In that very hour of rejoicing, disaster struck. For months, since they returned from Laban, Rachel had been expecting a baby. They had looked forward to the great event, a sibling for little Joseph. Now, as they journeyed on to Bethlehem, her labour began. It was a difficult birth, and the hours passed without progress. The midwife applied all her knowledge and skill, but remorselessly her patient grew weaker. Jacob’s heart sank in the grip of an icy fear. At last, as in a great convulsive pain a boy came into the world, his mother slipped away into the sleep of death, whispering his name, Benoni, ‘Son of my sorrow’. Jacob had lost his beautiful Rachel, and numb with grief, he bowed under the weight of his tragedy. How he faced up to the will of God, we must leave to the next study.
The distance between life and death can be a few inches, or an hour. Each of us can be struck down without warning by a swerving car or a violent heart attack, one moment in full progress, absorbed and intent on the business of living, and the next gone beyond recall. Only those who have experienced the sudden loss of a close relative can share the feelings of Jacob, as, shattered and numb, he came back to his father Isaac at Hebron after the death of Rachel, his favourite wife. The cries of her motherless baby would add to his pangs as he thought back over the past days—his triumphant return to Bethel, where they had worshipped together, the unease of her approaching confinement, the anxiety of the long travail, and the stabbing pain of her unexpected death. For years he had painted for her a glowing picture of his native land. The rushing winter brooks and cool mountains sloping down to the sea, the rich sheep pastures and the black goat hair tents dotted on the hillsides had been the dream of his exile, and he had longed to share the reality with her. Now it was not to be. Soon, his aged father also passed away.
Life After Death?
What hope did he have of seeing Rachel again? This question is not easy to answer, as the information we have about the beliefs of these early men of God is mostly indirect. However, there are one or two pointers to show they really did expect to live again. For example, Abraham was promised the land of Israel for himself, yet never received it (as we saw in part 15). The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham died believing it would still be his. He died in faith, ‘not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar’ (Hebrews 11:13). This implies that he believed in the resurrection of the dead, for only thus could he inherit the land after his death. Jesus confirms this deduction, for he says “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Now, Jacob is linked with Abraham in the passage in Hebrews (Hebrews 11:9), so we can safely deduce that he too looked forward to the resurrection. Certainly when he eventually died, in Egypt, as we shall see later, he was very particular that his bones should be laid to rest in the Promised Land, which fits the idea that he expected to come back to life there.
There is one other line of evidence, to be found in the book of Job, which is widely acknowledged to belong to the same historical period as Genesis. Job, in a memorable passage, argues his righteousness before God. He wants to inscribe a record of his claims. “Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock for ever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:24–25). Clearly Job expected a day of judgement at the end of the world, when, long after his death, he would be brought to account for his deeds. Then, in his fine rhetoric, the inscription in the rock would be there to justify him before his judge. Again, the evidence is indirect, but it certainly looks as though Job expected to come back to life again at the last day. So we can safely conclude that though Jacob sorrowed bitterly over his lost wife, he would be comforted by a strong faith that they would be reunited in the day of promise.
DAVID PEARCE
(to be continued)