August 27, 2023
Reading: Genesis 30
Focus: Genesis 30:31-32 “What shall I give you?” he asked. “Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages.”
Father God, Thank You for another day. Thank You for all the blessing You have given us. Open our eyes to see what You want us to see. Give us Your wisdom and Your truth. In Jesus Name. Amen.
At the beginning of this chapter, we see history repeating itself. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s wives all had difficulty conceiving children. Abraham took his wife’s maid and had a son by her resulting in bitterness between Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac prayed that God would take away Rebekah’s barrenness and had two sons by her. Jacob had children by his wives’ maids which caused all sorts of sad and bitter consequences.
Rachel and Leah were contestants in a baby sweepstakes. Both women, when there were no children being conceived by either of them, gave their maids to Jacob as concubines. This, of course, resulted in children by the maids. While this was the accepted custom of the day, Jacob could have refused. But he didn’t. Socially acceptable customs are not necessarily right. Following such customs can cause heartbreak and sad consequences to you or to others because of your actions. Eventually Rachel had a child of her own. Jacob, Leah and Rachel found trusting God difficult when children were being born. Like Sarah, they gave God a hand. But God took those circumstances and used them for good.
Next, we look at the relationship between Jacob and his father-in-law, Laban. We already know that Jacob has a tendency to be a trickster. Now he is about to experience being tricked. Jacob asked Laban to allow him to take his wives and children back to his own homeland. Laban didn’t want to lose Jacob because as long as Jacob was working for him, he prospered. He told Jacob that he knew God had blessed him because of Jacob. Then he asked Jacob to tell him what he wanted as his wages. Jacob acknowledged the blessings of God.
Laban asked again, “What shall I give you?” Jacob asked to go through all the flocks and remove every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. He stated that any goat that is not speckled or spotted could be considered stole. Laban agreed and then ordered that all goats, male and female, which were streaked, spotted or speckled, and all dark colored lambs be removed from the flocks and taken by his sons on a three-day journey away from where Jacob was. All the while, Jacob was tending the majority of Laban’s flocks which were probably all white.
Laban was a selfish man. He profited quite well with the marriage of his sister, Rebekah, to Isaac. Then, he used his daughters as bargaining chips when Jacob wanted to marry Rachel. He defrauded Jacob by giving him Leah as wife when he thought he had been working 7 years for Rachel. Laban received another 7 years of service for the hand of Rachel. And all this time, because of Jacob, he was blessed by God. Laban tried to make sure that the amount livestock that Jacob requested from him as wages was as little as possible. Since the majority of Laban’s flocks had solid coat colors, he figured that his flocks would continue to breed true to their solid color coats. After removing Jacob’s small flock, he believed those animals could not influence his own remaining flock by breeding with them. To Laban, it looked like Jacob would leave with, at best, a few mottled, striped, and streaked sheep and maybe goats, while he would continue to gain flocks and pay extremely cheap labor rates for their care.
In the end, Jacob outmaneuvered him. Jacob’s response to Laban’s trickery was to ensure that more spotted, speckled, streaked and dark sheep and goats were born. There is no explanation as to why Jacob used pealed tree branches in the watering troughs. But in any event, to increase his flocks (and diminish Laban’s), Jacob instituted some sort of folk-medicine selective breeding process. Fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark to create white stripes on them. The Bible does not tell us how or if these striped branches impacted the mating of the animals. it simply records what Jacob did and the result in the flocks.
In addition to increasing the number of spotted animals, Jacob also wanted to make sure that the spotted ones were stronger than the rest. He only placed the branches in the troughs when the stronger females were in heat, “but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there” (Genesis 30:42). The result was that the stronger of the flock were multi-colored, and the weaker were normal colored. When spotted, speckled and streaked animals were born, Jacob set them aside as his flocks. So, the weaker, normal colored animals went to Laban and the stronger, spotted and speckled ones went to Jacob. There is a sheep that still exists today called “Jacob Sheep”. They are said to be descendants of the sheep that Jacob bred from Laban’s flock. Pictures show some of them with two sets of horns.
Science tells us that the trees themselves have medicinal properties that are beneficial to animals and to humans as well. The branches were place in the troughs. The water steeped the nutrients, and the animals drank the water. They may have also eaten the branches. The poplar is known for increasing the fertility of ewes. It can also increase multiple births. Almond bark is known for helping clear urinary tract infections and urinary issues and is a good gastro-intestinal aid. The plane tree is known for its anti-inflammatory properties as well as being a good source of antioxidants. For the rams, healthier females are more attractive. The benefits of all three trees would also help insure the health of the rams as well. Rather than being an example of superstitious folklore and “fertility magic,” the account in Scripture is backed up by botanical and pharmacology studies and is being practiced today,
I wonder if Jacob, when he felt the sting of being tricked, remembered what he had done to Esau and his father. I wonder if his conscience kicked at him. Regardless, Jacob did not let his father-in-law’s trickery stand. He fought back. He did his best to increase his ‘wages’ in spite of Laban. God, as promised, blessed Jacob and through the breeding program, Jacob became a man of great wealth. He owned large flocks, many servants, camels and donkeys.
If Laban had been as willing to benefit from worshipping Jacob’s God, he would have probably continued being blessed after Jacob and his family left Paddan Aram. We often tend to control people and event to benefit ourselves. It’s natural to look out for yourself. Recognizing our own selfishness is painful but it is a step on the path back to God.
Control, fraud and trickery are very prevalent in business. Every business wants the public to believe they are the best in the business. Ads twist the reality to convince the public. Big business wants to make as much money as possible with as little expense as possible. Selfishness in business is common. There are so many websites that promise good quality products and when they are ordered and received, the quality doesn’t match the promise and the goods can be unuseable. Then, the company will not replace or refund the product. You are stuck with little or no recourse. What do you do? Do you fight or give up? As a business person, we should strive to give the best to our customers and associates. To do less paints us with the same tainted brush as those who willingly defraud customers.
I worked in customer service most of my working life. I always believed that since I expect good customer service, I must give the best customer service I can. As a Christian, I can do no less. We must all take that same attitude no matter where we work. Every job is a customer service job. Whether you are a nurse, a clerk in the back office, or the front man for a big business. How you treat customers and co-workers will reflect on how people perceive you as a Christian. They will know if you are committed or if you are one of those who claim the name but not the game.
Are you playing the game?
Father God, help us to take a lesson from Jacob. Rather than fight, he went to work. Help us to do the same. Help us to find solutions to the tricks of the enemy. Protect us from Satan’s tricks. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Food for Thought
- Why do you think Jacob was so upset with Rachel when she demanded that Jacob give her children in Genesis 30:1-2?
- Why do you think that Leah and Rachel felt it necessary to give Jacob their maids as concubines?
- Do you think that Leah and Rachel would have had more children than they did if they had trusted God instead of giving their maids as concubines? Why or why not?
- What do you think Jacob felt when Laban attempted to keep him from have a decent flock of spotted, speckled and streaked animals?
- What should your reaction and actions be when you have been tricked or defrauded, whether by friend or business?
