直到这时，拉结自己还没有生过孩子。在神主宰的手下，拉结不生育，一直过了八年，没有生孩子。然后神给她一个儿子，她给他起名叫约瑟，说，“愿耶和华再增添我一个儿子”（创三十24）。约瑟这名的意思是“增添”。指明拉结要神给她再增添一个儿子。
六年后便雅悯出生，她的愿望得了成就（创三五16-20）。生便雅悯对她是非常艰难、痛苦的经验，使拉结付出生命的代价。拉结临终时生了便雅悯，拉结给他“起名叫便俄尼，他父亲却给他起名叫便雅悯”（创三五18）。便俄尼的意思是“我的忧患之子”。何等有意思，雅各给孩子改名为便雅悯，意思是“右手之子”。在圣经中，便雅悯是基督的豫表。首先，基督是便俄尼，就是忧患之子（赛五三3），但至终祂成了便雅悯，就是神的右手之子（太二六64）。
拉结生了两个儿子，但在生第二个儿子时失去了生命。这就是说，雅各用他爱妻为代价得着他最后的儿子。这些经历就像许多把刀，把雅各切碎。雅各爱拉结，但拉结不生育。生约瑟以后，她盼望有第二个儿子。这愿望得成就是以她的生命为代价。雅各爱约瑟和便雅悯。在他十二个儿子中间，他们是他最爱的两个。雅各虽然得着这两个儿子，但神不让他同时有爱妻拉结和这两个宠儿。在以下各章，我们要看到雅各因约瑟和便雅悯受了多少苦。在这一切里面，雅各一直在神主宰和变化之手的工作下。
我们越思想雅各的记载，越体会我们的记载和他的完全一样。在神眼中，雅各的故事就是我们众人的故事。我们是在神手下今日的雅各，因为神现今正在我们身上完成祂变化的工作。为着祂的手感谢祂，为着祂变化的工作感谢祂。不管我们的情况、环境和遭遇如何，我们总是在祂变化的手下。
信息重点：雅各所爱的、所失去的、所经历的，每一件事都成为神变化他的工具。雅各的故事，也是我们的故事。
应用祷告：主啊，谢谢你在我一生中持续作工。无论顺境或逆境，求你都藉着这些经历变化我，使我越来越像你。阿们！
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Jacob’s Wives Compete, Are Jealous and Strive (2) — Gen. 30:1
Up to this point, Rachel herself had not yet borne any children. Under the sovereign hand of God, Rachel remained barren for eight years without bearing a child. Then God gave her a son, and she named him Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son” (Gen. 30:24). The name Joseph means “adding”, signifying that Rachel was asking God to add yet another son to her.
Six years later, Benjamin was born, and her desire was granted (Gen. 35:16-20). Giving birth to Benjamin was an extremely difficult and painful experience for Rachel — it cost her her life. At the point of death, Rachel named him Ben-oni, but “his father called him Benjamin” (Gen. 35:18). Ben-oni means “son of my sorrow”. How meaningful — Jacob renamed the child Benjamin, meaning “son of the right hand”. In Scripture, Benjamin is a type of Christ. First, Christ is Ben-oni — the Son of sorrow (Isa. 53:3) — but ultimately He became Benjamin, the Son of God’s right hand (Matt. 26:64).
Rachel bore two sons, but lost her life in giving birth to the second. This means Jacob obtained his last son at the cost of his beloved wife. These experiences were like many knives, cutting Jacob to pieces. Jacob loved Rachel, but Rachel was barren. After Joseph was born, she longed for a second son. That desire was granted at the cost of her life. Jacob loved Joseph and Benjamin; among all twelve of his sons, these two were his most beloved. Yet even though Jacob obtained these two sons, God would not allow him to have his beloved wife Rachel and these two favored children at the same time. In the chapters that follow, we will see how much Jacob suffered on account of Joseph and Benjamin. Through all of this, Jacob was continually under the working of God’s sovereign and transforming hand.
The more we reflect on Jacob’s record, the more we realize that our record is exactly the same as his. In God’s eyes, Jacob’s story is the story of all of us. We are today’s Jacob under God’s hand, for God is now completing His transforming work in us. Give thanks to Him for His hand; give thanks to Him for His transforming work. No matter what our situations, circumstances, and encounters may be, we are always under His transforming hand.
Message Focus: Everything Jacob loved, everything he lost, and everything he went through — each thing became a tool in God’s hand to transform him. Jacob’s story is also our story.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for continuously working in my life. Whether in favorable or adverse circumstances, use every experience to transform me so that I become more and more like You. Amen!