Rachel becomes intensely jealous of her sister because Leah has borne Jacob four sons and Rachel hasn't been able to have any children. The envy causes her to lash out at Jacob unfairly.
"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!'" (Genesis 30:1) She blames Jacob as if he isn't man enough to give her children as well as Leah. Obviously Jacob isn't infertile since he's already fathered four sons, but jealousy has made Rachel irrational.
I don't know how many times Jacob has heard these dramatic pleadings from Rachel but I suspect this isn't the first time because he loses his temper. "Jacob became angry with her and said, 'Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?'" (Genesis 30:2) Jacob isn't behaving any better than she is. His reply is, "Don't blame me! Blame God! God is the One who has made you barren. I can't undo what He has done."
It's true that God has prevented Rachel from bearing children so far. He did this because Leah is treated like a third wheel in this family. Because Jacob so obviously prefers Rachel over Leah, and because Rachel has probably felt superior to her sister and has made her feel bad about herself, the Lord granted Leah the honor of being the mother of four fine sons. Leah is the one whose blessings are admired by her family and friends. Leah is the one who is congratulated in the marketplace. Leah, the less-loved wife, can hold her head up high now. Rachel, for the first time in her life, is pitied. For the first time she's jealous of someone else instead of feeling like other women are jealous of her. Jacob realizes that the Lord has prevented Rachel from bearing children. If he had wisely suggested the two of them go to the Lord in prayer to find out why, the things that happen next wouldn't have happened. If they'd gone to the Lord in a spirit of submission and had allowed Him to point out how unfair they've been to Leah, and if they'd repented and allowed the Lord to change their hearts and attitudes, the Lord might have given Rachel a child very soon. But instead Rachel takes matters into her own hands.
"Then she said, 'Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.'" (Genesis 30:3) This is the same thing Sarah did with her Egyptian slave Hagar; she gave her to Abraham as a concubine (a lesser form of a legal wife) so Sarah could adopt and raise the child as her own. Jacob agrees to Rachel's request. As we studied earlier in Genesis, the law allowed for such an arrangement. Some scholars feel that ancient Mesopotamian texts suggest that a husband was obligated to agree when a barren wife insisted he father a son for her through her servant. If a man died and left a barren wife behind, he ran a very real risk of leaving his wife utterly destitute. His estate had to go to a male heir, even if that heir was a distant cousin or his most-trusted male servant. The heir was not obligated to take care of the widowed wife since this woman was not his own mother. In Jacob's case, if he dies he knows Leah has sons who will provide for her and give her a home in her old age. But Rachel has no one. It makes sense that Jacob would agree to do what she asks in order to secure her future.
"So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, and she became pregnant and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, 'God has vindicated me; He has listened to my plea and has given me a son.' Because of this she named him Dan. Rachel's servant conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, 'I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.' So she named him Naphtali." (Genesis 30:4-8) Dan's name means "He has vindicated" and Naphtali's name means "my struggle". When Abraham took Hagar as his wife, there's no Biblical evidence that he spent any more time with her after she bore him a son. The two of them never had any more children together. But Jacob appears to have kept up an ongoing relationship with Bilhah, at least for a while, and I wonder if that might have been at Rachel's insistence. She's in competition with Leah who has four sons. One son is not enough for Rachel. And in a time when infant mortality rates were very high, having more than one son through her servant would have given Rachel an added measure of security for the future.
In yesterday's passage we were told that after Leah produced four sons she stopped conceiving children. I don't think she did anything to prevent conception but that it just wasn't happening. Sometimes fertility waxes and wanes like that. My parents had two children less than five years apart very early in their marriage and wanted more but nothing happened. Then suddenly, about sixteen years after the birth of their second child, they were unexpectedly expecting me. Leah may have felt satisfied with four sons until Rachel obtained sons through her servant. Leah may be worried Rachel will end up with more children than she has, so she wants to have more but every month she's disappointed when she realizes she isn't pregnant. She decides to give Jacob her own maid as a wife.
"When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, 'What good fortune!' So she named him Gad. Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, 'How happy I am! The women will call me happy.' So she named him Asher." (Genesis 30:9-13) Gad's name means "good fortune" and Asher's name means "happy". Now Leah's servant has borne Jacob as many sons as Rachel's servant has borne him. Leah has held onto top spot as far as she is concerned, for through her own fertility and through the fertility of her servant Jacob has been given six sons.
Jacob never wanted but one wife and now he has four. We need to keep in mind that the Bible reports to us the things that happened. When the Bible tells us Jacob had four wives it is not putting a stamp of approval on the idea of a man having multiple wives. When the Lord created the first married couple, He didn't give Adam two wives but only one wife. This is the best pattern for a happy marriage. A husband's love isn't intended to be divided between two women or among multiple women. A woman isn't intended to have to share her husband.
Ending up with four wives is a result of Jacob having made several bad choices. He deceived his father and stole Esau's blessing. Then he had to flee to Harran to escape his brother and to obtain a believing wife upon the command of his parents. When he arrived in Harran he should have prayed to the Lord to match him with the woman who would be the best wife for him. He should have followed the example of Abraham's servant who prayed to the Lord to help him find the right wife for Isaac. If Jacob had done this, I think the Lord would have pointed him to Leah. And if Jacob had listened to the Lord and had chosen Leah for his wife, none of these other things would have happened. Leah would have provided him with at least four sons, as she already has, and there would have been no reason to take on secondary wives for the purpose of siring heirs. We've already discussed some reasons to believe Leah is the wife the Lord would have chosen for Jacob and we may look at some more reasons before we are done with this subject because the rivalry between Jacob's two wives isn't over yet. In tomorrow's passage it continues to be an ongoing problem and Jacob will become the father of even more children.
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