Rachel Still Weeps

















Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”


When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”


“A voice was heard in Raman, waiting and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”  What Jeremiah prophesied came to pass 2,000 years ago with the slaughter of hundreds of male children under the age of two in Bethlehem because a crazy ruler believed the child would grow up to overthrow his kingdom.  Today, Rachel continues to weep. So who is Rachel? And why does she weep? 


Rachel was the wife of Old Testament patriarch Jacob. After her first child, she didn't conceive for the longest time, and when she finally did (Genesis 30:1) it was only to die giving birth to Benjamin (Genesis 35:18, 19). She was buried at Ramah, near Bethlehem. A few years later, during the deportation of the Jewish people to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, many of the Israelites were detained at Ramah, and those too old or too weak to make the journey to Babylon were killed.  Rachel, a kind of mother figure in the Old Testament, is said to have raised her head from her tomb and lamented the slaughter of the people.  


Many years later, in the story we read today, Rachel would mourn the slaughter of some more innocents who were killed by King Herod. But Rachel continues to weep today, even more bitterly,  because innocents continue to be slaughtered in greater numbers than ever before in human history through the abortion of babies in the wombs of their mothers. The numbers are so huge they boggle comprehension. More than 1.5 billion babies have been aborted in the last fifty years. And this year — just this year — over 40 million babies have been murdered. 


We find the number of people who die in wars, terrorist attacks and natural calamities horrifying, yet we don’t seem to be affected by the huge number of babies being put to death? Why? Partly because we have been led to believe that what is growing within the mother’s woman is not really human life and partly because we have become so calloused by sin taking life doesn’t seem to be an important thing! And we are taking life. 

We had a recorded a video a few years ago that will shed more light on the subject. Please watch it. And share it. 

It could save somebody’s life. https://youtu.be/PVI5dj32BCY

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/5JqjmIkfP2Y


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