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[0:00] Let's look to the Lord for his blessing on his word this morning, please. Father, thanks so much for gathering us together.! We thank you for this time. We thank you most of all for that great gift of grace that you bestowed upon us.

[0:17] Coming from your grace, the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. We thank you that you have seen fit to bring us into fellowship with yourself through his shed blood.

[0:38] We thank you for that propitiation. We are ever grateful for that wonderful gift of grace. Now, as we look in your word in Genesis, as we see how you have orchestrated the foundation for all of this and bringing your story, for your word is your story, bringing your story around to where we are today, as we look at Jacob and his family, help us to glean those principles that we ought to and to rightly discern what we can learn and what does not apply to a marching order for today so that we know what we ought to be about.

[1:34] So, thank you for this, Lord, and open our minds and our hearts, I pray, in Christ Jesus. Amen. Okay, now.

[1:51] Well, I'm not going to do it right away. Let's rehearse where we were last week. Well, we were here.

[2:02] What's the matter with you? What was going on last week? Well, it's not exactly chaos.

[2:16] There are some things chaotic about it. And I know you weren't here. We discussed the children. They discussed children and how they did.

[2:29] Yeah, at this point, there are only 11. That's true, 11. At this point, there are 11. Pardon me. So, we did talk about them.

[2:41] We talked about what the mothers said about their children, which is kind of telling about family life.

[2:53] And it, by the way, it's why in the law of Moses, God is going to say to them, at this point, it's not a law.

[3:07] This is pre-law. Let's, let, maybe I ought to get back to that whole rightly dividing thing. This is before the law is given at Mount Sinai.

[3:21] Right? See, that was rhetorical. That means you have to agree with me or... I'm sorry for using that.

[3:35] This is before the law is given at Sinai. So, the law of Moses as marching order does not yet apply. And I ought to conversely learn that what I learn here needs to be learned in principle, but it is not marching order for me.

[3:59] That is, I'm not to go out and seek other wives. That's not to happen. See, the marching order for the church is one man, one woman, one lifetime.

[4:17] Now, it doesn't preclude a marriage after... If the, after widowhood, if her husband, in fact, Paul addresses that for the church in Timothy, where he talks about how the widows and orphans should be cared for.

[4:38] And that part is addressed. If the widow's this old, you don't have, you know, don't put her on the list. If she's older, past marrying age, then put her on the list.

[4:51] If she has no family. But that's not part of what we're talking about here. The marching order for me is don't get another wife. Now, pre-law.

[5:05] But at Sinai, God's going to tell them a different rule. See, Jacob's married...

[5:15] Tell me about Rachel and Leah. What do you know about them? Well, they're competitive.

[5:27] That's the point. They're sisters. So he's married sisters. Now, he's not condemned by God for doing that.

[5:38] However, there's strife. And some of it's Jacob's doing.

[5:49] I mean, he showed favoritism. Jacob loved Rachel. Not necessarily so much Leah. So, there was some of that.

[6:03] At Sinai, God's going to tell Israel, you do not marry your wife's sister while she's alive.

[6:16] I like that. In fact, I thought of that, and that's what I would have said at home.

[6:29] Yeah. Yeah. While your wife is alive, you don't marry her sister.

[6:40] Because it's a vexation. He said, to vex her. So, there's going to be a competition in there, and you don't do that.

[6:55] Well, that'll be for the children of Israel. For the church, it's one man, one woman.

[7:10] So, we know that they are sisters. We know that there's some strife in the family. And we know that Jacob's been working for Laban for a while.

[7:32] In fact, for a few days was the term. So, the few days at this point is somewhere around 17 years, give or take it.

[7:50] Give or take one or two. But that's quite a few days. That's quite a few days. He's been working. So, what's he say to Laban?

[8:03] Well, actually, our lesson today is going to start with somewhere around verses 25.

[8:22] Or 35, I guess it is. Genesis 30. But, let's look at verses 25 on for a review.

[8:39] So, he's going to talk to Laban. What's he going to say? This is review right now. Give me my wife and children.

[8:51] It's time for me to depart. When am I going to have time to provide for my own house? That's what he says. I think because Laban at this point has control over the clan.

[9:17] Laban is the sheik. He's the clan leader. He's the head of the household.

[9:29] And, we will see what Laban says a little later on this morning. Because Laban saw himself as the owner of the children and the wives.

[9:42] Yes. Yes. Yes. So, he offered his work for seven years. But, that was just for a moment. I think that was a good deal.

[9:53] But, for 14 years. I don't know if part of that deal is getting them into the flocks and all that, right?

[10:05] We're not told that part yet. We're coming into that part. Do you have slaves? No. It's more along the line of when he came, he had nothing.

[10:22] And, he indentured himself to Laban. He worked for, was it a month that he worked? And, then he said, and Laban said, what are your wages?

[10:34] You shouldn't have to work for me for nothing. And, he said, I'll work seven years for Rachel. And, Laban said, good deal.

[10:46] And, then Laban, at the party, I don't know if alcohol was involved. But, at the party, that night, in the consummation of the marriage, then, in the morning, hey, behold, it's not Rachel, it's Leah.

[11:05] So, he works another seven years for Rachel. In that time, he has accumulated some stuff, as we're going to see in a minute.

[11:18] But, by and large, he's acting as a son, not necessarily as a slave.

[11:30] Because, it's rather like the Apostle Paul will point out, when he talks about salvation by grace, as opposed to adherence to the law.

[11:46] He is going to say, while we were children, we were under a tutor, and very little different than a slave.

[12:03] But, now that we're grown, the tutor's gone. The law is gone. And, since the law is gone, you're no longer a slave, but sons.

[12:19] Full-fledged. So, right now, he's operating for his father-in-law. So, he's, and he's apparently managing the flocks, because Laban's going to say, hey, I know.

[12:38] So, what's it going to take? Remember, Laban's going to say, what will it take to keep you? Name your wage. Because I perceive what?

[12:49] What did Laban know? God's with you, and I have prospered because of you. Because you're working for me.

[13:00] I've got rich. Okay, so Laban recognizes that. So, now what? That brings us, then, to verse 29.

[13:19] Right, in verse 28, he says, name your wages. Now, the wage negotiation gets going in earnest. So, describe it.

[13:29] What does Jacob say?

[13:42] Jacob gives a little preface. Right. So, he reiterates what Laban has said.

[14:10] And he said, by the way, Laban, you've said it right. When I came, you didn't have all that much. He said, you had little.

[14:21] Now, Laban was reasonably wealthy in my head. But now, he's very wealthy. So, when I came, you had little, but now you're great.

[14:36] So, when am I going to provide for my own house? Okay. Laban asked him, what will it take for you to stay?

[14:48] And Jacob is going to say, I'll tell you what. This will be my wage. What?

[14:58] Now, it gets interesting to me. Interesting as in, I'm baffled.

[15:10] But. Speaking of rightly dividing.

[15:35] And what?

[15:56] Jacob's going to take the bottle. They're not. No, they're not blemished. Their coat is of different color.

[16:06] That is, they're spotted or they're speckled or the ring straight would be striped. They're Holsteins instead of shorthorn. You know, instead of being all red, they're going to be black and white.

[16:24] That's an analogy. That's really not what's going on. I don't think they had the Holsteins. But, anyway.

[16:35] So, he says, I'll tell you what. And this way you'll know nobody will be able to say, I've cheated you.

[16:46] That's the important thing. Now, I do need to learn that here, don't I? Let's go back to the Apostle Paul when he's coming to the Corinthian church.

[16:59] He says, I'm going to come to you. And they were talking about taking up an offering to send back to the church in Jerusalem.

[17:11] Because, remember, the Jerusalem congregation were Jews, largely from Acts 2.

[17:24] And what had they done? Because they thought the kingdom was coming now. What had they done? They were living in communally.

[17:36] And what did they do? They sold everything. They pulled all their money. Put on their white gowns and stood on the hill.

[17:47] Okay, that might be stretching it. But, basically, when that wasn't God's program. See, they didn't see the parenthesis.

[17:59] God had not shown them the parenthesis. And by the parenthesis, we mean what? The mystery, which is the church age, that Gentiles were going to be brought in by grace and become fellow heirs with Israel.

[18:22] Now, how's this work? So, they hadn't known that. They weren't wrong in what they did. They just did it in ignorance in that they had not been, it had not been revealed to them that there would be a church age.

[18:41] And because they didn't know that, they assumed that all of Israel is going to get on board. Remember, these people had seen their group grow from 100 or so to 3,000 in one sermon.

[19:03] And then another time, other thousand. And they're thinking, here we are. Now, so what did they do?

[19:17] They not only pooled all their resources, but they sold their means of production. Socialist thinking, right?

[19:35] Even in a Christian church, communism doesn't work. Remember that. Not long term. It might work for a month.

[19:47] But, but even there. And they were dispersed later on. However, there was still a group in Jerusalem.

[19:59] And the Corinthian church was taking up offering to send to Jerusalem. What did the Apostle Paul say? What? Well, okay.

[20:13] Go ahead and pick up. Take that offering. But he said some specific things about it. I'm not touching it. I'm not going to carry it.

[20:27] You're going to choose the people that will carry it. And they'll go with me. And they're going to deliver it. But I'm not touching the money.

[20:38] Now, what's the point of that? There is a principle in there, as we see with Jacob talking to Laban. And that is, I want to make everything not only above board with my integrity, but I want every appearance to be that.

[20:57] I don't want anybody coming and saying, oh, you messed around. So Jacob has a plan.

[21:07] What's his plan? Okay, the lambs that are specced, or modeled, I'll say.

[21:30] The lambs that are model colored are mine. The lambs that are solids are labans.

[21:42] Is that about right? Okay. Now, and he says, that way my integrity will be a witness for me.

[21:58] So that if you come into my flocks and you find solid color lambs, you will reckon those as stolen. Those are really yours.

[22:10] So that's his plan. What's Laban say? That's a good plan, Laban says. Now, why did Laban say that?

[22:28] Laban has mentioned several times to Jacob, that's a good plan. Hasn't he? I'll work seven years for Rachel.

[22:43] That's a good plan. I'll work seven more for Rachel. That's a good plan. Okay. Now it's a good plan.

[22:59] I'd be wondering if it's a good plan, frankly. Because I've seen what your good plans have worked out to be.

[23:10] But it was, after all, Jacob's idea. He's the one that presents it. So what happens? Laban says, that's a great deal.

[23:20] This is what we'll do. And so, what does Laban do? Actually, we're going to be in verses 35 through 40 now.

[23:33] Or 43, probably, for the next questions. So, somebody help me. What's Laban do?

[23:44] To prepare for this. Okay. So, who removed it? It says 35. So, he removed it on that verse. Okay. If you go down a couple of verses, you'll see.

[23:57] So, who removed it? Jacob separated it? Jacob separated it? It was a unified thing. But I think Laban separated them. And we'll see why in a moment.

[24:08] Because we haven't finished with what he did. So, what happens? They separate the flock. And then what? Go ahead.

[24:34] Yeah. Keep going. Keep going. Okay.

[24:45] That's why I think it was Laban. So, he hands all his flocks into the hands of his sons.

[24:56] And. Okay. He separated them for a three days journey. You go that way for three days.

[25:08] I don't want any of this breeding business going on. Laban obviously thinks that he's going to get the whole deal. Could very well be.

[25:27] Yeah. He was all for it. Now. Who's been managing the herd, by the way? Jacob's been managing the herd.

[25:39] So. But. You may have been managing all the business. And it's been growing and doing well.

[25:52] But I have all the answers. I don't know that that's what's going on. But.

[26:02] Hey. Maybe. I ought to watch out for that, hadn't I? I. Anyway.

[26:15] I don't want to stray again too far. So. They separate three days journey. Now. By the way. In.

[26:26] In working. Who has wondered about all this business before? You've read these scriptures before. Who's found this. A little bit.

[26:37] Okay. What's God teaching me in this? Okay. I'm the only one. Because of. Of what.

[26:48] Jacob's going to be doing here. And. I don't know the genetics. That is. What. The.

[26:58] The. The. Plain color. May have been more. But whether that is the dominant gene. Or the modeled is the dominant gene.

[27:09] I'm not sure. But the way the outcome is. It sounds like the model is the dominant gene. At the same time. I want to be careful.

[27:22] Because it really doesn't matter. Because sometimes. Well.

[27:33] Nobody you know. But I've heard people. Who try to explain everything in scripture by. Natural phenomena. Well. You know.

[27:50] Sodom and Gomorrah. Wasn't really fire from God. Raining down on them. It was. A volcanic eruption. Well. Maybe.

[28:01] And then maybe. It was just fire raining down from God. Because of scripture. I better be careful. That I don't.

[28:11] I'm not trying to. Limit. The creator. And put him within the creation. By that I mean.

[28:22] God is. Holy. And he is. Eternally. And. Completely. Separate. From the creation. He acts truly.

[28:33] Within his creation. But he is not part. Of the creation. God did not create himself. And nothing else created God.

[28:46] And so I need to be careful with that. That I don't try to explain everything away. By natural phenomena. It may have been. Supernatural.

[28:57] But getting back to it. Yep. Now. And it brings me back to.

[29:09] To. Like Paul. Talking in Athens. Where he said. In him. We all.

[29:19] Live and move. And have our. Our being. He's not talking about. Only Christians. He says. If something good happens to you. And you're not a Christian.

[29:32] It's still by God's grace. It's still by God's grace. There is. There is. There are studies that prove.

[29:43] For instance. And I didn't mean to be going back here. But I'm going anyway. There are studies that do prove. That. If you are. A believer.

[29:54] In something bigger than yourself. If. You could be Hindu. You could be. Even be Muslim. Or you could be Christian.

[30:08] And you. Pray. Your chances of recovery. From a physical ailment. Are better. Than those. Who have no belief system.

[30:19] You. You. You. Now. That doesn't mean. That Krishna. Was the one who healed you. It just means that God.

[30:32] Permitted that to be done. And. Everything. As Paul. Pointed out. Is done under. The. Auspice.

[30:43] If you will. Of the Lord. So. I need to be careful. That I don't try to explain. Everything away.

[30:54] It's still God's work. So. Back to. Back to. His. Breeding program. So. What does. What does Jacob. They separate the flocks.

[31:08] And. What does Jacob do. Now. Here's. The. This has puzzled me. Frankly. Okay. So tell me why it puzzles me. Quickly.

[31:25] What does he do. He takes rods. Okay. I'm going to get it rolling. And then you're going to help me. Please. He takes rods of poplar.

[31:38] And of. Almond. Almond. And of. And of. Plane. P-L-A-N-E. Plane. And what does he do. Okay.

[31:58] He peels the bark. He. Puts those rods in the watering trough. And when they come to water. They breed. And they give. What do they deliver.

[32:08] They. They. They. They. They. They delivered the model. Coats. Now. I have always.

[32:22] Wondered. Okay. Lord. What's this. Because you don't do things. By magic incantation. So. What. What am I to.

[32:33] Glean from this. And I don't know. Well. Well.

[32:45] Okay. He's taking care of the mottled color. Because the. Laban. The solids. Have been removed. Three days journey. But every lamb born.

[32:57] If it's born with a clear coat. It goes to Laban. And if it's born. Modeled. It stays with Jacob.

[33:10] That's what's going on here. I don't know. Well. Well. That seems very odd to me.

[33:22] However. I struggle with that. In answers in Genesis. Answers in depth.

[33:33] It's called. Animal genetics. Jacob's odd breeding program. There is a paper. Troy Lacey.

[33:45] He cites some studies. That show that poplar. Hazel. And plain. Have some medicinal qualities. Which seem to enhance. Breeding vigor.

[33:57] And even the vigor in. In the. In the lambs. Or the kids. After. Weaning even.

[34:08] So. If. That kind of puts. Verse 40. What is it? 42. A little bit in perspective. But. They conceived.

[34:25] Before the rods. In 39. He had. By the way. He was managing. The herd. In accordance.

[34:36] With Laban's. Agreement. And. Requirement. And. In verse 40. See.

[34:49] He. He didn't breed. His. Animals. With Laban's. He did keep them separate. Now. If.

[35:00] As. Lacey. Lacey. Cites. These rods. Do improve. The animals. Vigor. Then. As you go down. To verse. Oh. 42. It becomes.

[35:10] A little. Clearer. But. What do we know. Regardless. Us. We know.

[35:21] That when the. Vigorous animals. Bread. The vigorous lambs. Were what. They were modeled. And.

[35:33] What's the outcome. Of all this. The practical. Outcome. Yeah.

[35:45] It doesn't say that Laban. Deteriorated. He just didn't grow like once he was. But Jacob. Is growing.

[35:58] Tremendously. Now. Regardless of whether. It was genetic.

[36:09] Well. Let's. Let's. Why did Jacob. Do that. Why did Jacob. Why did.

[36:29] Yeah, but why did he think that this was a breeding program that would enrich him?

[36:48] Well, a little later on, he's going to tell his wives, he's going to tell his wives that God told him to do it.

[37:05] He said he got a vision from the Lord. Would you read that to us? Right.

[37:35] So, now, whether it is shrewd husbandry on Jacob's part, divine intervention on God's, or a combination, it really doesn't matter.

[37:52] The outcome is, it's under God's control. And Jacob prospers. Laban, it's not, again, it doesn't mean that Laban didn't prosper at all.

[38:08] It just means that Laban did not grow as much as he would. By the way, there's a lesson for me there. And I think it was Thomas Sowell that I read make this comment.

[38:25] When you have, when a person has, this is not a quote. It's my rough memory. When you have been treated specially for so long, when you get treated equitably, it seems like you're being persecuted.

[38:48] Now, that's a rough, but you get the idea. If you've had special privilege long enough, when you get treated fairly, it seems like you're oppressed.

[39:03] Well, that's going to show up with Laban's sons, isn't it? See, they've been used to vast blessing because Jacob was taking care of it and God was blessing them through Jacob.

[39:18] Now, when it's more, when it's evened out, they're going to say something different and we are going to stop at that point.

[39:31]  So, thank you very much. God bless you. Have a great week.