Scripture:
Genesis 30:22-24 ESV
[22] Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. [23] She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” [24] And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”
Observation:
I always have a hard time getting through the long list of names in the Bible. This list however, was pretty easy and made a bigger statement at the end of it. I believe there are 12 names in all the sons, and all of them end up being names of tribes, but the last name on the list is Joseph, who is a grandfather to King David, and it’s King David’s line that Jesus Christ came from. So let’s just break this down a little bit. Rachel was unable to have kids of her own until GOD opened her womb. I mean, I’m sure she tried, but at one point she even begged her husband to give her a child. She even went to the same extreme that Sarah did by giving her made servant to her husband and raising those children as her own. But they did not come from her. GOD had to take away her reproach and open her womb. The repercussions of GOD had HE not done. This means no King David and if no King David no Jesus. If we go a little bit further back in the story, we see that Jacob loved his wife Rachel. So the son they had together was a son made from love. John 3:16 for GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS one and only son that whoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life
Application:
How often do we wait on GOD to take away our reproach? Have you ever gotten in a hurry and tried to help GOD thinking you know how to fix this. Listen, GOD knows what HE is doing and if we wait on HIM. When the reproach is taken away, great things will come from it. If no Joseph no king David if no king David no Jesus so if GOD had not opened Rachel’s womb we would still be held captive by our sin. The son made from love that gave us the love of GOD. I want my reproach gone just like the rest, but if GOD doesn’t do it, then it’s just going to end in another mess, and let me tell you, I’m really tired of cleaning up messes. It doesn’t get any easier as you get older.
Prayer:
Father, we lay our life down. It’s yours. You bought it with the blood of your son. I know that YOU are the only one who can remove any reproach that is in our lives. When we try, we just end up in a mess. YOUR way is always clean and undeniable. so we leave all our problems in your hands. After all, YOUR hands are better equipped to deal with them. I have but one thing to ask…….please give us wisdom to stop making messes for you to clean up because we can’t and don’t know how. We need you to guide us in all that we do and we just want to thank you in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray amen