"And [Rachel] said, 'Behold my maidservant Bilhah, come to her and she shall bear upon my knees, and I shall be built, even I, from her.'" (Genesis 30:3).
In the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it was a mark of shame for a woman to be barren. Not only did it indicate the woman was flawed, but it meant she would not have sons to protect her when her husband died. Rachel, who as yet had not given birth, claimed that if Jacob did not give her sons, she would die. But she then invoked an ancient law that allowed her to claim any children born of her husband and her maidservant. Since the maidservant was owned by Rachel, anything she might produce also belonged to her. Thus Bilhah was given to Jacob, and she gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. Rachel was "built" up by Bilhah prior to having her own children, Joseph and Benjamin.
Historically, this was a minor and common event. Yet, within the use of Bilhah to build up Rachel is described a step on the way from being natural to being a spiritual person.
A person's natural life is symbolized by Jacob. All the many events that surround his life and are recorded in Genesis, describe that phase of life when a person's attention is focused upon natural delights. As Jacob was ambitious, stealing the birthright and working for Laban to acquire wives and cattle, so is seen a person in the early stages of regeneration. This is often a time when one wants to "get ahead" in his or her field. It is often a time when one is very concerned about acquiring wealth, or the external signs of wealth. The so-called "good life" is sought. Or perhaps one views having a spouse and children as the goal, and tries to acquire them as one might purchase a car or house.
This is not necessarily an evil time, for nothing need be wrong about seeking comfort and living on a social and economic level with one's friends. Indeed, the state depicted in the story is not a hellish one, for Jacob is married to Leah and Rachel. The less attractive but firstborn Leah is an image of the first truths one has learned. These usually are quite basic, such as, there is a God, He cares for all, and people should be kind to each other. As Leah was not attractive, so these truths are not especially exciting. But Leah had produced male children, meaning that even these basic truths have produced some good in a person. By living according to the Ten Commandments the person has begun the spiritual journey of regeneration.
Yet Jacob is also married to the beautiful Rachel. Because of her beauty, and the fact she was born after Leah, she is an image of affection for a deeper understanding and appreciation of what is true. As Jacob is joined with her, so is depicted a person whose life is in basic order, and who has a knowledge of many of the deeper concepts revealed in the Writings.
But Rachel is barren. Unlike Leah, she has not produced any children. So is seen a person who has a tremendous array of factual knowledge on hand, but is not using it to produce any good. It is the person who has the knowledge, but no feel for why it is true, or how to apply it. A genuine affection for interior truths carries with it a perception that, "it is so," and a love that "it is so." This is from knowledge that has become living.
We can see this in ourselves, when we say that we believe, but our actions do not always reflect it. We would all agree that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one God of heaven and earth; yet whenever we thoughtlessly place our desires before the needs of others, are we really admitting of a supreme God other than ourselves? Our affection for that truth does not produce good, and we do not really understand that truth, until we accept it by our life in addition to by our thoughts.
There is hope in this state, seen by Rachel asking Jacob for sons. Her request is the desire that we might have to produce what is useful with our knowledge. A part of us recognizes that we are not perfect. While our lives may appear to others to be going well, we sense within us a lack, a disorder that is not good. Jacob's response of anger to Rachel's question is a sign of indignation that we are not better than we are. As Jacob's anger probably came from a sense of helplessness, so our irritation with ourselves comes a sense of failure. Jacob knew he could not suddenly give her a son, just as we might sense that we cannot suddenly become angelic. We can see what we lack, but not how to remedy the situation. We feel our evils, yet have a yearning to produce good. And there seems to be an unbridgeable gap between what we are, and what we wish we could be. The question is: from being natural, how do we become spiritual?
The answer is provided by Rachel who said, "Behold my maidservant Bilhah, come to her and she shall bear upon my knees, and I shall be built, even I, from her." Bilhah is the first step in a progression that eventually enables us to love and act on what is interiorly true, for she is the means to becoming affirmative (Arcana Coelestia 3913 [4-5]). It may seem odd that what is needed at this stage is an affirmative attitude, for one already knows many truths, and is living in basic order. But the barrenness of Rachel is indicative of a lack of affirmation to the more interior truths of the Word. It is relatively easy to say we believe in a truth if it fits in with the rules of our society, but when truths do not necessarily agree with what others believe, or with what we want, then in our less regenerate states we tend to doubt their validity.
It has to do with ideals. If we do not truly accept the ideals presented in all three Testaments, then how can we achieve them? As Rachel was barren, so our spiritual life will produce little as long as we have difficulty recognizing the ideals the Lord has set before us. We may desire to lead ideal lives, but when our selfishness is stirred, our lack of firm affirmation will make it difficult for the Lord to lead us away from self and to others.
It is easy to fall into doubts and not have an affirmative attitude. Whenever we see disorders around us, and feel the apparently overwhelming strength of our own evils, we may feel defeated before we begin. When we see marital troubles or divorces, are not the ideals of conjugial love brought into doubt? When we see injustice in the world, or a lack of charity in those who claim to belong to the New Church, do we not begin to wonder if justice and charity are merely empty words? Do we not then feel that those truths set before us as ideals are unrealistic goals which cannot be met except perhaps by a pious few? At such times it is easy to fall into a negative or disbelieving frame of mind. We can then ignore the truths of the Word, or claim that they do not apply to me right now. Or we might go further and adopt a "show me" attitude. The ideals, the truths, do not seem to be practical so we step back and demand that they be proved realistic before we will acknowledge them.
Yet, the trap we have fallen into is placing ourselves before the Lord. We have set ourselves up as the authority or arbitrator of what is good and true. We have actually replaced God with ourselves, thinking that our comprehension of what is good is more accurate than what He has revealed in His Word. It questions Him, not us. We tend to assume that He is wrong, not us.
Such is a very negative frame of mind. If we remain in it, it closes our minds to the possibility that there is anything outside of ourselves in which we can place trust. Ideals, because they are truths, cannot be proved. We can have a sight of them, recognize that they are worthwhile, but then we must trust in them if we are to continue to work toward them even through disorderly and discouraging states.
Objections can be raised to any ideals or truths. From our imperfect stage of development, negativity can enter our minds and have us seek only for what appears to be wrong with what the Lord teaches. The danger in this approach is clearly stated in the Writings when they note, "those with whom what is negative universally reigns, doubts cannot possibly be removed; for with them one scruple has more weight than a thousand confirmations. For one scruple is like a grain of sand placed close before the pupil of the eye, which, although single and small, yet takes away all sight" (Arcana Coelestia 6479). Like a grain of sand before the eye...
Our spiritual sight of truth is blinded when we allow ourselves to be hardened to the Lord. It is this that causes barrenness, why Rachel could not as yet have sons. Even though there be basic order in our lives, regeneration cannot progress if we do not interiorly accept what the Word teaches.
What is that affirmative principle? It begins with us humbly putting away our criteria for determining what is true, and assuming that what the Lord has said takes precedence. It is thinking that because the Lord has revealed an idea, it must be Divine, it must be true, even if we do not like it at the time.
Is this not a kind of blind faith? At first, yes, it is. It is based more on a trust that what the Lord says must be true, rather than on a clear sight of that truth from our own understanding. Jacob had Rachel, but she was barren. So we have some concept of why we are accepting the Lord's truth, but at first it does not seem to do us much good, producing much fruit. But when Jacob turns to Bilhah, a mere servant, then Rachel begins to fulfill her promise as a wife. So when we turn to the affirmative approach, those truths that the Lord has revealed can begin to touch our lives. It can only happen in a remote way at first, just as Bilhah's sons did not come directly from Rachel's body, but nothing can be born if there is not first that affirmation which enables us to use the Lord's truth.
What happens when we are affirmative? For one, we can stop debating whether something is true or not and can begin to understand how it is true. It is very difficult to understand anything if we do not accept its validity in the first place. Frequently if we stop fighting the ideals the Lord has given, we can begin to see how they might lead to good. As long as we are negative, we cannot understand. But if we affirm, then we can begin to bring our thinking into line with the Lord's.
Does this mean we can stop struggling to understand the Lord’s Word? No, for to affirm the truth will not end our thinking about it. For to affirm is not to become a blind follower; rather it is to begin to appreciate what the Lord says. We will always be growing in our understanding of the ideals the Lord has given in His Word. We will always be able to look back and see that our previous sight of His truth was limited. But we have the ability to look back because we have been affirmative, and have seen more and more in His Word that could never have been appreciated if we did not keep searching.
But will our lives be easier? Not necessarily, for when we do affirm is when the hells within us are threatened. It should not be surprising to learn that it is then that the attacks on our ideals might be the strongest. To accept the ideals of the Lord is but the beginning of spiritual life. We then have to live them. Our evils are not suddenly removed; we are not suddenly changed. But we then have a guide to show us how to change, and to be with us even when we do not always live up to the ideals that He has given.
There are no magic formulas that will "regenerate us in five easy lessons." By living according to the Ten Commandments we have set the stage for regeneration to occur. By affirming the ideals of the Lord we turn our minds to Him and see what He would make of us. And then by acting on those ideals the Lord can gradually build up loves for what is good that make the heavenly life within. Affirming is not the end, nor is it any assurance against doubts and difficult struggles. But it a crucial link in the journey from being natural to becoming spiritual.
