And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. Genesis 30:1

Chapter 30 is completely full of drama and more drama. As stated before, God never ordained polygamy. As God said the covenant of marriage is between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24) Anytime we see polygamy practiced in the Bible it’s a complete train wreck and this is not different

Leah and Rachel have a rivalry between each other because they are both married to Jacob. Leah so far had 4 sons while Rachel has not being able to conceive. This has caused great hardship for Rachel even though she was the favorite of Jacob

And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. Genesis 30:3

So the dysfunctional family gets even more dysfunctional as Rachel gives up trying to conceive and tells Jacob to marry her servant Bilhah and have children with her. Bilhah ends up having 2 sons with Jacob, Dan and Nephatali

When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. Genesis 30:9

By this time Leah stopped having children,  being jealous of Rachel, she told Jacob to take her servant Zilpah as his wife also. She had two more sons for Jacob names Gad and Asher

And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun. And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. Genesis 30:17-21

So after all this Leah conceives again 3 times, she has 2 more sons (Issachar, Zebulun) and 1 daughter (Dinah)

And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son. Genesis 30:23-24

Now Rachel finally conceived and this would be Joseph. And as we are going to learn as we go along Joseph becomes an important figure as he is a foreshadow of Christ to come

And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. Genesis 30:25

So the final event in this very eventful chapter is Jacob then asks his father in law Laban if they can all leave and go back to his home country. So Jacob and his 4 wives and 13 children with all their possessions and animals begin the journey back to Canaan where Jacob grew up