My burden in this message is the third pillar, the pillar on the way to Bethlehem (35:16-20). At Bethel Jacob built an altar and set up a pillar. Not only did he answer God's call; he also consecrated himself to God for the fulfillment of His desire to have Bethel. However, Jacob's life did not end at 35:15. Verse 16 says that he journeyed on from Bethel. As Jacob was journeying on, he had an experience that was a matter of both joy and suffering, a matter of both gain and loss. Jacob gained a son, Benjamin, and he lost his beloved wife, Rachel. If you had to make the choice, would you prefer to gain the son or to keep the wife? In order to gain the son, you must sacrifice your wife, and in order to keep your wife, you must be denied the son. Although Jacob had eleven sons, not one of them was a full type of Christ. He had had many experiences, but not one of them was adequate to bring forth Christ. Thus, he was confronted with a choice—to keep Rachel or to gain Benjamin. This is a crucial matter, and we all must face it.
Actually, the choice was not made by Jacob. If he had preferred to keep Rachel, he could not have done so. Furthermore, if he had wanted to reject Benjamin, he would not have been able to do this. Both the death of Rachel and the birth of Benjamin were in the hand of God.
Leah, the one Jacob did not love so much, had brought forth six sons. Rachel, the object of Jacob's love, had brought forth only one son—Joseph, whose name means "addition." When Joseph was born, Rachel expected to have a second son and said, "The Lord shall add to me another son" (30:24). In her expectation of having another son, she seemed to be saying, "God has taken away my reproach and has given me a son. But one son is not sufficient. I want another one. Hence, I shall call the name of my first son Joseph." This should imply a prayer, a prayer answered at the cost of Rachel's life. Rachel had such a prayer in 30:24, and the answer came in 35:18. In order to gain her desire, Rachel had to lose her own life. In 30:24 she did not actually realize what she was saying. Rachel expected that God would give her a second son, but she did not know that this would cost her her life. Many of us have done the same thing. We prayed for a particular matter without knowing what it would cost to have our prayer answered.
At the time of the delivery of Rachel's second child, Jacob must have been happy. But he suddenly realized that Rachel, the desire of his heart, was dying. Benjamin was coming, but Rachel was departing. The fact that the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel occurred simultaneously means that Jacob gained a son by losing his natural choice. The crucial point in this message is that Jacob gained Christ through the loss of his natural choice. The third pillar in Jacob's life was a testimony of God's dealing with his natural choice.
It is wonderful to have the testimony of God's care and the testimony of the house of God. But not even the house of God is God's ultimate goal. God's ultimate goal is to express Christ. The expression of Christ is not an individual matter; it is a corporate matter in the house of God. The church as the house of God is for the expression of Christ. In order to express Christ, we must have the church. However, most Christians think they can express Christ without the church. But it is impossible to express Christ adequately apart from the church. In addition to the pillar of God's care and the pillar of God's house, we must have the third pillar, the pillar for the corporate expression of Christ. This pillar is costly.
Genesis 35:20 says that Jacob set a pillar upon Rachel's grave, and that this "is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." This grave marked the death of Jacob's natural choice, the choice of his heart. Rachel was the first person Jacob met when he arrived at Laban's home, and he immediately fell in love with her. He did everything necessary to have her as his wife, and eventually she was given to him. Rachel did not die of old age; she died prematurely in childbirth. The fact that she was still able to bear children indicates that she was not in her old age. All of Leah's six deliveries of her sons and the one of her daughter went very well, but Rachel died in giving birth to her second child. Her death was allowed by God.