THE FAMILY OF JACOB GENESIS 30:1-43

1 THE FAMILY OF JACOB GENESIS 30:1-43

2 THE FAMILY OF JACOB Text: Genesis 30:1-43, 1. When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, Give me children or I ll die! 2. Jacob became furious with Rachel and exclaimed, Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children? 3. She replied, Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with her so that she can bear children for me and I can have a family through her. 4. So Rachel gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with her. 5. Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son. 6. Then Rachel said, God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son. That is why she named him Dan. 7. Bilhah, Rachel s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. 8. Then Rachel said, I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won. So she named him Naphtali. 9. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10. Soon Leah s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. 11. Leah said, How fortunate! So she named him Gad. 12. Then Leah s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. 13. Leah said, How happy I am, for women will call me happy! So she named him Asher. 14. At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, Give me some of your son s mandrakes. 15. But Leah replied, Wasn t it enough that you ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son s mandrakes too? All right,

3 Rachel said, he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son s mandrakes. 16. When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son s mandrakes. So he had marital relations with her that night. 17. God paid attention to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. 18. Then Leah said, God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife. So she named him Issachar. 19. Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. 20. Then Leah said, God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons. So she named him Zebulun. 21. After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. 22. Then God took note of Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. 23. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, God has taken away my shame. 24. She named him Joseph, saying, May the Lord give me yet another son. 25. After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me on my way so that I can go home to my own country. 26. Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I ll depart, because you know how hard I ve worked for you. 27. But Laban said to him, If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, for I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me on account of you. 28. He added, Just name your wages I ll pay whatever you want. 29. You know how I have worked for you, Jacob replied, and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 30. Indeed, you had little before I arrived, but now your possessions have increased many times over. The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family

4 too? 31. So Laban asked, What should I give you? You don t need to give me a thing, Jacob replied, but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them: 32. Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages. 33. My integrity will testify for me later on. When you come to verify that I ve taken only the wages we agreed on, if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen. 34. Agreed! said Laban, It will be as you say. 35. So that day Laban removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care of his sons. 36. Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, while Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban s flocks. 37. But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 38. Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 39. When the sheep mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40. Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban s flocks. 41. When the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 42. But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. So

5 the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban and the stronger animals to Jacob. 43. In this way Jacob became extremely prosperous. He owned large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys. (NET) Commentary: Jacob was married to two sisters, Leah and Rachel. He has six sons and a daughter by Leah. Jacob s wives gave him their maids as concubines. Jacob had children by all four of these women. Rachel was the last of the four to have a child. She was the wife that Jacob loved most. Leah s children were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and a daughter named Dinah. Bilhah, who was Rachael s maid, bore Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Zilpah who was Leah s maid bore Jacob two sons, Gad and Asher. Rachel had two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. Jealousy brought a great deal of hurt to Jacob s family. Rachel was sad that she could not have children and even blamed Jacob. Even though Jacob did not intend to marry Leah and he loved Rachael more than he did her, he seemed to love and respect her too. He was always fair in dealing with Leah. He accepted the maids of both wives to bear him children. Jacob had stayed with Laban for 14 years. He worked these years to pay for his wives, Leah and Rachel. He now wanted to return to his home land. God had promised that he would bring him back. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Genesis 28:15) Laban wanted Jacob to stay so they work out an agreement as to which cattle would belong to Laban and which cattle would belong to Jacob. During this time God blessed Jacob greatly. So Jacob, increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses. (Genesis 30:43) Problems between Rachel and Leah -- Genesis 30:1-13: At first Leah had children and Rachael did not. Rachel became very jealous of Leah. She told Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. Jacob became angry with his favorite wife. The Bible has something to say about overcoming anger. The

6 discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. (Proverbs 19:11) If someone offends you, as a Christian, you can just overlook it, and not allow the situation to become a major event that overwhelms you. Jacob became upset or angry with Rachel. He said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? (Genesis 30:2) People do very strange things. Rachael is already Jealous of Leah but now she gives her maid, Bilhah to Joseph. She said the children that would be born to Bilhah would be her children. Rachael both claimed and named Bilhah s children. Rachael said, God hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son. She named him Dan. Rachael also named a second son born to Bilhah by Jacob. She called him Naphtali. Her attitude was expressed when she said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed. (Genesis 30:8) It was not that she just wanted children, but she wanted to outdo her sister. Leah would not give up the battle that easy so she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob. Like Rachael, Leah claimed and named Zilpha s children. The first son she named Gad. Leah was very happy when Zilpha bore Jacob a second son and she called his name Asher. These children are being born into a family where there is jealousy, contention and rivalry. Leah bore Jacob more children -- Genesis 30:14-24: During the time of wheat harvest, Leah s oldest son Ruben, found some mandrakes in the field and took them to his mother. Today no one knows what mandrakes are but they were some kind of plants that were supposed to help with conception. Rachel wanted some of them so she bargained for Jacob to go in to Leah that night in exchange for the mandrakes. Again God answered Leah s prayers and gave her a fifth son named Issachar. The name of each child had some special meaning. God also gave Leah a sixth son whom she named Zebulun. She said, God has given me a wonderful gift, and my husband will praise me for giving him six sons. Leah also had a daughter and named her Dinah. After several years of sadness God remembered Rachel and gave her a son. She said God has taken away my disgrace. She named this son Joseph. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalms 113:9) Rachael also prayed for a second son. Her prayer was answered but the birth of her second son cost Rachel her life.

7 Laban was blessed because of Jacob -- Genesis 30:25-34: After the birth of Joseph, Jacob was ready to return to Canaan. He had kept his end of the bargain in working 14 years for the two wives, so he asked Laban to allow him to leave. Laban realized that he had been blessed because of Jacob so he wanted him to stay. His children and grandchildren would be another reason why Laban would want Jacob to stay. Laban said to Jacob, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes tarry or stay on. This is the man who had deceived him and gave him the wrong woman for a wife saying, If you really are my friend, stay on. Laban asked Jacob to set his wages and he would pay him if he stayed. Jacob reminded Laban that he did not have much before he came. But the Lord blessed everything Jacob did for Laban. His flocks and herds grew under Jacob s care. Jacob said it was time for him to start providing for and looking out for his own family. Jacob said all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats would be his pay. Jacob said that way it would be easy to see if he had taken any of Laban s animals. Laban s response was Behold, I would it might be according to thy word or I agree to that. God made Jacob rich and successful -- Genesis 30:35-43: Laban quickly separated the spotted and speckled animals and the black lambs from the others and put his sons in charge of Jacob s heard. He separated his flocks three days journey from Jacob s and set Jacob over his animals. Jacob cut branches of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree. He peeled off part of the bark and made the branches look spotted and speckled. He placed these branches where the sheep and goats could see them when they came to drink. When the flocks conceived before the rods their young were spotted and speckled. Some of the cattle that Jacob kept for Laban were already spotted and when others conceived he had them facing the ones that were spotted and brown. Jacob built up his own flock and he kept his animals separate from those of Laban. When the strong animals mated Jacob put out the branches and when the weaker animals mated he did not put them out. So Jacob got all of the healthy animals, and Laban got the weaker ones. Jacob soon became rich and successful. He increased exceedingly and had much cattle and maidservants,

8 and menservants, and also many sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys. During the six years that Jacob served Laban for the cattle God blessed him tremendously. This was a fulfillment of the blessing Jacob had received from Isaac when he sent him away. Isaac had said, And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people. (Genesis 28:3) This event just proves again that our God works in a mighty way, often unknown to man, to bless His people and to bring about His will on earth. Jacob, who had been a just servant, became a rich master. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2) Even though Jacob was mistreated he was a faithful steward. Let us be faithful in our stewardship to God. To become a part of God's spiritual family, the church you must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus as the Christ (Mark 16:16), repent of all sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ as Lord (Acts 8:37) and be baptized for remission of sins. (Acts 2:38) After baptism remain faithful to God. (Revelation 2:10) God promised to bring Jacob home safely if he was faithful to him. He will do the same for us. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. (Hebrews 13:14) By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street, Greenville, Alabama 36037

9 Questions on Genesis 30:1-43 1. Rachel was upset that she could not conceive while her sister Leah could. What did she do to solve that problem? 2. What other story in Jacob s family does this remind you of? 3. Bilhah became and gave Jacob a son. 4. Rachel said, God has vindicated me... and named her firstborn son by Bilhah. 5. Jacob had relations with Bilhah again and she bore another son for Rachel. She felt she had won a victory over Leah and named her second son by Bilhah. 6. There was a lot of between the sisters. Leah stopped bearing children and gave her servant to. This servant bore more

10 Leah named them and. 7. The mandrake plant was viewed by the ancient near eastern people as an aphrodisiac and an aid to conception. What did Rachel exchange for the mandrake plant? 8. Leah continued to be blessed with children. Her fifth son she named and the sixth she named. She had a daughter named. It is unusual for the births of daughters to be recorded in the genealogy. This foretells that she will play an important role later in Jacob s story. 9. God took note of Rachel s displeasure and she bore Jacob a son named. 10. God had promised to bless others through Abraham s descendants. This promise was coming to fruition as Laban was blessed through Jacob. How did Laban reveal he knew the Lord had blessed him through Jacob? 11. What does that tell you about what Laban worshiped? Did he worship the one true God?

11 12. Jacob made a deal with Laban so he could return to Canaan with his family, flocks and wealth. What was the agreement they made? 13. Did this arrangement favor Jacob or Laban? 14. The livestock that mated in front of the multi-colored branches produced more lambs and kids that were streaked or mottled. How did this happen?