Monday, December 15, 2008
Genesis 35:16-20 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also." And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name 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 a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.
LET'S GO TO BETHLEHEM -- WITH RACHEL
We live today in what is called "a mobile society." People drive hours every day just to go to work. When we take vacations we can drive or even fly to a different state or country. Perhaps some of you have made plans to travel during the Christmas season.
Let's do some traveling this week. Let's go to Bethlehem in spirit with a few people who are connected to the city of the Savior's Birth.
Traveling in those days was difficult enough, but when Rachel traveled from Bethel toward Bethlehem with her husband, Jacob, she was pregnant with her second child. We don't even like to think of having a child in the car or outside the hospital; but they were traveling on foot outside of Bethlehem when Rachel went into labor.
Bethlehem was to become a place of pain and sorrow for both Rachel and Jacob. For the place where she gave birth was also the place where she died.
We celebrate Bethlehem as a place of hope and joy because it was there that the Savior was born. But, the region around Bethlehem was not always a place of joy nor was every birth there a joyful one. As Rachel died, she suggested that her son be named Ben-Oni, which means a son of trouble.
We are by birth and nature sons of trouble. We are natural born enemies of God. We bring trouble upon ourselves and others by choosing our own paths and our own ways. Our sins have brought upon us a guilty verdict and eternal death and these are no minor troubles.
Jacob didn't name his son Ben-Oni. He named him Benjamin which means "a son of my right hand." God might have considered us sons of trouble, but instead, He sent His Son into the human race at Bethlehem to make it possible for us to be called children of God. We are His cherished children by faith in His Son.
Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing which God has done for us.
