When we left our friend Jacob, he had gotten married and had lots and lots of children. By this time, he has been working for his uncle Laban for 20 years. He has at least 12 children, though we know he has daughters that the Bible doesn’t tell us about (Gen 37:35). And, as we talked about before, his uncle was treating him like a hired hand rather than like family. There is an old saying, “You’ll never get rich working for the man,” and this is how it was for Jacob. Though he was working hard and increasing Laban’s wealth, he was not establishing any wealth of his own.
Before we get started, there is a cultural thing you need to understand. Rachel has just given birth. Before that happened, it would not have been appropriate for Jacob to move her away from her family and Laban would probably not have permitted it. It was immensely important, in those days, for women to bear children for their husbands, and since Rachel had not, Jacob would have been perfectly within his rights to divorce her. Again, this is something that would have been acceptable in their culture, even though this would not have been acceptable to God. Laban would not have allowed Jacob to move away with her as her security would then have been at great risk. But now, she has had a child, and Jacob is in a different position.
Read Jacob’s request to Laban in verses 25-26. He wants to go home. He has been away for a long time. He asks only for what is his. He does not ask Laban for anything additional, and he reminds Laban how hard he has worked for him through the years.
Read Laban’s reply in verses 27-28. Laban doesn’t want him to go. He has been taking advantage of Jacob for years and has prospered because of it (I Tim 6:10). He tells Jacob that he has learned, through experience (KJV)/divination (NIV), that God has prospered him because of Jacob’s work. In the Bible, divination is the strictly forbidden practice of seeking supernatural knowledge, often through the occult, using things like astrology or fortune-telling (Deut 18:10, Lev 19:31). The Bible warns against all occult practices, repeatedly, including witchcraft, etc. We must be careful to never dabble in these. These practices come from Satan and are almost as old as the earth itself. No good can ever come of consorting with demons. Laban would have been exposed to these things through dabbling in pagan idol worship which was so prevalent at the time.
We also see, at this point in the story, that Laban offers to pay Jacob a wage. This is something he should have done to begin with, but now he does it because he is trying to find a way to get him to stay. Do not be fooled that he is intending to begin treating Jacob honestly and fairly.
In verses 29-30, Jacob makes his case. I believe that he is trying to work with Laban here. He reminds Laban of how small his flocks were at the beginning and of how much the Lord has increased them during the time of his employment, though he gives credit to God and not to himself. He calls to Laban’s attention the fact that it is time that he builds some equity for his own family also. God calls a man to provide for his own family (I Tim 5:8), and I believe that Jacob is right for wanting to do this.
Verses 31-33 tell us of the plan that Jacob proposes to Laban. He suggests dividing the herd. All the speckled and or spotted goats and dark lambs (heterozygotes) will belong to Jacob. All the white sheep and black goats (homozygotes) will belong to Laban. In other words, it was Laban’s goat unless its name could be called ‘spot’ and it was Laban’s sheep unless it were dark. Let’s talk about Biology for a moment. If two homozygotes produce an offspring, it’s going to be the same as the parent, a homozygote. However, if two heterozygotes, or the combination of a heterozygote and a homozygote produce an offspring, it can be either one. So… Jacob is clearly giving Laban the advantage here. Jacob tells Laban that if he finds a non-spotted goat or white sheep in Jacob’s herd, he will know that it is stolen.
In verses 34-36, Laban agrees to these wages. Laban then separates his flocks, giving the heterozygotes to his own sons to tend. On top of that, he puts a three-day journey between the two herds. Jacob is now only tending to Laban’s homozygotes. Can you see how Laban is trying to not play fair? At this point, Jacob has no sheep or goats of his own. Laban has removed all the heterozygotes from the flock that Jacob is tending, leaving Jacob with only homozygotes to tend. Any sheep that breed under Jacob’s care would have been homozygotes and two homozygotes can only produce another homozygote. Laban is preventing any new heterozygotes (Jacob’s wages) from occurring, thus ensuring that he will not have to give Jacob any wages.
I know what you’re thinking here. Laban and Jacob would not have known anything about genetics and zygotes. But let me tell you what I’m thinking here. Jacob and Laban were shepherds by profession. They had spent most of their lives among the sheep and the goats. While they may not have understood genetics, you can be sure that they knew that white sheep and dark goats were way more common than black sheep and spotted goats. And I am sure that they also knew that two white sheep always produced white children and spotted goats could produce either dark goats OR spotted goats. Biology lessons notwithstanding, they knew what they were doing.
Verses 37-40 tell us what Jacob does in response to Laban’s fickleness. Scientific understanding at that time being what it was, perhaps Jacob believed that this might work. I don’t know, but verse 30 does tell us that Jacob was aware of God’s provision. We laugh at this plan now, but that is what Jacob did. And it worked!?! How can this be (Psalm 37:28)? I believe that God intervened directly. Remember God’s covenant promises? At Jacob’s first theophany (Gen 28:13-15), God promised Jacob to return him to Canaan. Jacob would need a means to support his family when he gets there. Also, God promised to ‘keep him’ (KJV)/’watch over him’ (NIV). God keeps His promises.
Jacob goes a step further in verses 41-43. He only wants the offspring of the stronger animals, and he decides that Laban can have the offspring of the weaker animals. Again, our modern understanding of science tells us that Jacob’s actions probably did not cause this to occur. It had to be God’s intervention. But I will say this… God had made promises to Jacob to watch over him, yet Jacob felt the need to help God along in this matter. Did he not trust in God’s abilities? Remember, Sarah and Abraham took matters into their own hands when they thought they had to help God keep His promise (Gen 18:14). Are we ever guilty of this?
God does not need our help. We must turn to Him when facing unfair work situations. Is there any problem in your workplace that is beyond God’s abilities? Whenever you are tempted to think so, remember how God took care of Jacob in an unfair work situation. Verse 43 tells us that God made Jacob extremely prosperous and that he was able to buy for himself many cattle, slaves, camels and donkeys*. God is able to meet our needs, as well, and to care for us in whatever situation we find ourselves (Psalm 34:7)
*Please note that the Bible is not condoning slavery here. It is simply acknowledging its existence in the economic system at that time.
Responding to God: Praise God and thank Him for the wealth and care that He has given you. Ask Him for faith to trust Him to always care for you and meet your needs. Pray that He will allow you to always have the means to provide for your family. Ask Him to help with any situations where you feel someone is taking advantage of you and pray for His wisdom. Confess any situations where you are treating someone unfairly. If you are involved in or have any connection with occult practices, seek God’s forgiveness immediately and ask His protection from the evil one.
Further Research: On the internet, search for ‘Bible on occult’ or ‘Bible on divination’.
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