Jacob-When He Had To Deal With Losses Series

Introduction: Jacob had to deal with bad things as well as good things during his earthly journey. He thought he had received the paternal blessing as well as the birthright but he lost as much, if not more, than he gained because of this. Now Jacob is going to experience a number of “hits”.

1 He endured the loss of his mother’s nurse

Text, Genesis 35:8, KJV: 8 But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

Jacob had just led his household from Shechem or Shalem to Bethel but before they left, they—the entire household—got rid of the idols they worshiped and the earrings which, according to some commentators, could have been shaped to resemble these pagan deities. Once all that was done, Jacob led the way to Bethel and they followed (see Gen. 35:1-7 for the full story).

But here, in or at least near the place God had told Jacob to go, Jacob received a serious blow: his mother’s nurse, Deborah, died. This Deborah might well have been the same nurse who had gone with Rebekah when Rebekah agreed to marry Isaac (Genesis 24:59). If that’s true, then Deborah would have part of Rebekah’s family for many years. Isaac was 40 when he and Rebekah married and 60 when Esau and Jacob were born. Now, it’s many years later and Isaac is still alive but Rebekah may not be at this moment. Of note, it’s never specified why Deborah had left Isaac’s land and journeyed to find Jacob. The cause of her death, also, is not mentioned unless she died of natural causes.

Still another thing left unmentioned is what Jacob might have been thinking at this time. Had he known Deborah during his growing-up days? What kind of impact or influence might Deborah have had on the boys? And what kind of emotions did Jacob feel as he saw Deborah’s body placed beneath an oak tree? We can guess indirectly at some of what happened, as the compound word “allon bachuth” means “oak of weeping” in Hebrew per Strong’s concordance (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/439.htm)

How long they stayed near Bethel is not known, but they left not long after Deborah had died. This loss had to hurt Jacob, but sure enough, Jacob was about to encounter another loss of someone he loved very soon.

2 He endured the loss of his wife, Rachel

Text, Genesis 35:16-21, KJV: 16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. 17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. 18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. 19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day. 21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

Rachel was Jacob’s favorite wife. He seemed to fall in love with her at first sight and agreed to serve Rachel’s father, Laban, for seven years in exchange for Rachel. There’s more to the story of Jacob and Rachel, found in Genesis 29.

But Rachel, even though she was beautiful, was barren, meaning she did not have any children. In the cultures of the times, children were seen as a blessing; not having them meant the woman (and, by extension, the family) was not being blessed. Further, Rachel was jealous because Leah, her sister, had given birth to at least seven children! There’s a saying, “you always want what you don’t have” and that certainly was the case here.

Eventually, Rachel did bear a son, Joseph, who became Jacob’s favorite. Still, Rachel wasn’t satisfied: she wanted more children! In fact, the name “Joseph” comes from a word or phrase meaning “add to me” or “shall add”. An online interlinear Hebrew text shows there is a difference of just one letter between the name “Joseph” and the verb “shall add” as seen here: (https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/30-24.htm)!

After Joseph was born, Rachel was once again able to conceive a child. Note that there is no mention of prayer, or Jacob, just simple narrative that Rachel was traveling along with Jacob and the others in a generally southern direction from Bethel. They’re heading to Ephrath, which may be another name for Bethlehem (opinions differ) and most likely a stop on the way to where Isaac was living.

Rachel was pregnant with her second child but this time she had “hard labour (sic)” when it came time for this baby to be born. Ironically, many years later, things seemed to be different: when Israel was in Egypt, the midwives reported to Pharaoh that Hebrew women gave birth to their babies before the midwives even arrived. Perhaps something changed over the years. But this was no help to Rachel. She wanted another child and now the child was about to be born.