Thursday, May 25th – Genesis 30: 21

Leah bore a daughter named Dinah. It is likely that Jacob’s wives bore other daughters, yet Dinah receives special attention due to the events pertaining to her that will be recorded in Genesis 34. Those events would bring pain to Dinah, while the treacherous and deceptive retaliation of her brothers, Simeon and Levi, would destroy the men of Shechem and necessitate Jacob’s moving from Shechem to Bethel. Children are a blessing from the Lord, but they do not come to us free of cursed and painful propensities. We must learn to look only to the Lord for pure love and blessing, and not to seek them even from those nearest and dearest to us.

Friday, May 26th - Genesis 30: 22-24

The wife Jacob loved first and most remained barren. Rachel was the only wife he really wanted and should legitimately have had, were it not for Laban’s sinful deceit and Jacob’s sinful complicity. Nor was Rachel without fault in her having agreed to be Jacob’s second wife; in her supplying her maid to Jacob as a concubine; and in her complaints to Jacob and her demands of him, rather than her humbly offering prayers to the Lord and accepting His divine provision. Yet, amidst all of this sinful faithlessness the Lord shows grace to Rachel, saving the best of all Jacob’s sons for her to bear. Divine delays do not indicate denials, but rather the Lord’s holy and loving determination to save the best wine for last.

Saturday, May 27th - Genesis 30: 22-24

Through the merciful provision of God, Rachel gained something and lost something. What she gained was a son. What she lost was the reproach of her barrenness. The Lord is blessed and blessing in what He gives and what He takes away. His subtractions are blessed and His additions are grace upon grace. When He gave for us His only begotten Son, He took away from us that which is reproach, indeed. The reproach of Rachel’s barrenness was pale in comparison with the sinner’s black reproach due to the increasing guilt of his sin and his being void of godliness and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Sunday, May 28th - Genesis 30: 22-24

Although Rachel rejoiced in her God-given son, she displays ingratitude by the name that she gave to him. Joseph means: add to me. She named her son that because as soon as she had borne this one son she cries out for another to be added to her. Her ingratitude made her blind to the supreme excellence that Joseph would attain. Our ingratitude for the seemingly small mercies of the Lord similarly blind as to the excellencies of His greater mercies contained in the lesser.

Monday, May 29th - Genesis 30: 22-24

Rachel had demanded of Jacob a son (vv.1,2), but Scripture does not record her praying for one. Despite her faithlessness, the Lord regarded her with pity and gave her a son. Instead of her showing gratitude, she shows her feeling that Joseph was not enough to satisfy her desire. Yet he was to become the instrumental savior of his family, as well as of many Egyptians and others who would come to Egypt for grain during the famine. Her desire for another son was not really a prayer to the Lord, yet the Lord would grant her desire at the cost of her life (Gen. 35:16). Let us learn not ungratefully to regard the Lord’s provision as inadequate, for it is our selfish desires, not His merciful deliveries, that kill us (Jas. 4:1-3).

Tuesday, May 30th - Genesis 30: 24

With Joseph’s birth, the last of the sons of Jacob to be born in Haran was delivered. Later, Benjamin would be born in the Promised Land, as Jacob and his family traveled for Bethel to Ephrath or Bethlehem (Gen. 35:16-18). These sons of Jacob formed the foundation stones for the Old Testament church. They were sinfully begotten and would, in time, prove themselves to be awful sinners, selling Joseph into slavery, for example. Yet, the Lord sinlessly loved them all and superintended even their evil, pressing it into service for His own glory and their good (Gen. 50:20). When we observe that Jesus was descended from Judah’s line, and recall that Judah was a son of Leah, the wife Jacob did not want, we should understand, accept, and rely upon the fact that our God chooses the rejected things of this world for the blessing of His people and the glory of His name. Where the sin of His people increases, His grace abounds all the more.

Wednesday, May 31st - Genesis 30: 25, 26

Jacob has grown in grace under the abuse of Laban. His family has grown in persons. The remainder of this chapter of Genesis informs us how Jacob also increased in possessions. When it suits the wise, loving, and gracious purposes of the Lord, the divine arm does not lack power to provide abundantly for His people.

Thursday, June 1st - Genesis 30: 25, 26

These verses tell us that Jacob did not simply depart from Laban without giving him notice. Instead, the patriarch requests that his father-in-law send him away with his full knowledge and consent. Jacob expresses his desire and determination to return to the land of Canaan, which he refers to as his own country. He had left Canaan under a cloud of his having deceived his father and deprived his brother. Openly and honorably does Jacob now determine to leave his father-in-law and Haran, the land of his sojourning, and return to face whatever consequences he had to face in the Promised Land. Jacob’s honorable impulse was of the Lord, who was working in him that he would will and do the Lord’s good pleasure (Gen. 31:3). We do well, and we do so in obedience to the Lord, when we desire and determine to be in our own place, which is the Church on earth, and our own country, that is the celestial city.

Friday, June 2nd - Genesis 30: 25, 26

We learn several significant things about Jacob, his family, and his service in these verses. Though he longed to be in his own country, he remained in Haran and served Laban according to the years of his agreement. When he calls his father-in-law to acknowledge his service, he could only do so because he had served diligently and heartily, as serving his holy God above the scheming Laban. Jacob was transformed by divine grace from a schemer to a godly servant. By his reference to his wives and children we are reminded that although Jacob had left Canaan a solitary man under various clouds of familial resentment and anger, he was returning as head of a great company of covenant people. The Lord always blesses those who leave their sinful way to enter into His course (Ps. 1:3).

Saturday, June 3rd - Genesis 30: 27

Laban protests Jacob’s determination to return to Canaan. He does so not because he cares about Jacob’s welfare or the will of Jacob’s God. Rather, Laban is motivated by self-interest. He recognizes that his son-in-law was to him an instrument of divine blessing and temporal prosperity. Thus, he wanted the fruit of godly Jacob’s diligence and honesty, without having himself the root of his own deeper consecration to the Lord. The world and also the carnal believer will ever selfishly attempt to hold back those vitally devoted to the Lord and His will. We must never heed their protests or rely on their promises.

Sunday, June 4th - Genesis 30: 28

Laban appears to make Jacob a generous offer in terms of payment for his continued services. However, the wily Laban knew that his son-in-law would produce much more than his services would cost, and further knew that Jacob was inclined to offer much for little gain. Had he not already given fourteen years of labor in order to have Laban’s two daughters? It speaks well of our diligence, competence, and equity when men value our services so highly and know us to be self-denying while being generous toward others. The world ever values the fruit of godliness, if not its root.

Monday, June 5th - Genesis 30: 29, 30

Jacob begins to offer his terms to Laban by pointing out the fact upon which Laban was relying, namely, that only Jacob’s father-in-law had profited from his years of service, while Jacob had little for himself and his family. Furthermore, Jacob rightly and sincerely acknowledges that the Lord had caused his labors to be so fruitfully blessed to Laban’s enrichment. The implication is that Laban was greedy for gain and not truly grateful for the Lord’s blessing or for the Lord’s servant. For Laban’s deceitful and miserly dealings with Jacob demonstrated his ingratitude and greed. Therefore, were Jacob to rely on Laban for his future wages, he and his family would continue in want. We do well to recognize greed and ingratitude in others, and to refuse to have dealings with greedy and ungrateful people.

Tuesday, June 6th - Genesis 30: 31-33

Laban, sensing Jacob’s rebuke and refusal to continue in the service of such a defrauding father-in-law, offers Jacob a gift as incentive to renew his labor contract. Jacob wisely refuses Laban’s gift, for a greedy and deceitful man is capable of giving nothing except costly disappointment to others. Instead, Jacob requests payment for his continued service not in terms of wages or a gift, but rather in terms of livestock. He would continue shepherding Laban’s flocks for payment of the minority and inferior sheep of those flocks. The distinguishing marks upon Jacob’s sheep would ensure that Laban would not dispute ownership of the speckled and spotted sheep and goats and the black lambs. The righteous are most secure and most likely to prosper when their welfare instrumentally depends upon their own diligence, competence, and honesty rather than upon the vaunted largesse of corrupt men.

Wednesday, June 7th - Genesis 30: 34-36

These verses reveal to us how Laban continued his deceitful and defrauding ways with his son-in-law, and indicate to us how right Jacob was to desire to be released from Laban’s service. In v.34, Laban agrees in word with Jacob’s proposal. Then in vv.35,36 we learn how Laban preceded Jacob in passing through his flocks, and removed many of the ones marked for Jacob. Accordingly, Laban stooped to being a veritable sheep rustler, stealing Jacob’s sheep, then having his sons drive them three days’ journey away from the main flocks so that Jacob would find a greatly reduced number of livestock for his selection. Yet, where unscrupulous men work nefariously to injure the Lord’s people, our sovereign God works to turn events against the scoundrels and for the good of His people.

Thursday, June 8th - Genesis 30: 34-36

As wisely as Jacob constructed his proposal, Laban still was able to find a weakness in it and exploit it. The devil is more wily than this uncle and father-in-law of Jacob. How can we defend ourselves against him? By our faithful and diligent use of godly means, but especially by our faithful trust in and reliance upon the Lord, we shall stand against the devil’s wiles and prosper even as he works to impoverish and persecute us.

Friday, June 9th - Genesis 30: 37-43

These verses tell us how Jacob prospered, in spite of Laban’s machinations to cheat him. The method Jacob used to increase the size of his flocks is more for our instruction than for our imitation. The peeled rods that Jacob set all about his flocks were a physically unlikely, if not useless, device. Some Bible scholars assert that Jacob was using the power of suggestion when he exposed the mating sheep to striped rods so they would produce striped offspring. If so, we should marvel at Jacob’s knowledge of genetics and industry in his use of that knowledge. The Lord is our Master Teacher, who can make us wise and effective masters of our most challenging situations (Ps. 144:1,2).

Saturday, June 10th - Genesis 30: 37-43

Jacob concentrated in his livestock breeding enhancement program especially on the strong sheep. His interest was not in having numbers of frail sheep and goats, but in having an increased number of strong animals. As it turned out, he attained both high quality and vast quantity through his breeding methods. While both quality and quantity may be desirable, we should note that Scripture consistently places the premium upon quality. That is because our salvation is accomplished by the only begotten Son of God, the one pure and perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Multitudes of impure would-be saviors cannot compare with Him.

Sunday, June 11th - Genesis 30: 37-43

The real reason Jacob’s flocks increased beyond those of Laban is not so much that Jacob was employing the power of suggestion in genetically altering the offspring of his flocks. Instead, we are more certain it was by the gracious power of the Lord that Jacob’s flocks multiplied prodigiously. Jacob himself acknowledges that the Lord made his feeble instruments of the peeled rods to be sacramentally effective (Gen 31:6-9). Therefore, while we are to use all legitimate means to prosper in our work, we are to trust in and rely only upon the Lord for our success (Josh. 1:7-9).

Monday, June 12th - Genesis 30: 43

Jacob was afflicted by Laban’s constant cheating, but he was not injured thereby. The more his carnal and conniving father-in-law sought to take from Jacob, the more the Lord added to him. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. (Ps. 118:8). Our God is for us, and if that is so, who can prevail against us? Our God can work to bless us abundantly with, without, or counter to the means we employ and the devices employed against us.

Tuesday, June 13th - Genesis 30: 43

The fruitful issue of Jacob’s employment of the unlikely instrument of the striped rods was his becoming exceedingly prosperous in sheep. The infinitely fruitful issue of our God’s employment of the most unlikely instrument of the cross is the magnifying of His grace and glory in the many sons of God He has redeemed and regenerated through the One who gave His life on that cross.

Wednesday, June 14th - Genesis 31: 1, 2

Jacob had grown in grace, in the size of his family, and in possessions. However, while he lived in Haran he was not in the proper place for the right and full enjoyment of those abundant blessings. Therefore we are informed in this chapter how the Lord called and moved His chosen man back to the Promised Land. These opening verses show us one of the instruments that the Lord employed to prod Jacob on to his truer earthly home. Laban’s sons, being envious of Jacob’s prosperity, bring a false charge against him. Laban’s own attitude fostered and furthered the charge, for Laban regarded Jacob favorably only so long as Laban himself profited through Jacob’s labors. No one welcomes the challenges of enemies, but from the blessed results of these afflictions that come upon Jacob we should learn to view our own pains as divinely ordained prods to lead us to greater blessing.

Thursday, June 15th - Genesis 31: 3

Added to the prodding works of divine providence is the clearly directive Word of the Lord. Jacob is not left to wonder about the purpose of his prods; he is rather given the Lord’s own interpretation of that purpose when he is told by the Lord to leave Haran. We always rightly interpret the providences of our own situations only in and by the clear, directive, empowering, and comforting Word of God.

Friday, June 16th - Genesis 31: 3

The sovereign hand of the Lord was giving Jacob preparatory prods through the charges of Laban’s sons and the changed attitude of Laban. To these painful works of divine providence the Lord adds His express Word. There are clear and concise commands and comforts in this Word of the Lord to His chosen man. The way of the Lord is set out by the Lord with sufficient clarity and incentive for those who sincerely want to know and do His will.

Saturday, June 17th - Genesis 31: 3

There are three facets contained in this divine communication to Jacob. First, it is implied that Jacob should leave Haran. This is what Jacob had previously desired and determined to do (Gen. 30:25). However, he had been delayed by his renegotiated agreement with Laban to continue shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks for payment in the form of livestock. By the gracious blessing of the Lord, Jacob prospered under this new arrangement, and yet that rose was attended with the thorns of envy, false charges, and the unfriendly attitude of Laban and his sons toward Jacob. What a blessed relief it must have been for Jacob to receive his marching orders directly from His Lord, and to learn that those orders delivered him from an increasingly painful situation and directed him to pursue the desire of his heart. We should never fear but always delight in laying our plans before the Lord and seeking the light of His Word in the denial or approval of those plans.

Sunday, June 18th - Genesis 31: 3

The second facet of the divine directive is an explicit order that Jacob should return to the Promised Land. The incentive of a reunion with Jacob’s father and family is especially highlighted in this directive. Jacob had left his family under the cloud of his father’s resentment of his deceit and of his brother’s anger and murderous determination. Jacob could not have known whether the attitudes of his relatives at home had favorably changed, but he did know that under the sanctifying hand of God he had been transformed inwardly and blessed outwardly. From this he could rightly reckoned that the Lord, having so changed and blessed him, would not be now sending him home to his doom. By their separation from one another, the Lord had been working in all of these estranged members of Jacob’s family to accomplish a wonderful reconciliation.

Monday, June 19th - Genesis 31: 3

The final and most significant and comforting facet of this divine directive is the Lord’s promise to be with Jacob. If the sovereign Lord and Almighty God is with and for us, who or what can prevail against us? We may at times lack the comforting assurance that our Lord is with us when we walk according to the light of His Word. Jacob himself went through bouts of doubt on his journey home (Gen. 32:6-8). Yet, though we are sometimes faithless or exercise a little, weak faith, our God ever remains faithful to His promise never to leave or forsake us.

Tuesday, June 20th - Genesis 31: 4, 5

We shall observe that there are elements that are wise and right about Jacob’s departure as well as elements that are questionable, if not foolish and wrong. The saints of God always walk imperfectly through their earthly pilgrimage, but they do walk in the way of the Lord. Jacob begins wisely by holding a family council to inform his wives of the pending move and the reasons for it. The husband is to be the head of his wife, but he is to be a loving head who will with loving consideration share with her his plans and the principles that prompt them. Therefore, Jacob informs his wives of Laban’s prodding and of the protection of his covenant God. He does this with intention of persuading them with good reasons regarding the necessity of their leaving their father and homeland. Love always seeks to persuade, not to compel.

Wednesday, June 21st - Genesis 31: 6-9

Jacob further reminds his wives of his own faithful, diligent, and fruitful service rendered to their father, and how in return he was repeatedly cheated by Laban. As he did in v.5, so he does again in v.7, namely, whenever he mentions the painful thorns of men he also mentions the shielding protection of his God. The believer not only sees the persecutions of men but also the hidden but abundantly effective help of the Lord. These truths present persuasive reasoning for the plan of action that Jacob has. They also clearly explain to his wives the cause of the prosperity of their husband despite their father’s course of cheating him. Our faith is reasonable and should result in reasonable and successful living.

Thursday, June 22nd - Genesis 31: 10-13

In these verses, Jacob gives to his wives a fuller account of the directing Word of the Lord that came to him earlier. We are not to think that Jacob exaggerated the divine Word as recorded so briefly in v.3; rather, we are to understand that v.3 summarizes the communication that will be more fully recorded in these verses. At this point of Jacob’s telling we learn that the Lord spoke to Jacob in a dream, and that Jacob readily received His Word. The Lord identified Himself as the God of Bethel, where Jacob had received the vision of the angels’ ladder and the covenant promise and comforting assurances of the Lord; where he had also anointed the memorial pillar and vowed to devote himself to the Lord of great and precious promise and provision. Read Genesis 28:10-22 as a refresher to all that this divine self-designation signified to Jacob. Through his declaration of God’s Word to his wives, Jacob makes known the divine warrant for their action and the assurance they should have for security and success. Our warrant for action and certainty of success likewise issue from the great and precious promises of the Lord contained in His Word, and backed by His gracious and almighty Person.

Friday, June 23rd - Genesis 31: 14-16

Jacob’s wives are sincerely persuaded by Jacob’s testimony. Their eyes have been opened to see the integrity, faithfulness, and diligence of their husband in contrast to the cheating and wastefulness of their father. They recognize that their future welfare lay with Jacob and with Jacob’s God, rather than with their own natural father. Hence, as godly, submissive helpmeets they support rather than impede their husband’s own submission and obedience to the Lord. Nothing on earth could help a husband and father more than to have his wife heartily seconding his motions to follow the Lord fully.

Saturday, June 24th - Genesis 31: 17-21

In this passage that recounts the actual departure of Jacob with his family and possessions, we are told how the patriarch executed his holy determination to obey the Word of the Lord. We learn that his—and by implication our own—performance is not as pure and perfect as his (and our) determination. There are two defects recorded in this departure. First, Rachel stole her father’s idols. Jacob did not know of this, but hidden guilt is still guilt, and such resides in us all. Perhaps Rachel feared that Laban would use the idols to detect their departure or to curse them in their way. Perhaps she remained somewhat devoted to them herself. Perhaps she intended to mock Laban and his idols by showing how useless they were. It does not appear, however, that faith and a pure heart prompted her purloining of these idols. Then, Jacob left in secrecy. Perhaps his faith weakened and his fears of Laban and his sons rose. Perhaps he did not trust himself to leave the wily deal-maker, should he provide Laban with an opportunity to offer new terms of service. It appears that Jacob’s little faith turned what should have been an open and legitimate departure under the warrant and protection of God into what at least appears to be a fearful fleeing. However, little faith is still faith. Jacob leaves Haran and heads to Canaan as his Lord had directed him to do. Faulty obedience is still obedience, and what other kind can any man but the perfect God/Man offer?