COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 89 - A SON IS BORN AND A BELOVED WIFE AND FATHER PASS AWAY

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

I’m sorry if you looked for this lesson last Thursday!  I was away at The Feast of Tabernacles enjoying a joyous feast before The Lord, and I hope you were busy doing the same with your own family! 

We left Jacob back in Bethel, worshiping God at a holy altar and giving thanks for God’s deliverance and provision for his family and descendants.  After a very holy time, the people of Jacob settled down and made Bethel home for a little while.  It was like a refuge for them, a place to stay until their troubles in the land blew over and were forgotten by the other inhabitants. 

The day came when Jacob, now called Israel, felt it was safe to move on.  They walked toward the area of Ephrath (Bethlehem) slowly because Rachel was heavy with child, and it was close to time for her to deliver. 

The birth pains came in the middle of their journey and she was having great difficulty giving birth to this child.  The midwife was with her and trying to help her.  She said to Rachel “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”

It would be a son she would give her life for.  Rachael also knew she was dying.  In her last few breaths she named her son Ben-Oni. 

In Hebrew the word “Ben” means “son.”  The root of the Hebrew word for “son” implies a building being built.  When Sarah could not have children and she told Abraham to go into her maid and have a son by her she said “Perhaps I shall be BUILT UP by her.”  The implication was “to build up.” 

This use of the words brings to mind the statement made by Jesus at a much later date; “for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9), and the implication of “raise up” is the same meaning as “build up;”  which makes the use of this word from the lips of Rachel seem so much more profound.  Some scholars have noted that the Hebrew for stone (‘eben) is also related to the verb for “son” (bana) meaning “to build.” 

Jesus also said “You will be sons of the Most High (Luke 6:35) and Peter later writes “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.” (1 Peter 2:5)  The word “house” is frequently used to denote someone’s family but it is also used to denote any other clearly defined group, such as a guild, a castle order, or such similar organizations of people groups, such as when one speaks of “the sons of the prophets”  or “the sons of the troops,” or “the sons of exile.”

So yes, the word “ben” means son, but it also means a group of sons and a building block.  This seems to imply the building up of a nation!

The whole name given by Rachel in labor and pain to her son was Ben-Oni which many translators have traditionally translated to mean “Son of my Sorrow.”  Today many disagree with this interpretation.  Remember that until Joseph was born Rachel was childless for a very long time.   It seems highly unlikely that she would name her second son in a way that would be continuously reminding everyone that he was the cause of his mother’s death. 

We must also remember how much Jacob loved Rachel!  He spent 14 years of his life working in order to obtain her as his wife.  It is highly unlikely that he would not honor her dying wish and name their son something completely different than what she had called him, as most of us have been traditionally taught.    

Instead of accepting the traditional interpretation here, one would think that Rachel may have sought consolation that her son made it alive.  It could be that when Rachel heard the mid-wife say; “Do not fear, for now you have another son” that she chose the last part of the name to be “‘on.”

We cannot be sure how the ancient text was pronounced.  Historically, there are two ways to pronounce ‘on;  “awen” and “on.”  These two words have completely different meanings.  “Awen” means “sorrow” and “on” means “vigor.”  To be vigorous is to have strength.  It seems possible that Jacob/Israel did not rename the child after Rachel’s death; but he simply added amplification to the name she had already given.  Rachel’s meaning “this son is my progeny” (Ben-oni) becomes “This son is my strength” which translates to Benjamin.

So it was that Jacob had to bury Rachel, the love of his life.  He buried her on the way between Bethel and Bethlehem and he sat up a pillar for her tombstone.  The scriptures say that that pillar, marking Rachel’s tomb, is there to this day. 

Israel (Jacob) moved on again and set up a tent near Migdal Eder.  He now was the father of twelve sons. 

The sons of Leah were Ruben (the firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. 

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of  Rachel’s servant, Bilhah, were Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Leah’s servant, Ziplah, were Gad and Asher.

The first born son of Jacob did many rebellious things to break his father’s heart.  It was while they were in Migdal Eder that Ruben committed a great sin and slept with Bilhah, his mother’s servant, Jacob’s concubine, mother of his half-brothers.  Israel (Jacob) knew of this.  It was no secret and it was very shameful to him.

After all of these sorrowful events in Israel’s life, he finally came back to Mamre and reunited with his father, Isaac.  Isaac was old and blind when Israel had first left home as Jacob, and it was not thought at that time that Isaac would live much longer.  He had somehow recovered his strength and he lived to be one hundred and eighty years old.  He lived to see his two sons united again.  It must have brought him joy in his old age. 

When Isaac died, he was buried in the tombs of Abraham and Sarah.  He had lived a long and full life.  Together, Jacob and Esau buried their father.