GENESIS 30-31
God is at work to fulfill His purposes and to use us and change us in the process
In these two chapters we are going to look at the big picture (God& 39;s over-arching plan and purposes - macro-view) and the close-up and personal view - the individual lives of Jacob and his family (micro-view) and how they relate to God and each other as He uses them for His ultimate purposes. God& 39;s ultimate plan and purposes will not be thwarted regardless of how we as human beings respond to His call on our lives. But we are still accountable for our response. A. W. Tozer explains this by asking us to imagine all of humanity on a God-size ship (SHIP OF LIFE) going from point A to point B (GOD& 39;S SOVEREIGN WILL). No one can knock this ship off course (a la Satan, Hitler, Stalin, etc.) by their rebellion toward God and what they do or don& 39;t do as the ship moves to its destination but when the ship gets to its destination (the end of this world) all will be judged on how they behaved on the ship. Of course as believers we won& 39;t be judged for our sins but we will be judged for our works to determine our eternal reward.
In the big picture God is at work to build Jacob& 39;s family and fortune (12 sons, a daughter and a lot of livestock) and bring him back to Canaan as He promised He would at Bethel: "Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Gen 28:14-15) God is building His nation through the twelve tribes of Israel. Later on Jacob and his 70 family members will go down to Egypt and multiply into 2 million plus people who will be the recipients of God& 39;s Word and through these people Jesus Christ will be born. God has a plan and we can choose to participate or not. We must be humble enough to be part of a Cause that is far greater than our own temporal gain and carry out our assignment for God- great or small.
Unfortunately Leah and Rachel got caught up in the micro-view, and their temporal perspective reveals a weak faith. Their fleshly envy and strife brought great division to God& 39;s family, which never was resolved even to the division of the northern and southern kingdom many years later. Jacob& 39;s neglect of Leah (and having 2 wives who were sisters in the first place - Lev. 18:18) certainly added to the strife. Leah wanted Jacob& 39;s love even though she had many sons. Rachel wanted many sons even though she had Jacob& 39;s love. The names they gave their sons show their strife and how they appealed to God to get what they wanted from Him. From Leah& 39;s first son, Reuben (meaning God sees my misery, i.e, Jacob doesn& 39;t love me so God gives me children but not Rachel) - to Rachel later naming her first son, Joseph (meaning "God will now add another son") ("excuse me Rachel, how about thanking Me for Joseph before demanding another son") we clearly see some of the results of living in the flesh: "hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division."
(Gal 5:29-21 NLT)
Beth Moore says this regarding Leah and Rachel: "The troubled child of desperation is obsession" - I have to have to be happy and fulfilled. In their case it was a husband& 39;s love or many sons. The craving of human love and affirmation causes weak faith as Jesus said: "How can you believe (have faith in God) if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" "They loved praise from men more than praise from God." (John 5:44, 12:43) "But the healthy child of desperation is devotion and love for God Himself." Listen to the psalmists& 39; desperation for God& 39;s presence: "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life (or children, or the love of a spouse, or money, sex or power) my lips will glorify you." "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, it is good to be near God (or "the nearness of God is my good)." (Psalm 63:1-3; 73:25-28)
Gen. 31:3- "Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." There are several good principles of guidance here: 1) Jacob& 39;s Godly desire (30:25-26; Psalm 37:4); 2) circumstances (negative feedback from Laban and his sons- 31:1-5); 3) confirmation and support from his wives (31:14-16; Prov. 15:22); 4) but mainly God& 39;s Word both presently (31:3) and God& 39;s earlier calling of Jacob at Bethel (Gen. 28:13-15; Rom 11:29). (Also see Psalm 25 for a good prayer for God& 39;s guidance.)
Earlier Laban had talked Jacob into staying on and working for him another 6 years after the 14 years of service for his two daughters. And Laban tried to deceive him many times in those six years but God overruled for Jacob (31:38-42). God even gave Jacob a dream (business plan) on how to mate the animals for his benefit and Laban could not figure that out. (See 30:4) - "With the symbolic multicolored rods, Jacob asked God to bless him with speckled and spotted animals from the stronger livestock in Laban& 39;s herd. Indeed, God promised to do just that in a dream (31:10), and Jacob became wealthy." (v. 43. Nelson Study Bible) Verses 37-43 - "Here is Jacob& 39;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 indeed, which he knew Laban would never consider, or rather would be well pleased to see him a loser by, so little did Laban consult anyone& 39;s interest but his own. Now Jacob& 39;s contrivances were, 1. To set peeled sticks before the cattle where they were watered, that, looking much at those unusual partly-coloured sticks, by the power of imagination they might bring forth young ones in like manner partly-coloured, v. 37-39. Probably this custom was commonly used by the shepherds of Canaan, who coveted having their cattle this motley colour. Note, it becomes 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? There is a discretion which God teaches the husbandman (as plain a trade as that is), and which he ought to learn. "The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. Isa. 28:26. 2. When he began to have a stock of ringstraked and brown, he contrived (wisely planned) to set them first, and to put the faces of the rest towards them, with the same design as in the former contrivance; but would not let his own, that were of one colour, v. 40. Strong impressions, it seems, are made by the eye, with which therefore we have need to make a covenant. 3. When he found that his project succeeded, through the special blessing of God upon it, he contrived, by using it only with the stronger cattle, to secure to himself those that were most valuable, leaving the feebler to Laban, v. 41, 42. Thus Jacob increased exceedingly (v. 43), and grew very rich in a little time. This success of his policy, it is true, was not sufficient to justify it, if there had been anything fraudulent or unjust in it, which we are sure there was not, for he did it by divine direction (ch. 31:12); nor was there anything in the thing itself but the honest improvement of a fair bargain, which the divine providence wonderfully prospered, both in justice to Jacob whom Laban had wronged and dealt harshly with and in pursuance of the particular promises made to him of the tokens of the divine favour. Note, those who, while their beginning is small, are humble and honest, contented and industrious, are in a likely way to see their latter end greatly increasing. He that is faithful in a little shall be entrusted with more. He that is faithful in that which is another man& 39;s shall be entrusted with something of his own. Jacob, who had been a just servant, became a rich master." Matt. Henry
Gen. 31:24, 42" Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." Later Jacob spoke to Laban and put the fear of God in him all over again: "If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, (meaning Isaac feared the Lord) had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you." God did all He said He would do for Jacob: blessed him with many sons, provided for him so he could be a blessing to others, protected him from a deceitful and angry father-in-law and brought him back to Canaan. "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all-how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies." And The Message adds this: "And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God& 39;s chosen?" Laban got the message. (Rom 8:31-33)
Discussion Questions FOR APPLICATION OF GOD& 39;S WORD
What did the Lord say to you through this message?
The envy and strife between Leah and Rachel revealed their selfish and temporal perspective of life ("look out for me O God" vs. Phil. 2:3-4) and their lack of trust in God& 39;s good will for them (Rom. 12:2) as well as His power to bring it forth. How can we learn from this bad example as it applies to the circumstances of our lives?
"The troubled child of desperation is obsession" - I have to have to be happy and fulfilled. "But the healthy child of desperation is devotion and love for God Himself." (Beth Moore) What are you desperate for to find fulfillment and joy in this life? Is it (or a person) more important than God Himself? "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you." (Psalm73:25; also see 63:1-3)
How can Jacob& 39;s example of discerning God& 39;s guidance help you in your desire to follow God& 39;s leading for your life? There are several good principles of guidance here: 1) Jacob& 39;s Godly desire (30: 25-26; Psalm 37:4); 2) circumstances (negative feedback from Laban and his sons- 31:1-5); 3) confirmation and support from his wives (31:14-16; Prov. 15:22); 4) but mainly God& 39;s Word both presently (31:3) and God& 39;s earlier calling of Jacob at Bethel (Gen . 28:13-15; Rom 11:29). (Also see Psalm 25 for a good prayer for God& 39;s guidance.)
"The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding." (Isa. 28:26 NLT) How can the Lord help you plan and run your business?
Is there a "Laban" in your life (someone who resists you in following God& 39;s will) and how does this Scripture minister to you? "If God is for us (me), who can be against us (me)? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (And The Message adds this: "And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God& 39;s chosen?" Laban got the message. (Rom 8:31-33)
Scripture memory verse: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you." (Psalm 73:25)