So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel. Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor. And it came about when she was in severe labor that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.” And it came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. Genesis 35:15–20.
We can learn many lessons from the life of Rachel, the wife of Jacob. Hers is the sad story of a woman who died in the way. Jacob’s love for this woman is one of the great love stories of the Bible. For many years he had been anticipating the blessing of the Lord when he would come back to the land of Canaan, the land that God had promised his grandfather, Abraham.
There Jacob would be able to possess and enter into the joy and blessing that God had covenanted to give him (Genesis 28:13–15), for in the time past, his life had been filled with great troubles. He had fled from his brother Esau at the time when Esau with great wrath purposed to kill him because he had robbed Esau. Jacob fled to Haran, finding refuge there with a kinsman, Laban (Genesis 27:41–43).
Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face. Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man; stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. Genesis 29:16–20.
The time finally came when Jacob claimed his wife, but Laban cheated him and gave him Leah instead (Genesis 29:25). Jacob had to promise Laban that he would labor for seven more years to secure the woman he loved. Rachel came to Jacob, her husband, at a dear price. He toiled and labored for fourteen years in order to claim her as his wife.
The story of Rachel ends as she was in a time of labor with her second son, Benjamin. Rachel died as she was bringing him forth. (Her first-born was Joseph, the great savior of mankind in the book of Genesis.)
Many people, like Rachel, seem to die in the way, just short of inheriting the blessing and the promise. Their lives are filled with labor and with miscarriage, and they are not able to bring forth what they really want to achieve. Rachel never shared the wonders of Jacob’s inheritance, though Jacob loved her much more than he loved Leah, his other wife.
Why did Rachel fall short and die in the way? Perhaps she forgot the great price with which she had been bought. She may have forgotten how dearly Jacob loved her and had labored for her.
We, too, sometimes forget. What would have happened if Rachel had honored Jacob and served his God with him with all her heart, if she had remembered how much he loved God and how much he loved her? But Rachel clung to her idols instead, and that was the secret of her downfall.
When Jacob fled from Laban’s home where he had served for twenty years, Rachel took the idols that had been familiar to her in her childhood and hid them in the saddle on her camel. Laban pursued them to recover the idols, but Jacob denied having stolen them. Rachel sat upon the saddle and the idols were not discovered (Genesis 31:34–35). She stole her father’s idols and clung to them. This was perhaps the greatest reason for her downfall. She never gave herself completely to serve the God of Jacob.
Some Christians are the same way. They hold on to the carnal desires and the wicked things of the world. They hold on to the carnal, filthy habits that degrade a Christian.
They are not truly spiritual people, for they are never completely separated from the things of the world. Instead, they hold the things of this world in an idolatrous form.
Although Rachel was deeply loved, she was never very fruitful. At the beginning she was barren. When she finally became desperate, she cried out, “Give me children or else I die” (Genesis 30:1). Then God gave her a son. She received a blessing now and then, but actually she wanted just enough blessing from God to make her life tolerable.
She did not want to give herself fully to God, so she clung to her idols and worshiped them secretly instead of worshiping only the Lord. In that aspect, Rachel was like many Christians today who miss the mark. Now and then they become desperate, and then God does give them a blessing.
The end of Rachel’s life was tragic. She died just a short distance from Bethlehem where Jacob was to find his rich inheritance (Genesis 35:19).
She died in childbirth; she never seemed to be able to bring forth that for which God had raised her up. She died with bitterness in her heart, and she named her son Ben-oni, which means “the son of my sorrow.” (How many people serve God today with great sorrow and bitterness in their hearts?)
But his father called him Benjamin, which means “the son of my right hand” (Genesis 35:18). There is a great deal of difference in people’s outlooks. Two individuals can look at the same circumstance, the same problem; one will be bitter and sorrowful, while the other will see the hand of God in every situation.
The Bible relates many tragic stories like that of Rachel, many instances of those who died in the way. It says of Israel that they feared the Lord, but they served their own gods (2 Kings 17:33). They worshiped the golden calf, and they died in the wilderness just short of the great land of Canaan that God had promised them (Psalm 106:19–26). Psalm 73:2–3 says: But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; my steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant, as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Demas was a young man who decided to serve God and follow the great Apostle Paul in his tremendous missionary adventures; but he set his eyes upon the ungodly people, and he almost perished in the way.
The time finally came when Paul wrote to Timothy, For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me.… 2 Timothy 4:10. He fell just short of the blessing that God had for his life.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:26–27: Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. He was careful lest he, too, should fail and fall short of the blessing that God had for him and his life. Paul did not want to die in the way. He did not want his life to be forfeited just short of what God had for him.
Jesus said, If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:6. What a tragedy to be so greatly loved, to be bought at such a great price, and yet cling secretly to the idols that will cause you to die in the way, just short of obtaining the blessings and the wonderful inheritance that God has for your life.
Heed this Word, for you must not be a part of the great multitude who profess to be Christians, but who will perish just short of obtaining the rich blessings of God for their lives.