Prayer
Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
Opening Question
What practice, tradition, or ritual helps you connect with God at Christmastime?
When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”
So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, and she became pregnant and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan.
Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.
When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah’s servant Zilpahbore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” So she named him Gad.
Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants,which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”
“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”
So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.
Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.
Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” She named him Joseph, and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”– Genesis 30:1-24
The Game Nobody Chose
How does the intense competition between Leah and Rachel poison their relationship and affect their servants (Bilhah & Zilpah)?
Rachel demands children (“Give me children, or else I die!”). How do we try to control outcomes in our lives instead of trusting God’s plan?
Everyone in this biblical family is affected by the competitive way they live. Whose story and plight stands out to you the most, and why?
The Win that Broke Them
Rachel and Leah keep score of their value and worth through bearing sons for years. What do you think these women really hoped to achieve or receive through mothering sons?
Leah says, “God has rewarded me” (v. 2, 14), yet she was the “unloved” wife. What does this suggest about how God hears and answers prayers within broken situations?
The Only Way to Win is the Stop Playing
The volatility of Leah and Rachel’s relationship continues in the way their sons relate to one another. How are the seeds for Joseph’s story sown by Rachel, Leah, and Jacob long before all twelve sons are born?
Consider Joseph’s words to his brothers later in Genesis 50:20, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.” How did Joseph end the dysfunctional game he and his brothers had played for so long? And what did reconciliation cost him?
When you think of the challenges in your life or family, how can you stop “keeping score” and trust God’s ability to bring reconciliation and hope to you this Christmas?
Closing Thought
In your final moments together, pray for one another. Ask God to reveal himself in our hearts in fresh ways this week as we celebrate with family.