Genesis 30:25-34
“As soon as Rachel had borne
Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and
country. 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.” 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. Name your wages, and I will give it.” Jacob said to him, “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. But now when shall I
provide for my household also?” 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: let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every
speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and specked 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.”
Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you said.”
He has been away from home twenty plus years and his oldest
son is around eight years old and Jacob is homesick for his family. I’m sure he has given much thought to
going home and the ills that may come from a brother who has promised to kill
him. But he is hoping that time
and distance has healed the wounds he left back home. He now has a large family and it’s time to go back home and
show Mom and Dad the grandkids.
His one large problem is that he has little but children to show for his
twenty plus years working for his uncle; his uncle has become very
prosperous. The other problem is
grandchildren, these are Laban's grandchildren and he may tell Jacob, you can
go but you are not taking my grandchildren.
It is interesting to see how Jacob states his case and Laban
shares that he is sure that because of Jacob he has been given wealth and
prosperity. He tells Jacob to name
his wages and he will give it to him, and that’s when Jacob makes his case,
telling Laban, “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. But now when shall I provide for my
household also?” Laban
said, “What shall I give you?” Now this is very
interesting, Jacob said, “You shall not give me
anything.” Wow, he’s
beginning to sound like a man! Laban has already stated that God has blessed him because of
Jacob, it was God who gave the increase and Jacob was the one who put in the
sweat labor. Then Jacob makes a
deal with Laban about the speckled and spotted goats and the black lambs and
Laban is in total agreement.
You may be curious as to how this contract between Jacob and
Laban turns out, if so, you may read the rest of the story in Genesis 30:35-43.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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