“Why Am I Thus?”: Rebekah’s Birth Story

The birth of Esau and Jacob, as painted by Benjamin West

Motherhood and pregnancy are times full of questions and many hard decisions. It seems like everyone has a different opinion and gives different advice. It is easy to get confused or mislead about which choices are right for you, your baby, and your family. Rebekah, the wife of the prophet Isaac, is a powerful example of how women can to turn to the Lord for direction concerning their pregnancies, their bodies, and stewardships over their children and make choices that will positively affect future generations.

Rebekah struggled with bareness for almost twenty years. This meant she was probably around forty-years-old when she became pregnant for the first and only time. She had a difficult pregnancy because we read that, “the children struggled together within her (Genesis 25:22).” The “struggle” she is referring to could possibly mean that she was literally feeling strange and strong movements in her womb or she may have been feeling overwhelmed by the unknowns and fears that come with a first pregnancy. Some scholars think that she must have been experiencing a lot of pain or had difficult pregnancy complications that none of her family or friends could help her with. Whatever it was she was feeling it was enough to make her feel confused and turn to the Lord for guidance. In Genesis 25:22 it says that she cried unto the Lord, “If it be so, why am I thus?” and then we read that she “went to enquire of the Lord.” It is a great testament to Rebekah’s faith that when she had a question about her pregnancy she turned to the Lord for guidance instead of relying on advice from other women or accepting predominate cultural explanations.

In reply to her prayer the Lord gave her direct and personal revelation. It is one of the few accounts in the Bible that we have of a woman speaking directly with God. He told her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger (Gen. 25:23).” In this revelation God gave Rebekah two valuable pieces of information. First, He told her that she was carrying twins and that her children would be born safely and live to fulfill their adult missions in life.This knowledge must have brought her much peace seeing in her day infant mortality rates were probably high. Second, God told her that her twins would always “struggle” with each other and that the older twin would serve the younger. This information later prompted her to assist her youngest son, Jacob, in securing the birthright from his father instead of it being passed on to his brother Esau (Genesis 27). Based on this information we see that Rebekah was not, as many seem to think, a conniving, tricky mother who favored one son over another. Instead she was a mother who had conversed with the Lord and was acting upon the revelation He had given her before her sons were even born.

Like Rebekah all women are able to inquire of God and receive personal revelation concerning their bodies, their pregnancies, and their children. He will answer our questions in many different ways– in our minds, in our hearts, through promptings, premonitions, or through other people. It is important to remember that all of a woman’s senses are heightened during pregnancy; not only do things like her sense of smell and taste increase, but so does her sensitivity to other’s emotions and feelings (thus the tendency to weep easily), and her awareness and connection to sacred things and experiences. Perhaps it is because of the sacred and pure little life that she is carrying inside of her, or because of the risk she takes of loosing their own lives to bring forth another, but a pregnant woman lives a little bit closer to the veil than everyone else. She is in a unique position to receive personal and direct revelation about choices concerning her body and her baby, if she will only ask the Lord for guidance and have the faith to trust Him.

No matter how good the information is that we get– from a book, our mothers, our care providers, our sisters, or the lady at the grocery store– remember that God is the one true source of knowledge. We need to learn to trust our and will not lead us astray. Like Rebekah we need to learn to rely on Him first and trust the guidance He gives us.