JACOB S PROSPERITY. Genesis 30:25 43

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1 1 Dear Friend, this is a transcript of a sermon preached by Pastor Jeremy Tan from the pulpit of Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. We are committed to expository preaching because we believe it is the most effective way to expose, explain and expound the Holy Scriptures. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27). Through careful systematic and sequential exposition, the preacher is able to declare unto you all the counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and Christians are blessed with a regular, well-balanced diet of God s Word. Expository preaching also helps us to have a high view of Scripture. We wish to extend a warm welcome to you to join us in our church services for a time of uplifting worship and helpful Bible study, which will bring rejoicing and refreshment to your soul. Do visit our church website at or write to us at amazingracebc@gmail.com. JACOB S PROSPERITY Genesis 30:25 43 The narrative in the previous section (Genesis 29:31-30:24) deals with Jacob s flourishing family. Through his wives and handmaids, he had sons that became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob saw in his sons the making of a great nation and the prospect of innumerable descendants that God first promised to his grandfather Abraham, then repeated to his father Isaac, and finally reiterated to him at Bethel. But in terms of his own prosperity and his own place, he still had none of these. So in this next section (Genesis 30:25-43), the subject turns to Jacob s prosperity. Here we see the providence of God blessing him with flourishing flocks. Jacob s great wealth will be acquired at the expense of Laban. Jacob deceived his brother Esau for the birthright blessing, and was deceived in his marriage by Laban; but now he will turn against Laban with another deception. We have divided this text about Jacob s prosperity into five parts, beginning with I. Jacob s Wish. Genesis 30:25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. Following Rachel s birth of Joseph, Jacob announced to Laban his wish to return home. He had lived fourteen years in Haran, Mesopotamia, and he had no desire to continue living in this place. His own place and country is Canaan. Canaan was the land of his nativity or birth, and also the home of his father and mother; but most important of all, it was the land of God s promise. Like Jacob, God s people are strangers and pilgrims on this earth. Just as the patriarch longed to return to his home country, God s people must also have an abiding desire for their Heavenly country. Hebrews 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

2 2 In John 14, the Lord Jesus Christ promised His people a home in Heaven. Therefore, believers in Christ must not sink their roots too deep in this world. In the words of the hymn, This world is not my home, I m just a-passing through. Don t be like those who are thoroughly grieved about death because they have perversely made of this world a better place than Heaven! Death itself ought to be a stiff reminder that this world is not our home. So Jacob announced his wish to depart and he said to his uncle, Send me away. We recall that after he had completed his first seven years of labour, Jacob had to remind Laban to pay him his wages, which was to have Rachel as his bride. Although Laban proceeded with the marriage, he deceived Jacob on the wedding night by switching his daughters. Instead of Rachel, Jacob unwittingly consummated the marriage with Leah, the woman he did not love and did not want. However, for the sake of his beloved Rachel, he agreed to serve Laban seven more years. Now seven years later, he had to remind Laban about the end of his employment contract. So Jacob said to him in Genesis 30:26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. Later in Genesis 31:43, Laban would claim ownership of Jacob s wives and children, thus revealing that he treated Jacob more as a slave than a son-in-law. Now, Jacob could have stolen away from Laban; but without Laban s consent, he would have been accused of theft. Moreover, Laban and his sons could easily have caught up with him (Genesis 31:22-25). So Jacob told Laban of his wish to return home, which brings us to the next point II. Jacob s Witness. Genesis 30:27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. Laban s appeal to Jacob to tarry or to stay is reminiscent of his appeal to Abraham s servant. When the servant found Rebekah as the bride for Isaac, he wanted to return to Canaan with Rebekah as soon as possible; but Laban urged him to stay (Genesis 24:54-56). If we did not know him any better, we might praise Laban for his generous hospitality. However, it is more than likely that he retained the servant so as to extract as much as possible from him. As for Jacob, he fully expected Laban to stall his departure for the same reason: to keep exploiting him. We note that Laban appealed to Jacob with a testimony of receiving God s blessing. I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. The expression learned by experience is better translated learned by divination. Although Laban addressed Jacob s God by His proper name Yahweh, he was not a worshipper of the true and living God. In any case, there was no need to consult his idols because God s blessings was plain to see through his enlarged flocks. Nevertheless, he acknowledged God s blessings upon Jacob, even as the Philistines had to acknowledge the blessings of God on Abraham (Genesis 21:22) and Isaac (Genesis 26:28-29). Remember how Isaac continued to find water with every well that his servants dug, despite being hounded by the Philistines? Next

3 3 III. Jacob s Wages. When he sensed Jacob s determination to leave, Laban tried to win him with higher wages. Genesis 30:28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. Jacob was no longer indebted to Laban because he had worked fourteen years for his wives. But Laban was determined to keep him because of God s blessings, so he asked his nephew to set the conditions. I will pay you more. Name your wages, and I will give it. The lure of higher wages has caused many of God s people to lose their first love for the Lord. They stopped worshipping God faithfully and serving Him diligently as before. Thus because of Mammon, they never fulfilled the will of God for their lives. But like Laban, Satan always promises us more than he can deliver. So be warned: those who deal with the devil will always be short-changed and cheated in the end. How did Jacob respond? More money often does the trick, but not with Jacob. Genesis 30: And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. 30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? For the first time, we hear Jacob bearing witness of God s blessing to him; but up to this point, he had no gain from his years of working for Laban. The blessings of God had only benefited Laban thus far, but fortune was about to turn. The reality of Job 5:13 was about to unfold. Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. We continue with the conversation in Genesis 30:31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: Laban repeated his offer of new wages, but Jacob declined. Instead, he gave one condition for his continued service to Laban. He did not reveal to Laban what he would later tell his wives, that he is acting in response to a dream from God about plundering Laban s wealth. We read about the dream in Genesis 31: And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. 11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13 I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

4 4 Just as the Egyptians would exploit the Israelites for four hundred-plus years and try to keep them enslaved, Laban sought to delay Jacob s return to Canaan, where he had vowed to worship God. Israel went on to spoil the Egyptians, and Jacob would now do the same to Laban. IV. Jacob s Wiles. Hired shepherds were normally paid twenty per cent of the flock. However, Jacob offered a very strange arrangement to Laban. Genesis 30:32 I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. In that part of the world, the goats are mainly black or dark brown and the sheep are white. For his wages, Jacob asked Laban to give him only animals that were abnormally coloured. He continued in Genesis 30:33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. He assured Laban that he would not take any solid coloured cattle for himself. If any such animal were found in his possession, Jacob was prepared to be charged with theft. Laban couldn t believe his ears. This offer was too good to be true. It was so overwhelmingly in his favour that he agreed immediately. Genesis 30: And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35 And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36 And he set three days journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban s flocks. Jacob said he would separate the flock, but Laban made haste to do it himself. He was not going to give Jacob any opportunity, so he removed all the speckled and spotted cattle. He also separated the gender of the unusually coloured goats and sheep, so that there was no chance at all of them breeding and reproducing. Thus Jacob would have very few, if any cattle at all, and he must still serve Laban for nothing in return. What an unbelievable bargain, Laban thought. Next, Laban put the flock into the hands of his sons and set them on a three days journey away from Jacob. The separation of three days would later afford Jacob the time to get away. Although the odds were stacked heavily against Jacob, he went back to work. Genesis 30: And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.

5 5 The strange word translated pilled is in fact peeled. Jacob peeled away the bark of the rods or branches of the poplar, hazel and chestnut trees to expose the white inside. Then he placed these peeled rods or branches into the watering troughs. The idea is for the solid coloured animals to see these peeled rods, which perhaps looked like the barber s pole, become visually influenced, and then conceive offspring with white spots and patches. Genesis 30: And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban s cattle. 41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. 42 But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban s, and the stronger Jacob s. We have no conclusive evidence for prenatal influence, such as the embryo being affected by sight. But there are people who believe that looking at pictures of beautiful, bouncy babies affects women trying to conceive, or singing to the unborn child in the mother s womb. Whatever our views on prenatal influence, the solid coloured animals under Jacob s care did produce offspring with white splotches and patches, and sheep white-aswool produced brown lambs. How is that possible? Whatever the reason, we can be certain that God brought it to pass. In Genesis 31:10-13, God appeared to Jacob in a dream and told him to set up peeled rods so that the animals would conceive and deliver spotted offspring. By obeying God, Jacob displayed his faith and he had the results, just as God said. These white-striped rods are similar to Moses setting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness when the people were bitten by snakes. The Israelites were not healed because of the bronze serpent, but God healed them when they applied faith to look at the serpent (Numbers 21:6-9). Likewise, Jacob succeeded in breeding spotted animals only because he obeyed God. With his mixed coloured cattle, Jacob then used only the stronger animals to breed, and he left the feeble or weak ones to Laban. This is another instance of poetic justice: Laban had cheated him with Leah, who was tender eyed or weak-eyed (Genesis 29:17), so now Jacob would give him all the weaker animals! God s sovereign grace blessed Jacob with successful breeding, not because of any prenatal influence or inheritable qualities. God was gracious to Jacob despite him deceiving Laban with the weaker animals. Finally we have the climax of the scene, which is V. Jacob s Wealth. Genesis 30:43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses. Jacob became exceedingly wealthy not only in cattle, but also servants. When he was in Bethel, he had asked God only for safety, food, and clothing. He did not ask for much, but how much God now prospered him! Indeed, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

6 6 Now, we note in Genesis 30:33 that Jacob had said to Laban, So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come. Let me point out some principles of Jacob s prosperity that attest to his righteousness. There are tons of self-help books that teach the way to prosperity through single-minded ambition, cunning, aggression, greed and so on. But Jacob s principles of prosperity are not the ways of the world. The first principle is that Jacob did not try to be rich. If wealth were his priority, he would have accumulated possessions during his years with Laban. As with Jacob, wealth is not to be the priority of God s people. In 1 Timothy 6, the apostle Paul warns us about the spiritual danger of pursuing wealth. 1 Timothy 6: But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. A person s desire to be rich will change his character, and greed is destructive to personal relationships with others and with God, and to one s soul. We have the example of Laban, who went to great lengths to enrich himself. However, not pursuing wealth does not mean being lazy or refusing to work. Jacob worked for Laban without eye service because he was serving the Lord. Ephesians 6:7-8 6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. To work with eyeservice, as menpleasers means to work only when the boss is present and watching. This is dishonest. We ought to give a fair day s work for a fair day s wage. Instead of complaining about his uncle s exploitation, Jacob quietly went about his work until the day arrived for him to leave. When that day came, he only asked Laban for his due: his wives and children for whom he had served fourteen years. Laban could have no complaint against Jacob for his service! The second principle is that Jacob worked hard without considering that his work is demeaning or meaningless. Honest work is honourable. We note in Genesis 30:26 that immediately after his request to leave, Jacob said to his uncle, Thou knowest my service which I have done thee. It is significant that Laban did not question Jacob s work ethic, honesty and integrity. Evidently Jacob s good reputation was too well-known for Laban or anyone else to deny. This is the good aspect of Jacob for us to emulate. The third principle is that Jacob trusted God for his prosperity. Jacob made Laban a bargain that was unfavourable to himself but no matter, because he entrusted the result to God. Let us be clear that God does not always give us His blessings in the form of wealth; if He does, then every believer will be rich. God knows that not every one of His people can handle wealth. In fact, the apostle s warning in 1 Timothy 6 is sufficient evidence that wealth will destroy most of us!

7 7 Conclusion There are two ways in which prosperity affects people. Some regard prosperity as God s blessing to them, and as a God-given stewardship to be used wisely and fruitfully in His service. A steward manages the property of another; wealth is a stewardship that God entrusts to us! Then others see prosperity as nothing more than the reward of personal effort and individual endeavour, and there is no need to acknowledge God for their wealth. But if we think of prosperity as the result of self-effort and personal ability, we rob God of His glory and honour; and we will hurt ourselves spiritually. The Lord Jesus said that God gives sunshine and rain to both the just and the unjust, and to the good and the evil (Matthew 5:45). If God withholds His blessings of sunshine and rain, or of good health, opportunity, talent, and so on, no amount of human effort will yield anything. Jacob s prosperity teaches us to acknowledge material prosperity as a blessing from God and not the mere reward of our limited abilities. If we acknowledge this truth from the outset, then our human effort in the process will be brought into line with the faith. By faith, we will not be seeking wealth, but the kingdom of God as His will for us. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Seeking the kingdom of God begins with salvation through personal faith in Christ. As citizens in God s kingdom, He will provide for our needs. A rich unsaved person like Laban is a pauper compared with Jacob, who was rich with God s promises to him. If you are a believer in Christ, the prosperity of your soul is infinitely more precious than any amount of worldly wealth. We close with the thought of the wise man about prosperity, who wrote in Proverbs 30:8-9 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. Permission: We share our materials with you as a blessing from the ministry of our church. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Amazing Grace Baptist Church. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: Copyright: Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. Website: Used by permission as granted on website.