More than seventeen hundred years before the birth of Christ, Rachael, the beloved wife of Jacob, gave birth to her second son at Bethlehem and died. To her he was “Son of Sorrow,” and she named him that--Benoni--in her final moments. "Not so!," the baby’s father corrected her. “He shall be called ‘Benjamin’, ‘Son of my Right Hand!’” In that dual-naming of Rachael's son, we have one of the oldest and most perfect prophesies of the Messiah-Christ. In Hebrew, the name Benoni, prophetically identified Jesus as the “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Isaiah 53:3. But His other name, and the one by which we remember Him, Benjamin, is the one which acknowledges Him as “Son of the Father's right hand.” This title, given by both fathers to their sons, is not one of humiliation and death, but of Glory and Power: Hebrews 1:3.
It was not accidental that Rachael gave birth to her son at Bethlehem. This place, time, situation, was foreordained before history began. Her own name in Hebrew means “Mother Sheep”--that is, the one who gives birth to the lamb. Like the Virgin Mary, for whom she stood as the prophetic counterpart, Rachael gave birth to a “lamb” while Mary gave birth to the Lamb of God. Both of these women were destined to witness tragedy in the births of their sons. The Scripture tells us that when Herod saw he was mocked by the wise men, he “sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem.” According to Matthew's account, the weeping of Bethlehem's mothers at the birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of Rachael's tears almost two thousand years before. True prophecy always finds fulfillment:
A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachael weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:18.
In the years that followed Rachael's death, Jacob carefully guarded his son. While the other children were allowed freedom to travel, Benjamin was not. Even when Joseph was sold into Egypt by the other brothers, Benjamin was kept at home and close to his father’s right hand. For this reason, when the famine came years later and the older sons went into Egypt to buy grain, Benjamin was not permitted to go. Jacob diligently kept his promise to his dead wife; her son, this special child, marked-prophetically, remained close to his “right hand.” And, as we read in the Genesis account, when the demand was placed upon Jacob that no more food could be purchased unless Benjamin went to Egypt, it was a time of great crisis for the old man. In great agony of soul he finally consented for young Benjamin to go. At that point, none of them realized that Rachael's prophetic name, “Son of Sorrow,” was soon to fall upon this innocent young man with its deadly blow.
Over the weeping protests of his father, Benjamin accompanied the others into Egypt. Here the Governor’s silver cup was secretly put into his sack of grain, and in spite of his innocence, the burden of guilt fell convictingly upon him. In terror the brothers returned to Egypt with the condemned--but guiltless--young man. We have to read the New Testament to hear the words of Benoni's cry when his sack was emptied and the cup laid bare in the desert son. It is the words of Gethsemane. The night is that infamous one of betrayal when Mary’s Benoni cried, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!” Seventeen hundred years separated the first Benoni from the Second, but the mission for each was the same, and the price to be paid was one of sacrifice.
The single purpose uniting both was that a family, gutted by a long-hidden secret sin, be reunited with its Elder Brother. With Benjamin, it was the restoration of an earthly household separated by a few hundred miles. With the Second, the promised Messiah, it was the restoration of a fallen race to the glories of a Heavenly Throne. In both cases, the sons of Rachael and Mary fulfilled their work well. Bethlehem’s mothers wept that the world might rejoice. Both sons made pilgrimages into Egypt; Benjamin traveling to be reunited with Joseph, his long separated brother. Jesus doing so in the escape from Herod. But surrounded by the sorrow of that place, great joy broke forth. Of each, Scripture says, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” Hosea 11:1. Matthew 2:15. Benjamin returned to his father’s house, riding in glory. The cup of grief was forgotten. The anguish of the trial was past. He had served both prophetic names well: He had been loyal to his father's right hand, and had obediently taken the cup of his mother's sorrow. Justly, he earned the tributes which were given him upon his triumphant return to the family home. Again we must turn to the New Testament to find the description of that holy scene. It is the one of the Messiah's restoration to His Father's right hand. “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by the blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. ...Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing!” Revelation 5:12.
This is the wonder of Jesus in prophecy! This is the story behind His birth at Bethlehem! ___ Genesis 35:16-20, 44:11-16. Matthew 2:16-18, 26:39
Charles Carrin
