The history of Jacob’s interaction with Laban, in the keeping of his flocks, and the renumeration Jacob received, and how he received it, contains a whole lot of instruction for us in our day, when unions are on strike for better wages and working conditions, and when greed and covetousness are too often the order of the day with corporations and those under their employ.
Inequities, and injustice at the work-place and the habit of draining workers of every ounce of energy for the lowest possible salary is one of the signs of the last days. The reason for this is that as people cast off the restraint of the Spirit of God, every evil trait of character will be developed and displayed, including covetousness which is the basis for all sin.
The rich often covet the labor, and productivity of the poorer classes, and the poorer classes, in turn, often covet the resources and wealth of the rich, so that a never-ending cycle of greed is set in motion. These traits of character are referred to in both the old and new testaments, as signs that the coming of Christ is near. Let’s read:
James 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
Isaiah 59:14 And judgment is turned away backward and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
This phenomenon is nothing new because from the times immemorial the working classes of earth have been trodden underfoot in many instances. Case in point was the treatment of the Hebrews in the land of Egypt after Joseph died, for they were expected to produce much, for little or next to nothing, and this at the urging and brutality of those in charge.
This is the reason why God said He would spoil the Egyptians when the Hebrews left , for there were a host of gross injustices taking place for many years. The Hebrews were forced to build treasure cities, and other buildings at the command of pharaoh and the work was to be done in the burning sun, with no shelter, and with the taskmasters urging them on at every turn with beatings and brutality. Let’s read:
Exodus 1:11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor.
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor.
Exodus 5:6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof.
9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard vain words.
10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus, saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore, have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as heretofore?
In the case of Laban, and Jacob, who was under his employ the same spirit of avarice and injustice now appeared, and because of this their family relations got strained, to the point where it was necessary for Jacob to leave. Laban, whose grasping spirit was the motive force behind the fraud then practiced would change Jacobs wages whenever it would fatten his own pocket.
Principles were disregarded, his word was not held sacred, and contracts and agreements entered into with Jacob would be dissolved with no compunction of conscience on Laban’s part, because all he was concerned with was increasing his material wealth, very much the same as what took place in Egypt. Thus, the history of Laban’s treatment of Jacob and how Jacob eventually got paid, should be studied. Let’s read:
Genesis 30:27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.
28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
29 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?
31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.
32 I will pass through all thy flock today, 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.
34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
On the surface it appeared as if Laban agreed to the proposal, but because his actions speak louder than words, what transpired next represents a deliberate intent on his part to squeeze the most out of Jacob for less than the least. In plain language, he desired Jacob to work for free, something which as Christ’s servants we should not encourage, except it be for the kingdom of God, or in charitable situations. Let’s read:
Genesis 30:35 And he (Laban) 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.
He did not consider that his own daughters would be on the receiving end of his injustices, seeing that they were married to Jacob, and he did not even leave a few speckled sheep, crumbs as it were for Jacob; instead he removed every animal Jacob could ever claim as his own.
This ultimately set the stage for what happens next, for Jacob could not reasonably be expected to work for free especially given the rigors and responsibility that were incidental to that type of work. Yet in the narrative there are things Jacob should not do as a Christian, for there are lines in the sand that should never be crossed, even when injustices take place.
The unfolding situation should be followed closely and understood within the context of God being the ultimate arbitrator of any wrongs done to His own people by others. There are times when, because of His grace, He might let things slide for a while, but at other times when inequities become extreme, He will intervene. Let’s read:
Genesis 30:37 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.
39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ring-straked, speckled, and spotted.
40 And Jacob did separate the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-straked, 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, when-soever 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.
43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
Genesis 31:10 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 Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me.
Now folks, there are some pretty troubling aspects to this narrative which beg further inquiry. First of all, it must be stated, that after careful investigation it seems as if what Jacob did with the various trees, which all produce nuts, did not have any bearing on the conception process which followed. This is as far as we now know, even though the process did involve several specifics.
Indeed, there are levels of science about which we know nothing, as is manifested multiple times in the books of Leviticus, and Exodus, which detail several specifics in dealing with the disposition of leprosy. However, for the time being, we should stay within the limits of what we do know.
It is obvious that God intervened by a dream, and in the most literal sense, in exponentially multiplying Jacobs flocks to remove any superstitious inputs on the part of Jacob, if we can call them superstitious. The greater point is that God often works through the human agent, to accomplish His purposes, even though the human side of the equation may contain flawed methods.
In this case, the gross injustices done to Jacob were being addressed, and as such, God, who has entire, and supreme jurisdiction over the affairs of men, saw it fit to right the wrongs that were being done. We must be careful, in our understanding of who God is, and His ways of doing things, so that we do not limit the extent of His power and jurisdiction.
But even though God got involved in the situation it is not a certainty that He approved of, and ordained everything that Jacob did. For instance, when Jacob deliberately orchestrated that only the feeble cattle become Laban’s, and the stronger ones be his, that could have been a form of rendering evil for evil, or it could have been God’s way of requiting Laban for his evil ways, using Jacob’s flawed methods.
There are times, when God is working through the human agent, when everything may not come out perfect, and humanistic thoughts and methods may intrude into God’s providences. However, in His role as The ultimate arbitrator, whatever He allows, then falls under His direct jurisdiction, and we as mortals, are not to balk at Him, nor question His dealings.
There are things Nehemiah did that may not square with certain principles in the Bible, yet God allowed him leverage to do them. David, Moses, and several other prophets of God were at times allowed to do things which may seem un-christlike to some of us, but because He rules in the affairs of men, we must be humble and teachable in our assessments of His providences.
God permitted the Egyptians to be “spoiled” for the injustices done to the Hebrews. But He went a step further and gave His people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians which means He caused their requests for gold, silver, and precious jewels to be looked upon favorably by those who had worked His people for years, without just compensation.
Thus, in both the instance of Jacob, and in the same situation with His people in Egypt, God showed that He will deal with matters of injustice sooner or later and while we as Christians should always take the high road, forgiving those who trespass against us, and not rejoicing when our enemies may fall, yet in God’s own time, justice will be done. Let’s read:
Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
As we approach the end of time, we will see with our own two eyes, and hear with our own two ears grievous miscarriages of justice, and we ourselves, just like the Hebrews of old, might be required to make brick without straw. We will see the grossest and most inhumane treatment of peoples, and we may be cut to the heart at the apparent impunity of the wicked. Let’s read:
[L.D.E pp 145>146] Those who live during the last days of this earth's history will know what it means to be persecuted for the truth's sake. In the courts, injustice will prevail. The judges will refuse to listen to those who are loyal to the commandments of God. In cases where we are brought before the courts, we are to give up our rights, unless it brings us in collision with God. It is not our rights we are pleading for, but God's right to our service.
Let us then not take it upon ourselves to multiply cattle in the gutters with hazelnut and chestnut trees, but let us rather go to God in prayer that He may direct us as to what course of action to pursue, for He is merciful but also just. We therefore close with a passage of scripture which should encourage us to do right in similar situations such as Jacob’s. Let’s read:
Romans 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
21 Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good.
God Bless!