Gen. 29-30: “Jacob Is Tricked
Into Working For Both Leah And Rachael For Wives / God Blesses Jacob Not Only
With Sons But With Cattle”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study
we looked at chapters 27-28 of Genesis.
1.1.1. Knowing that Isaac was planning to give his blessing of
dominance and the Abrahamic covenant promises to Esau instead of Jacob (to whom
it rightly belonged), Rebekah successfully conspired along with Jacob to trick
Isaac into giving his blessing instead to Jacob.
1.1.2. When Esau returned and realized that his blessing has
been stolen by his brother he receives a minimal blessing from his father but
determined to kill his brother Jacob for deceiving him in this way.
1.1.3. When Rebekah realized Esau was planning to kill Jacob
she told Jacob he must flee to her people in
1.1.4. Jacob fled to his mother’s people in Haran of
Mesopotamia but on the way the Lord appeared to him in a vision of a ladder
that went up to the sky (symbolizing access to God through the Messiah to come)
and then conferred upon him the Abrahamic covenant promises.
1.2.
In our study
today, we are going to look at chapters 29-30 of Genesis.
1.2.1. We are going to see how that Jacob does indeed meet up
with the family of his mother Rebekah when he arrives in
1.2.2. Jacob is accepted by Laban as family and stays with
Laban’s family for a month. At the end
of the month Laban asks him what it will take in wages for him to stay and
attend Laban’s herds. Jacob has fallen
in love with Rachel, so he says that he will work for 7 years to purchase
Rachel.
1.2.3. At the end of the 7 years when Jacob asks for Rachel
to be his wife, Laban arranges the marriage.
However, Laban proves to be a bigger conniver than Jacob and tricks
him. Instead of giving Rachel to Jacob
as a wife he instead gives him Leah as his bride and because of her veil and
the darkness of night, Jacob doesn’t realize that he has been duped until the
morning and he has consummated his marriage.
1.2.3.1.There is a popular saying in our world today, “what
goes around comes around.” The Bible
says this, “what a man sows that shall he also reap.” Jacob the supplanter had tricked his brother
out of his blessing, and now the Lord leads him to a man that is more than his
match who tricks him many times during the 20 years of his stay in
1.2.4. When Jacob confronts Laban about deceiving him, Laban
agrees to give him Rachel after the week of marriage celebration if Jacob shall
work for him another 7 years. Jacob
agrees.
1.2.5. We will see in this study how that polygamy causes
much problem and strife in families. All
in all, Jacob has 11 sons and a daughter through Leah and Rachel and the
concubines that each provide for him to bear children with, but we will look at
all of the strife and contention that occurred in Jacob’s family because of
polygamy.
1.2.6. I have recently watched some of the documentaries of
the polygamist Mormon families in
1.2.7. We have seen scheming and conniving amongst God’s
people before in our study, but this study provides more of this than any we
have seen before. Here, we will see that
everyone simply learned to wait upon the Lord in prayer that none of this
scheming would have occurred.
1.2.8. After this seven years of working for Rachel, Jacob
wants to take his family of 11 sons and a daughter and leave for the land of
promise, but Laban talks him into working for cattle, goats, and sheep in a
unique business arrangement conceived by Jacob.
Jacob’s herds increase under this arrangement and he grows a huge herd
of cattle, goats, and sheep such that he has to hire lots of help.
2.
VS 29:1-8 - “1
Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the
east. 2 He looked, and saw a well
in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for
from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well
was large. 3 When all the flocks were
gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and
water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well. 4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you
from?” And they said, “We are from
2.1.
Evidently, sheep
were only to be watered at this well at one hour during the day, and it took a few
people’s strength to roll the stone from off of the well so that water could be
drawn from it.
2.2.
Jacob tries to
get these shepherds to water their flocks so that he can be alone with Rachel
when she gets to the well, but they tell him that they cannot do this because
all of the flocks had to be watered at the same time so they must wait until
all of the flocks arrived.
3.
VS 29:9-11 - “9
While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep,
for she was a shepherdess. 10
When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the
sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from
the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and
wept.” - Rachel comes to the well with
her sheep and when Jacob sees her he gets up and rolls the stone from off of
the mouth of the well by himself and then water’s Laban’s flock which she has
brought, then he kisses Rachel and begins to cry out loudly
3.1.
Perhaps inspired
because of seeing this Rachel who is of own blood finally after he has traveled
such a long way, or possibly trying to impress Rachel a potential candidate for
a wife, Jacob demonstrates great strength and rolls the stone off of the well
all by himself.
3.2.
After watering
her sheep, Jacob further surprises Rachel by coming up to her and like a long
lost member of the family kisses her, and then begins to wail loudly.
3.3.
We see soon that Jacob
is in love with Rachel, and I believe that really this was love at first sight
for Jacob in regard to Rachel. He loved
her and determined that he wanted her to be his wife the very first time that
he set eyes on her.
4.
VS 29:12-14 - “12
Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was
Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father. 13 So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s
son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his
house. Then he related to Laban all these things. 14 Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my
flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.” - When Jacob
tells Rachel that he is a relative of her father, she runs to her home and
tells her father about meeting him, then Laban runs to meet Jacob and embraces
him and kisses him, bringing him into the house, after which Jacob tells the
family the many things that had gone on with him, Rebekah and Isaac, and Esau,
and then Laban tells Jacob that he his bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh,
and Jacob stays with them a month
4.1.
It has been
perhaps as long as 100 years since Rebekah left home to go and be the wife of
Israac. We get the feeling that no news
had been passed in either direction during this time. Jacob’s arrival then was really big news.
4.2.
Upon hearing that
this man is Isaac and Rebekah’s son, Rachel immediately runs to tell her father
Laban and the family about him. Then,
when Laban hears this news, this old codger also runs, runs to meet Jacob and welcome
him to his home.
4.3.
Jacob is welcomed
as true family (‘my bone and my flesh’) and stays with Laban’s family
for a month.
4.4.
Evidently during
this month of staying with Laban, Jacob has been tending Laban’s flock, and
probably doing so in order to stay close to Rachel who has become the love of
his life.
4.5.
Now, Laban
realizes that Jacob needs some source of income and also that Jacob should not
be working for nothing in return.
5.
VS 29:15-20 - “15
Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore
serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older
was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was
beautiful of form and face. 18
Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your
younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better
that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they
seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.” - Laban asks Jacob to name his wage to work for
him tending his flow, because Jacob loved Rachel he asks if his wage might be
to work 7 years for Rachel to be his wife, and Laban agrees, and the seven
years of working fly by for Jacob
5.1.
We can see here
that Jacob had been in love with Rachel at first sight. He asks for Rachel’s hand in marriage on this
first meeting with Laban’s family.
5.2.
Laban was more of
a conniver than Jacob was and by asking Jacob to name his wage rather than
committing something to Jacob himself for his wage, Laban is scheming all along
to take advantage of Jacob any way he can.
5.3.
Laban agrees to
have Jacob work for seven years for Rachel, and notice that because of Jacob’s
great love for Rachel that those seven years of work for Jacob pass just like
they were but a mere few days. I wonder
how many of us men would have been willing to work for seven years with no pay
in order to be given the wife that we have?
6.
VS 29:21-29 - “21
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is
completed, that I may go in to her.” 22 Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.
23 Now in the evening he
took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to
her. 24 Laban also gave his maid
Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. 25 So it came about in the morning that, behold, it
was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not
for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our
place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. 27 “Complete the week of this one, and we will give
you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another
seven years.” 28 Jacob did so and
completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. 29 Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter
Rachel as her maid.” - After his
seven years of working for Laban to receive Rachel as a wife, Jacob asks Laban
to give her as his wife, Laban agrees but on the wedding night he gives Leah
instead to Jacob and because of her veil and the darkness Jacob does not
realize that he has been deceived until morning, then when he finally confronts
Laban about his deception Laban tells Jacob that in a week he can take Rachel
also if Jacob agrees to work for him for another 7 years
6.1.
Here we see the
deceiver being deceived. Jacob had
worked hard for 7 years for the love of his life, and now after the festive
night when his bride has been veiled and in which he has already consummated
his marriage, he finds out that Laban has given him his older daughter instead
of Rachel.
6.2.
Laban knew that
since Jacob was the principled guy that he was that he would be obligated to
stay with Leah after he had consummated his marriage with her. Therefore, Laban was willing to pull off this
deception.
6.3.
Laban had been
concerned that his eldest daughter never find a man for a husband, and it was
the custom of the peoples in that area to marry off an older sister before the
younger, therefore he schemes to trick Jacob into marrying Leah.
6.4.
There were
certainly many more story lines being played out on this night.
6.4.1. Rachel was certainly not happy in being forced by her
father to stay at home while her sister was married to the man she loved, and
where was she on this night?
6.4.2. Leah for her part knew that she was deceiving Jacob
and she must have wondered if the man whom she would wake up with in the
morning would continue to honor the marriage covenant. She must have been concerned that she would
be married to a man who didn’t love her.
6.4.3. Jacob felt that he was being forced against his will
be a polygamist, something that was probably not what he wanted for his
life. His grandfather Abraham had been a
polygamist after the death of Sarah, and his brother Esau had married two
wives, but Jacob really had desired to share his life with just one woman. Now, he realized that if he wanted to have
the love of his life Rachel, that because he had slept with Leah he would now
have to have Leah as a wife in addition to Rachel.
7.
VS 29:30-35 - “30
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more
than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years. 31 Now the Lord
saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 Leah conceived and bore a son and named him
Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord
has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” 33 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.” So she named him
Simeon. 34 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 he was named Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son and said,
“This time I will praise the Lord.”
Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.” - Jacob accepted Rachel also to be his wife and
they had marital intercourse as Jacob worked another 7 years for Rachel, but
during this time it was Leah who bore four sons to Jacob before she stopped
bearing children: Reuben, Simeon, Levi,
and Judah
7.1.
Jacob loved
Rachel more than Leah, yet he still shared the bed of both women.
7.2.
The Lord had
compassion upon Leah because she was not loved by Jacob and thus she was given
4 sons from the Lord.
7.3.
After 4 sons Leah
could bear no more children at this point.
7.4.
In the Hebrew
here are the meanings of each of these names:
7.4.1. Reuben = “behold a son.”
7.4.2. Simeon or Shimeon = “heard.”
7.4.3. Levi = “joined to.”
7.4.4.
8.
VS 30:1-2 - “1
Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of
her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” 2 Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he
said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the
womb?”” - Rachel was jealous of Leah
because of the children in which she was able to bear to Jacob and she told
Jacob to give her children or she would die, but to this Jacob replied that he
was not God, the One who had purposely withheld her from child-bearing
8.1.
In this day it
was a great disgrace and sorrow for a woman not to be able to bear children,
and being childless to this point had brought Rachel to the point of
desperation. In her frustration Rachel
tells Jacob to either giver her a child or she would die.
8.2.
Rachel’s
desperate and irrational request by Jacob caused him to be angry because he
knew that he was not able to do what only God is able to do, to cause a child
to be conceived.
8.3.
Jacob fires back
in anger at Rachel asking her if she thought that he was God that he could do
such a thing. Then, he heaps judgment
upon Rachel inferring that there must be some sort of sin in her life that has
caused God to curse her womb and keep her from having children.
8.3.1. Judging and condemning each other is something that
husbands and wives and people in general should never do. We are not God and thus we cannot be someone
else’s judge, nor do we know what God has done or not done something in
someone’s life.
9.
VS 30:3-8 - “3
She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my
knees, that through her I too may have children.” 4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and
Jacob went in to her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore
Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God
has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.”
Therefore she named him Dan. 7
Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have
wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him
Naphtali.” - Rachel gives
Jacob her maid Bilhah to be a concubine to him and conceive children for her, and
Bilhah gives birth to Dan and Naphtali
9.1.
In desperation,
Rachel does what Sarah had done previously when she tried to help God out in
order to receive the child of promise and gave her maid Hagar to Abraham, to
whom then Ishmael was born. She gives
her maid Bilhah to Jacob as a concubine.
Rachel should have thought about the heartache that occurred with
Abraham and Sarah, and the family that had to separate because of the birth of
Ishmael to Hagar.
9.2.
Even in our day
we often hear about people who cannot bear children contracting to use a
surrogate mother to bear their children.
Then, they are surprised when the biological mother sues to have custody
of the child that she is birthed.
Resorting to a surrogate mother is destined to complicate a family’s life.
9.3.
Jacob at this
point seems to be more interested in appeasing Rachel than in thinking clearly
about what he was doing. He takes Bilhah
as yet a third wife, though a concubine, and she immediately conceives two
children, Dan and Napthali.
9.4.
In the Hebrew
here are the meanings of each of these names of the sons through Bilhah,
Rachel’s maid, and notice that these names indicate Rachel’s feelings of
vindication by the Lord and wrestling with the Lord for children to be born:
9.4.1. Dan = “a judge.”
9.4.2. Naphtali = “wrestling.”
9.5.
Who was the tribe
that the children of
10.
VS 30:9-13 - “9
When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and
gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10
Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him
Gad. 12 Leah’s maid Zilpah bore
Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “Happy am
I! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.” - Leah realized she had stopped bearing
children and that Rachel had given her maid to Jacob and obtained two sons
through her, so she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a concubine, and Zilpah
gives birth to Gad and Asher
10.1. Now we see that Leah having seen Rachel’s success in using
her maid to gain children by Jacob, decides that since she is no longer bearing
children that she will giver her maid Zilpah to Abraham as a concubine, and the
result was that to her were born Gad and Asher.
10.2. In the Hebrew here are the meanings of each of these
names of the sons and how that they indicate Leah’s feelings of raising a bunch
of sons to Jacob and being happy that now perhaps she shall win the heart of
her husband:
10.2.1.Gad = “troop.”
10.2.2.Asher = “happy.”
11.
VS 30:14-21 - “14
Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the
field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please
give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you
to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel
said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s
mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came in from
the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must
come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay
with her that night. 17 God gave heed to Leah,
and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my wages because
I gave my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19 Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to
Jacob. 20 Then Leah said, “God has
endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have
borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.” - Rachel barters with Leah for some mandrakes
which Leah’s son, Ruben, found and was bringing home, and in return Leah is
able to have marital relations with Jacob, then from this she conceives a son
in Issachar, and later conceives a son in Zebulun
11.1. Rachel had never been able to have children to Jacob
and this kept on eating at her even though her maid bilhah had given birth to
two sons to Jacob, and she finds out that Reuben had found some mandrakes in
the field, and she desperately wanted these. Mandrakes were used as an aphrodisiac in that
day, among other things, and Rachel hopes that by getting those herself she
might be able to finally give birth to children for Jacob.
11.2. Rachel should have gone to the Lord in prayer for the
ability to conceived instead of helping Him out here. Jacob hadn’t slept with Leah for quite a
while, but Rachel sells her husband to her sister Leah for the night so that
she might purchase these mandrakes from her.
The result didn’t bring Rachel any children and ended up taking her
husband farther away from her as Leah now conceived and gave birth to Issachar
and then later to Zebulun.
11.3. In the Hebrew here are the meanings of each of these
names of the sons:
11.3.1.Issachar = “there is recompense.”
11.3.2.Zebulun = “exalted.”
11.4. The statistical odds of having 11 sons before a single
daughter is born were very slim, but this is what happened for Jacob. The name of the daughter born to Leah means
in the Greek: Dinah = “judgment.”
12.
VS 30:22-24 - “22
Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. 23 So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has
taken away my reproach.” 24 She named him Joseph,
saying, “May the Lord give me
another son.”” - God answers
Rachel’s prayers and allows her to conceive a son in Joseph
12.1. Finally, we learn that Rachel has indeed now gone to
the Lord and waited on Him in prayer for the Lord remembers her and opens her
womb and she gives birth to Joseph. The
Lord promises many things to those who wait upon Him in Isaiah 40:31, “31 Yet those who wait for
the Lord Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get
tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
12.2. After giving birth to Joseph, Rachel asks the Lord to
yet give her another son to Jacob.
12.3. The Hebrew name of the son born to Rachel means: Joseph = “Jehovah has added.” I believe that Joseph becomes the most
outstanding of the sons of Jacob’s sons later in this book for after he is sold
into slavery and ends up in
12.3.1.Churches need to learn to wait upon the Lord to guide,
grow and bless them and refuse to get involved in all of the latest church
growth schemes that come along and bypass how the Lord wants to work mightily
in their midst.
13.
VS 30:25-36 - “25
Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban,
“Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. 26 “Give me my wives and my children for whom
I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I
have rendered you.” 27 But Laban said to him,
“If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” 28 He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give
it.” 29 But he said to him, “You
yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. 30 “For you had little before I came and it has
increased to a multitude, and the Lord
has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own
household also?” 31 So he said, “What shall I
give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this
one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: 32 let me pass through your entire flock today,
removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among
the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall
be my wages. 33 “So my honesty will
answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not
speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with
me, will be considered stolen.” 34
Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.” 35 So he removed on that day the striped and spotted
male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white
in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of
his sons. 36 And he put a distance
of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of
Laban’s flocks.” - Jacob seeks
to now move with his family back to the land of Canaan but Laban talks him into
staying with him and working and again allows Jacob to set his wages, Jacob agrees
and tells Laban that only the spotted cattle, goats, and sheep that will now be
born from Laban’s solid colored stock shall be his pay, and Laban agrees
13.1. Jacob had now worked his 14 years to purchase both
Leah and Rachel as wives. He now also
had 11 sons and wanted to go back to the land of promise in
13.2. Laban again allows Jacob to name his wages knowing
that by doing so he can wiggle out of the agreement. Laban was expecting Jacob to ask for part of
the herd to be his own, however Jacob desires to be more than upright in his
dealing with Laban so he in faith in the Lord who was blessing him, tells Laban
that for his wages he will only take new cattle, goats and sheep that are born
with speckles or spots, and further that they only be those of Laban’s flock
who are born of parents that are of a solid color.
13.3. Laban agreed to Jacob’s deal because in his mind he
saw that Jacob was going to lose big time in this agreement, but he also was
suspicious of Jacob’s motives. So, he
removed from the entire herd all of the cattle, goats, and sheep all of those
that were speckled and put them in the care of his sons who were three days
journey away from Jacob and his herds.
Now, he could be sure that any spotted or speckled livestock would be
from sold-colored parents.
14.
VS 30:37-43 - “37
Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled
white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods. 38 He set the rods which he had peeled in front of
the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the
flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks
brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks
face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his
own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were
mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so
that they might mate by the rods; 42 but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in;
so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had
large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.” - Jacob schemes as to how cause the solid color
stock of Laban’s herd to produce striped, speckled, and spotted animals and the
Lord blesses the herd of Jacob and expands it greatly
14.1. Jacob begins to scheme now. There has been much speculation about what
the white poles that Jacob put up in front of the flocks and in their watering
troughs did, if anything, in helping the herds to produce the spotted and
speckled animals.
14.1.1.Jacob had been a herder now virtually his entire life
of 90+ years, and he had observed many things about animals. Laban might not have realized that animals
that were solid in color could sometimes produce offspring that were spotted
and speckled. These were recessive genes
for many of the solid color animals, so producing speckled and spotted
offspring does indeed happen sometimes even today.
14.1.2.Further, animal husbandry people have concluded that
for livestock that white stripes act sort of like an aphrodisiac for them. This does not however explain how that a
large number of the births ended up being spotted and speckled animals.
14.1.3.We think that looking at the white stripes could not
have caused the genetic selections of spotted and speckled animals when they
mated, yet some have speculated that Jacob may have understood through
observation some things that those in animal husbandry and genetics research
have not yet discovered about why these white stripes worked.
14.2. Notice also that the weaker animals of the herd were
attended by Jacob separately and he did not put any of these white striped
poles in front of them and thus discouraged them from mating as frequently as
the rest of the animals. The weaker
animas were thus weaned out.
15.
CONCLUSIONS:
15.1. We would have expected the heritage of the patriarchs to
be much cleaner and sanitary than the mess that we see in their lives, as this
story of the polygamis family of Jacob reveals.
But, this does encourage us that God blesses us His people in spite of
the fact that often we mess up and are unfaithful to unbelieving. God’s grace is just amazing, isn’t it?
15.2. Learn to wait upon the Lord in prayer rather than
scheme.
15.3. Realize that what you sow you shall also reap.