The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac (Gen 35:16-29)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 35:16-29.

We’re working our way through the book of Genesis and we’re now in a section that almost seems like there isn’t much to consider in way of application for us today; however, I’m suggesting that the main point for today’s section ties back into overall redemptive history throughout Genesis—the point of this text isn’t necessarily in the details of it, but rather in how it connects with God’s plan through time.

Or, in other words, the application for a passage today is rooted in not just this text but history in general and redemptive-history, in particular.

With that said, let’s read the text together and I’ll explain how we’ll break it down.

Genesis 35:16–29 ESV

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. 17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” 18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. 27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

As we study this passage together, we’re going to take it in three parts: (1) God’s Goodness and Faithfulness Despite Hardship (16-22), (2) God’s Goodness and Faithfulness Despite our Sin (22-29), and (3) God’s Covenant Loyalty. While there are several different events happening in these verses, the one constant is that God is faithful and good throughout. How do we know? Because God’s goodness and faithfulness is seen in the overarching account—whereas life is hard for Jacob in vv. 16-22, God is still good and faithful. Whereas Reuben, Jacob’s son sins in vv. 22-29, God is still good and faithful.

I think you can see what our application is focused on this morning even from this point—life is hard, sin makes it harder; and yet, God is good and He is faithful—we can know this for a fact and because He is good and faithful, we can trust Him even when our life is hard and even when sin makes it harder.

Prayer for Illumination

God’s Goodness and Faithfulness Despite Hardship (16-21)

Our text starts by telling us that the family had started their journey away from Bethel and while they’re still away form Ephrath, Rachel—Jacob’s wife goes into labor.

Now, we don’t really know why they decided to leave Bethel and head to Ephrath, but we do know that they had just experienced a significant (what we might call) a spiritual high in life.

Jacob had spoken with God again and had built an altar according to God’s command before building a cairn—a stone pillar—for remembrance of the event.

It’s a moment that is intended to remind not just Jacob and his immediate family of who God is, but rather to remind future generations of who God is.

Almost immediately after departing, the lows of life start to cause great difficulty.

Before arriving where they were headed, Rachel goes into labor and the Bible is very clear that this labor was hard—it wasn’t easy whatsoever—it was difficult.

In vv. 17-18, we see the midwife speaking to her at the hardest moment of labor before she dies—the midwife tells her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.”

And as “her soul was departing”, she names this son Ben-oni, which could mean “son of my sorrow” or “son of my strength” before we see that Jacob calls him Benjamin, which means “son of the right hand.”

You can only imagine the emotional roller coaster that Jacob and the family is facing—they went from celebrating, praising and worshiping God at Bethel, simultaneously grieving and celebrating—grieving the death of Rachel while celebrating the birth of Benjamin.

If you just consider what they’re going through—between the highs of Bethel to now the lows on their way to Ephrath, you can understand a bit of the emotional turmoil that they’re facing.

As part of the mourning process, they bury Rachel. v. 19 says that “she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb.”

Again, remember that the purpose of pillar of stones was to act as a remembrance or a memorial—very much like how we utilize tombstones today.

The Bible mentions that the pillar for Rachel’s tomb is still there to this day—considering Mosaic authorship (despite what many scholars believe today) and recognizing that Moses would’ve written this down during the wilderness journeys means that this marker memorializing Rachel was still there about 400-600 years.

It is notable that they did not take her body back to their home—it could show us that Jacob has taken hold of the covenant as his own—so, he knows that eventually that land will be their descendants and he has no qualm with leaving her memorial there—though, we do want to be careful of making assumptions where Scripture is silent.

After mourning Rachel’s death, Jacob—who is now openly called Israel, journeys on and pitches his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

We’re not entirely certain of the location of the tower of Eder—we know it’s somewhere between Hebron and Bethlehem; and beyond that, we don’t really know too many of the details.

The Hebrew translates literally as the tower of the flock—and some commentators point out that there is a belief that this is the future location of where the Messiah would arrive—however, that’s primarily speculation, as well.

The last eight verses then shifts our focus from the hardship that Jacob faced in losing his wife to a clearly sinful situation that occurs with his eldest son. Let’s take another look at those verses:

God’s Goodness and Faithfulness Despite our Sin (22-29)

Genesis 35:22–29 ESV

22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. 27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Israel had settled between Hebron and Bethlehem and without much fanfare, without much hesitation, we read about a situation that only takes up one verse. It literally only takes two sentences and the text just moves on.

Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, had an inappropriate relationship with Israel’s concubine.

But, if you really think about it, the whole relationship between Jacob and Bilhah is unusual because Bilhah isn’t just a random woman who was his concubine, she’s also Rachel’s handmaid.

And though the Bible hasn’t condemned the practice of polygamy or multiple partners like this yet, it’s been abundantly clear throughout not just Jacob’s life, but also Abraham’s and even in the way it talks about Lamech who had multiple wives, that it’s not really a helpful thing nor is it ever explicitly approved of.

Reuben has the inappropriate relationship with Bilhah and in this context, everything just sort of moves on. Beyond telling us that Israel had heard of it, we don’t see anything else about it here.

However, we learn from the Ancient Near Eastern culture that this probably wasn’t just an element of lust—Reuben didn’t do this just because she seemed attractive to him. Rather, in their culture, Reuben’s behavior is an affront to his father—meaning, he’s essentially trying to take over the household.

It’s not an element of Reuben lusting for this woman, it’s an element of Reuben lusting for control and power over the household itself—this idea is confirmed when you consider what is taken away from Reuben later in Genesis.

In Genesis 49 when Jacob gives blessings over his children, he starts with Reuben in v. 3, Genesis 49:3–4 “3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4 [however, you are] Unstable as water, [thus] you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it.” (ESV).

Or, in other words, because of Reuben’s sin in Genesis 35, Jacob revokes Reuben’s birthright in Genesis 49.

It makes sense, if by having this relationship with Bilhah, that Reuben was trying to get the rights from his birthright prior to when they were due to him—you know, when Jacob dies.

Because the punishment that Reuben faces is the loss of his birthright completely.

However, at this point in the text, we don’t know that Jacob is going to revoke Reuben’s birthright—it really isn’t the primary point here. Rather, the text keeps going with a list of the children of Israel in vv. 23-26, which may seem out of place at first.

In vv. 23-26, we’re given a list of all of Jacob’s sons who were born to him in Paddan-aram and they’re listed by mother:

So, v. 23, says that Jacob had Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun with his wife Leah.

In v. 24, we see the sons of Jacob with his wife Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin.

In v. 25, we see the sons of Jacob with Bilhah, who is listed as Rachel’s servant (a nod to the fact that Jacob and Bilhah aren’t married)—Dan and Naphtali.

In v. 26, we see the sons of Jacob with Zilpah, who is listed as Leah’s servant (a nod to the fact that Jacob and Zilpah aren’t married)—Gad and Asher.

There’s a lot that could be said about all this—the multiple wives, multiple non-married partners, the situation with Reuben and Bilhah, but there’s something worth noting here despite the messiness—despite the sin. This list is a mark of God’s covenantal promise coming into clearer focus.

Despite Jacob’s previous sins, despite the hardships that he has faced and is facing, despite even Reuben’s sin—in the midst of human messiness and sin, God is forming the twelve tribes of Israel.

And oddly enough, even those who are born from Jacob with Bilhah and Zilpah—those who in human terms are often considered illegitimate and not actually heirs are considered heirs of the covenant by God.

Despite Jacob’s multiple wives and his concubines, God still keeps His promises to Jacob. Despite Reuben’s sin, God still keeps His promises.

Our text for the morning ends with a note about Isaac. It seems to just be a note about yet another death, but there’s something valuable to consider in these verses: Genesis 35:27–29 “27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.”

Jacob goes to see his father Isaac, who is dwelling in Hebron.

Isaac’s living in the place where both he and his father Abraham lived, sojourned, and was promised.

The Bible says that Isaac was 180 years old and in v. 29, he breathed his last breath, he died, and was “gathered to his people, old and full of days.”

And here’s the part that I’m saying is valuable, “Esau and Jacob buried him.”

Despite how things were early in life with Jacob tricking Esau and stealing from him, when they did finally make amends in Genesis 33, they actually meant it. So much so, that when their father dies, there isn’t any difficulty in gathering together to mourn their loss appropriately.

It seems like a minor detail, but it reminds us of who Jacob was prior to God changing him and working within him to who Israel is in Genesis 35—it reminds us that God truly changed Jacob in a way that resulted in different actions even with his brother Esau.

With all this said, without looking at the entire context of redemptive history, we’d find ourselves in a situation in which none of the details really make a lot of sense. It’s almost like if you get to the end of a long-running TV series and it just kinda seems like the writers jumbled everything together just to tie up loose ends and none of those loose ends seem to make much sense even though they’re tied together. Thankfully, Scripture isn’t like a modern-day, poorly written TV show finale. Scripture was written by the person who created language itself, and so, for a text like this, we can better understand it when we take a few minutes, step back, and view things from a higher perspective.

God’s Covenant Loyalty

We need to take a few minutes to see how all this ties into redemptive history—how does this all tie together? Let’s consider a few different ideas:

First, Jacob’s new name becomes the namesake of the nation promised of his seed.

The fact that God chose to call Jacob Israel and then the whole nation that descended from Jacob is called Israel is a constant reminder of the promise that God gave not just to Jacob, but to Isaac, as well as to Abraham. It’s a great reminder that God always keep His promises even if it isn’t within the earthly lifetime of the person that the promise is given to.

As Old Testament history continues, you’ll note that the focal point is on this family-turned-nation until the New Testament—why? Because they’re the primary focal point for the covenant that God has given—though, you’ll notice that even those outside of the nation of Israel are welcome into the covenant.

Second, Jacob’s twelve sons become the namesake of the tribes of the nation that bears his name.

Every single son that Jacob has—that’s listed in Genesis 35—-become a integral part of the covenant given to Jacob.

As we continue in Old Testament history, the names of Jacob’s sons, which become the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, is the basis through which the nation of Israel is divided into groups.

It later becomes the basis through which Moses leads the nation after the Exodus.

Third, the nation of Israel, becomes the people group that births the Messiah that was promised and that’s really the key part of all this—through God’s providence, He is working through the messiness of Jacob, his family, and his life to bring about His own purposes and plans.

Despite the mess that Jacob’s life was, in spite of the sins that both he committed as well as his family, regardless of who he used to be—God worked through all of it to bring about his ultimate purpose.

It isn’t the first time that we’ve noticed how flawed God’s people really are; and it won’t be the last time that we see just how flawed God’s people are.

We see this plainly in just the effects that took place, but we also see it as some events foreshadow others—for instance, the location of Rachel’s death is the same location that will eventually become Bethlehem—the place of Jesus’ birth—the place where the prophesied Messiah is to be born.

The reality is that all God’s people are imperfect and flawed. All God’s people struggle with sin and discouragement.

What passages like Genesis 35 and really all of Scripture reminds us is that God has His own people.

And He is providentially preserving His own people in spite of their imperfect, sinful, and flawed personalities and actions.

The reality here, is that we can have an intense amount of hope because of this simple truth.

Why? Because God preserves His people—even when they mess up, even when they sin, even when they struggle—God cares for and preserves His people.

Of course, the beauty of hindsight is that we can look back at history—particularly biblical history and see how God’s covenant loyalty plays out in greater detail than people like Jacob ever had.

We can see how God constantly worked to preserve His people throughout the Old Testament—despite their sin, their spiritual adultery, and even their outright rejection of truth—God still worked in the midst of their mess.

We can see how God throughout the Old Testament consistently pointed at the coming Messiah who would save His people from their sins and partially inaugurate His Kingdom.

We can see Jesus as the fulfillment of most of the Old Testament prophecies, which gives us hope that He’ll fulfill those that He left undone for the time being.

And Scripture, when rightly understood shows us how all things are heading to the culmination of a new heaven and a new earth—a place specifically made for God’s people where we can dwell with Him and He can dwell with us.

He providentially works with and through HIs people because He is a covenant-keeping God who does everything that He said He would do.

We simply have to trust Him.

Which, by the way, our trust in Him reveals itself in obedience to His Word, more love for Him and what He loves, and greater desire to know Him and have an intimate relationship with Him.

God is a covenant-keeping, loyal and faithful God—we see this in Genesis 35 and really all of the Bible.

And ultimately, this covenant-keeping God shows His faithfulness not only through preserving Israel, but through sending Jesus—the Messiah—who bore our sins on the cross and secured for us the final promise of resurrection and life with Him forever.

Ultimately, this covenant-keeping God shows His faithfulness through the preservation of His Church, the true Israel, who He calls His bride—the one who He is sanctifying and maturing and conforming into His image—not only for our good, but also for His own glory.

Our God is good and faithful.

With all this said, let’s take the last few moments this morning to talk about application. Passages like this one can be difficult to understand because they don’t necessarily have an outright application that’s readily available—it’s not like an epistle or a proverb where the meaning is very much just what it says. It’s not coming at us with straightforward assertions. Rather, the application here is rooted in the overall storyline of redemptive history.

Don’t fear, however, all this means is that we need to take a little bit more time to determine the underlying universal principle before contextualizing it to our current point in life.

Application

When we consider Jacob, the death of Rachel, and the sin of his son Reuben in light of redemptive history, the application is clear—and it’s not simply “don’t be like Reuben” or “take time to mourn the death of your spouse” though those two ideas are right. Rather, the application deals with who we are as sinful people and who God is.

Despite hardship in life and despite imperfect and sinful people, God is still good and faithful.

Jacob is the recipient of a great promise from the Lord—that God would turn his descendents into a great nation and that through his seed, a Messiah will come. However, just because God has made a covenant with Jacob doesn’t mean that Jacob won’t face hardship nor does it mean that Jacob and his descendants will never sin again. Think about those ideas:

First, Jacob faced significant hardship within the first few verses of today’s text—his wife dies while giving birth to Benjamin.

And emotionally, I briefly mentioned that it had to have felt like an emotional roller coaster for him—a celebration of the birth of Benjamin, but a significant loss in the death of Rachel.

That’s after experiencing the significant spiritual high of speaking with God again while also mourning the death of someone so near to him in last week’s passage as well.

Much of life is like this—there are moments when it rains and it really pours; and there are other moments when it feels the exact opposite—things are going well and there’s not much to worry about.

Life is filled with change, but thankfully, God is immutable—He doesn’t change.

Thus despite the ever-changing emotional roller coaster of life—God is still good and He is still faithful.

Second, Jacob’s family still struggled with the temptation to sin—in the case of Rueben, he fell into that sin rather quickly.

And again, it ought not be surprising to us that Jacob and his family would still struggle with sin because experientially, we deal with the same issue; and even Paul says that he knows what is right and he still struggles to do what is wrong.

The reality is that as life continues and we deal with the all-encompassing effects of sin, we will constantly struggle with sin and we will constantly struggle with falling into sin.

Of course, that isn’t license to just jump into our sins, but it is a reminder that we’ll constantly deal with sin—to say otherwise is simply not true.

Life is filled with struggle against sinful desires, wants, and activities.

However, despite the constant struggle against sinful desires, wants, and activities—God is still good and He is still faithful.

The hardships of life, our sins, and the sins of those around us don’t diminish or negate the promises of God and they don’t change who God is.

And that’s the basis for our application. It’s important for us to remember that even when we do face hardships in life and even when we succumb to sin or are influenced by the sins of those around us, that we can still have hope and that we ought to rest in His forgiveness even when we do sin.

The reality is that when we do experience hardship in life, it’s still going to be hard, but God is still good and He is still faithful, thus, we ought to have hope even when life is hard.

It might sound overly simplistic, but the reality in a passage like Genesis 35 is that God is still good and He is still faithful even when Jacob’s wife dies. God is still good and He is still faithful even when Reuben commits atrocious sins.

Consider this in your own life. I don’t know everything that you’re going through today, but I can almost guarantee that someone is dealing with the loss of a loved one, with significant illness, with opposition at work or at school, or just hardship in life in general.

I can guarantee that someone if not all of us are dealing with the temptation to sin or have recently fallen into a sin or has been sinned against recently or even regularly—whether that’s to temptation to lust or commit adultery, hating others in our heart, refusing to obey Jesus’ clear commands, or whatever else it might be.

But the reality is despite the hardships in life and despite the struggles that we experience against sin, God is still good and He is faithful to His people.

It might not always feel like this, it might, in fact, feel the opposite, but the beauty of God’s faithfulness is that His faithfulness doesn’t rely on our feelings—it relies on who He is—and He is always faithful.

In addition, concerning sin, the reality is that even though we’re in the covenant, we’re still struggling with sin. That doesn’t give us freedom to continue to sin, but it does encourage us to rest in His forgiveness even when we do sin.

Rueben falls into sin rather quickly in this narrative and yet, his family lineage still plays a rather important role in the history of Israel in that they’re still part of the covenant with God.

Rueben is still part of the nation of Israel and is even included in Revelation 7:5 despite his sin and the eventual loss of his birthright.

Consider this in your own life. I don’t know what sins you’re dealing with or what temptations are tempting you—whether that’s something like what Rueben dealt with or if it’s something like lying, stealing, cheating, or whatever else it might be.

I can guarantee that everyone in the room is dealing with temptations; however, I can also guarantee that God is still good and He is still faithful to His people.

It might not always feel like this, it might, in fact, feel the opposite, but the beauty of God’s goodness and faithfulness is that it doesn’t rely on our struggle with sin—it all relies on who God is—and He is always good and faithful.

God is good and faithful even when life is difficult; God is good and faithful even when we struggle with sin—have hope and rest in these truths.

Life is hard, sin makes it harder, and yet God is good and faithful—have hope and rest in His forgiveness.

Pastoral Prayer