February 15, 2019

Two Truths and a Lie

Genesis 30:25–43

Debi Ndindjock
Friday's Devo

February 15, 2019

Friday's Devo

February 15, 2019

Central Truth

There is nothing we can do or not do to earn God’s faithfulness. He is faithful to us even when we do not deserve it. We can trust that God will always accomplish what He has set out to do. He keeps His promises!

Key Verse | Genesis 30:30

For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?

Genesis 30:25–43

Jacob's Prosperity

25 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that 1 30:27 Or have become rich and the LORD has blessed me because of you. 28 Name your wages, and I will give it.” 29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock.

37 Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban's flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Footnotes

[1] 30:27 Or have become rich and

Dive Deeper | Genesis 30:25–43

Today, we see Jacob eager to establish his independence from his uncle Laban and move to Canaan, the land God had promised him in Genesis 28:15. He has served Laban for almost 20 years of labor marked by treachery and ill treatment.

Just like Jacob could count on God to deliver His promise, he can also count on his uncle's deviousness as he attempts to leave. Laban had previously double-crossed Jacob when he tried to marry his daughter Rachel, and Laban again attempts to trick Jacob into working longer for a compromised pay.

It turns out that cunning runs in this family, and Jacob was not going down without a scheme of his own. After all, Jacob had won his birthright by conspiring with his mother Rebekah (Laban's sister). Jacob uses his shrewdness to outwit his uncle and prosper immensely, just as God had promised.

I must admit, Jacob is not among my favorite biblical characters. He repeatedly connives and uses deception to twist fate in his favor. However, God still keeps His promise to remain with Jacob and make him prosper. This fact is not lost on Uncle Laban, who sees how God has blessed him, too, through his association with Jacob (Genesis 30:27).

As I wonder why God continues to bless Jacob, I believe the lie, like Laban, that his blessing was based on his character and not on God's. In my pride, I also often find myself thinking that somehow I can depend on my own strength to earn God's favor, yet the truth is that there is nothing I can do or not do to change it.

Don't be deceived, Jacob's actions have harsh consequences, one of which is constant family discord as we have seen. However, even more powerful than Jacob's shortcomings, is that God has chosen to fulfill His purpose through him.

The truth is that God is always faithful to His promise; He is not a liar, nor does He go back on His Word. "[I]f we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2:13)

Discussion Questions

1. Did you spot the two truths and the lie? I made it really easy.

2. How have you tried to take matters into your own hands instead of trusting God to work it out?

3. Compare times that you have trusted in God to act versus times that you have relied on your strength. What were the differences?