Conflict With His Inlaws

Jacob finished out his second seven year term with Laban, fulfilling his contact for marriage to Rachel.  After fourteen years away from home, he wanted to return and see his parents.  He stated his intentions in Genesis 30:25-26.  “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.   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.” 

Laban didn’t want Jacob to leave.  For fourteen years he had a top hands services for little more than the cost of feeding him.  If Jacob left, he would lose both the free labor and Jacob’s expertise.  He would also be separated from his daughters and grandchildren.  In an effort to prevent this, Laban offered Jacob a paying position, in Genesis 30:27-28.  “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.  And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.”

Jacob realized he had been taken advantage of repeatedly, He decided to see if he couldn’t make up for some of those times.  People had been raising livestock for over two thousand years, and it was well known that the offspring almost always had coloration similar to their parents.  Jacob thought he had found a way to change that and cause a greater percentage to be born that were off color.  Genesis 30:29-33 describes what he offered to do.  “And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.  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?

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.  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.  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.”

Having a partial understanding of genetics, Laban didn’t see any way he could lose on such a deal.  It was even sweeter because it had been Jacob’s own idea.  He quickly agreed, and they separated out all the ones of different colors, turning them over to Laban’s sons to prevent any possibility of cross breeding resulting in a greater number of off color offspring, as Genesis 30:34-36 describes.  ”And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.  And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstreaked 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.  And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.”  Three days travel between the herds would make it nearly impossible for them to crossbreed. 

Jacob had apparently heard the old wives tale that what the mother saw during pregnancy would affect the baby.  Genesis 30:37-39 describes Jacob’s efforts to cheat, by changing what the mothers saw.  “And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pilled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.  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.  And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted. “ 

It seemed to work, so Jacob carried it a little further, trying to ensure that he got only the best cattle while Laban got the worst, according to Genesis 30:40-43.  “And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstreaked, 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.  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.  But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.  And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.”

Jacob continued this for six years, and his herds outgrew those of Laban.  Laban and his sons began to feel Jacob was ripping them off, despite repeated efforts to prevent it, as Genesis 31:1-2 tells us.  “And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.  And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.”  They had been sure Jacob would lose everything thanks to the deal and instead he became rich.  As usually happens when people attempt to cheat others and their plans fail, Laban and his sons became angry.  They were convinced he had to have cheated more than they did to win when they were cheating.  It was the same attitude the Democratic Party had after Trump won the presidential election. 

God will use the conflict to get Jacob to go back to where He wanted him to be.   As long as it wasn’t too bad, Jacob was content to stay and make as much as he could.  The conflict made staying unacceptable.