Leah, though not as loved as Rachel by Jacob, was accepted as a wife by him. Eventually he showed her the love of a husband and eventually she became pregnant with his first son. This son was called Reuben. Leah named him that because Reuben means “to see” and she felt in giving her a son God had looked down and “seen” her broken heart and had mercy on her. It is interesting to think of the name Reuben being similar to the name that Hagar called God when He looked down on her near the well as if He “saw” her in her troubles and she called him “the God Who Sees Me.” I suppose Leah felt a lot the same as Hagar before the birth of Reuben. He would have changed her status in life from “barren” to “fruitful.”
So when Reuben
was born it was said “See – A Son!” This
was a prophetic shadow pointing to the fact that Jesus, The Son of God would
one day come forth and a Messiah would come to the descendants of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. Like this first son of
Jacob who was much anticipated and much expected, so too would come The Christ
Child.
God was
preaching the gospel to the people through the names of Jacob’s sons even
before it happened! He was telling the
stories in ways they may not have fully understood until much later! And Leah said when Reuben was born; “Surely
YHVH has looked upon my affliction!”
So Reuben
became the first born son of Jacob. He was
destined to be the son who would inherit the family birthright, however, some
things transpired that raised his two brothers above him. This happened because Reuben was found to be
rebellious and committed some pretty strong sins later in his life that cost
him the first place in headship of the family and the tribes of Israel, but
that is another story for another day.
Leah
proved herself to be fruitful again, and she bore a second son whom she named
Simeon. When Simeon was born she said, “The
Lord has “heard” that I am hated and given me a son.” If you remember the story of Ishmael, Abraham’s
son born to Hagar, these two names have similar meanings
The next
son born to Leah was named Levi. When Levi was born Leah said, “Surely this
time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!” Levi’s name means “joined” and Leah suggests
that this birth will “join” her closer to Jacob.
Levi’s
descendants became the holy priesthood of Israel, thus thy were used of God to “join”
the will of God to the people of Israel.
It would be one of the sons of Levi who would eventually wear the
breastplate of The High Priest which bore stones symbolizing all of the names
of all of the sons of Jacob.
Leah’s
next son was named Judah. When he was
born Leah gave praise to Jehovah. The
name Judah means “praise.” From the tribe
of Judah came the line of David and eventually the Messiah for whom all of God’s
people continuously offer up praise!
Judah was
said to be outstanding above all his brethren.
He was trustworthy and Jacob relied on him. He became the head of the tribe of people who
settled in the land in and around Jerusalem after the splitting of the
Israelite people into the people of the Northern Tribes and the people of the
Southern Tribes.
For a
little while Leah did not conceive again.
It was during this period of time that Rachel decided to give her
handmaiden, Bilhah, to Jacob so that she could bear children for her.
Bilhah
became pregnant and conceived Dan.
Rachel named him Dan meaning “he judged me.” This was to indicate that God had looked down
and judged her and found her worthy of having this son for Jacob.
Dan grew up
to be a very evil and deceptive person.
He seems to mirror the hatred Rachel held in her heart for her sister
during the time she was childless. Dan
has been mentioned to be the archetype of the antichrist in many writings
of the sages. Some believe the
antichrist will come directly from the tribe of Dan and be one of his
descendants. When Jacob blessed his sons
before he died, Dan was described as a “serpent.”
Rachel
gave Bilhah to Jacob again; and Bilhah conceived another son for Rachel. Rachel named this son Naphtali. Naptali means “mighty wrestling.” Rachel exclaimed she had wrestled with God
and won favor over her sister when Naphtali was born.
Leah
became worried about being so barren for so long, and she gave Zilpah, her
handmaiden, to Jacob. Zilpah bore her a
son and Leah named this son Gad. Gad means
“luck” or “fortunate.” Leah felt lucky
and fortunate to have been given yet another son of Jacob’s to raise. Gad was known for his great strength.
Zilpah
became pregnant again and gave birth to Asher for Leah. Asher means “happy.” The final blessing of Jacob to his sons said
of Asher: “out of Asher his bread shall
be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.”
Later when
Moses blessed the descendants of Asher in the tribe called Asher he said: “Let Asher be blessed with children; let him
be acceptable to his brethren and let him dip his foot in oil. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy
days, so shall thy strength be.”
So; it was
widely known that mandrake plants were used for making women fertile. Leah and Rachel both wanted all the mandrakes
they could find! Reuben went out in the
field and found some mandrake plants and brought them to Leah. Rachel asked Leah to share them with her. Leah resented the request! She said to Rachel, “Wasn’t it enough that
you took away my husband? Will you take
my son’s mandrakes too?”
Rachel
really wanted the mandrakes, thinking she would give birth to another son if
she had them. So Rachel said she would
allow Jacob to sleep with Leah that night if she would give her the
mandrakes. They made a deal and Leah went
out to meet Jacob and told him he was hired from Rachel to sleep with her that
night. This must have been very amusing
to Jacob.
Because
Leah had hired Jacob from Rachel that night, Leah became pregnant again and
when her next son was born she said “God has rewarded me for giving my servant
to my husband.” She named her son
Issachar. Issachar means “reward” or “wages.”
Leah
became pregnant again with another son for Jacob. She said “God has presented me with a
precious gift. This time my husband will
treat me with honor, and he will be honored to dwell with me, because I have
borne him six sons.” So she named this
son Zebulun. Zebulun means: “to dwell.”
The name could also mean “habitation.”
After the
birth of Zebulon, Leah became pregnant again.
This time she gave birth to a girl.
Her name was Dinah. The name
Dinah is the feminine form of “Dan” and both names mean “to judge” or “to
govern.” We will hear Dinah’s sad tale
later. She is raped and her brothers
seek revenge on the man who raped her as well as those who are associated with
him; though it is said that this man who raped her actually loved Dinah and
desired to marry Dinah through it all. Yet another story for another day.
After
Dinah was born God blessed Rachel with the birth of Joseph. When Rachel gave birth to Joseph she said “God
has taken away my disgrace.” Joseph
means “may He add.” The story of Joseph’s
life is quite amazing. It is a story
that will be told at a later time in these lessons.
By this
point in time Jacob was living a VERY busy life. He had eleven sons and he longed to go back
to the land of his birth. First, he had
to finish business with Laban. (You can
guess how business with Laban usually turns out.)
Simply for
the sake of naming all of Jacob’s children at this time, we will briefly skip
ahead with this lesson then return to the proper sequence of the story in
the next lesson.
Immediately
after the miracle of Joseph’s birth, for Rachel had been unable to bear a child
on her own before him; she begged God to give her ANOTHER son. Once again we are presented with Rachel’s
discontentment and the desire for MORE, no matter how many blessings she
already had.
The last
son of Jacob was named Benjamin. He was
born to Rachel. God heard her cry for
another son and allowed her last request.
When Benjamin was born, Rachel’s labor was severe. When the midwife told Rachel she had given
birth to a son she gasped out his name with her last breath; “son of my sorrow.” Jacob later changed this name to Benjamin,
which means “son of my right hand.”
Ironically,
the woman who had screamed “Give me children or I die” died giving birth to her
second son. We will tell more of this
story later too, as we are getting ahead of ourselves, and want to return to the
part of the story where Jacob was growing anxious to leave the land of labor
for Laban and return to the land of Isaac and Rebecca.
Now we have discussed the whole list of all of Jacob’s children by his two wives, and his two
concubines along with the meanings of all of their names.
Be listening for each of their names in upcoming stories. Much later in
the family history all of Jacob’s children became the leaders of the twelve
tribes of Israel. Levi was head over the
Levitical priesthood which evolved. Each of the twelve tribes had their names
represented by a stone for their tribe on the covering that The High Priest
wore into the Holy of Holies. Each stone
represented a tribe and each stone and tribe name had a meaning which is
comparable to the names of the children they originated from.
There is a
message hidden inside the symbolism of all of the stones and the way they are
arranged on the ephod (the priestly covering.)
When you think of the meaning of the names given to each son and/or
tribe and you combine their meaning s together and in order of their birth, the message reads like this:
“ Now I will praise YHVH. Surely YHVH has looked upon my
affliction. What good fortune! Happy am I!
With great wrestling I have
wrestled! For Elohim has made me forget
all my toil and because YHVH has heard that I was hated, now this time will my
husband be joined unto me. Elohim has
given me my wages. Elohim has endowed me
with a good gift! Now my husband will
dwell with me. YHVH will add to me. You shall have this Son.”
How much
of this hidden message is a coincidence?
Is this
message not the whole meaning of the existence of the people of God throughout
the Old Testament? Does it not scream of
God sending a Messiah to save us?
Is it
possible that the minds of men could have somehow contrived these names and
their order about 1800 years before the birth of Christ? I hardly think so!
God is in
the details. You can always count on the
fact that God is in every little thing.
If you live with open eyes and pray for understanding you will see such
things come to pass every day in your own life.
