JULY RADIO MESSAGES BENJAMIN: the amethyst
labour. 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. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-o- ni: But his father called him Benja min. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth lehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.” When I was in the Holy Land, they pointed out to me the resting place of Rachel. For the comments on Jacob’s son Benjamin, we turn now to Genesis 49:27 — “Benjamin shall be as rave nous as a wolf: In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” Of Benjamin, Moses said, “ . . . The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cov er him all day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.” The story sur rounding Benjamin was a sad one. Rachel was in great distress because she, the favorite wife of Jacob, was not able to bear him children. One son had been given them through her hand maiden with Jacob as the father; now, God gave her this son and she died in childbirth. Rachel had cried out in her frustration and distress, but what folly is demanding prayer. Dr. Slem- ming gives the thought that we need to leam a complete resignation of our hearts to the Divine will of God. Jacob was not happy about the name of the lad — it was too great a re minder to him of the sorrow of his be loved Rachel and so he changed his name from Ben-o-ni to Benjamin which means the son of my right hand. We must return to the matter of de manding prayer for it can be found 22
by Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson
y
i n tj / e interest of putting down a guidepost in these general studies, we want to draw a distinction “with” a difference: On the shoulders of the High Priest were the names according to birth. On the breastplate of the High Priest were the names according to the tribes of the people of Israel. In checking to see which son of Ja cob and which gem,'representative of him, is to come before us for study at this time, we find the name of Ben jamin — and the gem, the amethyst. But we wish to go back and pick up the thread of the story in Genesis 35:16 through 20 —- “And they jour neyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard
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