Roll Toll
Dan
Strength: judgment rests with the Son
Weakness: lacks perspective
Sign:
And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.
Genesis 30:5-6
We will fully see this as we go along. But first, roll call is important. There's Dan whose gift being interpreted means judgement rests with the Son. Now I'm quite sure that begging your servant, or the handmaid, to go sleep with your husband and bear children for you doesn't count as judgement resting with the Son. In fact, it sounds rather as though Rachel has taken matters into her own hands. Let's just be real. She's sat herself down, had a conversation with herself, then convinced herself that this would be the best decision to make for everyone involved. See, Rachel it turns out was childless and could bear no children. When she mentioned this to dear old Jacob, he grew angry with her as though God were somehow preventing her from having children or it was all her fault. In this case, Rachel did what any sane woman would and thought she'd solve the matter well. So, it seems that Rachel has taken the place of God on the matter and even set her own son up in his place. Small wonder then that this struggle will be passed on down to the children, or to the child in this case. But when you look at the matter from any other perspective save for this, it sounds as right as right could be. It seems then that Dan will need a new perspective or a way to reframe the judgement, the hearing thereof, as well as the Son.
Promise: Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. 18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
Genesis 49:16-18
Naphtali
Strength: wrestlings and prevailings
Weakness: judgement and perspective
Sign:
7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
Genesis 30:7-8
Next comes Naphtali, borne out of great sorrow and strife. Now I'm sure that such a messed-up family situation would have driven anyone to drink. 'What happened,' you might ask. There are two sisters wrestling for who's best if not for their own husband's approval. If that's not bad enough, they've also invited their maids to join them. Then there's old father Jacob just allowing it to happen. What has happened is no end to family strife that continues unchecked unless someone else puts an end to it. If used rightly, this strife can be wonderful indeed as in the case of old father Jacob over there that one night just wrestling with the Lord. Perhaps though he ought not to have been so keep upon the blessing but rather to prevent the Lord from leaving. Without the right judgement of Dan and the perspective of another, it matters not that Rachel had prevailed in such a hurtful matter. Imagine poor Leah all alone and childless as of yet. She's going to feel some way about this and in turn it will affect the whole house. Naphtali will be blessed in the area of wrestling and prevailing against all powers and authorities. Without the guidance of another though, he will be weak in the area of a sound mind or common sense that a little judgement and perspective produces.
Promise: Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
Genesis 49:21
Before we go any further, let's sum it all up.
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
Genesis 35:25
Joseph
Strength: God listens and communicates with man
Weakness: others would like to send reproach on what God has called
Sign:
22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
Genesis 30:22-24
Here's good old Rachel again, this time bringing up the rear with her first child that was not given her by a handmaid. She called him Joseph because in her eyes, there was a contest for who's best between her and her sister for who would win the approval of their husband. His name being translated meant roughly, "God has taken away my reproach." Somehow God had gotten mixed up in all this mess here namely by the husband Jacob's suggestion that perhaps she had somehow displeased the Lord. It couldn't be his fault for surely it wasn't his job to raise up a son for her. When dear old Jacob though refused to take up his husbandly duties though and then blamed the Lord for it though, that was another matter altogether and one for which God dealt with him. The resulting drama that occurred over this son Joseph would be responsible for tearing the family apart. In essence, by giving him power over dreams and authority like no other, God was essentially that he would take responsibility for the family when no other would. You know, it's a good thing too, for the family badly needed some direction and some vision despite of all that happened to them. In response though, the gift which needed naught but God himself to interpret had yielded some other results. Those who depended on each other and the Lord first became jealous then angry. How good God is though not to pass down the sins of the parents to the children. In this the family merely were the cause of their own misfortune that followed in Joseph's imprisonment, their father's grief, and the famine that followed and so troubled itself.
Promise: Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Genesis 49:22-26
Benjamin
Strength: life
Weakness: death
Sign:
And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Genesis 35:16-19
At last, Rachel has had one final child, one that would be the death of her. You might would say this was the strongest of all. Perhaps you don't see that at first. Certainly, his father never did what with him being the child of his old age and the last of dear old Rachel whom he had scorned and all. Certainly, Jacob should have been a lot more loving with Rachel rather than just concerning himself with whichever one could bear him a child at the moment. Think of it though, that Rachel with all her grief and struggle has finally come to the end of it all. Then beyond that, is God for her. Surely, she would have enjoyed staying around awhile to best her sister and show her latest favor to her face as her sister had once done to her. There is none of that going on here. It was a hard labor that even took her soul. Can you imagine, a woman on her deathbed delivering a child and still speaking while she is technically already deceased. The midwife had even said goodbye to her already. If it was the culture, they had even opened the window to let her spirit return back to God. At this point though, she being dead yet speaks. That is the picture we see here. Imagine that. After all that Rachel had finally put her trust in the Lord. It seems this child would be instrumental in bringing the family back together again as we will soon find.
Promise: Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
Genesis 49:27-28
After doing all this work there are only two sons of Rachel there to be seen. Obviously, she counts those of her handmaid as hers as well. Scripture though, on the other hand, does not.
The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
Genesis 35:24