Jacob headed east, to “his mother’s house”
in Haran, where shepherds of Haran confirmed that he was on the lands of
Bethuel and Laban. Note that Sarah left all of that to walk with Abraham, as
did Rebekah. Never underestimate the faith of a Godly woman.
The next woman to take the stage was cut
from the same cloth, willing to forsake her culture, as Ruth later did, for
something perceived by the heart not the eye - a perceptive “gift” of women that
helps her find a trusted father for her children.
The shepherds moved the well-stone together,
but beneath Jacob’s reflective
veneer lay enough strength to
move that stone alone when Rachel arrived to feed her father’s sheep.
It
revealed character all around. He knew how to defer to a woman, as is still
true of the Jews, but she was no stranger to hard work, nor are the woman who fight
in Israel’s army.
A family
reunion followed, with all the challenges of family life
Jacob embraced his niece and later embraced
his mother’s brother, Laban. By then the two star-crossed lovers were
smitten, which fueled the tensions to follow.
Jacob offered to serve 7 years for Rachel, which
revealed Laban’s contrary value for women, one that reduced her to a commodity
– as in, “I might as well give her to you than another”.
Then, when it suited him, Laban appealed to
a doubtful custom, by sneaking his younger daughter into Jacob’s tent on their
wedding night. How devious.
Jacob had no choice but to fulfill Leah’s
nuptial week before taking his beloved Rachel to be his wife, in return for
another 7 years. How unfair: having paid to take Leah off
Laban’s hand, he still had to pay for Rachel.
The
offence kept coming
Leah birthed Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben,
followed by Simeon, Levi and Judah, while Rachel remained barren. Whilst Judah means "God be praised", Jacob and Rachel felt broken.
Ironically, Messiah came through
Leah not Rachel, for of Jacob’s two most prophetically significant sons, Levi and Judah, Judah's line that would yield its lion: Jesus, son of promise.
In Chapter 30, Rachel, turned
to her maid-servants, Bilbah and Zilpah, just as Sarah once did. They became her
surrogates. The sadness went on and on. To add to it, Jacob rebuked her and in
so doing revealed his ignorance of God.
Then Leah bought Jacob with her son’s
mandrakes (Dudaim in Hebrew). It may have been a lily or violet, but more
likely the potato plant, known colloquially as the love apple, the roots of which
had a narcotic and aphrodisiac effect. The Arabs call it “Satan’s apple”.
In trading that with Rachel, she lay again
with Jacob, twice, to produce Zebulun and Jacob’s only daughter, Dinah. Leah felt that God had vindicated her, but it was short-lived. Rachel finally
gave him a son, Joseph (meaning "Increaser"). He brought more pain to Jacob.
Meanwhile
Laban had grown rich at Jacob’s expense
He noted the blessing on him, which was not
mere words but the bestowal of an irrevocable promise, which goes with its
recipients, into life.
Out of a need to hold on to his services,
Laban tried to buy further years. Jacob had served his time, yet conceded
further service to Laban’s flocks and herds on condition that he could claim any spotted
and speckled animals for himself - to build his wealth.
Laban took one look at his monochrome sheep and cattle, and agreed, but Jacob was up to Laban’s deception. He used straked poles to
induce the ewes to produce mottled young.
Jacob hit back. He had spent enough time shepherding to know a few things. He noted,
rightly by the way, that white or monozygous sheep were not pure.
White is a dominant strain. A recessive
strain was always there and could be eked out. God, who had promised to “be
with Jacob”, probably inspired him to use poplar, almond and pear tree poles,
which he meticulously placed in the troughs where sheep mated.
Geneticists refute that as non-science, but
Jacob could use science to selectively breed in the recessive strain. Thus,
when a sheep had any color, he upped the recessive probability until heterozygous sheep started to dominate.
Is
God as selective?
Calvanists used such selectivity and Romans 9:13, to suggest that God preordained the elect,
as in Jacob, whilst deselecting Esau. Verses
8-12 suggest that Calvin was right.
However, that is not what Paul was arguing.
His contention was that, having chosen the Jew for a specific purpose, which
was His prerogative, He since chose all who believe. Faith became the
criterion of acceptance, to extend His grace to all humanity.
Yes, He did select Jacob and Abraham. He
carefully threaded out the crimson line of faith that would lead to Jesus,
because He needed Jesus to be “the spotless sheep”, part of a meticulous
process used to refine the credentials of the sacrificial lamb of Calvary.
Thus, a right understanding of “predestination”(Ephesians 1), is that it relates to the subject, the agent of selection, rather than the object, namely those selected. Galatians 3:16 confirmed that “the seed of Abraham”, implied one, namely Jesus, not plural seed, as in people.
That shifted selection to the straked poles
of Calvary and facilitated the selection of the less than pure, over those
assumed to be pure, but weren't.
In looking to the cross, in faith, Jews and Gentiles, and
peoples from every tribe and nation, thus became the elect of God.
Well, Jacob’s gospel shadow went even
further, for his deliberate breeding efforts made the colored sheep stronger
and increased his wealth, as happened to us.
(c) Peter Missing @ Bethelstone.com
