THE BABY COMPETITION IS ON! - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards
(Adapted)

Maria was so excited! In just a few more weeks, the new baby would be here.
She already had two brothers and two sisters, whom she loved dearly, but
still she could hardly wait for the new arrival.

She was singing happily as she helped her mother dust and put the finishing
touches in the baby's room. Maria wanted everything to be just perfect. She
had even gone to the store with her mother and bought a toy for the baby
with her very own money. She propped the toy up on the dressing table so the
baby could see it when he had to be changed.

Everything was done, and the only thing left to do was to wait. The two
weeks seemed like two years for Maria. Finally the baby was born and she was
allowed to go to the hospital to see her mother and the new little one. She
was overjoyed when the nurse told her she could hold the baby if she sat
down and was very careful.

Maria gently rocked the baby and watched as a tiny smile crept across the
baby's little face. "Mom, he likes me," she whispered happily. It seemed
like one of the best days of Maria's life.

After Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, Laban consented to allow Jacob
to marry Rachel also.

Jacob, Leah, Leah's servant Zilpah, and Rachel and her servant Bilhah all
lived together as one big family, although it wasn't a very happy one at first. There
was a lot of anger and arguments. Jacob dearly loved Rachel and Leah knew it
and became jealous of her sister.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and Leah had her first
baby. He was such a sweet, little baby boy. Leah named him Reuben. "Surely
Jacob will love me now that I have given him such a wonderful little son,"
Leah thought, but it didn't quite work that way. Jacob was happy about his
little boy, but he still loved Rachel more than Leah.

A second son was born to Leah. "Yahweh saw that I am unloved by my husband, so
He gave me another little boy," she said. Leah named her second baby Simeon.

Nearly a year had passed and not much had changed in this household. Jacob
still loved Rachel more, and Leah was still sad and jealous, but she had her
babies to look after and keep her busy. Soon she had a third baby boy. She
named him Levi and said, "This time my husband will certainly love me,
because I have given him three sons." But poor Leah . . . Jacob still loved
Rachel more than he loved her.

Time went by and Leah had a fourth child. She named this baby Judah, which
means praise. When this child was born, Leah decided that it hadn't done her
any good to be sad and jealous. "Things are as they are," she thought.
"Jacob may still love Rachel more than me, but I am the one that has been
blessed with four beautiful little boys. I am going to praise Yahweh."

We might think that Rachel would be the happiest woman on earth because her
husband loved her so much, but that isn't the way it happened. When Rachel
saw that her sister had four, bouncy baby boys, she became jealous of Leah
and angry with Jacob.

"There's nothing I can do about it," Jacob said defensively. "I can't help
it that Leah was able to have children and you aren't. Can't you just be
happy that I love you?"

Rachel, with no children to look after, had a lot of time on her hands. She
spent much of this time pouting because she didn't have any babies, but she
also had time to come up with a scheme. Rachel took this chance to present
her plan to Jacob. "You take Bilhah, my maid, for a wife. If she has
children, I will care for them and they will be like my own." Now Jacob was
willing to do just about anything to please Rachel, because he loved her so
much and he wanted to stop all the anger and jealousy over children, so he
agreed to Rachel's plan.

Rachel was delighted when Bilhah had a son. She said Yahweh had finally heard
her prayers. She named the baby Dan. Then Bilhah had another baby boy.
Rachel was as thrilled over this second baby as she was over the first. She
named him Naphtali and proclaimed that she was going to win the struggle
with her sister, as if it was some kind of contest. She treated both Dan and
Naphtali as if they were her very own children.

Leah had four children of very her own and Rachel had two children to call
her own, but this isn't the end of the baby competition.

Leah hadn't had any babies in a while, but she wasn't about to give up. She
had a talk with Jacob. "You married Rachel's maid, and that's not fair! You
have to marry my maid, too." So Jacob, hoping to put an end to this feud
once and for all, married Zilpah.

Yes, you guessed it! Zilpah had a baby boy. Leah said, "He's a real trooper"
and called his name Gad. About a year later, Zilpah had another son. Leah
was beaming with happiness because this made the sixth child she could claim
as her own (although we know that only four were really hers). "All the
other women will call me blessed!" she exclaimed, and she called his name
Asher, which means happy.

So now the score is Leah six, Rachel two . . . but Leah still isn't quite as
happy as she thinks she could be.

Leah's oldest son, Reuben, was out in the field and found plants called
mandrakes.The plant was believed to be magic, and women believed the plant
would help them have babies. Since all the women in this household were
fighting over who could have the most babies, those mandrakes were a hot
commodity. Rachel saw the mandrakes and wanted them. "Give me those
mandrakes that your son found!" Rachel demanded.

"No way!" Leah yelled back. "I'm not giving those to anybody!"

"Please??" Rachel pleaded. "I'll make a deal with you. If you give me the
mandrakes, I'll let you have some special time with Jacob."

"Oh, all right," Leah conceded. "With all these chilren running around, it's
been a long time since I've had peace and quiet. Special time with Jacob,
without the kids, sounds like a good deal." So Rachel got the mandrakes and
Leah got her peace and quiet with Jacob.

About a year later, Leah had another son. She said, "Yahweh has rewarded me"
and called his name Issachar. Another year later, Leah had another baby.
"Certainly my husband will live with me now that I have given him six sons!"
Leah exclaimed. The name of this baby was Zebulun. After Zebulun, Leah had a
baby girl and named her Dinah.

So far, Leah has six sons and one daughter; Bilhah has two sons; and Zilpah
has two sons. So the score is now Leah eight, Rachel two.

Although Rachel had two children that she adopted as her own, it still
wasn't quite the same to her as having her very own babies. "Please Yahweh,"
she prayed. "Please give me a son. I am happy with Jacob, and we have
everything we need, and I thank you for that, but I really, really want
children of my own. Please, please give me a son."

Yahweh saw Rachel's heartache. He heard and answered her prayer and blessed her
with an adorable, little baby boy of her own. "Yahweh has taken away my
sadness," she said. She loved her tiny baby boy ever so much and cuddled him
closely. She played with his little fingers and toes and marveled at the
perfect little miracle resting in her arms. She called his name Joseph. But
even then, she still wasn't happy. "Yahweh will give me another son," she
stated emphatically.

Rachel was right. Several years later, suffering much pain and hardship, she
did have another son, and his name was Benjamin. The saddest thing though
was that Rachel died shortly after he was born, so she never got to cuddle
him or raise him. Instead, Rachel's maid, Bilhah took very good care of
Benjamin.

The baby competition was finally over. In the end the final score was: Leah
six, Bilhah two, Zilpah two, and Rachel two, making a grand total of twelve
sons for Jacob. He was a good father and cared for all his children, but
Joseph and Benjamin were his favorites because they were the sons of his
beloved wife, Rachel.

THINK!

What was the name of the only baby girl mentioned in the story?
How many sons did Jacob have all together?
Does Yahweh approve of favouritism?

REMEMBER:

The twelve sons of Jacob:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher
Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin

A VERSE TO LEARN

"Children are an heritage of Yahweh" (Psalm 127:3).

LET'S PRAY

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Dear Father, thank You for Your love for
us and all children everywhere. Help us
to remember that when things don't go our
way and when things don't seem fair, we can
pray to You and praise You, and You will
help us. In Yah'shua's Name, amen.

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CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?

Genesis 29:31 - 30:24 & 35:16-18

You can view this Bible story in full color with pictures and
resources to go along with the story at
http://www.childrenschapel.org/biblestories/jacob5.html

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