significance concerning
the Lord's glory to His people. But also, tonight we're going
to see something of their comments concerning what the Lord is revealing
to us, concerning what we are and our need of Him. So let's
begin reading in Genesis chapter 30, verse 14. The Scripture says,
And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes
in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, give
me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. Now, there's differences
of opinion. Tried to look it up and find
out what different commentators that we trust had to say about
exactly what these mandrakes were. But the meaning of the
word mandrake is actually love apple, love apple. And in our
passage today, it appears as though that the mandrakes were
believed, thought to be, that which would induce amorous responses
to promote conception. And so these mandrakes, they
were probably some kind of a fruit, but they were spoken of in Song
of Solomon. Hold your place right there,
Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon 7, verse 13, just a comment that
was made by the wife spoken of in Song of Solomon.
Song of Solomon 7, In verse 13, this comment was made of them,
the mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of
pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee,
O my beloved. So the Spirit of God moved upon
Solomon to make a note concerning these mandrakes, but we know
that they gave a pleasant smell, and spoken of concerning the
bride to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was an expression of the
love that the bride had for the Lord Jesus and he for her. And so exactly what they were
is hard to say, but whatever they were, in our passage in
Genesis chapter 30, verse 14, whatever they were, Rachel, wanted
them, and she was very forward to Leah that she wanted them. I'll read that passage again,
verse 14. Reuben went in the days of wheat
harvest, found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto
his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, give
me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. Well, when Leah heard
Rachel. She asked a question that expressed
her resentment toward Rachel. Rachel was ready to counter.
As soon as Leah made her statement, Leah made a statement back to
her. Rachel told her, she said, give
me the mandrakes, I pray thee. Didn't sound like a very, you
know, fond request. I mean, kind of a demand. Give
them, I pray thee. And Leah says in verse 15, and
she said unto her, is it a small matter that thou hast taken my
husband? And wouldst thou take away my
son's mandrakes also? Rachel said, therefore, he shall
lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. Here's what
Leah, I mean, Rachel comes to her and said, give me the mandrakes. Leah comes back and she said,
is it not enough that you've taken my husband? Do you want
my son's mandrakes too? And then Rachel responds in a
way that's hard for us to perceive, but she said, she said, therefore
he, that is Jacob, shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's
mandrakes. And Leah took her up on it. And
then in verses 16 to 20, It said, And Jacob came out of
the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and
said, Thou must come in unto me, for surely I have hired thee
with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night,
and God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived and bared Jacob
the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given
me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband, and
she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and
bared Jacob the sixth son. And Leah said, God hath endued
me with good dowry. Now will my husband dwell with
me, because I have borne him six sons. And she called his
name Zebulun." Now, I wanted to read all of these verses together
and give us an understanding that we might glean by the Spirit's
direction, the mercy of God shown unto this family. Jacob and the
family that's being brought forth, sons that are being born through
these two wives and their handmaids, is truly a family blessed of
God. Scripture we looked at before,
the Lord's uh, word concerning Jacob. This is what he said,
Jacob, have I loved Jacob? Have I loved? And now here's,
here's, here's Jacob and his, his wives. And, and Jacob is
in the line is his lineage is going to be not only the 12 sons
of Israel, the heads of the twelve tribes, a picture of the whole
church of God. But the Messiah has been promised
to come through His line. So this is a blessed family,
blessed of Almighty God. But especially, I want us to
notice something about this highly blessed family. Even the most
blessed families are still filled with contentions and strifes. Hold your place, turn with me
to Matthew 10. Matthew chapter 10. Matthew 10, I'd like to read
verses 34 to 36. Matthew 10. Matthew 10, 34. Think not that
I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace with
a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And
a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Now, the object of a believer is not
to deliberately make enemies. Don Fortner told me one time,
he said, Marvin, I've got to, I really want to be careful.
I don't want to make enemies. I want to try to cherish my friends. He said, I got plenty of enemies.
They just come. But he said, I'd really like
to cherish the friends that I have. So a believer's object is not
to make enemies. But if doing the right thing,
according to the Scriptures, believing God, trusting on the
Lord Jesus Christ as He's revealed in the Holy Scriptures, casting
away all former false lust, false assurances, if that causes a
loss of an earthly friend, well, then count that loss as a great
gain, that you know God and be found in Him. We're not looking
for trouble. We're not looking for envy, strife, and division.
We're not looking for it. But if following the Lord and
being found faithful to these scriptures, seeking God's guidance
and God's direction, believing on Christ, if we're gonna have
someone turn against us over that, Well, so be it. It's like the Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. When Nebuchadnezzar told him,
he said, I'm going to give you boys one more chance. I'm going
to fire up this pit seven times hotter than it has been. And
if you don't bow when all the music starts, I'm going to throw
you in there. Those boys said, well, we don't
have to be too careful about what we say. we're not gonna
bow, you know. So be it. That's what it's gonna
be. Sadly, but truthfully, these
losses are often found. The loss of friends, the loss
of family, families that go against each other, according to the
word of God, within one's own household. That's where you're
gonna find enemies. There was a Cain, and there was
an Abel. There was a Jacob, and there
was an Esau. There was a David, and there
was an Absalom. There was an Eli, and he had
two boys. There was an Aaron, and he had
two boys. Oh, the heartache that's found
where division over the gospel. Now, if it's over something else,
then reconcile. Reconcile. Take the high road
and reconcile. Suck it up. But if it's over
the gospel, you can't compromise on that. You cannot do it. 2 Timothy 3.2 says, yea, all. Now just remember this word all. that will live godly in Christ
Jesus, now listen to this word, shall suffer persecution. Not possibly some, but all shall
suffer persecution. Satan, the world, especially
unsaved religionists, hate the gospel of God's free grace and
justification by faith alone. Yet, in the midst of God's mercy,
being shown this family, that division, that strife was found,
and Leah, whenever Rachel came to Leah, says, give me those
mandrakes. And Leah came right back at her.
Okay, you got my husband, took my husband, now you want my son's
mandrakes too? He struck a deal. These tensions
are going to be found in families, sadly. We do everything in the
world we can to make them right, to reconcile them. But that old
man rises up. He's going to show his ugly head,
and there's going to be anger, and there's going to be resentment.
But where sin abounded, the scripture says, grace did much more about. So Rachel, here we are. Rachel wants those mandrakes.
And Leah strikes a deal with her. And Leah's gonna lay with
Jacob that night. And Rachel, the problem, this
is what I was saying about the comments that was made. In these
scriptures tonight, we learned something about us. This is us. I mean, I don't know about everybody's
family. I know a pretty good bit about
everybody here, but I don't know everything. But I can tell you
this, I'm sure that every family, there's always gonna be strife
and division. It is in mine. And I'm just thinking,
Lord, these things are so, these things are so. But also look
at what Rachel did. Now here's a woman, blessed of
God, married, married to Jacob. And here she wanted those mandrakes.
It means love apple, thought to be an aphrodisiac is what
it is. And here she is, she's ready
at the drop of a hat to resort to the arm of the flesh, even
to take of that which was tradition to accomplish conception. She's
barren. That which only God could accomplish,
give children. That domestic quarreling and
fighting between these two sisters, don't you know how it affected
Jacob? I mean, it's never just a private matter. I mean, whenever
there's division and stuff between anybody, especially two believers,
but it affects other people. It just, it affects them. But
the Holy Spirit was faithful. He's always faithful to remind
God's people of the very presence of the old man. But now look
at, now Leah, okay, I saw how Rachel, you know, the things
she did, you know, you know, give me those, give me those
mandrakes, that fight and squabble and stuff like that. But now
listen to Leah. Now here's something that she
said that also is exposing something of us, ourselves right here.
Look back at 18, and Leah said, here she was, she conceived back
in 17, and bear Jacob fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given
me my hire. Now look at this next word. Because I have given my maiden
to my husband. God has blessed me because I
was just so gracious. That's what it said. Because
I have gone about and tried to accomplish God's will, given
her my inmate. God has given me my hire because
I have given my maiden to my husband, and she called his name
Issachar. Hire. She thought that her reward of
conception was because of her faithfulness. Faithfulness because
of her work. Give her handmaid to Jacob. So
she named her fifth son Issachar. She conceived again and her sixth
son, now a total of 10, between Leah, Leah's handmaid, and Rachel's
handmaid. Now this is 10 boys. 10 boys
had been born and she ignorantly boasted now with this second
one, this is what she said. Verse 19, and Leah conceived
again and bared Jacob the sixth son. And Leah said, God hath
endued me with a good dowry. Now will my husband dwell with
me, because I have borne him six sons. And she called his
name Zebulun, dwelling. You know, she felt now that Jacob,
who loved Rachel, he wanted Rachel. And he got Leah, you know how
that happened. Now because she had born Jacob,
these sons that she's had and her maid has had, she said, now
my husband is gonna be pleased, love me, dwell with me. Oh, the struggle within every
believer. That old man, that flesh ever
wars against the spirit. From these verses, we learn this
blessed truth. God's grace is greater than our
sins. Struggles surely arise in the
most stable of homes because of sin. The word of the Lord
is going to prevail. God's will is gonna be done.
Thanks be unto God. Look at Psalm 103. Hold your
place. Turn to Psalm 103. Psalm 103,
verses 10 to 14. Psalm 103, verse 10. Thanks be unto God for these
scriptures. He hath not dwelt with us after our sins. nor rewarded
us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him, for he knoweth
our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. How graciously does the Lord
continue to teach us, Romans 9, 16, so then it is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. Oh, how we've seen in the comments
of these women so far, how that old man is still there. God is
blessed and blessed and blessed, and still we struggle, still
we struggle. Look at verse 21, we're gonna
go through verse 24, Lord willing. Verse 21, and afterwards, she
bare a daughter and called her name Dinah. Dinah, judgment,
what it means. Now, before the spirit was pleased
to record the births of the next son, he was pleased to record
the birth of a daughter that was born to Leah. Leah had a
daughter and it's not uncommon for the Spirit of God to not
record the names of all the women in a certain family unless there's
something to be shown in the life of that particular woman
that shall bear out the glory of the Lord and the lives of
His people and the lives of God's sheep. And in the life of this
daughter, that's going to be the case. But her name was Dinah. It meant judgment. And for this
moment, right here in this chapter, no recorded comment was made
by Leah at the birth of this daughter. The significance of
this girl that's being born is going to be shown in chapter
34 of Genesis, where it deals with Dinah, Leah's daughter. But as the Spirit of God was
pleased to be silent on the significance of this daughter right here,
what we're going to do is we're going to wait, Lord willing,
until we come to that passage. where the Spirit of God speaks
of Dinah. I'm gonna leave it there for
right now. We'll deal with it when we come to it. So suffice
it to say, Leah has had these boys and she's had six of them
herself, personally. Two of them by her handmaid,
two of them by Rachel's handmaid. So Jacob now has 10 sons and
one daughter, Dinah. We'll look. Let's look at verses
22 to 24. And God remembered Rachel, and
God hearkened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived and
bear a son and said, God has taken away my reproach. And she
called his name Joseph and said, the Lord shall add to me another
son. Now we come toward the end of
this passage for this evening concerning the birth of the next
to last of Jacob's sons. And it's amazing how the Spirit
of God has been pleased to reveal their births. This 11th son that
was born to Jacob's beloved Rachel. She'd been barren, she'd struggled,
she was envious of her sister. trying everything in the world
she could that the Lord would give her children. And now the
scripture reveals, it says in 22, God remembered Rachel and
hearkened to her and opened her womb. Now, God never forgets,
you know that. But what the scripture is saying
is God was pleased to manifest or to reveal, at this time, his
good pleasure to show mercy to one of his own. God remembered
Rachel. And you know, we often think,
we pray about things and we think that the Lord has forgotten to
show mercy. We prayed for years and years
and years. And we think that the Lord doesn't
hear. The Lord hears. He hears, he
knows. But he's not subject to forgetfulness. We know that when it says he
remembers. Rachel was found to be with child. When? When the Lord opened her
womb. That's when she was with child.
When God was pleased, the birth of children, that's a heritage
of the Lord. And God gives life, he gives children according to
his will and purpose. And when the son of Jacob was
born, Rachel made two comments. The first one was this. She said,
verse 23, she conceived, bare a son and said, God hath taken
away my reproach. That right there, we know that
she'd been barren and what joy surely was experienced by Rachel. The Lord did. He did take away
what she thought with shame, disgrace, because she had no
children. I mean, you just imagine, you
know, they get everybody over there and they're all going over,
Leah's kids, you know, that little squirt, he sure is growing, isn't
he? Look, look at these kids. I mean, they're growing like
weeds, you know. I'm sure they're great, yeah, I'm sure they're
a great pleasure to Leah, but what about Rachel? She didn't
have any children. And she felt the shame. But brethren, while she was talking
about the Lord has taken away my reproach, look at this spiritually
speaking and realize the blessing of knowing by the grace of God
that the Lord Jesus has taken away the reproach of his people
by the shedding of his own blood at Calvary. that He bore our
sins. Now, we've heard this so many
times, we've talked about it, but just stop and ask the Lord
right now. Lord, give me some understanding
here. He bore all of the sins of all
of His elect. He bore all of the guilt, the
thoughts, Not the commissions only, but the omissions, what
they should have done and didn't do. This is completely, we're
unable to fathom what he bore. But he bore in his own body. He took all of it. unto himself
all the guilt, all the filth, all the filthiness of our thoughts
and all the discrepancies and the unbelief. He bore all of
it in his body. One scripture says when he says
he bore, he was gravid, he was impregnated with it. It was in
him. It was in him. And he bore all
of it. Everything that we shall commit,
he bore it. Took away our reproach. Paid
the debt that was owed to the law of God. The debt that could only be paid
by the preciousness of his blood. That blood, how precious is it? I can't imagine. I don't even
know how to say it. I don't know how to imagine it.
But he put it away. And he finished the work. He
finished it. God was satisfied. And you know
how I know God was satisfied? Three days later he raised him
from the dead. He came out of that ground. He came out of that
ground for or because of our justification. God had justified
us freely by his grace. No charge. No charge to them. No charge. When did he do that? before the foundation of the
world. No charge to them. Was he sure
that his son would accomplish it? God the Father was the first
one to trust him. He trusted him with everything.
Sent him into this world. The Lord Jesus Christ, He said,
I've come to do the will of Him that sent me and finish the work.
And He did. God has taken away my Show the
blessing that God would take away the reproach of his people. But also, closing here, I want
you to behold the word of faith, faith spoken of by Rachel. She said one more thing. She conceived a bare son, called
him Joseph, named him Joseph, called his name Joseph. And here's
what she said. The Lord shall add to me another
son. Now she just had one boy. And I don't know. Some writers
said that it was just a prayer or a request. But I tell you
what I think I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take exactly what the
Spirit of God moved Rachel to say And this is what I'm gonna
say, or I'm gonna repeat. I'm gonna repeat what she said,
because all scripture is given by inspiration of God. She said,
the Lord shall. I'm afraid that doesn't sound like
a hope. That sounds like assurance to me. The Lord shall add to
me another son. You know the son that it's going
to be. It's going to be Benjamin. Benjamin. That's going to be the apple
of Jacob's eye. Boy, in that latter chapters,
when all those boys are going down to Egypt, there's one boy
that's there still with Jacob at home, and Jacob don't want
to let him go. I've already lost a boy. I'm
not letting this one go. That one, that one was the one.
That was going to be the one that was going to have to be
spoken for. One, one's going to, Judas is going to stand up
and say, if I, if I don't bring him back, I'll stand. I don't
want to get all the way over in there. I'll stop here right
now. This, this woman, she, she believed God. She had Joseph. She said, the Lord shall. Oh,
the blessing, the mercy of God shown to those that wait on the
Lord. Yeah, this life is filled with
trials, tribulation, trouble. Psalm 37, four and five says,
delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord,
trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. I pray God
bless this to our hearts. For Christ's sake, amen.