Jacob’s Final Six Years in Haran

JACOB’S FINAL SIX YEARS IN HARAN

An Exposition of Genesis 30:25-31:3

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: September 24, 2023

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says: 

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.

31 ¹ Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.” ² And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before.³ Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” (Genesis 30:25-31:3)

JACOB’S TWENTY YEARS IN HARAN

Although Jacob had initially made the 500-mile journey from Beersheba to Haran with the intention of staying with his Uncle Laban for only a short while, he ended up staying with Laban for twenty years. Of course, after Jacob married Leah and Rachel, Laban was not only Jacob’s uncle but also Jacob’s father-in-law.

Two Sundays ago, we looked at Genesis 29:1-30, which summarized Jacob’s first seven years in Haran. Last Sunday we looked at Genesis 29:31-30:24, which summarized Jacob’s second period of seven years in Haran. Today’s passage summarizes Jacob’s final six years in Haran. It is important for you to see for yourself Jacob’s three seasons with Laban – the first seven years, the second seven years, and the final six years. Listen to this statement that Jacob makes to Laban in Genesis 31:

“These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock” (Genesis 31:41).

Jacob’s first seven years

Jacob’s first fourteen years are subdivided into two periods of seven years each: “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel” (Genesis 29:20), that is, he served Laban seven years in order to acquire Laban’s daughter Rachel as his wife. That was Jacob’s first seven years.

Jacob’s second seven years

After those seven years he was tricked by Laban into marrying Leah, and then about eight days later he also married Rachel. But Laban required that Jacob serve another seven years. Thus the end of Genesis 29:30 tells us that Jacob “served Laban for another seven years” (Genesis 29:30). That was Jacob’s second period of seven years. It was during this second period of seven years that Jacob’s household filled up with many children.

Jacob’s second period of seven years came to an end around the time that Joseph was born. What Jacob says in Genesis 30:26 indicates that Jacob had fulfilled his second seven-year commitment to Laban. However, Genesis 30:25 makes it clear that Jacob didn’t make his departure request until after Rachel had given birth to Joseph: “As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.”” (Genesis 30:25) Since the birth of Joseph, not the completion of the second seven-year commitment, was the time when Jacob made his departure request, it may well be that Jacob had actually completed his second seven-year commitment a few weeks or a few months earlier, but he decided to delay his departure request because Rachel was pregnant. But immediately after Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob was ready to hit the road. After fourteen years, Jacob was ready to return home. He had obviously fulfilled his second seven-year commitment to Laban, as Jacob says to Laban, “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.” (Genesis 30:26) Jacob served Laban fourteen years for Leah and Rachel, and now he is free to leave.

However, instead of simply taking his family and leaving straightaway, he shows courtesy to Laban by asking Laban to send him away and to give him his wives and children. Jacob is wise to seek the blessing and favor of his father-in-law. Jacob’s wives are Laban’s daughters, and Jacob’s children are Laban’s grandchildren. Laban has provided room and board for his daughters for their entire life; Laban has provided Jacob with room and board for the past fourteen years; and Laban has provided his grandchildren with room and board for the past seven years. As Laban is significantly invested in the well-being of Jacob’s family, so it is good and right that Laban be consulted and be given the opportunity to send Jacob’s family on their way.

Laban wants Jacob to stay longer

Although Jacob was ready to depart, Laban was not ready to have Jacob leave. Laban recognizes that he cannot force Jacob to stay longer, so he appeals to Jacob, “If I have found favor in your sight” (Genesis 30:27). Then Laban acknowledges that his own growth in wealth over the past fourteen years is a result of the Lord blessing him on account of Jacob: “I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” (Genesis 30:27) Therefore, the Lord’s favor upon Jacob had meant enrichment for Laban. If Laban is telling the truth that he learned this “by divination”, then he means that he had obtained this information by a pagan technique of accessing the spirit world or interpreting superstitious signs. On the other hand, since Laban is not a consistent truth-teller, he may simply be embellishing his attempt to persuade Jacob to stay by appealing to supernatural knowledge. In this case, instead of simply speaking the truth plainly, he was trying to make his knowledge of the truth more compelling to Jacob by referring to the practice of divination. Of course, it should have been obvious to Laban that before Jacob came, he was a man of modest holdings; and now, after fourteen years of Jacob’s industrious labor, Laban was a wealthy man.

Regardless of whether or not Laban had learned anything by divination, we can be confident that Laban’s motives are not pure. He dealt deceitfully with Jacob at the end of the first seven years, for through his shenanigans with Leah and Rachel, he basically forced Jacob to serve another seven years. Now at the end of the second period of seven years, it is obvious in the overall context of this passage that Laban is once again dealing deceitfully with Jacob. Basically, Laban wants to squeeze as much productivity as he can out of Jacob. Laban wants to get even richer, and at Jacob’s expense. This doesn’t mean that Laban is unwilling for Jacob to share in the increase, but nevertheless Laban’s primary focus is on his own self-enrichment. The problem is not that Laban cares about the economic flourishing of his own household. The problem is that Laban pursues the economic flourishing of his own household by ripping Jacob off. This means that Laban isn’t enthusiastic about the economic flourishing of Jacob’s household – and this, of course, means that Laban is failing to keep the second most important commandment, which is to love your neighbor as yourself. Laban is selfish and deceitful. However, he knows that he cannot appear to be selfish and deceitful, so he conveys a generous impression to Jacob by inviting Jacob to set his own salary: “Name your wages, and I will give it.” (Genesis 30:28) This sounds like a warm and openhearted gesture on Laban’s part, but as Andrew Steinmann comments: “It appears that Laban was unconcerned about giving Jacob the privilege of setting the terms of their agreement because Laban never exhibited any commitment to keeping his obligations (cf. 29:23-26; 31:6-7).”[1]

Jacob, however, will not jump immediately into his salary requirements. First, he wants to emphasize his profitability to Laban over the past fourteen years:

“You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned.” (Genesis 30:29)

Jacob is not ashamed of his record of service. He has served faithfully, diligently, and productively. Most importantly, the Lord’s blessing accompanied Jacob’s service: wherever Jacob turned to serve Laban, there the Lord blessed and enriched Laban. Little had become much on Laban’s farm. Laban’s household was thriving, at least in terms of agricultural and material abundance. Jacob had demonstrated a willingness to serve fourteen years for someone else’s financial prosperity. The time had come, however, where Jacob had to give deliberate attention to advancing the economic interests of his own household: “But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” Jacob had been an instrument of provision for Laban’s household; but he knew, sooner or later, he had to be an instrument of provision for his own household.

Lesson: The importance of providing for your own household

The question that Jacob asks – “But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” – is a very good question for men, for husbands and fathers, to ask. It is not a selfish question. Don’t feel guilty and ashamed for asking Jacob’s question. Indeed, my brothers, there might be cause for you to feel guilt and shame if you are not asking Jacob’s question. Of course, household provision can be pursued selfishly, as I mentioned above in my critical comments about Laban. But the question itself is not a selfish one. Ever since the first man stepped onto the scene, it is good and right for men to be deliberate about working and keeping (Genesis 2:15) what God entrusts to them, and seeing to it that the household economy flourishes for the benefit of every household member. In her own distinct way, a wife as her husband’s helpmate also cares about these matters and pursues them in a variety of ways. Even as a godly father eagerly assumes responsibility for the well-being of his household, so a godly mother “looks well to the ways of her household” (Proverbs 31:27). This is not about selfish and luxurious enrichment. Instead, this is about taking responsibility for the well-being of your own family. The apostle Paul taught the Thessalonians,

“But we urge you, brothers… to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” (1 Thessalonians 4:10-12)

One aspect of “[walking] properly before outsiders” is not being a freeloader, not being lazy and wasteful, not through carelessness and foolishness being dependent on others to meet your basic needs, not by negligence expecting the system to foot the bill. As a man who was bound in servitude to Laban for fourteen years, Jacob was overly dependent on Laban for such things as room and board. Though it wasn’t wrong for Jacob to have been Laban’s servant, the time had come for him to be independent of Laban and to assume greater responsibility for the maintenance and prosperity of his own household.

As always, the instruction that Paul gives and for which Jacob serves as an example, must be pursued with the right motivation. When a man chooses to pursue advancement and success in his line of work because he loves money, because he loves the world, because he loves to store up treasures on earth, because he wants to squeeze as much comfort and pleasure as he can out of this present world, then he is in a bad way. However, when a man wants to honor the Lord, love his wife, care for his children, and make his household a blessing to the church family and wider community, then he will pursue excellence in his line of work. Outwardly, two people might look similarly devoted to their craft or trade, but their internal motivations might be worlds apart: the first is laying up treasure for himself on earth, whereas the second is flourishing in the riches of God’s kingdom.

Jacob agrees to continue shepherding Laban’s flock

After Jacob asked out loud when he would get on with the task of providing for his own household, Laban replied: “What shall I give you?” (Genesis 30:31) To summarize Jacob’s answer, Jacob is basically asking Laban to let him have his own starter flock out of Laban’s flocks. Jacob says,

“You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 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. 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.” (Genesis 30:31-33)

Jacob is asking for his own starter flock of goats and lambs. Jacob’s first phrase “every speckled and spotted sheep” might actually be a reference to goats, since the Hebrew word translated sheep can also refer to goats. Then Jacob’s final phrase “the spotted and speckled among the goats” refers specifically to female goats, for that is what the Hebrew word means. Jacob’s two references to goats would then correspond to Laban’s removal of “the male goats” and “the female goats” (in v. 35). In addition to the goats, Jacob also proposed to be permitted to take the black lambs. By means of the offspring from his own starter flock, Jacob will be able to grow his flock of speckled goats and dark sheep.

Now in the context of Genesis 30:27-30, this is a very reasonable and modest request. Laban had small flocks before Jacob arrived on the scene, but under Jacob’s management Jacob’s livestock had “increased abundantly” (Genesis 30:30). This abundant increase was the Lord’s blessing through Jacob to Laban, and Laban knew that he had received this abundance as an act of divine grace. Therefore, Jacob only asked for starter flocks out of the abundance that the Lord had freely given to Laban on Jacob’s account. Out of that abundance, Jacob would take the speckled and spotted goats and the black lambs. All the other sheep and goats would remain Laban’s. Andrew Steinmann provides valuable insight when he says: “Since sheep were normally all white and goats normally all dark (brown or black), Jacob was offering to receive a distinct minority of the future offspring of the flocks. Variegated goats – streaked, spotted or speckled – or dark sheep were a small minority of the animals.”[2] So Jacob’s request was modest. If Laban was willing to let Jacob have this starter flock out of which he could multiply provision and wealth for his family, then Jacob would continue to care for Laban’s flocks. The arrangement would be mutually beneficial, both Jacob’s flocks and Laban’s flocks would increase, and both men’s households would be strengthened. Laban agreed to Jacob’s request. This set the stage for Jacob’s final six years in Haran – the six years that he refers to in Genesis 31:41, saying, “I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock” (italics added).

Laban immediately breaks the contract

But when Laban agreed to Jacob’s request, he was actually speaking with a forked tongue. Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” (Genesis 30:34) Laban’s good answer flowed like smooth butter, but on the inside he had another deceitful trick up his sleeve. For as soon as Laban cut the deal with Jacob, he proceed to break the contract:

“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. And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.” (Genesis 30:35-36)

The very animals that Laban had agreed to let Jacob take, Laban removed from his flock, thereby leaving Jacob with nothing of his own. Furthermore, with the striped, spotted, and speckled goats and the dark sheep out of the equation, it would be much more difficult for Jacob to obtain striped, spotted, and speckled offspring from among the goats and black lambs from among the sheep.

Since Laban didn’t uphold his end of the bargain, Jacob wasn’t obligated to continue pasturing Laban’s flock. However, Jacob did continue to shepherd Laban’s flock. So, Jacob begins his final six years in Haran by getting ripped off and, by all outward appearances, having the deck stacked against him in terms of developing a substantial flock of his own and thereby providing for his own household.

THE FOCUS OF JACOB’S FINAL SIX YEARS IN HARAN

Verses 25-36 set up Jacob’s final six years with Laban, and then verses 37-42 describe the particular focus of Jacob’s activity during these final six years. As he tended Laban’s flock, Jacob’s priority was to be diligent to develop his own flock of speckled goats and dark sheep out of the offspring of Laban’s sheep.

Let’s review Jacob’s flock breeding program in verses 37-42:

First, Jacob “peeled white streaks” in “fresh sticks” from three different kinds of trees (poplar, almond, and plane), and put the peeled sticks in the watering troughs “where the flocks came to drink” (Genesis 30:37-38).

Second, these flocks were in the habit of breeding “when they came to drink”, and therefore they “bred in front of the sticks” that Jacob had placed in the watering troughs. (Genesis 30:38-39)

Third, thus “breeding in front of the sticks… the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.” (Genesis 30:39)

Fourth, Jacob developed his own flock of striped, speckled and spotted goats, and black lambs, “and did not put them with Laban’s flock” (Genesis 30:40).

Fifth, Jacob had made it a point to “lay the sticks in the troughs” when “the stronger of the flock were breeding”, but “he would not lay them [the sticks] there” when “the feebler of the flock” were breeding (Genesis 30:41-42). This meant that Jacob’s growing flock of striped, speckled, and spotted goats, and black lambs, were the stronger animals, whereas Laban’s all-dark goats and all-white sheep were the weaker animals (Genesis 30:42).

Sixth, as a result of Jacob’s breeding program over a period of several years, “the man [Jacob] increased greatly and had large flocks [of goats and sheep], female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.” (Genesis 30:43)

A good question that arises from this passage is: what is the actual relationship between the “peeled white streaks” of fresh sticks in the watering troughs, and the goats bringing forth striped, speckled and spotted offspring? Serious-minded Bible scholars have given various answers: superstitious pre-natal influence (the idea that the animals seeing the white streaks would affect the color scheme of their offspring); an aphrodisiac for breeding animals; the practice of epigenetics in which the nutrients from the fresh sticks in the drinking water could impact “gene expression”[3]; or a nutritional and medicinal health boost for the animals drinking from the trough. One might also suggest that perhaps God had instructed Jacob to put the peeled sticks in the watering trough – but this suggestion remains speculative, but Scripture itself doesn’t tell us that God instructed Jacob to do this. While I don’t think it is foolish to consider and weigh these various possibilities, it is important to keep two things in mind.

First, we must remember that Jacob was a seasoned and knowledgeable shepherd under whose management Laban’s flock had increased abundantly during the previous fourteen years. Jacob was not the shepherd equivalent of a medical quack. He had done good work, and had impressive results to show for it. As a skilled practitioner, perhaps he had learned and/or observed various tendencies and correlations in the breeding of animals.

But second, whatever the significance might have been of the flock seeing the peeled white sticks, drinking from the watering trough that had the peeled sticks in it, and breeding in that location as opposed to somewhere else, we have to reckon with the bigger picture of Genesis 31. Genesis 31 makes it very clear that the decisive factor in the atypical and unexpected success of breeding striped, speckled, and spotted goats was God’s sovereign hand blessing Jacob in view of Laban’s unjust dealings. Whatever may or may not have been in Jacob’s mind about the function of the “peeled white streaks”, Jacob knew that the Lord was giving Jacob a fruitful flock. Look at what Jacob says in Genesis 31:

“You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped spotted, and mottled. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream ‘Jacob’ and I said ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.’” (Genesis 31:6-12)

God saw Laban’s unjust dealings with Jacob. God invited Jacob to “[lift] up [his] eyes and see” that striped, spotted, and mottled goats are the ones mating with the flock. God superintended the breeding process for Jacob’s benefit. Jacob said of his first fourteen years with Laban: “the LORD has blessed you [Laban] wherever I [Jacob] turned” (Genesis 30:30). But notice how the focus of divine blessing has changed during Jacob’s final six years: now the Lord is blessing Jacob wherever Jacob turns. When you read what Jacob did in terms of flock breeding in Genesis 30:37-42 in light of how God sovereignly superintended the breeding process in Genesis 31:6-12, the bottom line reality is that Jacob’s great increase of wealth was God’s doing. Whatever secondary role the branches in the watering troughs may or may not have played, the primary overseer of Jacob’s breeding program was the Lord, and the Lord saw to it that the animals produced the right offspring in order to enrich Jacob. Laban sought to be calculating, cheap, and unkind in his dealings with Jacob, but the Lord prospered Jacob. The Lord’s favor is the decisive reason why Jacob “increased greatly” and why Jacob’s household economy grew and come to flourish with “large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.” (Genesis 30:43)

Jacob’s relationship with Laban deteriorated

As Jacob’s wealth grew over this period of six years, his relationship with Laban deteriorated. Laban’s sons were critical and resentful, saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all his wealth.” (Genesis 31:1) “Jacob heard” what Laban’s sons were saying (Genesis 31:1), and he also “saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before.” (Genesis 31:2) Though Laban had serious shortcomings, Jacob apparently felt that Laban had nevertheless showed him some genuine kindness in the past. But now, Jacob was out of favor with Laban and with Laban’s sons. These extended family relationships were now cold. This whole picture is very sad: Laban and Laban’s sons should have been grateful that they had been blessed so abundantly during Jacob’s first fourteen years with them, and they should have been eager and glad for Jacob (Laban’s son-in-law, Laban’s sons’ brother-in-law) and Jacob’s wives (Laban’s daughters, Laban’s sons’ sisters) and Jacob’s children (Laban’s grandchildren) to enjoy a meaningful share of the economic prosperity. If Laban had been generous and large-hearted toward Jacob, he would have safeguarded his own wealth for himself and his sons. Instead, Laban’s household wealth was weakened during Jacob’s final six years there, not so much because Jacob took away Laban’s wealth (see Genesis 31:1) but because God took away Laban’s livestock and gave them to Jacob (Genesis 31:9).

Even so, Jacob’s broken relationship with Laban set the stage for his return home. It is not uncommon that when painful circumstances descend upon us, the Lord is about to redirect our steps – whether in terms of geography or vocation or ministry. It was the painful relational circumstance with his brother Esau that had prompted Rebekah to send Jacob to Laban twenty years earlier. Now it is the painful relational circumstance with Laban that sets the stage for Jacob’s move back to Canaan: “Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”” (Genesis 31:3) And with that direction from the Lord, Jacob knows it is time to return home. Don’t be surprised when difficult circumstances or deteriorated relationships are part of God’s sovereign orchestration to get you from Point A to Point B.

A LESSON TO TAKE HOME WITH YOU

There is one overarching lesson that I want you to take home with you from this passage. It is a simple and straightforward lesson: trust the Lord in the midst of your delayed timetable. Jacob had a six-year delay – I call it a delay because that’s what it seems like from our perspective, but it is not a delay at all from God’s perspective.

Notice how our passage began: “Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.”” (Genesis 30:25) It had been Jacob’s plan and intention to return home at that point. Instead, six years passed. Then, after those six years, he received the authoritative word from the Lord: “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” (Genesis 31:3) Jacob’s timetable to return home and the Lord’s timetable for Jacob to return home were six years apart.

Trust the Lord in the midst of your delayed timetable. Wait patiently for the Lord’s timetable to unfold in your life. Be attentive to what the Lord wants to accomplish in your life during the delay. I’ll come back to Jacob in just a moment, but first a fast forward to the New Testament. Brother or sister in Christ, remember that whatever challenges you may face during the delay, nothing “will be able to separate [you] from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39) Remember that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18) Remember also that the sufferings and trials are useful to your practical growth in godliness (see James 1:2-4). Remember that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness” and “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). Remember that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28) and that one of God’s great purposes for all things – including sufferings, trials, and delays – is to conform you “to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). Remember, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) If God is for Jacob, what difference does it really make that Laban and Laban’s sons are against Jacob? Also remember that “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” will also “graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32) – all things that are necessary for and conducive to our walk with God, now and forever.

As a practical help in all this, draw upon the knowledge of what Jacob experienced and did during his six-year-delay. He faced dishonesty, deceit, disadvantage, and disfavor from Laban. But in the midst of that, Jacob experienced the favor of God. Is it not true that sometimes God’s favor shines most brightly in our midst when we are facing disfavor from the world? Jacob’s experience of God’s favor didn’t happen while he was sitting down and doing nothing. Jacob took care of Laban’s flock (Genesis 30:36). Jacob worked diligently to provide for his own household. This is beautiful, by the way: Jacob had purchased Esau’s birthright on the cheap (Genesis 25:29-34) and had acquired Esau’s blessing through deceit (Genesis 27), but now those days of shameful acquisitions are long past. Jacob has grown up, which is something that happens when you get married and have twelve kids. He learned to work hard for Laban during his first fourteen years with Laban, and then he labored diligently for the benefit of his own household. Whatever else we might say about Genesis 30:37-42, we must observe the simple fact that Jacob was actively working: he took and peeled and set and separated and put (some of the active verbs that occur in these verses). Even though God’s miraculous work was behind it all, the simple fact remains that God blessed Jacob in conjunction with Jacob’s work and not apart from Jacob’s work. Further, Jacob got to experience the providence and justice of God in a very personal way: he came face to face with the reality that God was standing in judgment upon Laban because of Laban’s deceitful practices, but that God was standing in favor upon Jacob, in keeping with the promise that God made to Jacob back in Genesis 28. In all this, Jacob had front row seats to learn the righteous ways of the Lord. Finally, notice that Jacob was made ready to move at the Lord’s command. Jacob had moved to Haran at his parents’ command (Genesis 28:7). Jacob was prepared to return home in accordance with his own reasoning (Genesis 30:25). But now, after his final six years in Haran, he is ready to hear directly from the Lord: “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” (Genesis 31:3) How wonderful it is to grow in our walk with God! And when it was finally time for Jacob to depart from Haran, he departed with an abundance of provision that the Lord had given him during his final six years in Haran.

Brothers and sisters, don’t resent the delays. If you dismiss the delays, you risk missing the wonderful things that God has in store for you through the delays. Don’t underestimate the fruit that God intends to give you, or the lessons that He plans to teach you, or the sanctification that He will work in you, during the delays. Patiently and diligently attend to the responsibilities in front of you, and trust the Lord to do beneficial things in your life during the timetable you didn’t choose but that God ordained for your good. And while you’re trusting Him, learn to sing “All the way my Savior leads me”[4], because that is the truth of the matter, and we’re going to sing this song in just a minute. Let’s pray.

ENDNOTES

[1] Andrew E. Steinmann, Genesis, p. 288 (see full bibliographic info below).

[2] Andrew E. Steinmann, Genesis, p. 288 (see full bibliographic info below).

[3] Andrew E. Steinmann, Genesis, p. 289 (see full bibliographic info below).

[4] The hymn “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” by Fanny Crosby.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Assohoto, Barnabe and Samuel Ngewa, “Genesis.” In Africa Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary Written by 70 African Scholars. Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor. Zondervan Edition (first edition published in 2006).

Cserhati, Matthew and Robert Carter. “Jacob’s livestock: a biblical example of applied genetics.” Published by Creation Ministries International. Available online: https://creation.com/jacobs-sheep

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. The Book of Genesis (Ariel’s Bible Commentary). Fourth Edition. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2020.

Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Vol. I.–Genesis to Deuteronomy. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company.

Lacey, Troy. “Jacob’s Odd “Breeding Program” of Genesis 30.” Published by Answers in Genesis. April 26, 2019.  Available online: https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/animal-genetics/jacobs-odd-breeding-program-genesis-30/  

Morris, Henry M. The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Genesis (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.