Bible Readings
Reading 21: God oversees Jacob’s life
Read Genesis 30:25–43.
As soon as Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob told Laban that he wanted to return home to Canaan. Jacob now had 11 sons and 1 daughter and had worked for Laban for many years.
Because Yahweh had blessed Jacob in all he did, when Jacob was looking after Laban’s animals, Laban became a very rich man. Laban knew that it was because of Jacob’s God that he had become rich.
But Laban was not a Yahweh worshipper. He worshipped idols. Yet, he was happy to benefit from Yahweh’s blessings but did not make Yahweh his God.
When Laban asked what Jacob wanted for his salary for working for him, Jacob said that he would take
all the sheep and goats that had spots or specks on them and
all the black sheep. These kinds are rare and in general, account for only 10% of the animals.
Then why did Jacob ask such a strange thing? God had given him a dream to tell him to do that.
Laban readily agreed because he thought that he would be getting away with paying Jacob very little. But even then, he deviously removed all such animals and gave them to his sons. Then he made sure that his animals and sons were separated from the animals Jacob was looking after by three days. Laban was really trying to make sure he would not need to pay Jacob much at all!
Jacob did something strange and perhaps superstitious by taking sticks and tearing off the bark so that the sticks would have two colours. Some Bible scholars think that this superstition is like the thinking where if a pregnant woman keeps looking at boys then she will likely have a boy. But Jacob also cleverly practiced selective breeding.
In any case, God prospered Jacob not because Jacob did these things but because of God’s own promise to him.
Actually, Jacob himself knew that. Later on, he himself said that it was Yahweh who increased his flocks. He knew that God was the one who gave him all that he had. He did not credit it to the sticks nor his clever breeding methods.
God helped Jacob when Laban was trying to cheat him. God made sure that Jacob was well compensated for all the work he did for Laban. God did not allow Laban to succeed in continually cheating Jacob.
We continue to see human striving and manipulation in this account between Laban and Jacob. But we also continue to see God’s control over all that happens.
God is sovereign over all and He can triumph over any human effort. This is the kind of God that we worship. Nothing is out of His control. Let us ponder on this. No matter what mankind does, good or bad, God is watching and can intervene according to His will.
We can go to God in prayer about any situation we are facing.
Those who don’t know Yahweh, won’t go to Him in prayer.
But for those of us who do, we rejoice and are thankful that we have a God who has access to all the resources in the world. He controls birth and life, the animal world and all He created. And He watches over us in every detail of our lives.