37 SUCCESSFUL HERDER

Jacob had faithfully served out his time with Laban, for Leah, as it turned out, and then for Rachael, and now he was about 85 years old and had a large family for which to provide. So it was high time for him to set up his own livestock business and he wants to make the long journey home. Though Laban’s service was hard, and he had cheated Jacob in the first bargain he had made, yet Jacob honestly performs his engagements both times. A good man, though he make a promise to his own inconvenience, will not change; he will keep his promise. And though others have deceived him, that does not make it right for him to deceive them. Our rule is to do for others as we would like for others to do for us, not as others have done to us. Jacob’s agreed term having expired, he begs leave to be gone. 

Jacob maintained his affection for the land of Canaan, not only because it was the land of his nativity, and his father and mother, whom he could well have longed to see, were there, but, most importantly,  because it was the land of promise. His desire to return to Canaan has a spiritual element to it. He believed and valued the promise of that land, so, though he lives in Harran, he can by no means think of settling there. We should likewise be thinking of our heavenly country, looking on ourselves as strangers here, viewing the heavenly country as our home, and longing to be there, as soon as the days of our service upon earth are numbered and finished. We must not think of taking root here, for this is not our place and country. Hebrews 13:14 says, “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”

Jacob wanted to return to Canaan, though he had a great family to take with him, and no provision yet made for them. He had received wives from Laban and children from his wives, but nothing else; yet he does not ask Laban to give him anything to help him with his wives or for the maintenance of his children. No, he says to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you” (25-26). Persons who trust in God, in His care and promise, though they have great families and small incomes, can cheerfully hope that He who sends mouths will send meat. He who feeds the brood of the ravens will not starve the seed of the righteous.

Laban wanted Jacob to stay as verse 27 says, “If I have found favor in your eyes,  stay.” In love to himself, neither to Jacob nor to his wives or children, Laban tries to persuade Jacob to continue as his chief shepherd, asking him with flowery words, not to leave. Unkind cheaters and selfish men know how to say good words when it is to serve their own goals. Laban found that his stock had increased wonderfully with Jacob’s good management, and he admits it with very good expressions of respect both to God and Jacob. He says, “I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” Think with me about Laban’s learning “I have learned by divination.” What kind of experience? The NIV says “experience”, the KJ says through divination” and the messenger says “divine inquiry.” Any of these could be correct. If we interpret circumstances correctly we learn God’s will through them. If we ask God and He answers, that is even more clearly God giving us the answer. Without the ability to interpret what God is saying, whatever way He speaks, we will not hear from God. If we can interpret things correctly we can hear from God. God speaks. Will we listen? Will we interpret correctly? Many a profitable good lesson can be learned by experience. We are very poor scholars if we have not learned by experience the evil of sin, the treachery of our own hearts, the vanity of the world, the goodness of God and the advantages of godliness. Job 33:14 says, “For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it.”  You and I want to perceive it when He speaks.

Laban knows that his prosperity was because of God’s blessing: The Lord has blessed me. Worldly men, who choose their portion in this life, are often blessed with an abundance of this world’s goods. Common blessings are given plentifully to many that have no interest in or right to godly blessings.  Laban knew Jacob’s godliness had brought that blessing to him. Laban should say to Jacob “The Lord has blessed me because of you, not for my own sake.” Let not such a man as Laban, that lives without God in the world, think that he will receive anything from the Lord, as James 1:7 says, “That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”

On the other hand, good men are blessings to the places where they live, even if they live plainly or obscurely, as Jacob does here in the field and Joseph will do in the prison as recorded in Genesis 39:23, “The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” God sometimes blesses bad men with outward blessings for the sake of their attachments with godly people, though they do not always have either the wit to see it or the grace to acknowledge it, as Laban does here.

The two strike a new bargain. Laban’s craft and covetousness took advantage of Jacob’s plainness, honesty, and good-nature; and, evidently observing that Jacob began to be won over by his fair speeches, instead of making him a generous proposition and offering much, as he might kindly have done, all things considered, Laban puts it upon Jacob to make his request. “Name your wages, and I will pay them” (28). Laban knew Jacob would be modest and would ask less than Laban could offer. Jacob accordingly makes a fair proposal to him which, interestingly, God allowed that would eventually bring more blessings to Jacob than either Jacob or Laban thought now were possible.

Jacob demonstrates the reason he had to insist upon so much, considering that Laban was bound in gratitude to do well for him, because Jacob had served Laban not only faithfully, but very successfully. Yet here observe how he speaks, like himself, very modestly. Laban had said, The Lord has blessed me for your sake; Jacob will not say so, but, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?” (29 - 30). This was gracious enough. Humble saints take more pleasure in doing good than in hearing of it. Jacob, furthermore, knew that he, himself, was bound in duty to take care of his own family. Faith and love, though they are excellent things, must not distract us from making necessary provisions for our own support, and the support of our families. We must, like Jacob, trust in the Lord and do good, and at the same time, like him, provide for our own houses also; he who does not provide for his own family is worse than an unbeliever according to 1 Timothy 5:8: “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever,”

Jacob is willing to depend on the providence of God, which, he knew, extends itself to the smallest details, including the color of the cattle; and he will be content to have for his wages the sheep and goats of such and such a color, speckled, spotted, and brown, which would be born. Verses 32 and 33 say, “Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.” We do not know if Jacob knew then about what would happen next or not. Did he have a plan? We don’t know for certain. At any rate, this, Jacob thinks, will be a most effective way both to prevent Laban’s cheating him and to protect himself from being suspected of cheating Laban. According to this bargain, those animals that were party-colored were separated, and put into the hands of Laban’s sons, and sent three days’ journey off. Laban in jealousy wanted to protect his herds. He moved his animals three days journey away lest any of them should mix with the rest of the flock, to the advantage of Jacob. And how was this a fine bargain Jacob has made for himself? Is this his providing for his own house, to make his financial future dependent upon the skin color of animals? If these cattle produced offspring, as usually cattle do, young ones of the same color with themselves, Jacob must still serve for nothing, and be a beggar all the days of his life. Jacob knows whom he trusts, and the event shows it, Jacob took the best way that could be taken from Laban. Otherwise Laban would certainly have been too hard on Jacob. Jacob also discovered again that it was not in vain to rely on God who owns and blesses honest humble diligence. Men that find others with whom they deal unjust and unkind will not find God so. Some way or other, God will repay the injured, and be a good pay-master to those that commit their cause to him.

Here is Jacob’s honest policy to make his bargain more advantageous to himself than it was likely to be. If he had not taken some course to help himself, it would have been a bad bargain for certain. Laban would be well pleased to see Jacob a loser. Laban did not consult any one’s interest but his own. Now Jacob’s sheep breeding policies were interesting, but we do not know from the narrative exactly how his plan was set up or why it appears to have been so successful. He set peeled sticks before the place the animals were watered, so that, they might give birth to young ones also party-colored. Possibly this custom, which seems strange to us today, was commonly used by the shepherds of Canaan, who wanted to have their cattle of a certain color.  In any case, it looks good for a man to be master of his trade, whatever it is, and to be not only industrious, but ingenious in it, and to be versed in all its lawful arts and mysteries; for what is a man but his trade?

When Jacob found that his project, though it is obscure to us, nevertheless succeeded through the special blessing of God upon it, he used it only with the stronger animals, to gain for himself those that were most valuable, leaving the feebler to Laban. “Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob” (41-42). So Jacob increased. “In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys” (43). We don’t understand the process well enough to make a moral judgment regarding its honesty. Was Jacob stealing? Was this fair to Laban? We do know that Jacob as recorded in Genesis 31:12 gives credit to God. We will discuss how God directed Jacob in this matter in the next lesson.  It appears there was nothing in the thing itself but an honest improvement of a fair bargain, which God appears to have blessed and caused to wonderfully prosper, in justice to Jacob whom Laban had wronged and a corrective message to Laban if he would accept it. Jacob, who had been a just servant, became a rich master.

What are the lessons from this story for the Christian leader? Work hard. Work smart. Be industrious. Do your part, don’t be lazy. Find out what helps churches grow. Learn what hinders the growth of churches. Prepare your sermons well. Put the same effort and creativity into your church-work that Jacob did into raising sheep. Do everything that is in your power and then watch God work. Give Him the glory. God is the Fountain of every blessing. God will take care of you and through you, those whom you lead.