Genesis chapter 30, an interesting
passage tonight, one that I'm not certain I have all figured
out, but we'll try to work our way through it. Basically what
we have is Jacob's marriage to Leah and to Rachel, and now Jacob,
having had 11 children, wants to depart and head back to Canaan. So we'll pick up reading in chapter
30 at verse 25 and we'll read through chapter 31 at verse 21. So beginning in chapter 30 at
verse 25. And it came to pass when Rachel
had born 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. 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. Then he said, name me your wages and I will
give it. 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?
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. So my righteousness will answer
for me in time to come when the subject of my wages comes before
you. Everyone 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, O that it
were according to your word. 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. Then he put three days' journey
between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's
flocks. 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
straight, speckled, and spotted. 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 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. 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, 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. Yet your father has deceived
me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to
hurt me. If he said thus, the speckled shall be your wages,
then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus, the streaked
shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore streaked. So
God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them
to me. And it happened at the time when the flocks conceived
that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams
which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and
gray-spotted. Then the angel of God spoke to
me in a dream, saying, Jacob. And I said, Here I am. And he
said, Lift your eyes now and see. All the rams which leap
on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. For I have
seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel,
where you anointed the pillar and you made a vow to me. Now
arise, get out of this land and return to the land of your family.
Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, is there still
any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are
we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us and also
completely consumed our money. For all these riches which God
has taken from our father are really ours and our children's.
Now then, whatever God has said to you, do it. Then Jacob rose
and set his sons and his wives on camels, and he carried away
all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained,
his acquired livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram,
to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Now Laban
had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household
idols that were her father's. And Jacob stole away, unknown
to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended
to flee. So he fled with all that he had.
He rose and crossed the river and headed toward the mountains
of Gilead." Amen. As I said, he is going to return
now to Canaan. He was only supposed to be gone
for a few days, but the total time away in Haran was 20 years. You see that in chapter 31 at
verse 41. Thus I have been in your house
20 years. I served you 14 years for your
two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed
my wages ten times. So it certainly was not a great
situation that faced Jacob while he was at Laban's house, but
as we see, God prospered him, God in providence provided for
him, God protected him, and God saw him through this particular
season. We see some growth some spiritual
maturity taking place in the life of Jacob. He's altogether
silent in the child-bearing section previous to this. I mean, he
makes one statement in chapter 30 at verse 2, but beyond that
he simply does as he's told with reference to siring all of these
children. Here it is more decisive. Here
he wants to make sure that his wives are on board. Here he wants
to make sure that he is doing the right thing before the living
and true God. So we'll look at the end of that
section in chapter 30 under the consideration, the negotiation
with Laban. in chapter 30 verses 25 to 43. If you have questions going into
the chapter, you're going to have them coming out. I don't
know all the significance as to what is going on in the particular
chapter in terms of the way that he manages the flock and he's
able to yield these multicolored animals that will ultimately
benefit him. But that's what's happening,
the negotiation with Laban, and then secondly, the fight from
Laban in chapter 31, verses 1 to 21. But going first to the section
in chapter 30, the negotiation with Laban, we see the request
by Jacob in verses 25 and 26, that the birth of Joseph, this
is when it is the time that Jacob now wants to return to Canaan.
And if you look at verse 25 when he says, send me away that I
may go to my own place and to my country. The language my country
evokes the promise of God. God had promised to Abraham and
then to Isaac and now to Jacob that he is giving him the land
of Canaan. In fact, if you go back to chapter
28, when God met Jacob at Bethel, in verse 13, the Lord reveals
to Jacob, and behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am
the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac,
the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants.
Also, your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth.
You shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north
and the south, and in you and in your seed, all the families
of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will
bring you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land,
for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken
to you." So that affirms or confirms or brings to pass the promise
initially made to Abraham. What God promises to Abraham
is a land and seed, and we know that ultimately the seed according
to Galatians 3.16 is Jesus Christ. So it's from the family of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob that the Messiah is ultimately going to come,
and that's why the narrator focuses on this one family. We go from
the creation of the world, we go from the fall, we go from
Babel and the flood and all those sorts of things, now to focus
in and hone in on one particular family in some relatively mundane
things. But nevertheless, this is the
family from whence comes the Lord Jesus Christ. So now Jacob
wants to go back to Canaan, and then he says specifically in
verse 26, 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. So Jacob wants to take his wives
and children. He doesn't want to leave them
at Laban's house. In some sense, this foreshadows
the legislation in Exodus chapter 20, I'm sorry, chapter 21, verses
three to six, with reference to slavery, if a man has a wife
given to him by a master, then that wife ultimately is the possession
of the master along with any children that are born as a result
of that. And so that will come later in
the legislation. He does not want that to happen
even though he has been treated like a slave. He nevertheless
wants what is coming to him in terms of his wives and his children. And then notice the response
by Laban in verses 27 and 28. He's not keen on this. And why
would he be? He just got 14 years of excellent
service out of this man Jacob. In fact, Laban admits as much
in terms of the prosperity that Laban himself has experienced.
His connection to Jacob has brought blessing. And again, that harkens
back to that original promise of God in Genesis chapter 12.
that God said to Abraham. Abraham would be a blessing.
He would be a blessing to the nations around him. Well, we
see that with Laban in this instance, and Laban doesn't want him to
go. And so in verse 28, he said, name me your wages and I will
give it. Wenham makes this observation,
he says, according to the wedding agreement in chapter 29, Laban
owed Jacob nothing, because he already had two wives promised
in exchange for his 14 years of labor. This he had only just
completed, so he could not demand anything more at this stage.
Therefore, if Jacob wants to go with anything more than Leah
and Rachel, he will have to work longer." A neat reply. So it's
not the case that Laban is being overly benevolent. Laban is trying
to work the angle so that he can keep Jacob and his employ,
so that he can keep him as a slave, so that he can continue to benefit
off of the work of his hands. So Laban's not had a change of
course at this particular time, and now he's saying, tell me
what it is that you want, I'll be happy to give it to you, and
off you go. That's not the way it is at all. Both of these men are in a strong
negotiation, and they both want to come out on top. And then
that brings us to this negotiation concerning the flocks in verses
29 to 43. Now notice what Jacob highlights,
his proven ability, in verses 29 and 30. He tells him, he says,
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? So he says, I've been a great
asset to you and a great benefit to you. Now I want to return
after these 20 years, and I'm going to need some resources
in order to be able to facilitate life in Canaan. And again, Laban
says in verse 31, what shall I give you? And that brings us
to Jacob's plan. In the first place, he doesn't
want Laban to give him anything. He says, I don't want you to
give me anything. He says that Jacob, or Jacob
says that he will care for Laban's flock and that from the flock,
all that Jacob asks for is for the multicolored ones, the spotted
ones, the speckled ones. Typically the sheep would have
been white and the goats would have been black. That would have
been pretty much it. But a recessive gene in the gene
pool will yield a speckled animal or a spotted animal. And so Jacob's
request is pretty minimal, very minimal, such that even Laban
himself is in tune with it. And that's what Laban says in
verses 34 to 36. The plan sounded good to Laban
as the multicolored ones were far rarer, right? It's a pretty
no-brainer. He doesn't know that Jacob basically
has an ace up his sleeve. That ace up his sleeve is God's
providence. Whatever happens in terms of
what Jacob does with reference to these rods and the watering
trough, he attributes this directly to the intervention of God Almighty. Based on the dream that he refers
to with reference to Rachel and Leah, He knows why he has yielded
these flocks. He knows why there was all these
spotted ones and these speckled ones. It wasn't necessarily connected
to the particular rationale that he employed, but it was connected
to the God of heaven and earth. It is similar in many respects
to the Mandrakes back in the previous chapter in verse 14. Remember we said that Mandrakes
were believed to be an aphrodisiac and would have helped conception.
Well the text is conspicuous that the conception comes as
a result of God. Because Rachel takes the mandrakes
and continues three more years without any conception. Leah
doesn't have the mandrakes and God opens the womb. So the author
wants you to know that it wasn't the Mandrakes, but it was God.
In the same instance, the connection between chapters 30 and 31, we
see that. It's not necessarily the process
by which Jacob employed, but rather it is the sovereign God
behind the scene that is doing these particular things. So Laban
thought the plan sounded good. He thought this would be a good
plan in terms of him getting the most out of it. And then
notice what he does in terms of making it even more difficult
for Jacob. In verse 34, Laban said, 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. Then he put
three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the
rest of Laban's flock. So you see what he does. He stacks
the deck against Jacob. He takes all the speckled and
the spotted ones away. Now all he has are the blacks
and the whites. And so if it is the case that
there are no recessive genes in the next issue, then Jacob
is going to fail. It will be futile. In many respects,
what Laban is doing, as I said, is he's stacking the deck against
Jacob, which is ultimately stacking the deck against God. And as
we saw in Acts 12 on Sunday morning, sometimes the Lord decrees it
that way so that when the power is displayed, nobody can mistake
that it has come from God Almighty. You see it in 1 Kings 18, Elijah
on Mount Carmel. pouring the water on the sacrifice,
such that the fire of God comes down and consumes it. Well, the
deck was stacked. The bailiffs had home turf advantage. Everything was in their favor.
And the same thing in Acts chapter 12. Peter is chained or shackled
to two men, and then two men are guarding the door. So when
Peter escapes, you cannot mistake. It was the glory of God Most
High revealed. And the same is the case in the
riches and the prosperity that Jacob enjoys here. It's not his
shrewdness as a manager of flocks, though he probably was. I don't
want to take that away from him, but it's the case that God prospered
him the way that God prospered Abraham in Egypt and the way
that God prospered Isaac so that he was the envy of the Philistines
and the way that God is going to prosper Joseph. It's one of
the underlying themes with reference to this particular chapter or
section that the patriarch in a foreign land nevertheless comes
out enriched and blessed in a great way. because God is great and
God provides for his people even when they're in a place that
is to their disadvantage. So that's something we ought
to appreciate in terms of God's providence in this section. Now,
in terms of the management of the flock, so Laban's got all
of the speckled and the spotted away from the gene pool. He has
removed them far enough so that there can be no co-mingling,
and now it's up to Jacob with reference to the flock. And there's
two sections that Jacob engages in. First, the breeding of the
multicolored animals in verses 37 to 40. And then secondly,
the breeding of the stronger livestock in verses 41 to 42. But in verse 37 to 40, again,
this is a very puzzling section, just like the mandrakes in chapter
30 at verse 14. But here it says, 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. Now, you've probably read this
before, and you may have a better understanding of it than I do.
I know I have read it in the past. And as I came to it today,
I kind of worked through it. I think I got a little bit more
of an understanding, but really not in any sort of an exhaustive
way. So perhaps at the end we'll open
it up for discussion and if persons have sort of a better perspective
on flock management and how to yield multicolored, I'd love
to hear that. But this is what's happening
in this section. And then in verse 38, the rods
which he had peeled, he set before the flocks and 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. Then Jacob separated the lambs
and made the flocks face toward the street, 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." Now in terms
of the significance, John Calvin says it with a decided sort of
position, something I had never heard. I don't think that reflects,
I don't, reflects probably more poorly on me than good on Calvin. But he says, moreover, as it
respects physical causes, it is well known that the sight
of objects by the female has great effect on the form of the
fetus. I don't know. Did you guys all know that? I
had never heard that in my entire life, whether animal or human. Calvin says that what you see,
objects by the female has great effect on the form of the fetus.
Robert Alter, a modern commentator, makes this comment. He says,
at least on the surface, it appears to involve the age-old belief
that sensory impressions at the moment of conception affect the
embryo. Here the peeled rods with their
strips of white against the dark bark would impart the trait of
spots or brindle markings to the offspring conceived. He goes
on to quote a modern scholar, Yehuda Felix, an authority on
biblical flora and fauna, has proposed that the peeled rods
are only a dodge, a gesture to popular belief, while Jacob is
actually practicing sound principles of animal breeding. Now, that
may very well be the case. I don't know those sound principles
of animal breeding, but let's just suppose for a moment that
that's the case. I think Wenham nails it. Wenham
says this. One thing is clear. Jacob comprehensively
outwitted Laban and succeeded in breeding multicolored sheep
and goats from monochrome stock and so transferred them into
his ownership. What is more, he ensured that
the strong kids and lambs were his and the feeble were Laban's. I think that's obvious from the
passage, the particular procedure or the means or the significance
of the rods. Commentators will probably debate
that until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. But what is
clear is that he has outmaneuvered Laban. Laban goes into this because
he thinks it's a slam dunk. Jacob goes into this because
he knows he serves a sovereign God. And so Jacob goes about
his task, and the Lord blesses him. The Lord prospers him, and
the Lord brings this to bear, not only for the good of Jacob,
but also for the demise of Laban. I remember, I think it was last
week, Shirley, after the Bible study, said, does anything bad
ever happen to Laban? You know, she said, it just doesn't
seem fair. And I said, well, we're going
to deal with Laban next week. Laban was a rotten fellow. I
mean, Laban did mistreat Jacob severely and sorely. Remember
on the wedding night, behold, it was Leah. He thought he was
getting Rachel, and he woke up next to Leah, and that thus made
him or caused him to have to serve another seven years. We're talking a 20-year stint
with Laban. and he's basically a slave to
Laban. So that Laban gets some comeuppance
in this particular section is legit, and it shows us that this
world is governed by a moral governor. It's not always the
case. It's not a formula that every
bad deed is always repaid on this side of heaven. We know
it is on the day of judgment. Sometimes miserable sinners might
make it to the very end without having some sort of a serious
sanction on them. They'll get it in the age to
come, to be sure. But for the most part, God does
recompense the wicked on this side of heaven. He always does
in the age to come. But on this side of heaven, there
are those instances of those times. The psalmist Asaph reflects
on it in Psalm 73. God is good to Israel, but as
for me, my foot nearly slipped. Why? Because I saw the righteous
suffer and I saw the unrighteous flourish. And I didn't really
get this until I went into the sanctuary and understood that
Thou hast set them in slippery places." In other words, God
does not leave off the judgment of horrible, wicked people. And
so Laban is going to get his comeuppance in this particular
section. So that is precisely what happens
in terms of the speckled, in terms of the spotted. But then
as well, in verses 41 and 42, Jacob understood how he was able
to get the strong animals and Laban would end up with the feeble
ones. And then the summary statement
at the very end in verse 43, again, should suggest to us some
parallel with both Isaac before him, So that is the negotiation
with Laban. Jacob has come out ahead and that brings us secondly
to consider the flight from Laban. You see, Jacob does not want
to stick around. Jacob wants to go to Canaan. And so, in the first place, we
see the situation facing Jacob in verses 1 to 3. It's got Laban's
sons who are upset. Look at how Laban's sons respond
to this. 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.
He did not take away everything that was their father's. He simply
asked for nothing. He simply said, I will manage
the flock. God blessed him and God prospered
him. With reference to Laban, how does he respond to all this?
With an angry countenance. He's not happy with Jacob. It's
probably the case that he saw that he was bested by him, and
that he had definitely lost the service or the employ of a man
that was very valuable. But even most importantly, the
situation facing Jacob is the command of Yahweh. And you see
that in verse 3. Then the Lord said to Jacob,
return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will
be with you. That's what was communicated
by God to Jacob at Bethel in chapter 28. I will be with you. That is sort of, you know, the
overarching theme with reference to Jacob on this earth now as
he serves the living and the true God. Then Jacob calls to
his wives to discuss this with them. And it's not just the two
wives, but it's their maidservants as well. He wants all four of
the women, he wants the 11 children, he wants his possessions, and
he wants to be able to go. But he's in a precarious position
because Leah knows that she's not the favored one. So Leah
might get a bit squirrely and say, wait a minute, I'm going
to stay here with Laban because things are better with him. So
he's not sure if these girls are going to be willing to go
with him. This is them leaving their home, leaving their land,
leaving their country, leaving everything that is near and dear
to them. And so he has to convince them. He has to sort of prevail
upon them so that they will willingly come with him. And so he discusses
this with them in verses 4 to 13. And again, I think this shows
some maturity on his part. He doesn't say a word except
verse 2 in the previous section, and now he's taking the leadership.
Now he's calling the shots and now he's wanting to make sure
things are good for his family. Waltke said in the childbearing
scene, he was a pawn being brokered by his competing wives. Here
his full speech demonstrates that he has finally taken spiritual
leadership. He testifies to God's provision
and his willingness to undertake the difficult journey in obedience
to God's command. And it is a difficult journey.
This is a long way to go with a lot of stuff, and it's not
going to be easy, and he understands that, so he needs to have Rachel
and Leah on his side so that he can make this journey in fulfillment
of God's command. Notice that in verse 4 he meets
in the field. Why does he meet in the field?
Because he doesn't want to be overheard. He wants privacy.
He wants to be able to get away from Laban before Laban even
knows. Now later on, It says that Laban
was out shearing the sheep. What a blessed and providential
time for Jacob to be able to go. That was done away from the
normal home, it was done for an extended period of time, and
it was done with many men and great feasting. So that would
occupy them. That's why Laban doesn't hear
until the third day that Jacob is gone. So, it's just God's
providence working out and working in the midst of all of this,
and that's what Jacob rehearses now with reference to his wives. Notice the conduct of Laban and
the contrast with God in verses 5 to 9. He says that the countenance
of Laban is not favorable to me anymore. Now arguably, it
probably wasn't real favorable to him before, other than he
smiled because Jacob was his slave and he did whatever it
was that he was supposed to do. But in verse 5, he said to them,
I see your father's countenance, but it is not favorable toward
me as before. But then notice the contrast.
But the God of my father has been with me. See what he's doing?
Your father, my father. Your father, my father. Your
father, my father. We're better off with my father
because your father's got big problems. Your father has a countenance
that is angry toward me. Your father only wants to exploit
me and then later on the girls are prevailed upon and they recognize
in their own lives and in their own experiences. Their father
hasn't done them any favors either. Verse 6, he highlights the faithful
service of Jacob and the mistreatment by Laban. Then again, he contrasts
it with God. Verse 6, and you know that with
all my might I have served your father. Yet your father has deceived
me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to
hurt me. You see how Jacob has grown in
terms of the spiritual maturity? Bethel was a turning point. Genesis
chapter 28, for Jacob, was a turning point. I'm not suggesting he's
now spotlessly perfect and sinlessly perfect and there's no blemish
or problem in the man whatsoever, but he's owning publicly the
glory and the majesty and the excellence and power of God Almighty. And then notice in verses 8 and
9, he says, "...if he said thus, the speckled shall be your wages,
then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus, the streak
shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore streak." So what
is he saying? I've had the Midas touch. The
Lord God has blessed me in such a way that if that if Laban stipulated
this, that's precisely what happens. And I have benefited profusely,
not because of Laban and not because of my superior management
skills, but because of the living God. And then verse 9 he says,
so God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them
to me. So you see that retribution,
that recompense that is fitting and appropriate and due for a
man like Laban. Persons need to know that when
you mess around in God's world and you continue to violate and
transgress law, there is punishment, there is recompense, and Laban
is certainly going to find this out. So he tells them specifically
concerning the conduct of Laban and the contrast with God, and
then he rehearses this dream that he's had in verses 10 to
13. Verse 10, he says, and it happened at the time when the
flocks conceived that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and
behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked,
speckled, and gray-spotted. Then the angel of God spoke to
me in a dream, saying, Jacob, and I said, Here I am. And he
said, Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap
on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted, for I have
seen all that Laban is doing to you. In other words, God told
him, by way of this dream, that I'm going to prosper you, I am
going to benefit you, I am going to progress you in such a way
that it's going to leave Laban in the dust, and you then go
to Canaan, back to your country, back to the land, so that you
can function in the capacity that God called him to. And then
verse 13, he reiterates the Bethel experience. Verse 13, he says,
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where
you made a vow to me. Now arise, get out of this land
and return to the land of your family. As we understand it,
Jacob knew that God had purpose to bless and prosper him. It's
not that Jacob thought, you know, in magic, or he thought that
some hocus-pocus, or he thought that some scheme would necessarily
prosper. Now, there might have been something
to the rods that I just don't know, but he understands that
God is the power behind his prosperity. And then notice the response
of the girls, the women, I shouldn't call them girls, they were women
at this point, but in verses 14 to 16. You see why I said
this is a bit of a tough passage? Some of these narratives are
difficult to sort of jump in and find sort of practical application. I mean, what do we say? You know,
next time you breed flocks, use rods. That's just not an application
that one makes from a passage like this. And there's not a
lot of sort of narration in terms of how we should think about
everything along the way. As I mentioned last week, in
terms of principles of interpretation with Old Testament texts, more
so Old Testament than New Testament. It's not always the case that
the author gives us ethical commentary. It's not always the case that
the author says, okay, from this you learn how not to be this
and how to do this. Obviously, there's some things
that are conspicuous. We shouldn't be like Laban. We
should be faithful like Jacob and honor and obey God and that
sort of thing. Those are sort of obvious things,
but this is a strange scenario that we just don't face or something
that really we don't have any first-hand knowledge of. But
in terms of the overarching theme, the preservation of this family
so that it will ultimately yield the Lord Jesus Christ, that's
an overarching theme. The providence of God, overarching
theme. And we'll summarize that at the
end tonight with those concluding thoughts. But in terms of the
response of his wives, they realized concerning Laban. They were not
shocked. How dare you speak about our
daddy like that? How dare you talk about him?
He's so gracious. He's so generous. He's so benevolent.
That's not what they say at all. In verses 14 and 15, they say,
you know, you're absolutely right. He certainly hasn't benefited
us. Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, is there still
any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are
we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us and also
completely consumed our money. Go back for just a moment to
that place where we first meet Laban. in Genesis chapter 24. Genesis chapter 24 is when Abraham
sends a servant to find a bride for Isaac. Now this particular
servant brought 10 camels loaded with stuff. And this particular
servant was going to use that stuff as a dowry or bride price
and give it to the family. And Laban is savvy enough to
recognize that. If you look at Genesis chapter
24 at verse 29, this is when the servant is there, Rachel
is there, I'm sorry, Rebekah is there, and then in verse 29
it says, Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban
ran out to the man by the well. So it came to pass, when he saw
the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when
he heard the words of his sister Rebecca saying, thus the man
spoke to me, that he went to the man. And there he stood by
the camels at the well, and he said, Come in, O blessed of the
Lord. Why do you stand outside? For
I have prepared the house and a place for the camels. Now as
I said, the narrator doesn't tell us, okay, Laban was this
filthy money-grubbing wretch, but he does in the way that he
describes Laban. What does Laban look at initially
upon the scene? When he saw the nose ring and
the bracelets on his sister's wrist, and when he heard the
words of his sister Rebecca. That's the narrator's way of
giving us an ethical impression concerning Laban without telling
us, Okay, now I want to tell you that Laban was this horrible,
monstrous guy. He was a lover of filthy lucre.
He doesn't have to do that, because we see it demonstrated. And then
notice toward the end of this particular section, in verse
52, it came to pass when Abraham's servant heard their words, that
he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. Then the
servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and
clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things
to her brother and to her mother. Go back or go to Genesis chapter
29. Remember when Jacob goes to fetch a wife at Laban's house,
Jacob doesn't come with 10 camels of goods. Jacob comes with the
shirt on his back. Jacob isn't well-heeled and loaded
and ready to do business for a wife. And then notice in Genesis
chapter 29 at verse 13, that it came to pass when Laban heard
the report about Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet him
and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house.
So he told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, surely
you are my bone and my flesh. And he stayed with him for a
month. Well, that changes pretty drastically when Jacob wants
one of his daughters, and he makes him serve for seven years.
What happened to this my bone and my flesh? What happened to
this family connection? If that's the way you treat family,
you put them into seven years of slavery, I'd hate to see how
you treat your enemies. So Laban's not a good guy, and
we need to keep that in mind. When he gets what he gets, it
is fitting, it is right, and it is just. So back to the women
in chapter 31. They understand concerning Laban,
and then they submit to Jacob's God according to verse 16. For
all these riches which God has taken from our father are really
ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said
to you, do it." So he has won his wives, he is on his way to
Canaan, and this is when he begins the departure. Notice in verses
17 and 18, Jacob rose, set his sons and his wives on camels.
He carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which
he had gained. He acquired livestock which he
had gained in Pat and Aram. to go to his father Isaac in
the land of Canaan. That brings us to verse 19, and
Rachel god-napping. That's what it is. She god-naps. She takes the household idols.
It's an act of kidnapping, but it's the teraphim. It's these
household idols that were precious to Laban. Now, why does Rachel
do that? Hasn't she listened to Jacob
for 20 years? Well, it's tough to get idolatry out of the human
heart, for one thing, but as well, if Jacob is just now coming
into his own in terms of openly confessing the glory of God Most
High, perhaps Jacob wasn't always the best spiritual instructor.
And in terms of thinking that she's going to make this radical
break and come into and embrace monotheism, again, this isn't
the book of Romans. Things happened a bit different
here in these particular narratives. So she's got this desire to lay
hold of this household idol. Now here, it's obviously small
enough to put under the saddle. In 1 Samuel 19, they're large
enough to look like the form of a man. probably some sort
of an idol that persons would have at their houses for blessing
or for security or for prosperity within their own home. And some
have said, well, why did she take them? Some suggest she took
them so she could just deprive Laban of them. She knows what
her father's like, let's just get rid of it. Well, if that's
the case, as soon as they come to a body of water, she should
have pitched them into the river. She kept them for some reason.
It almost costs her her life when Laban does catch up to them. We'll see that, the Lord willing,
next week. Some suggest that she did it because she wanted
to continue to have this particular idol in her life. And this is
the way Calvin interprets it, and he makes this comment. He
says, that idolatry is almost innate in the human mind. I would
suggest it's more than almost. In his Institutes, he says that
the heart of man is like an idle factory. I think that's very
perceptive on the part of Calvin. But in this instance, he says
that idolatry is almost innate in the human mind. The very antiquity
of its origin bears witness. It is so firmly fixed there as
scarcely to be capable of being uprooted shows its obstinacy. But it is still more absurd that
not even Rachel could be healed of this contagion in so great
a length of time. She had often heard her husband
speaking of the true and genuine worship of God. Yet she is so
addicted to the corruptions which she has imbibed from her childhood
that she is ready to infect the land chosen by God with them.
She imagines that with her husband she is following God as her leader,
and at the same time takes with her the idols by which she would
subvert his worship." So it's a terrible thing that she does,
and as I said, it almost costs her life when Laban does catch
up to them. So again, this is the messiness
of life that we have in the book of Genesis. And then in verses
20 and 21, Jacob departs. As I mentioned earlier, this
was an opportune time while they're away shearing the sheep, while
they're away feasting, while they're at an extended time away,
This is when Jacob leaves. So he trusts in God, he believes
in providence, but he's also wise to utilize the mean. I mentioned this on Sunday. Just
because God is sovereign, or specifically because God is sovereign,
means that we should use means. It doesn't mean that, well, God's
sovereign, I'm just going to lay here on my couch, and if
God wants me in Canaan, he will transplant me there. That's not
what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to use the means
that God has ordained for His glory and for our welfare. So
Jacob exhibits savvy and wisdom in that he goes at that opportune
time so that Laban will not even know for a couple of days, and
that will give him time to at least get a bit of a lead on
Laban. Well, in terms of the providence
of God, as I said, I think the overarching themes in the book
as a whole is Messiah, Jesus Christ. Never forget the seed
when we consider these Old Testament narratives, specifically the
family of Abraham. But as well, the providence of
God is obvious. We see first the provision of
wealth to Jacob by God. the provision of wealth to Jacob
by God. Now, it doesn't mean that everybody
who's ever blessed by God is wealthy. In this particular context,
it was a sign of God's blessing. In this particular context, it
was a sign of God's provision to his people, and it was a way
by which he established that. But even more than that, in terms
of God's providence, was the presence of God with Jacob. Notice in 31.5, 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. You
see how that works? Jacob's life up to this point
was not easy. 14 years as a slave, I doubt
anybody would say it's easy, but nevertheless, he knows God
is with me. So he doesn't say, well, it's
only that God is with me when I'm amassing wealth, or it's
only that God is with me when I am marrying women, or it's
only that God is with me when my women are having babies. That's
not what he says. God has been with me. In the
14 years, in the six years, in the good and in the bad, God
is with us. That's the blessing of providence.
It's not just that we interpret providence as God's being with
us in the good things. God is there in the midst of
the difficult things. Look at the book of Lamentations.
Look at the Psalms of Lament. Look at that concept of weeping
and sorrow when hardship comes. Those weepers and sorrowers are
weeping and sorrowing into the bosom of God Himself. So they
know that God is with them, even in the midst of the affliction
and in the midst of the trial. This idea that God is there only
when I am enjoying benefit is unbiblical. God is with His people
every jot and tittle of the way, in the good times and in the
bad times, and Jacob evidences this. David evidences this in
the first part of his life and at the end of his life. What
does he say? He says, the Lord has delivered me from all of
my adversaries. Well, did David have an easy
life? Absolutely, positively not. I mean, it's an intriguing
thing. When you look at King David of
Israel, as soon as the Spirit comes upon him in 1 Samuel 16,
that's when life gets difficult. Up to that point, he's a shepherd.
He's dealing, you know, he's got to deal with lions and bears.
I guess that's not easy. But nevertheless, he doesn't
have to deal with the Philistines and with Saul and with the various
sorts of factions that were out trying to kill him. And yet he
sees and is able to rehearse that even in the midst of the
bad times, the Lord God has been there and he has delivered me.
As well, we see the protection of Jacob by God from Laban. Verse 7, yet your father has
deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow
him to hurt me. It's a beautiful statement, isn't
it? Again, 14 years as his slave, and yet God did not allow him
to hurt me. Jacob has a well-developed doctrine
of providence in this instance. But then that providence extends
as well, not only to the provision, the blessing, the protection
of Jacob, but also the judgment of God on Laban. Verse 9, chapter
31, so God has taken away the livestock of your father and
given them to me. That is reminiscent of that original
promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 at verse 3. God said,
I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who
curses you. And that's precisely what happens
to Laban who has cursed Jacob. God has now cursed him. In Psalm,
Gordon Wenham says, thus both in itself and as part of the
larger patriarchal story, this narrative makes points that were
ever relevant in the life of the nation. One that God is not
frustrated by the cheat, that justice will finally be seen
to be done, and that His promises to His people, here personified
in Jacob, of land protection and blessing to the nations,
will, despite all opposition, eventually triumph. And this
would be a great encouragement because it does foreshadow what's
going to happen later in the history of the nation. When they
are slaves in Egypt, does Pharaoh want to let them go? Does Pharaoh
want to see them go out into the wilderness to worship Yahweh?
Pharaoh is dead set against that because he's got a slave labor
force. He does everything he can in his power to try to crush
that rebellion and try to keep them in his stable. And yet God
is able to break the power of that oppressor just like God
is able to break the power of this oppressive Laban. So these
are lessons that we should hopefully be encouraged by as we consider
these Jacob narratives. Well, let's close on a word of
prayer. Our Father, we thank you for your word and we thank
you for your providence, as it's so clearly revealed in this section
of scripture. We thank you for your faithfulness
and your kindness to your people, for the fact that you are with
us, that you never leave us, you never forsake us, that even
in the difficulties and in the affliction and in the trial,
you are right there with us. As the psalmist said, even though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are
with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. God, I pray
that this would be a great help to us as we face the various
things we face in our lives, that you would grant us grace
and the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may
persevere in a way that brings glory and honor to you. And we
ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
