The Bread of Tears: Rachel Still Weeps for Her Children
The Bread of Tears: Rachel Still Weeps for Her Children.
“Those who sow their tears as seeds will reap a harvest with joyful shouts of glee. They may weep as they go out carrying their seed to sow, but they will return with joyful laughter and shouting with gladness as they bring back armloads of blessing and a harvest overflowing!” (Psalm 126:5-6, TPT).
The Miracle of Tears. Each of us as human beings share a spectacular miracle… We each have been gifted by our Creator God with the ability to shed tears. And not merely one type of tear, but three kinds of tears, all of them benefitting us in different ways that, being so common, are easily taken for granted. First there are the Basal tears which are constantly produced to keep our eyes lubricated and moist, and which also provide much-needed nutrients to the cornea. Secondly are the Reflex tears that are triggered by irritants which wash away debris like dust and foreign objects, sooth our eyes from smoke, and prevent further irritation by giving our eyes time to heal up from the irritation. Amazingly too, Reflex tears contain antibodies to fight bacteria and avoid infection in our eyes. Finally, there are the Emotional tears which are released during times of strong emotions both positive and negative, such as anger, joy, sorrow, relief, fear, high stress, grief, and when something is felt deeply and needs expression. Emotional tears are a special gift of our creator God, because they contain protein-based hormones that act as natural painkillers; a higher protein content to strengthen the eyes and keep them healthy; neurotransmitters that effect the ability to remember, to learn, to focus and pay attention, and release harmful stress. Emotional tears are a divine gift because it helps us express ourselves in healthy ways that are difficult to express any other way. Regardless of the kind of tear, they all contain enzymes that promote healing and maintain the health of our eyes. All tears are basically a water-based liquid that contain .3 mg of salt which have electrolytes and salt particles like sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. God is certainly the Lord of the Details when it comes to something as common yet complex as human tears.
“A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and lamenting loudly. It was Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no longer alive.” (Matthew 2:18; Jeremiah 31:15-17).
The biblical story of Rachel reads like a romantic tragedy. She was the younger sister of Leah who thus had the duty of being the shepherdess out in the fields. She must have been hardworking, responsible and resourceful in her important role in the family business. She had to bring her flock out to pasture for food and drink, to care for them, watching out for predators, and being careful to nurse her flock through injuries and sickness. Rachel must have fulfilled this role well, or she wouldn’t have had the responsibility. One day her job brought her to a local well, where she met her cousin Jacob. He was immediately smitten, fell desperately in love with Rachel, love at first sight. This might have been the first time in the Bible that romantic love seemed to be the prelude to marriage. Their meeting at the well also confirmed the Jewish tradition that wells were the place for romantic meetings.
Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, of course. She was noted as being particularly beautiful, according to Scripture. In this way Rachel was like her other matriarchs before her, Sarah and Rebekah, both of them noted for their beauty as well. Rachel’s father agreed to marry off his daughter to Jacob if he worked seven years for Laban, but he didn’t say which daughter. So Jacob was fooled into marrying sister Leah. Jacob was furious, naturally, but agreed to work seven more years in order to marry his love Rachel. The trickster Laban gave the con man Jacob a bit of his own medicine. Finally, Jacob married Rachel, and now he had the misfortune of being married to two sisters. As he was to find out, it’s no wonder later the Mosaic Law forbade the marrying of sisters (Lev. 18:18). Theirs was not a happy family life, unfortunately.
There is no doubt that both Rachel and Jacob deeply resented the deception of Leah’s marriage to Jacob. So the relationships were all strained right from the start. This led to Leah’s overwhelming feelings of rejection in her married life, that she was profoundly unloved. The sibling rivalry between Rachel and Leah really heated up when it was soon discovered that Leah was especially fruitful and Rachel was barren. There were many years of baby competition as Leah continued bearing Jacob’s children while Rachel remained childless. Rabbinic tradition holds that Rachel went fourteen years childless, which is a long time to maintain a fierce rivalry with Leah. Making matters worse for Rachel was the stigma that accompanied barrenness at that time. The inability to bear children assumed God’s disfavor. Pregnancy was accepted as an act of God. A barren womb brought guilt, shame, distress, and the sense that the major purpose in life was being thwarted. The baby battles continued, full of jealousy and resentment on Rachel’s part. She to her credit did continue to pray to God for a baby through these trying times. Rachel was competitive but faithful at the same time.
Scripture makes the point that after continued prayers from Rachel, God finally became mindful of Rachel in such a way that He intervened and opened her womb. She soon gave birth to a biblical hero, Joseph, which means, “May He Add.” Rachel’s first words after this first birth was, “God has taken away my disgrace.” So having one child only whetted Rachel’s appetite for more in her competition with Leah. Joseph much later became the savior of Jacob’s entire family when he provided land in Egypt during a drought.
And now the tragedy. Rachel became pregnant again, but she died in childbirth. This was the first recognized death during childbirth in Scripture. Before she died, she named the boy “the son of my sorrow.” But Jacob soon renamed the boy Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand,” which meant a designation as a favorite son. Jacob was understandably devastated, and decided to bury Rachel while they traveled to their new home. Rachel was buried in Bethlehem, the land where she died. Jacob did not want to bury her in the ancestral tomb in Hebron, but there was no clear reason given in Scripture. Rabbinic tradition has Rachel dying before her 40th birthday, a short life. Especially when you consider that Jacob lived until he was 147 years old.
That’s not the last we see of Rachel in Scripture. Through her son Joseph and his son Ephraim, Rachel became known as the “mother” of Israel, the northern kingdom. Her grandson Ephraim, along with Mannasa, were the two tribes that settled in the north, apart from Judah in the south. In Jeremiah 31:15-17, Rachel is pictured by the Lord to be weeping in her grave for the exiled children of Israel, destroyed by the Assyrians almost 150 years earlier. In her grief, the motherly heart of Rachel “refused to be comforted.” Rachel is symbolic of all the distraught mothers of Israel who mourn their children taken captive. Her weeping was considered by Jeremiah to be intercession, and her prayers were answered by the Lord, “Stop your weeping, and dry your eyes. for your grief work will be rewarded. They will return from the enemy’s land. There is hope for your future. Your children will return to their own territory.” Her weeping for suffering children, and her being buried in Bethlehem, was prophetic and was quoted in Matthew 2:18, after the “slaughter of the innocents,” the horrific massacre of all the babies in Bethlehem by the insane king Herod as he tried to quell his fears about the new king born in Bethlehem. Rachel is embraced in Scripture as having the ultimate heart of the mother, and Jeremiah brought her compassion for children to the forefront in his prophecy. The slaughtered babies in Bethlehem became known as the Holy Innocents, and Rachel continues to be pictured as weeping from her grave for suffering children everywhere. To this day and since ancient times, Rachel’s tomb on the outskirts of Bethlehem is considered a vital holy site in Judaism, its 3rd holiest site, and continues to be visited daily by Jewish mothers who mourn for their children who have died.
Welcome the Children. “Jesus took a little child whom He placed into their midst. Taking the child into His arms and embracing him, He said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:36-37). “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. But whoever gives these vulnerable ones a hard time, bullying them or taking advantage of them, or causes them to go astray, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:1-6).
The Eternal Worth of Children. It should go without saying that children are uniquely honored by Creator God, but the world seems to have forgotten. For those who read the Gospels, one can’t help but notice that Jesus valued children highly. No one understood better than Jesus that children are icons of God made in His image, they are living sacraments and visible signs of the invisible reality of God in the world. He didn’t overlook them, He didn’t underestimate them. Jesus honored children, not only for who they were as human beings but also for what they symbolized. There is one gospel scene in particular where He makes His feelings known about the importance of receiving children. What did Jesus mean when, after taking up a child into his arms, he said that whoever welcomes, whoever receives, one of these little children in his name in fact welcomes him? (Mark 9:36-37). It would take a lifetime to plumb the depths of his statement, but it’s almost as if Jesus might be saying:
Here’s the bottom line, people… I love children. I knit every one of them together, strung together their DNA, wired each nervous system. I gave the first breath of life to each and every one! I invented each personality, fashioned each child from scratch, and then danced a jig to celebrate every birth. And so I designed each child to represent much of what is true of my Kingdom: simple and transparent, playful and straightforward, relational and curious, zealous and dynamic, dependent and vulnerable.
Children, all of them in general and each one in particular, are my pride and joy. Unfortunately, each prize package is also vulnerable in this fallen world of mine. So they have my heart, and I have their back.
I’m like any good parent, only more so. I take personally whatever happens to them, as if it happens to me. I’m like the mom who screeches “ouch” when her child falls on the sidewalk. I’m like the dad who basks in the moment when his child succeeds at something after hard work and sacrifice. So when a little ragamuffin kid is received with kindness and respect, I take it personally, and I feel like I’m being received that way too.
When parents graciously open their home to be blessed with a child – as an act of faith and trust – they had better set an extra plate at the table for me. When schools welcome students into their classrooms as honored guests made in my image, they’d better get an extra desk for me. Whoever welcomes a child, welcomes me, the Lord of children.
Yahweh becomes a household name whenever love for children is a natural outgrowth of love for me, be they sick or healthy, athletic or awkward, academic or imaginative, passive or exuberant, a rock star or someone who is easily lost in the shuffle. I’m like this with anyone who is vulnerable, with a person of any age who is overlooked or undervalued. Whenever the underdogs are welcomed for my sake, I take it personally.
You know what? I know what if feels like. I was once an unknown child. I was once considered a fool and a misfit. I was misjudged and marginalized, criticized and belittled. So by all means, by every means, welcome my children into your hearts in my Name of Love, and you will find that you’d better open your arms a little wider, because I’m right there with you. Make room for me, too.
An Unwelcome World for Children. Rachel continues to weep for the world’s children, because they are so often destroyed before even seeing the light of day, a horrific repeat of the “Slaughter of the Innocents.” And if they do survive birth, their lives are often denigrated, dishonored, and treated as if they are unworthy of life itself.
Surgical Abortion: Abortion is the killing of an unborn child developing in the womb of a pregnant mother. It is morally equivalent to child sacrifice, and is the ultimate child abuse. A preborn baby in the womb is actually a human life! The humanity of the unborn from the point of conception has been well established in the scientific community. Abortion is the taking of an innocent human life at its most vulnerable. Since 1973’s Roe v. Wade, there have been almost 70 million abortions. Only a statistic? Not when you consider that each and every one of those 70 million preborn children were in the process of being handcrafted by our Creator, were created in the image of God, and thus has a God-given value and enjoys eternal worth. Abortion is a barbaric violation of the sacred intimacy between mother and child, and is an abomination in the eyes of God. It is unthinkable that in a civilized society it would be acceptable to pick up a sharp scalpel, reach into the womb of a pregnant mother, slice up the fetus into small enough parts to suction out with a miniature vacuum cleaner, and dispose of the remains into a trash bag to be taken out with the afternoon trash. In the U. S. society, the innocent blood of these children is crying out to God from the ground. The voices of these victims seem to be getting louder and louder.
Chemical Abortion. The at-home abortion pill, also known as RU-486, was legalized in 2000, and now makes up 54% of all abortions in the U.S. Between 2017-2023, there were 865,000 chemical abortions, the chemicals being easily available through a nationwide mail-order abortion drug distribution system. These deathly drugs can be ordered long-distance, with the mother never even consulting with any medical professional. This abortion conveniently done in the privacy of the home, generally during the first trimester of the pregnancy, involves two chemicals: Mifepristone and Misoprostol. Pro-abortion proponents claim this chemical abortion to be completely safe but that is simply untrue. The rate of life-threatening complications is 22 times higher than what is indicated on the labels of the drugs. The latest statistics (April, 2025) report that fully 11% of women taking these drugs experience sepsis, infection, or an extreme hemorrhaging event within a month following the abortion. There have been at least 24 deaths reported, literally thousands of injuries to the pregnant women, and its complication rates are 4 times higher than a surgical abortion. In all cases, there are common abdominal pains for several days, and the heavy bleeding usually lasts between 9-16 days afterwards. 8% of the women reported the severe bleeding to last at least 30 days. There are many, many women who require hospitalization because of the acute hemorrhaging and the risk of infections. The truth is, chemical abortions at home kills the unborn baby and is a serious danger to the mother as well.
IVF. Many have claimed that the more mechanical an era, the less humane it becomes. Our contemporary age tends to support that theory. Take the IVF phenomenon, for instance. Little does the world know that literally millions of frozen embryos have been discarded or given to science in the IVF process. This is a seen as a profound tragedy to those who believe that human life begins at conception. Research reveals that only 7% of embryos produced in the lab via IVF will eventually survive the process. Evidently, most of the fertilized eggs, which are conceived human beings, remember, die from either the unsuccessful thawing of the frozen embryo, or being forgotten in a freezer after a few years, or a failure to successfully implant in the surrogate’s womb, or are discarded after being rejected because of being at-risk or the wrong gender.
Infanticide: It has been traditionally defined as the killing of a child within one year of its birth. A relatively new term, Neonaticide, is now used to refer to an infant being killed within 24 hours of its birth. Infanticide, neonaticide, is unthinkable to civilized people, but the U.S. has a very spotty history regarding this grotesque way of denying the right to life of a newborn. To this day in 2025, there are seven states that have legalized late-term abortions up to the point of birth, and each year there are a reported 13,000 deaths of viable preborn babies due to late-term abortions. We would have thought that modern science would have complicated things for him and many others… Surgeons are now able to perform life-saving surgery on unborn babies while still in utero. So on the one hand, a doctor can offer heroic surgeries on unborns, but on the other hand the doctor can simply sit on his hands and watch a newborn starve to death.
Rejecting the Children. The devaluing and mistreatment of children today is rampant in our society. We could include many grotesque facts about how we are treating our children that are in the spirit of child sacrifice, including abortion (70 million and counting), pornography (1 in 5 teens have a porn habit), child abandonment (7,000 abandoned yearly), pedophilia and child abuse (7,000 abuse cases yearly), child sex trafficking (last year, over 500,000 men shared child sex videos, with the majority of those offenders averaging 13 victims each), fatherlessness (1 in 4 kids in U.S. are living in a home without a father, 19.5 million children to be exact), surrogacy (newborns suffer a life-altering neural wound to the brain when separated from natural mother), the presence of so many abandoned children in hospitals that many emergency facilities don’t have room to treat medical emergencies, and the totally inadequate public education for poor children. To highlight this current problem of undervaluing children, there are now (as of 2024) over 500,000 unaccompanied minors who have been released at our border into the country as immigrants, and 325,000 of them were handed over to unvetted sponsors and are now unaccounted for! These children are extremely vulnerable to traffickers and cartels selling them to the highest bidder. All of this places the children in high-risk situations. It seems that wherever we find adult evildoers in our society, it’s the women and children who are paying the price. How and when did children become a curse instead of a blessing in our country?