You Are Forgiven

The life of Rachel daughter of Laban, wife of Jacob and sister of Leah, had not been going the way she had hoped it would. Her husband had been forced to work 14 years for both her and Leah as his wives, and Leah (and her servant lady) were having almost all of Jacob's children. Rachel had a couple of sons through her own servant lady, but it wasn't the same as having them herself.

She had been jealous and angry for quite some time now, because of the attention that the Lord God was giving to Leah, but now she was finally starting to understand why it was happening this way. Her husband favored her over Leah, due to Rachel being stunningly beautiful with a fine figure, while Leah was more plain and simple and had weak eyes. The God that Jacob worshiped had taken pity and sympathy on Leah and let her be blessed with many children, while Rachel was disgraced with none.

It had never occurred to Rachel before until now, but the Lord didn't look at the beauty of the face or the body when he judged a person. He looked at the heart, and looking back on her history of jealousy and anger while Leah was humble and thankful, it devastated her to realize that Leah had the much purer heart of the two. That was why God had granted her no children while Leah had many. Rachel's arrogance was almost her downfall. And as she was by herself in one of her husband's tents, she wept and tore her clothes, put on sackcloth, a customary act of a follower of God who was in grief in biblical times, and prayed earnestly to the Lord, her face on the floor:

"Oh, Almighty Lord in Heaven, you know my grief right now. I have borne no children while my sister bore six sons and one daughter to our husband Jacob. But now I see that it was more my fault than anyone else's, for I had a beautiful form but an ugly heart in contrast with my sister's plain form and pure heart. And I was so outspoken and angry in my jealousy of Leah, that I couldn't see the truth of it. I beg you, Lord, to forgive me for my jealousy and hate, as I purify my heart before you now, and please allow me to have at least one child with my husband who loves me so. If you grant me this, never again will I act or speak a word against Leah or any of her family, and may peace descend upon our household. Amen."

She stayed in her kneeling position for a few moments more, imploring God for a response. Then, she heard an unmistakable voice speak to her, "Take off your sackcloth and put on your best clothes, put on perfume and comb your hair. Tonight you shall sleep with your husband Jacob, and nine months afterward, you shall bear him a son."

Rachel wept again, but this time it was with hope and joy that the Lord had answered her prayer. She got dressed and prepared for the night with Jacob. Later that night, Jacob and Rachel lay with each other, and she conceived a son, as the Lord had told her she would.

Nine months later…

It was the final stages of Rachel's pregnancy. Her servant lady, Bilhah, was acting as her nursemaid, while Jacob her husband held her hand and eased her through the pain of giving birth. Jacob's other wife Leah and her own servant lady, Zilpah, passively watched the event from a few feet away. In a few minutes, the head of the baby emerged, and soon afterward, so did the rest of his body. The umbilical cord was cut, and Rachel was soon holding her very own son in her arms.

Rachel's ecstasy was almost unfathomable. At last, she felt like she had not only earned the favor of her husband, but the favor of the Lord her God as well. Crying her joy out again, she said, "God has taken away my disgrace." Jacob showed his joy as well, thanking God for his eleventh son, and gently hugging Rachel. Leah, who hadn't gotten along well with her younger sister for some time, didn't say anything, but she looked at the baby, and then looked Rachel right in the eyes. Then, to Rachel's surprise and relief, Leah smiled kindly and nodded.

Rachel gazed at her cute little baby and said, "I'll name the boy Joseph, and I'll pray that the Lord will give me another son."

Bilhah dabbed Rachel's face with some cool water, and then walked out of the room to leave Rachel with her baby. Zilpah and Leah soon followed, with Leah smiling encouragingly at Rachel again. Rachel knew what that smile meant. She asked her husband, "Jacob, dear, could you step outside for a few minutes, too? I wish to pray to the Lord in private."

"Of course, my beloved," said Jacob, and he stood up and walked outside. Rachel hugged Joseph close and prayed, "My Lord in Heaven, I thank you for this precious gift that I waited for so long. May Joseph and his descendants be blessed, and may they live long in the land you promised to grandfather Abraham. But even after finally being granted a son, I still feel unworthy of living in your presence in the life to come. I've been such a fool, and I only just came to my senses less than a year ago."

A voice came from Heaven and floated down to her.

"It is true that you lived like a fool for all these years until just now, jealous of a sister and fellow wife who was more favored by I than you were, for her heart was indeed more good than yours was. But take comfort, little Rachel, for in the future, One will be born through the bloodline of one of your sister's sons who will defeat the plague of sin and bless all of mankind through His actions. And during His time on the earth, He will tell those who listen to Him that the angels of Heaven rejoice more over one sinner who repents and returns to God than over 99 righteous people who don't have to repent. So in a way, both of you are blessed. Leah was blessed as the one with the better heart from the beginning, but you are blessed as the one with the repentant heart. As a repentant sinner, you are forgiven. Both of you will be honored in the Kingdom of Heaven in time to come."

Rachel felt like she was going to burst with joy and love. "I will praise and obey the Lord my God!"

But then God said, "I do have one command for you personally, child. You must never tell your sister Leah or any member of her family bloodline of the future secret I have privileged you of knowing, about repentant sinners being celebrated in Heaven more than those who never had to repent. For Leah has received her own blessing as the wife of Jacob with more children, and if you imply or tell her that your repentant heart will be celebrated more than her pure one, not only will it be an act of pride on your part, but it will re-create jealousy within your family, only Leah will be the jealous one this time. I don't want any more strife to take place within the family of the third patriarch of my chosen people on your part or Leah's."

Rachel, who felt no jealousy this time over hearing that her sister's son would produce this special One instead of her Joseph, promised to remain silent on the matter. "May you bless me with another child, Lord, if it be your will."

And God replied, "One day, you will bear another son. But his birth will be a troublesome one, and you will not be able to be a mother to him. He shall be raised by his father alone. But as I have said, take comfort, for although those in Heaven do not marry or lie with each other, you will be blessed among my people along with Leah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their own wives at my great throne."

And with that, she heard His voice no more for some time. But His words had given her hope. Now she knew that even someone who had been as dirty as she had once been could be forgiven for her old evil ways. And she would have one more child to be blessed by God, even though God had implied that she would not live to be a mother to him. But best of all, Heaven rejoiced over repentant sinners like herself just like righteous people like her sister Leah. Rachel could only imagine what sort of future lay in store for her in the life to come.

A/N: I really wanted to do a story that shows some sympathy to Rachel, Jacob's lovely wife. I love Leah, too, and she deserved to be blessed with more children than Rachel, but I felt that Rachel needed a little more love from Bible readers, and here's hoping she's in Heaven right now with her sister and husband. By the way, I'm not trying to rewrite the Bible. I know it's wrong to change the Word of God in any way. This fan fiction is just an attempt to speculate on what may have happened between God and Rachel over the issue of her having no children until after Leah had borne seven. Maybe it's a humble attempt to fill in the blanks. Whatever it is, I'm still glad to have finally written a real Bible fanfic after writing several Bible crossovers, and I hope some people get something out of it, too.