January 19 - Rachel

January 19 - Rachel

Rachel was a lucky woman.  She was beautiful and Jacob wanted her enough to work fourteen years for her father so that he could have her hand in marriage.  She was one of several women who bore children that would become the foundation for the Israelite tribes.

Though they spent many years waiting, Rachel was barren.  She watched her older sister Leah have children with the man she loved, Leah’s handmaiden and Rachel’s own handmaiden.  Finally, she gave birth to Joseph and then later to Benjamin.

After Joseph was born, Jacob decided it was time to leave his father-in-law’s home.  Rachel took with her one of her father’s idols.  When he chased them down, Jacob promised death for whoever took it.  Rachel’s deceit continued as she claimed that it was her menstrual period and she couldn’t move, while she sat on top of the idol.

Jacob went on to Bethel and it was when he got there that she conceived another child.  While they were traveling to Bethlehem, she gave birth to Benjamin, dying in childbirth.

Jacob loved her greatly.  He buried her on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, marking the spot with a pillar.  She is remembered in the book of Ruth, along with her sister Leah, as one who built up the house of Israel (Ruth 4:11).