Genesis 35:16-29 NKJV
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.” 18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
21 Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: 23 the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; 24 the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; 25 the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; 26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.
27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. 28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29 So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
This life has always been a mixture of joy and sorrow for God’s people. After receiving the confirmation and renewal of God’s covenant with him, Jacob experiences more sadness.
The happiness that accompanied the birth of Israel’s twelfth and final son Benjamin was tainted with grief at the death of Rachel. Her death near Bethlehem will later be referenced by the prophet Jeremiah, who foresaw many more babies dying in that same location after the birth of Christ (cf. Jer. 31:15, Matt. 1:18). The joy that surrounded Jesus’ birth was soon mixed with the sorrow caused by Herod’s cruel slaughter of all those children.
More sorrow followed for Jacob. He discovered that his oldest son Reuben had slept with Bilhah, one of Jacob’s wives. Whether or not Jacob did anything about his son’s incestuous adultery at this point, he will certainly remember this event years later when it comes time to assign his sons their inheritance. While God had chosen not to correct Jacob for taking four wives in the first place, He surely teaches us, through all the tension and the indecency that occurred in that family, that having multiple spouses is not His will for mankind.
Jacob finally journeys to the south to see Isaac, whom he hadn’t seen for over twenty years. Surely they rejoiced to see each other. But shortly afterward, Isaac died, and it seems that Rebekah had already died. And yet the sorrow of Isaac’s death was tempered somewhat by the peaceful collaboration of the once-estranged brothers in burying their father.
Our life on this earth is characterized by times of joy mingled with times of sorrow. And it always ends in death. God’s gracious choice of Abraham’s family did not alter that pattern, first established in the Garden of Eden when our first parents fell into sin. On the contrary, it teaches us for what purpose God chose the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: not to give them a wonderful life on earth, but to prepare a people among whom His Son would be born, to redeem mankind from sin and sorrow and to give us a heavenly inheritance that is untainted with grief. Let us pray: O Lord, bring us safely through the joys and sorrows of this life, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.