God Blesses Jacob – Genesis 30:25-43

We see in this passage that Jacob’s brother-in-law sought information through divination, indicating he was not a Yahweh worshiper.  The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary explains divination:  “Divination is divided into categories labeled “inspired” (divine communication using a human intermediary, e.g., prophecy, dreams) or “deductive” (divine communication through events and phenomena—either provoked situations, such as lots or extispicy using animal entrails, or passive, such as celestial observation). Given Laban’s report of the result of the divination, it is most likely that he consulted an expert in extispicy. In this procedure, a binary (yes/no) question is posed and then the specialist slaughters an animal and examines the entrails (usually the liver) for indications that their experience dictates as being positive or negative. To get the information Laban conveys, he must have asked whether Jacob’s God was the one bringing prosperity.”

[25] As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. [26] Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” [27] But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you. [28] Name your wages, and I will give it.” [29] Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. [30] For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” [31] He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: [32] let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. [33] So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” [34] Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” [35] But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. [36] And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

[37] Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. [38] He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, [39] the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. [40] And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. [41] Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, [42] but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. [43] Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys. (Genesis 30:25–43, ESV)

We witness here the battle of the cheaters.  Jacob has fulfilled his work for Laban for the bride prices of his wives and is now ready to work on his own, but Laban does not want him to leave his employ because he has learned through divination that Yahweh is the one who has blessed him because of Jacob.  He wants Jacob to continue working for him but he pay Jacob wages of flocks.  Sheep are normally white and goats are normally black, so Jacob wants payment in only the more rare black sheep and speckled and spotted goats.  But Laban separates these kinds of sheep and goats from his herds so they cannot breed with his white sheep and black goats and increase Jacob’s wages.  Walton notes: “Ancient shepherd contracts that worked on the principle of payment from the flock usually provided for a share of between 10 and 20 percent as well as a percentage of the wool and milk by-products. Dark and spotted animals usually represented a smaller proportion than that. The passage thereby suggests that Laban has the better end of the deal.”

Jacob is on to Laban and comes up with a way, in his mind, of making his flocks breed more black sheep and speckled goats.  We know from the way genetics works that his method is not the real source of such an increase.  But God has promised Jacob that He would prosper him and bless others through him, and God has done so with giving Jacob children and now does so with giving him wealth.  Later, when Jacob has left Haran and Laban’s employ, he will acknowledge that it was Yahweh who caused his flocks to multiply, not his technique (Genesis 31:10-13).

What we must learn from this account is that God is blessing Jacob despite his manipulations, not because of them.  Jacob, like us, is too uncertain of God’s dependability to really trust Him, and resorts, instead, to his own schemes and strategies.  He really doesn’t believe in God as he should.