Trouble Making
In this chapter, Jacob wants to leave Laban's house but He begs Jacob to stay. Through divination, he learned that God deliberately blessed Jacob. You would think that Laban would respect Jacob since he knows this but Laban will be Laban. He's in it for the money... or in this case... the blessing. He may even be envious of Jacob. The Bible says that Laban had very little when Jacob came to live with him but now both of them had so much that they had to live a three-day journey from each other.
Jacob puts in another six years with Laban and builds his wealth of servants, camels and donkeys but Laban and his sons accuse Jacob of taking away Laban's wealth. Suddenly, Laban is no longer friendly. God tells Jacob to go back to Isaac's country. Jacob talks it over with his wives and they tell him that they have no inheritance with their father so they are ready to leave. So Jacob picks up his entire household and travels toward the land of his father.
In this chapter, Jacob wants to leave Laban's house but He begs Jacob to stay. Through divination, he learned that God deliberately blessed Jacob. You would think that Laban would respect Jacob since he knows this but Laban will be Laban. He's in it for the money... or in this case... the blessing. He may even be envious of Jacob. The Bible says that Laban had very little when Jacob came to live with him but now both of them had so much that they had to live a three-day journey from each other.
Jacob puts in another six years with Laban and builds his wealth of servants, camels and donkeys but Laban and his sons accuse Jacob of taking away Laban's wealth. Suddenly, Laban is no longer friendly. God tells Jacob to go back to Isaac's country. Jacob talks it over with his wives and they tell him that they have no inheritance with their father so they are ready to leave. So Jacob picks up his entire household and travels toward the land of his father.
When Laban learns that he is gone, Laban gathers his relatives and for seven days, they hunt for Jacob. On this journey, Laban has a dream and God tells him not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. When Laban catches up with him, he tells Jacob that Jacob left with his daughters, his grand-kids and his animals. Laban is quite the character. I think he had nerve to call everything his and totally disregard Jacob's payment in work.
Surprisingly, Laban makes an agreement with Jacob. "You stay in your country and I will stay in my country. They pile up rocks... a common practice to signify a covenant... eat and go their separate ways. But before they do; Laban repeats the famous Mizpah, "May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent from one another." I would have never guessed that Laban would speak such a rich request from God over Jacob.
Mandrakes & Joseph
Rachel was beautiful and was Jacob's first love. You get the feeling that Jacob would do anything for her but she remained childless for a good bit of time. In what seems to be an irrational and probably a hormone-driven fit of rage; she cries out to Jacob, "Give me children or I will die!" He explains to her that it was up to God not him. Both Leah and Rachel give Jacob their maids as wives and each of them contribute two sons.
Rachel gets creative and she sells her bedtime with Jacob to her sister so that she could get mandrakes. And what are mandrakes? They are a "Love plant" root that looks like a human form. It has been used in "magical" rituals in other cultures. I'm guessing here that she thinks mandrakes improve her chance of having sons.
The night Leah spends with Jacob, she bears a son and later on another one. But the text says that God remembered Rachel and she had a son... Joseph. I bet Jacob felt relieved and totally in love with the child of his first love. The moments between father and son must have been priceless.
We also find Rachel stealing her father's gods and then deceiving him when she tells him she is on her period. Where she sat, the idols were right underneath her. We don't find any discipline for her deceit. I guess these two chapters showcase the human spirit but it also shows that God is running the show in spite of their human struggles.
Happy
These chapters don't reveal too much about Leah other than she was content to sleep with Jacob and get two sons out of the deal. She was also willing to trade her mandrakes for her time with him. She named her maid's son, Asher because women will call Leah happy. Leah finds her joy or reason to smile outside of her husband. By having six sons and two by her maid, she has eight sons and the Bible mentions she had a daughter, Dinah; she reaches her utopia.
The Making of a Patriarch
These chapters point out Jacob's growing connection to God. In these chapters, he acknowledges God's blessings. I think Jacob allows this to be proof for the if/then covenant he made with God... If you bless me, then You will be my God. I like the growth of Jacob but I guess I would have liked to see him handle the matters of his household a little more effectively. For example, should he have slept with Leah in exchange for Rachel's mandrakes?
Now I don't think that he was without a backbone. He did speak his mind with Laban... although Laban really didn't listen to him. Laban bulldozed his ideas and thoughts right over Jacob's words. But I think being in this kind of circumstance allowed Jacob to build character. However, he still stayed true to the meaning of his name. When he fled Laban, the Bible says, "He deceived Laban."
Now I don't think that he was without a backbone. He did speak his mind with Laban... although Laban really didn't listen to him. Laban bulldozed his ideas and thoughts right over Jacob's words. But I think being in this kind of circumstance allowed Jacob to build character. However, he still stayed true to the meaning of his name. When he fled Laban, the Bible says, "He deceived Laban."
Lessons
God uses broken people. This story is not short of broken humans. So many issues and yet God used Jacob. He was the one who was going to be the keeper of the seed of Jesus Christ. That seed passed right through his family with all of its brokenness. This idea gives hope to me and others who recognize and suffer from broken lives.
I can relate to deceit. Sadly, I've done it before. The fruit of deceit can be a painful process. The fruit of operating in my own will is also painful and difficult. Yet God worked with Jacob
and brought him into a relationship with him. God established the 12 tribes of Israel through this relationship... and finally a people so vast that it is impossible to number them. God delivered exactly what he told Abraham he would do. That gives me a hope in my life and in my world. That means God can and will make something of my broken life; my broken character. He can work with me and through me and bring about beauty that I never dreamed or imagined. This draws me to Him. This is the story that I can share with a broken world.
and brought him into a relationship with him. God established the 12 tribes of Israel through this relationship... and finally a people so vast that it is impossible to number them. God delivered exactly what he told Abraham he would do. That gives me a hope in my life and in my world. That means God can and will make something of my broken life; my broken character. He can work with me and through me and bring about beauty that I never dreamed or imagined. This draws me to Him. This is the story that I can share with a broken world.
That's it for today.
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