Have you ever wondered what we can learn from Rachel in the Bible? Rachel, the wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, faced many trials and tribulations in the Old Testament book of Genesis.
Her life was filled with challenges, yet despite her hardships, Rachel remained faithful to God throughout her life, including when she struggled with infertility and conceived at an old age.
The Story Of Rachel In The Bible
Rachel was the younger daughter of Laban and the wife of Jacob. She is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, who become two of the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen 35:24; 46:15–18).
When Jacob goes to Mesopotamia to find a wife from his mother’s family, he meets the shepherd Rachel at a well. He waters her flock, kisses her, and announces their kinship, for Jacob is both Laban’s nephew and his second cousin.
Rachel runs home to tell of his presence, and Laban invites Jacob to the house (Gen 29:9–14). Jacob loves Rachel and arranges to marry her and to work for seven years as her bride’s wealth.
Laban substitutes Leah, his older daughter, at the wedding, for Rachel. Then, explaining that it was not the custom to give the younger in marriage first, he promises Rachel to Jacob at the end of the week of the wedding feast that Jacob would work another seven years to pay off a second bride price (Gen 29:15–30).
After eventually being married to Jacob, she spent most of her married life attempting to bear children for Jacob and ultimately uses her maid Bilhah as a surrogate, but Rachel still craved biological children.
She and her sister Leah, also Jacob’s wife, conspire so they both may have children with him, leading to the birth of Rachel’s son Joseph. Soon after, Rachel dies giving birth to her second son; her early death makes her an image of tragic womanhood.
Nevertheless, after the biblical period, “Mother Rachel” continued to be celebrated as a powerful intercessor for the people of Israel.
Facts About Rachel In The Bible
When we take a closer look at what we can learn from Rachel in the Bible, there are some facts about Rachel to consider.
Rachel, one of the wives of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, experienced great suffering during her short life. Here are five fast facts about Rachel in the Bible:
1. Rachel’s position in her family: Rachel was the youngest of Laban’s two daughters, having Leah as an elder sister.
2. Rachel was cheated by her father: When Jacob first arrived, he felt instantly attracted to Rachel, the younger daughter of Laban. However, Laban’s older daughter needed to be married first.
So when Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, he wed Leah out by deception. As a result, Jacob had to work seven extra years to get the lady he truly wanted, forcing Rachel to wait.
3. She greatly suffered from being barren: After she married Jacob, Rachel became bereft of children for many years. Rachel would cry out to Jacob, Give me children, or I shall die! (Genesis 30:1).
Eventually, after years of pleading with God, Rachel had two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, who became Jacob’s favorites. Rachel’s mourning and sorrow are recalled throughout the Bible.
Immediately after Benjamin was born, Rachel passed away, but she named him the son of sorrow before she died. Furthermore, her previous mourning made her a mother figure.
Jeremiah’s writings described a time when the Israelites were taken into exile, and Rachel could not be comforted because of it. This same weeping is referred to in Matthew in connection to the slaughter of the innocents ( Matthew 2:18).
4. Her burial site remains a popular place of pilgrimage: Many pilgrims visit her tomb each year, remembering her life and story. Even though the precise location of her grave has been contested over the years, Jews, Muslims, and Christians have revered a place near Bethlehem for thousands of years.
5 Lessons We Can Learn From Rachel In The Bible
We can learn many lessons from Rachel’s life as we face similar trials and challenges in our own lives. Here are five important lessons from Rachel in the Bible that apply to our modern-day lives today.
1. Don’t Give Up
When it comes to faith, Rachel is an excellent example of never giving up. This first lesson shows the strength of Rachel from the Bible.
In Genesis 29, we read about how she waited seven years to marry the man she loved and then waited another seven years to have children. But she never lost hope.
And even though her life was full of trials and heartache, she continued to trust God. She prayed for a child while enduring ten miscarriages and long periods of infertility.
When her prayers were finally answered, she gave birth to the last two of the twelve sons of Jacob through natural childbirth. She waited a long time, but Rachel didn’t give up on God; instead, she put her hope in Him!
You can learn a lot from the matriarch, Rachel. Like her, don’t give up when you’re faced with trials and heartache that cause you to doubt God’s faithfulness or His promises of provision!
In hard times, put your hope in Him and remember that even though He may not remove your pain, He will always provide for you if you continue to seek Him.
It may take some time or involve lots of tears and hours of praying (like it did for Rachel), but eventually, His promise will come true. And when it does, you’ll be glad you stayed faithful!
So as Christians, what can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? First, our God is faithful and will never leave or forsake us. He’s with us every step of our lives, no matter what.
He never gives up on us, even when we may have given up on ourselves. So also, we must learn to trust Him with all our hearts and lean not on our understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Finally, remember that no matter what pain you may be going through—loneliness, loss, infertility, or other struggles—the Lord is right there with you. He never forsakes His children.
No matter how many times we fail and turn away from Him, He will continue to love us, guide us and meet our needs if we put our hope in Him (Psalm 23:4).
You can trust God to answer your prayers and to bring good things into your life if you wait patiently. So never give up, and put your hope in Him!
So remember, one of what we can learn from Rachel in the Bible is holding on and not giving up.
2. Believe In Miracles
A miracle refers to a single event in which an act of God directly changes or interrupts the expected course of events. Miracles still happen. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to be accomplished.
God is still a miracle-working God. Rachel believed having her own children was possible, so she kept her faith. She didn’t give up and continued to believe that God would do what He said He would do.
Have you given up on your dreams because of the absence of a clear path to achieve them? Are there things God has spoken to you about that you have stopped believing because they have not yet been fulfilled?
Do you believe in miracles? As a believer for over a decade, I can surely tell you that miracles happen. So what can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? Rachel allowed herself to dream big, even when her circumstances seemed impossible.
She knew that her situation was only temporary, and God’s promises surely outway that. Due to this, she could remember her value regardless of what she was going through.
She knew her unfavorable circumstances didn’t affect her worth as a person. And this is the same for you as well. Regardless of circumstance or challenge, you are valuable, worthy, and can find joy. Rachel’s story reminds us of this truth.
So when you think you’re not good enough or when life gets tough, remember your worth and your value to God! You were made for a purpose and are uniquely gifted; go out there and live it!
Moments of struggle are bound to come but don’t feel bad about yourself when you are struggling. Life isn’t always easy, but God will give you the strength to overcome and rise.
Rachel had to look at her circumstances to see that she could have a child despite having been childless for fourteen years. Even though it seems impossible, do not let circumstances keep you back; remember your worth, and don’t give up!
As you read this, I challenge you to dream and believe again. To see yourself as a valuable person just as God sees you. When you begin to see yourself properly, you align yourself with what God intends to do in and through your life.
God wants to make you a living wonder, but do you believe this is possible? So believe in God and trust in the process; everything becomes beautiful in the fullness of time. What can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? Miracles still happen no matter how long we wait.
3. Avoid Jealousy And Unhealthy Competition
Another tip on what we can learn from Rachel in the Bible is to say no to jealousy and competition.
In polygamous societies, a man whose wife is childless can take a second wife and have both care for the children born to the latter in cases where there is an understanding among the members of the families.
The situation was different in Jacob’s home. Rachel was jealous of her sister, Leah, who was bearing Jacob’s children. As a result, she was not able to share Leah’s and Jacob’s joy with each childbirth.
And this prevented her from nurturing the children. Instead, she was consumed with the desire to have her children and was resourceful enough to come up with the idea of a surrogate to make her dream come true.
We can see in Genesis 30: 3-5; “And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore she called his name Dan. And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
And Rachel said, With great wrestling have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.” In traditional societies, no woman wants to live with the stigma of childlessness.
However, Rachel would have been more at peace and happier had she not been envious of her sister while waiting for God to visit her. Because of unhealthy competition against her sister, Rachel gave Jacob her maid to bed.
So what can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? Jealousy is dangerous! The Bible in Proverbs 27:4 tells us, “Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.”
Jealousy is a dangerous emotion that can hijack your mind, ruin your relationships, destroy your family, and, in extreme cases, even lead to murder. Unfortunately, jealousy got the best of Rachel to the point it didn’t matter that Leah was family.
The root causes of jealousy and unhealthy competition are connected to a person’s inability to see what God has provided in their life and a lack of thankfulness.
They focus so much on the things they don’t have and fail to see the many things going well in their lives. Rachel, because of jealousy, couldn’t see how much she was loved by her husband, Jacob.
4. Look Unto God And Not Humans
In Genesis 30: 1-2, Jacob loses his temper when Rachel complains about her fertility problem, but instead of lashing out at her, he reminds her of who she should be talking to about her predicament;
“1. And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
“2. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Sometimes we are tempted to turn to men for the immediate intervention we need forgetting that God alone can turn things around.
So what can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? We learn not to try and give the place of God to anybody in pursuit of answers. No man can actually help another unless permitted by the Lord.
No matter how much someone loves us, there are things they cannot do for us, and imposing those burdens on them will only cause a strain in our relationship.
Even when people can provide for our needs, praying to God about those things increases our chances of getting them.
5. Forgive And Let Go
If you have ever heard a sermon about Rachel in the Bible, you may have discovered some of the things she did were not all morally right.
Rachel stole her father’s household gods (Genesis 31:17-19) when the family secretly journeyed from Padan-aram to Canaan. Perhaps she wanted to punish her father for his maltreatment of Jacob, as shown by Jacob’s complaint.
“38. This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
“39. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
“40. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
“41. Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
“42. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.” – Genesis 31:38-42.
While we may not understand how vital heathen idols are to them, we know they believe they protect and prosper them. Rachel wanted to strip her father of such coverage and favor. She was doing this for revenge.
She hadn’t forgiven her father, Laban, for all the years Jacob was cheated and all the years she had to wait to be with Jacob. What can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? We must learn to forgive those who may have hurt us in the past.
According to the Bible, in Romans 12:19, God forbids revenge and says to leave it to Him. God is the ultimate judge, so if we take His place by seeking revenge, we are standing in His shoes.
If we become preoccupied with everything people have done wrong, we will get angry. However, it’s dangerous to remain unforgiving as this may lead to wanting to take revenge on someone.
As a result, an emotional storm arises in which one feels stressed, anxious, depressed, insecure, and afraid. Unforgiveness also creates a hardened heart. The hardened heart feels anger, resentment, bitterness, and hatred toward the offender.
The Bible in Leviticus 19:18 says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
Even though the first few moments feel rewarding in the brain, psychological scientists have found that revenge prolongs the original offense instead of quenching hostility. Instead of delivering justice, revenge often creates only a cycle of retaliation.
Vengeance is inherently unhealthy because it takes a psychological and physical toll on the person. Venting those feelings of anger and hostility does not decrease them; it may give you a relieving feeling, but it doesn’t last.
So what can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? As believers, we should forgive and let go. Not holding on to a grudge or looking for opportunities to take our revenge.
Conclusion
What can we learn from Rachel in the Bible? Rachel’s story teaches us much about God’s character and how He works in our lives.
We can learn from her example to trust God even when things are difficult, to be patient in His timing, and to have faith that He will provide for us.
Additionally, we see that God is always faithful to His promises, even when we don’t understand His plan. Rachel’s story is a reminder that we can trust God no matter what circumstances we face in life.
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