Babies and Children 29

This post is Day 29 in a series of studies about “Babies and Children”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

Feel free to comment below with your own thoughts about each verse and how you will be acting on each thought. Also, if you haven’t yet signed up to receive the notifications of new studies, you can do that today. (The form is at the bottom of the page).


Babies and Children – Day 29

Genesis 29:31-32

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, He enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

The Thought

The sad story of Jacob and his two wives, sisters who hated each other, began when his uncle who became his father in law tricked him into sleeping with the wrong sister on his wedding night (Genesis 29:23).

But this study is about babies and children, not marriage. Maybe that is for another time!

Between these two sisters, and their servants, they eventually gave birth to the fathers of all the tribes of Israel. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel after his struggle with an angel (Genesis 32:28).

Leah, the unloved wife, gave birth to six children. Reuben, which means “see a son”. Simeon which means “one who hears”. Levi meaning “attached”. Judah which means “praise”. Issachar sounds like “reward” and Zebulun meaning “honour”.

Rachel gave birth to Jospeh and Benjamin. Their names mean “may he add” and “son of my right hand” respectively.

Bilhah, Rachel’s servant bore Dan meaning “He has delivered” and Naphtali which means “my struggle”.

Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Gad meaning “good fortune”, and Asher meaning “happy”.

All of that can be found in the following verses: Genesis 29:31-35, Genesis 30:1-22, Genesis 35:18.

Action

Read some of those chapters today and think about all that dispute in the family, and the hang-ups that some of the children must have had. Today, families like that would be closely watched by social services, at least in Europe and America.

Think about your own name or names, and their meanings. Is that important to you?

Sometimes names can be a curse, some names can be a blessing.

Think about serious family disputes. Have you experienced any? It is never too late to pray for those involved, for forgiveness to flow.


For a full list of online studies available on this site, please click here.

If there is a subject you would like to see on this site, please use the comment section below or drop us an email (there’s a link at the very top of the page). We can’t promise to cover them all, and our studies are usually prepared a month or two in advance, so please be patient.


For a full list of physical resources available through this site, please click here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *