Genesis 30:25-43 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 30:25-43. Let’s go!
Genesis 30:25-26 (NIV)
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland.
26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
On verses 25-26: Jacob has already completed the 14 years he agreed to work for Laban in exchange for his two wives Leah and Rachel. Throughout these 14 years, Jacob never forgot God’s promise to him in Genesis 28:13-15 as well as his own prayer that God would bring him back safely to his father’s house (Genesis 28:20-22). He is now taking steps to go back and requests Laban to let him go. What can we learn from this? Wherever you are, never forget God’s vision for your life and the dream God has placed in your heart.
Genesis 30:27-33 (NIV)
27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.”
28 He added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care.
30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”
31 “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:
32 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.
33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”
On verses 27-33: Realizing how valuable Jacob has been to his prosperity, Laban insists that Jacob stay instead of returning to his homeland. So Jacob cuts a deal with Laban where Jacob will continue to tend Laban’s flocks and his wages will be every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat (v32).
Genesis 30:34-36 (NIV)
34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”
35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons.
36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
On verses 34-36: After agreeing that Jacob could take every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat (v34), greedy Laban dishonestly removes all of the speckles or spotted female goats and dark-colored lambs so that Jacob cannot take them, and Laban instead puts them in the care of his sons (v35). Laban also temporarily leaves for a distant place three days away so that Jacob cannot catch him (v36). That is what greed can cause us to do: greed can cause us to compromise our integrity and cheat others for the sake of our own selfish monetary gain. For more on greed and ways to overcome it, check out Episode 3 of our Take Me Hiya series called “Affluenza: A Flu Called Greed”.
Genesis 30:37-43 (NIV)
37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.
38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink,
39 they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals.
41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches,
42 but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.
43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
On verses 37-43: Is the Bible saying that the reason Jacob received streaked, speckled or spotted young was because Jacob placed fresh-cut branches in front of the flocks when they mated? No. Did Jacob truly believe that placing branches in front of the flocks as they mated would create streaked, speckled or spotted young? I think you can strongly argue that the answer is no. That’s because later on in chapter 31 we will learn that God gave Jacob a dream to go after all the streaked, speckled and spotted flock. when Jacob starts to accumulate many flocks that are spotted, speckled and streaked, Jacob does not attribute the birth of those flocks to the branches he put up, but to the Lord (Genesis 31:7-9). I don’t think Jacob believed the branches gave him the spotted, speckled and streaked sheep, but that God gave them to him.
So why did Jacob put those branches up while the sheep mated? I believe Jacob put those branches up not necessarily for the sheep, but for him. The branches were a visual reminder for Jacob that despite all the ways that Laban had cheated him and even removed the original streaked, speckled and spotted sheep that were supposed to belong to Jacob, God was bigger and would find a way to give Jacob streaked, speckled and spotted sheep. Whenever Jacob put up those branches, he was reminding himself of God’s vision for his life.
What can we learn from this? One lesson I learn from this is the power of vision. When you have a compelling God-given vision driving your life, you will find a way, even against the odds, to see that vision become a reality.
Another lesson for me from this passage is the power of visual aids, or should I say vision aids. Placing branches in front of the sheep reminded Jacob of what he believed God was going to do in his life: namely, to beat the odds and give Jacob streaked, speckled and spotted sheep. I find that placing certain visual aids in my life – whether it’s a Bible verse, an inspiring quote, or a touching photo – in strategic places helps me to regain my focus on why I do what I do and reminds me of God’s plans and promises for my life. What is a visual aid you can place in front of you to remind you of what you believe are God’s plans and promises for your life?
Heavenly Father, may I never forget the calling and dream You’ve given to me, no matter what place or season I am in, lest I give into greed and other distractions. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
