Are you ready to change?
To step into your Divine Destiny?
To be who God’s called you to be?
Let’s follow Jacob as he steps from Divine Discipline to
Divine Destiny.
25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph,
that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place
and to my country.
My own place, my country.
Jacob had been gone for over 14 years, he had 4 wives and 11
kids, in the land of Haron, yet, this place was not his home.
The land God had promised his father Isaac, and his
grandfather Abraham, the land God had promised him, that, was his home,
and that’s where he wanted to go.
Now Rachel had born a child, now no one would go home barren.
Now the Bride Prices are paid, it’s time to go, home.
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.”
Laban, I paid you, a huge Bride Price, twice, you know
it’s true.
So, let’s say our goodbyes, it’s time for me to go.
27 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.” 28 Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
Learned by experience: a word that means divination.
Lord: Yah·weh, proper name of the God of
Israel.
Laban is saying, I’ve learned by my god, that your God, is
blessing me.
But even a blind man could see the blessing of the Lord upon
Jacob, and thus, Laban was blessed because of that.
In Christ You also are blessed, and you are blessed to be a
blessing.
And if
you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to
the promise. Galatians 3:29.
29 So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have
served you and how your livestock has been with me. 30 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?”
Notice, Laban is the one who brought up the fact that he was
blessed because of God’s blessing on Jacob.
So, Jacob wasn’t being arrogant or bragging, he was simply
agreeing to the obvious Truth of God’s blessing, and responding to Laban.
Plus, Jacob points to his own work ethic, you know how
I worked and how I took care of your flocks. He didn’t just put in the
time, he worked hard, he did a good job.
That’s how Christians should be. The wisest, hardest, most honest,
reliable, conscientious workers.
That’s what Jacob did, and God gave the increase.
Laban couldn’t deny it.
However, dear uncle/father-in-law, Laban, it’s been fun but
the time has come, for me to tend to my own family, build my own flock, provide
for my own house.
That’s not selfish; it’s having proper priorities, and being
responsible.
31 So he said, “What shall I give you?”
Laban was persistent.
Jacob was such an asset.
So, Laban says it again, name your price.
Do you remember when Laban asked Jacob a similar question about
14 years earlier? Jacob had only been in Haran for about a month.
Back then, Jacob didn’t ask for wages but offered to work 7
years for Rachel’s hand in marriage; and ended up working 14 years instead.
Now, Laban asks again, “What shall I give you?”
31…And Jacob
said, “You shall not give me anything.
You shall give me... nothing.
Laban was probably grinning ear to ear.
But Jacob wasn’t done.
If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and
keep your flocks: 32 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.
You keep the majority, all solid colored, pure white and
pretty, I’ll take the few, messy, speckled and spotty.
They shall be my wages.
33 So my righteousness will answer for me in time to
come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not
speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be
considered stolen, if it is with me.”
A fool proof way to distinguish what belongs to who.
34 And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your
word!”
It appears, once again, Jacob’s not a very good negotiator.
Like he’s getting the short end of the stick.
That’s why Laban’s quick to shake Jacob’s hand and seal the
deal.
However, Jacob knows something Laban doesn’t. God told Jacob a little secret. 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. Genesis 31:12.
That’s one of the benefits of walking with God.
Proverbs 3:32; For the perverse person is
an abomination to the LORD, But His secret counsel is with the upright.
So, Jacob trusted God and bet his wages on God’s Word.
That’s a bet he’s sure to win, but not without a fight.
35 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. 36 Then he put three days’ journey
between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Jacob’s deal was (verse 32): 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.
Instead, Laban, passed through, Laban removed (stole) Jacob’s
wages, the speckled and spotted goats and lambs; and put a 3 days’ journey
between them and Jacob.
It seemed Laban already had the best end of the
bargain; but greed is never satisfied, he wanted to hedge his bet and remove
any opportunity for Jacob to have even a little win. If there’s no speckled and
spotty in the flock, odds are they won’t have any speckled and spotty.
Laban’s hoping Jacob will keep right on making him wealthy,
for basically just room and board.
Now, while Laban is scheming, conniving, and cheating; what’s
Jacob doing?
He’s minding his own business, keeping his end of the
bargain, he went back to work, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flock.
Jacob has changed. He’s gone through a metamorphosis. He’s a
new man. No longer scheming, conniving, and cheating; no longer the heel
grabbing, supplanter.
Proverbs 4:18; The way of the righteous is
like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light
of day.
2 Corinthians 3:18; But we all, with open
face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:17; Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.
Romans 12:2; And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must
put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality. 54So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this
mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.
37 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.
He peeled strips of bark from the branches, exposing the white
wood underneath.
38 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.
He set the striped branches in the watering troughs.
A sight-based breeding trick, is nonsense, but it says that
the color of lambs reflects what the mother was looking at during conception.
Critics point to what Jacob did and say the Bible is a bunch
of superstitious folklore.
However, a sight-based breeding trick is not what Jacob was
doing.
All areas of study eventually catch up with the Bible,
including botany, herbal remedies, animal husbandry; which over the past few
decades have exonerated the methodology of Jacob.
Today, the same trees Jacob used (poplar, almond, chestnut; plane)
are used to supplement livestock feed, and are used as veterinary treatments on
several diseases and conditions. They promote better conception rates, optimal
gestation, and increased multiple births
Tests of poplar supplementation revealed
lambing percentage was increased from 20-41%.
Jewish people have used almond tree bark to increase the
production of mothers’ milk.
Many, anti-inflammatory and internal remedies, were made by
steeping the bark of these trees in water; which is exactly what Jacob did. He
turned the water into a multivitamin tea. *
So, the ewe lambs belly up to the watering hole, sipping Jacob’s
sweet tea; just hanging out, chewing on a stick, getting refreshed.
Then the ram lambs come sniffing around, getting fresh, and the
next thing you know, there’s a whole lot of breeding going on.
39 So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the
flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Remember, this is exactly what the Lord said would happen. Genesis 31:12.
This was the hand of Providence, not coincidence, or some silly
sight-based breeding trick.
Against all odds, God’s plan prevailed. It always prevails.
Whether a rod of discipline or a stick for making sweet tea,
whatever the Lord gives us to set our hand to, let’s do it heartily unto Him.
Knowing, it’s not about the results, it’s about the awesome honor
of walking with Him, working with Him; so, sink or swim, succeed or fail,
it’s up to Him.
God gives the increase.
God didn’t need Jacob’s help, He wanted
it.
He wants yours.
Colossians 3:17. And whatever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through Him.
40 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.
41 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. 42 But when the flocks were
feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger
Jacob’s.
Now, Jacob begins a selective breeding process.
He separates his cute little speckled and spotted lambs.
The little ewe lambs will be little ladies ready to breed in
about 7 months. They’ll be able to breed up to 4 times per year, and generally
give birth to 1-2 lambs.
Then, Jacob paired, the strongest of the sheep with his
speckled and spotty, and of course brewed them some of his special multivitamin,
stick sweet tea.
Jacob did his part; God gave the increase, and it’s still
increasing to this very day.
There’s an ancient breed of sheep, still raised today, known
for its multi-colored fleece. The black-and-white spotted wool is highly prized.
Can you guess what the breed is called?
Jacob Sheep?
Yes, because some trace its origin back to this story of
Jacob’s selective breeding program.
43 Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had
large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Supernaturally, by God’s hand, Jacob prospered materially,
but much more importantly, he prospered Spiritually.
The odds were totally against him. Laban made it impossible
for Jacob to succeed.
Which made it the perfect breeding ground for God to work;
in more ways than one.
Jacob was moving from Divine Discipline to Divine Destiny.
Laban deceived, cheated, mistreated Jacob. Like Jacob had
done to his own family, his father, his brother.
Through it, Jacob changed, he grew, it took 14 long years of
working for nothing but room and board, but now, Jacob is humble, teachable,
ready to step into his Divine Destiny.
How about you?
Remember, it’s not the perfect and spotless, but the messy,
speckled and spotty, that God chooses and uses, so only He gets the glory.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus our Good Shepherd, we can relate to being the
messy, spotty and speckled. Thank You, for accepting us into Your fold. Help us
to know Your Voice, and follow.
We love You, forever,
Amen.
*More info.
on Jacob’s Odd Breeding Program: https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/animal-genetics/jacobs-odd-breeding-program-genesis-30/
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Makin’ Lambs Program, Genesis 30:25-43
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Program, Genesis 30:25-43
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s Seed for you to
sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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