Genesis 29:30-31:7

We can see that if it was left up to Jacob’s faithfulness alone he never would have received much from the Lord. It was by God’s grace that Jacob would become the great man of God that he was. How like us Jacob is. None of us deserved the salvation we’ve received by that grace. If it was up to us to get what we deserved not one of us would be saved.

In the last episode, we saw Jacob being played like a fish on a line by his Uncle Laban. Laban made Jacob serve twice as long as he originally agreed to.

Seven years was long enough, but, fourteen years? It’s a long time! This arrangement gave Jacob two wives.

We’ve covered this before but you may be thinking, Well, since this is in the Bible, God must approve of polygamy.

No, God does not approve of everything that’s in the Bible. That may surprise some people. For instance, God didn’t approve of the devil’s lie. God didn’t approve of David’s sin, and He judged him for it. But the record of both events is inspired or literally, God–breathed. In other words, God said through the writer, Moses, exactly what He wanted to say. The thing that’s inspired is the record of the words God gave to Moses to write down in this Book we call the Bible.

In Genesis 29 God gave an accurate record: Jacob did have two wives, and it tells us the way it came about.

In our day polygamy is very rare but separation and divorce are common. We, as Christians, can’t do anything about our marriages that have broken up in the past, but each of us can do all that we can before God to make sure that from now on, it is one partner for all time.

Now, also in this chapter, we’re going to see what is one of the greatest and most famous business deals in history when Jacob makes a deal with his uncle Laban.

We’re also going to see how, as the events before us unfold, they’ll depict an amazing picture of God’s dealing with Israel, the Church, The Holy Spirit and God’s Grace.

We’ll also see 2 Timothy 3:15  at work which states,

and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

We’ll begin by reading Genesis 29:31-35

When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. 

So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. 

She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

Now the problems in this family can be seen unfolding quickly.

Not only had Jacob married two sisters, but he also allowed everyone to know that one was favoured and loved more than the other. All these problems came from both Laban’s deception and Jacob’s deception that brought him here in the first place. He brought it on himself.

So, what should Jacob have done? Some say Jacob should have gone to Laban and told him to correct the whole mess, and simply be married to Rachel and let Leah be Laban’s problem. Others believe that according to the standards of the culture, he couldn’t have put Leah aside, because she was unable to marry another after having been given to Jacob.

Perhaps he should have done the best he could have in the situation, which would have been to love his two wives equally. What a mess!

Poor Leah! She’s sad because she knows her husband loves Rachel rather than her. When she becomes the mother of Reuben, it brings joy to her heart, and she feels that Jacob will love her now.

Jacob, even though he did not love Leah, was still quite willing to have sex with her. This demonstrates a principle that’s still true today. A man can be willing to have sex completely apart from love, and only a foolish woman regards that willingness to have sex as proof of love. Leah was just one of the countless billions of women to live under this problem of the male nature.

God’s compassion for Leah is so touching. She’s truly the innocent party in this mess. God can bring comfort and blessing to a wife and meet her needs even when the husband acts in an ungodly manner.

Reuben is Jacob’s firstborn. Reuben means “behold, a son”. But Reuben’s not the one who’ll begin the line leading to Christ. Reuben lost his position as the firstborn because of his sin. Levi was the priestly tribe.

The second child born to Jacob, through Leah, was named by Leah Simeon, meaning Hearing. Leah hoped all would notice that the LORD had heard her.

The third child born to Jacob, through Leah, was named Levi, meaning Attachment. Leah still lived in the hope her husband Jacob would love her and become attached to her through the birth of these sons.

The fourth son born to Jacob, again through Leah, was named Judah, meaning Praise.

Leah then stopped naming her children to reflect the pain and longing in her heart. At this point, she focused on God and could praise Him.

“Now I will praise the LORD”, she says. Leah seems to allow the LORD to meet her need and she could now praise Him. Leah seems to have known the LORD better than her husband did.

Although she was neglected by Jacob and despised by Rachel, she had a great purpose in God’s plan.

The Lord looks with mercy on the one who suffers. Just because Jacob loves Leah less doesn’t mean the Lord feels the same. And so it says He, the Lord Jehovah, opened her womb. In the same verse, it says that Rachel was barren. This implies that the also Lord directed this.

The two greatest tribes came from Leah, not Rachel. Levi (the priestly tribe) and Judah (the royal tribe). The Messiah came from Leah, the less-attractive sister who was neglected and despised but learned to look to the LORD and praise Him.

You and I can learn much from the example of Leah.

Now we come to Genesis chapter 30 and we see that God’s moving despite Jacob’s sin.

The theme of the chapter is the family of Jacob and the birth of his sons. Jacob longs to leave Laban, and Jacob makes a shrewd bargain with him.

Starting Genesis 30:1 we read,   Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”

You see, a woman in that day was disgraced unless she had an offspring, and the more children she had, the better her position.

Now verses 2 and 3,  And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”  So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”

We find here Jacob and Rachel reverting to the practice of that day.

Remember that Abraham and Sarah had done the same thing, but God didn’t approve of it then, and He’s not going to approve of it now.

The Bible gives us an accurate record, but that doesn’t mean that God approved of all that was done. In fact, it’s quite obvious that He disapproved of this. We’ve already seen strife in Abraham’s family because of this. It was also in Isaac’s family and now it is in Jacob’s family already and it’s only going to get worse.

The next verses of this chapter tell of the birth of two sons of Jacob by Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; two sons by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; and then the birth of two more sons and a daughter by Leah.

We jump now to verses 22 to 24 and we’re still in Genesis chapter 30,

Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 

And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 

So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The LORD shall add to me another son.”

This is the boy who’ll go down into the land of Egypt. We’ll follow him later in the book, and he’s quite a remarkable person.

Later on, Benjamin will be born to Rachel as well. We’ll conclude this chapter by listing the twelve sons of Jacob because they are very important. The twelve tribes of Israel will come from them and finally the nation of Israel.

There are two overall groups of people mentioned in the Bible, Jew and Gentile, but there’s only one true group of God’s people, those who live by faith in God and His word. They come from both Jew and Gentile and they’re being built into a flock by the Great Shepherd. We’ll see this pictured now.

To Genesis 29:25-26,

And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. 

Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”

Now listen to Uncle Laban. He’s not done with Jacob yet, you can be sure of that!

Verse 27,  And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.”

Now, this is quite interesting. You recall that Abimelech, king of Gerar, found that he was blessed when Isaac was in his midst. Now Uncle Laban has discovered that God’s with Jacob and has blessed him for Jacob’s sake.

At the time of this verse, Jacob is 91 years old. This means that in just seven years, Jacob has had at least 12 children born to him, 11 sons and a daughter. Because he worked the first seven years before getting married to his first wife, all of this family has come in the second 7-year period.

So Uncle Laban says, “My boy, don’t rush off; don’t leave me. I’ve been blessed, and I want to raise your wages.”

Verse 28,  Then he said,

“Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

Jacob knows by now that, any time Uncle Laban makes a deal, he’s the one who’ll come off the winner. Jacob has learned this lesson, and he wants to leave.

We read now from verses 29 and 30,

So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. 

For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?”

Listen to Jacob now. He’s saying, “All I’ve got out of all this service for you are two wives with their two maids and a house full of boys.” In fact, he has eleven boys at this point. What in the world’s he going to do? How’s he going to feed them? He says, “God has blessed you and He has prospered you, and I don’t have anything.”

We move to Genesis 30:31-32,

So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: 

Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages.

In other words, the pure breeds will be Laban’s, but the off breeds, those that are not blue–ribbon cattle so to speak, will be Jacob’s. Jacob said, “You just let me have these, and that will be my wages.”

Jacob doesn’t want anything new or, in fact, anything from Laban directly.

Jacob makes an incredible offer. He’s proposing that all the sheep that are speckled or spotted of the flock, and all of the brown among the lambs, and all of the spotted and speckled of the goats be taken out.

These marked animals were rare. The usual colours would be white among the sheep, and black or dark brown among the goats. By taking out the unusual ones, the ones left would be more likely to breed and have offspring which were white among the sheep and black or dark brown among the goats. Anything that was born, from this point on that was out of the normal, brown lambs and spotted and speckled goats, would be Jacobs. But because the rare ones are now taken out, there would be none at all in the flock.

It’s an odd proposal and it seems to be of little benefit to Jacob, but he knew what he was doing.

He knew it because God told him as we’ll see in the next chapter..

Only if something abnormally coloured was born in the future would it belong to Jacob. Everything else would be considered Laban’s. It’s a deal that seems beyond imagination and Laban’s overjoyed at the prospect. He can’t refuse since in his mind he simply can’t lose in the deal.

On to verses 33 and 34,

So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.” 

And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” 

By taking out the abnormally coloured animals now, anything which was born abnormally coloured in the future would testify to God’s providence. Whatever God gives which is out of the normal will belong to Jacob.

If nothing has the special mark, then God withheld the blessing from Jacob, and if all of them are born with it, then God had blessed him. And every one of them which is born normal would be, as he terms it “considered stolen.” In other words, Laban could walk up at any moment and say, I’m taking this one; it’s mine.”

Any animal that’s normally coloured, starting the very next day, is to be claimed as Laban’s.

The deal weighs so heavily in favour of Laban that he responds immediately and with the joy Jacob knew would come.

The off-breeds would not be able to breed with the other blue ribbon animals. Jacob would take the off–breeds so that only the full breeds would mate and bear offspring, and those would belong to Uncle Laban. The others would be his. Jacob’s making a deal here that in the natural sense, he can’t win and Laban can’t lose. It causes Uncle Laban to pronounce,  “Oh, that it were according to your word!” 

The deal’s agreed to by both parties. It was a foolproof way to distinguish between the flocks of Laban and Jacob who had this deep and mutual lack of trust in each other.

Laban liked the deal because the odds were set heavily in his favour.

He can’t believe Jacob will live by what he’s said.

To him, it was getting Jacob for next to nothing. All of the odd colours are being taken out and so none are left. All the normal colours are his and they’ll be tended by Jacob for nothing.

And when mating season comes, they’ll breed with other pure colours.

None, or very few, of the offspring, should come out odd coloured and so almost every new one belongs to Laban as well. They’ll all be tended by Jacob for nothing. He’s being handed a bar of gold on a golden platter and he gets to keep the platter too.

To verse 35,

So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

Notice it’s Laban who removes the goats and gives them to his sons, not Jacob.

Jacob’s oldest son is Reuben and he’s only 7. In other words, Jacob’s given the job of the separation to Laban. Not only was he fair in his offer, but he’s making sure that Laban alone is in charge of the selection of the offer.

After separating the odd-coloured ones, Laban gives them to his own sons to tend and keep. There are now several shepherds of Laban’s flocks, but God previously promised to bless the work and the increase of Jacob so therefore, the offspring of Jacob’s flocks which God chooses and which involve Jacob’s efforts will become Jacob’s.

Look at verse 36 ,

Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

After taking out the flocks which would otherwise benefit Jacob, Laban then puts a 3-day journey between them and Jacob’s flocks. By putting such a distance between the two of them, there would be no chance of them meeting up and mixing.

If they did, then the offspring of Jacob’s flocks could possibly bear odd-coloured ones. Laban made sure this wouldn’t happen.

There’s a separation between them and so Jacob is now relying on God’s provision coupled with his own resourcefulness to build up his house.

Verse 37 to 39,

Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. 

And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. 

So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.

Let’s read verses 40 to 43,  Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.

Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys

Now there’s been many various explanations for this.

Some say this is nothing but pure superstition. Others say it is an old wives’ tale and is certainly something that ought not to be in the Bible record.

However, it is important that this record appears in the Word of God. Of course, there were genetic factors involved, but we shouldn’t rule out this as being a superstition. The point is that both Laban and Jacob believed that the white streaks in the rods caused the offspring to be ringstraked. That’s the important part of the story. We all may be too smart to believe it, but these two blokes believed it. Regardless of whether or not there was value in it, Jacob is using trickery again. H’s always been a trickster, but he’s met an uncle who wrote the book on trickery and now Jacob’s trying to make a comeback.

Let’s say no more about this incident at the moment because we’ll see that the next chapter will throw new light on this entire incident.

Now here’s the list of Jacob’s twelve sons who’ll eventually comprise the twelve tribes of the nation Israel.

Born to Leah were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and the daughter Dinah.

Born to Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, were Dan and Naphtali.

Born to Zilpah, Leah’s maid, were Gad and Asher.

And born to Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

Now we’ve arrived at chapter 31 where we find that Jacob leaves Laban without giving notice.

They don’t even have a farewell party for him. Laban’s not happy about that at all and he takes off after him and catches up with him.

Finally, Jacob and Laban made another contract, this time not to defraud or hurt each other. Then they separate in an outwardly friendly manner.

We’ll see that God wants to get Jacob out of that land. He recognises that the influence of Laban’s household is not good for Jacob and his growing family.

The boys are going to be heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, and God’s anxious to get them out of that environment and back into Abraham’s country, the country which He’d promised to Abraham.

We’re now in a section of the Word of God that God has given to minister to our needs. It deals with a man who’s a very sinful man in many ways and yet a man who God wouldn’t give up on. You and I can take courage from this. The Lord will never give us up as long as we keep coming back to Him, He’ll always receive us. If He’ll take a fellow like Jacob and a fellow like me, He’ll take you, my friend.

You’ll recall that Jacob has had a pretty sorry ordeal of twenty years in the hands of Uncle Laban who’s really given him a course in the college of reality, and poor Jacob’s wincing because of all the pressure. However, since the new deal which he’d made with Laban regarding cattle breeding, Jacob is now getting more than Uncle Laban’s getting and Laban doesn’t like it one little bit and nor do Laban’s sons.

Jacob really had his hands full with these twelve boys! Also, we find that there was a girl, and her name was Dinah.

We’ll see in the next chapter that God’s called Jacob to leave Haran and return to the land which He has promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. God is surely thinking of Jacob’s children and He doesn’t want them to grow up in the environment of Laban’s household.

Let’s open Genesis 31:1-2,  Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.”

And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before.

Now Jacob has a call from God in verses 3 and 4 and we continue reading, Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”

So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock,

God has called Jacob to leave, and so he’s now preparing to do that. He calls Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field because he’s afraid to talk this over at home for fear some servant or possibly even Laban or Laban’s sons might overhear him. He doesn’t want them to see him plotting with Rachel and Leah.

See Genesis31:5-6,  and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

And you know that with all my might I have served your father.

We can certainly agree with Jacob here and we have to say it’s to his credit.

He’d worked hard, but maybe we should give Laban credit for that as well. Laban was a man who got his money’s worth out of anyone who worked for him.

The conversation continues in verse 7,  Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.

So now Jacob plots with his wives to leave and he does eventually leave He knows that God’s called him to leave for the sake of the family. he’s got to get them out of that place.

We’ll take up the story next time friend and until then I pray God’s richest blessing on you