July 26, 2006

• Ok, Ok, Ok, this chapter does stretch my credulity about what we as humans believe we can do to affect the physical things in our lives. Genesis 30:25-43.

  
  

  Of course, my background in the occult makes some of Jacob’s actions seem “reasonable” from the background of man trying to change things. Often ceremonies in the occult involve substitutionary things that are prayed over or chanted over, and represent what needs changing. I remember leaving eggs on corners of sidewalks to break negative things, consuming foods to bring about certain attitudes. And when I learned the art of talisman making, carrying around things to feel their effects so that when we combined the ingredients in a pouch we would know what the various ingredients would do. Oh, how we humans trick ourselves into believing lies, thinking we can do anything to affect our universe in our own power.

  
  

  I remember once when the book of Romans finally hit home and I realized that my, “thou art god” and how I was the master of my destiny, was in control, cast spells to control circumstances, fell to the ground. Who am I to think that I affect anything in my own power? I can’t even tell myself to breath in, breath out for a full 24 hours without being distracted, and then who would make my heart beat, my brain think, my nerves function, and that is just within my own body. I can control NOTHING in my own power.

  
  

  Yet, often when we deal with God and His blessings, we feel we must DO something, to make something happen. I guess at times God appreciates our initiative. He doesn’t want us to sit back and wait for things to happen – he does want us to step out in faith and act. But when we step out in faith we can sure go a lot further if we wait and listen for His instructions, not do what we think is the way God wants us to do it. To obey God will produce more effect for less work.

  
  

  Anyway, God had already agreed to bless and prosper Jacob, all he had to do was to obey God, worship God, relate to God, and daily order his steps according to God’s will. But I smile when I see what Jacob did, and God loved Him so much that he allowed what happened to happen.

  
  

  Genesis 30:25-43

  
  

  Now we are going to see that the “good-will” of Laban is going to undergo a change, nothing like seeing another prosper to do that.

  
  

  After Rachel gives birth to Joseph (you will see much of Joseph later), Jacob says to Laban, Verse 25-26 “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my own country. 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, although not a believer of God, realizes that he has been unnaturally blessed because of the presence of Jacob, replies, verse 27 “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.” It must have been here that Jacob realized that Laban would not let him go easily. Laban has been very unreasonable with Jacob, and unreasonable people tend to try and make things work out for themselves, at other’s expenses.

  
  

  Two shrewd businessmen will now dicker over price, I suspect both will learn from this experience. God is so good that he can take the same experience and give lessons to everyone involved.

  
  

  Laban offers wages to Jacob. Jacob reminds Laban how he came to him with nothing, and has served him. Jacob tells Laban how God has blessed Laban, and Jacob tells Laban, verse 31-32 “You shall not give me anything. If you do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: Let me pass through 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 those shall be my wages.”

  
  

  Speckled and spotted sheep are rare, usually they are a singular color. So Laban thought he got the best of the bargain here, and agreed. Laban removed the speckled and spotted sheep and gave them to Jacob’s sons. Jacob puts three days distance between himself and the sheep in his son’s care so that there would be no hint of cheating. Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks. (three days, think of Jesus and three days). In this bargain,  Jacob seems to be the loser, but Jacob comes up with his first odd plan.

  
  

  He takes rods of green poplar (a tree) and almond and chestnut trees and peels white strips in them, and sets them before the flocks in the gutters, where the sheep water. When the sheep conceive, they bring forth flocks of speckled and spotted sheep.

  
  

  Jacob then separates these animals and does not put them with Laban’s flock. When the stronger livestock conceived they were put near the striped rods, the weaker sheep were not placed near the rods.

  
  

  Beth Moore, in The Patriarchs says on page 143 “Have you ever experienced an undeniable act of God then tried to figure out your part in it so you could repeat the formula? In terms of today’s lesson, have you ever tried to set God up for success? The plan sounds ridiculous when we put it in these terms, but most of us have tried it nonetheless.”……”We don’t set Him up for success. He sets us up. We’re not worthy enough for Him to bless. He’s worthy and has the grace to bless. God is not about to let us come up with a formula for blessing. If He did, we’d stick to our formula rather than sticking to our God. Yes, God blesses obedience…and prayer…and fasting…and faith…and certainly a pure heart, but the way He manifests His blessing can differ dramatically from one time to the next.”

  
  

  I bet God would have produced the sheep without Jacob’s manipulations.

  
  

  Laban’s flock became weaker, and Jacob’s stronger because Jacob only let the strong sheep breed by the speckled wood. It is important to realize that God blessed the flocks because at Bethel he told Jacob that he would bless him and bring him back to the land. The blessing had nothing to do with the striped wood.

  
  

  Beth Moore says, “Save your trees and bow down to a sovereign God.”

  
  

  I know that there have been times when people have had a spiritual victory through a certain prayer or method of worshipping God. They then assume that that is the way to attain the same victory if they meet another person with the same problem. Unfortunately, this is not always so. God works with us INDIVIDUALLY. What works for you may not be what will work for me. Only God and the Holy Spirit can tell us the best way to achieve our victories. We can sometimes do others a disservice by laying our spiritual plans on them, because many times those plans will not work for another, if they were tailor made for us.

  
  

  Laban the cheater, got bested by Jacob, and very soon Jacob will again be on the run. Laban will not take kindly to the strong striped and speckled sheep that Jacob has been abundantly blessed with. Stay tuned for the exciting adventures of Jacob the son of Abraham….same time….same xanga.

  
  

  Have a blessed day!

  
  

  Heather

  • 12:32 am
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