Speckled Sheep and Spotted Goats
Introduction
Rachel and Leah
As we saw at the end of our last lesson, Jacob had taken two wives. That was not his intent; it appears that he fell in love with Rachel and would have been happy to have taken her as his one and only wife. But Laban, that scheming scoundrel to whom we were introduced in Genesis 24, tricked Jacob into marrying his older daughter first. Jacob had unwittingly been tricked into being a polygamist.
Think About This: One line in Scripture describes God’s plan for marriage, and it did not include polygamy. “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Polygamy was not uncommon in the Old Testament, but that doesn’t mean God approved of it. Lamech, from the line of Cain, was the first recorded polygamist (and he was proud of it!). Abraham and Hagar, Esau and his two Canaanite wives, plus one Ishmaelite wife for good measure, Solomon and his seven hundred concubines, and many Hebrew kings also engaged in this practice. McGee says, “The Bible gives us an accurate record, but that does not mean that God approved of all that was done.”
So although this was not what Jacob had in mind, he first married Laban’s older daughter, Leah, and had to wait a little while longer for Rachel.
When we read the biblical account of Jacob meeting Rachel, knowing he was willing to work for seven long years to win her hand because he loved her, we tend to think negatively about Leah. In the same sentence where we are told that Rachel was beautiful of form and face, we are also told that Leah had “weak” eyes (Genesis 29:17), which I think is a nice way of saying she was homely. But was she really? Perhaps Rachel was a real knock-out; maybe she was a one-of-a-kind girl next door type and extraordinarily beautiful. Compared to her, maybe even the likes of Angelina Joli would have been described as homely. Well, maybe not. But in any case, let’s not judge a book by its cover.
Jacob chose Rachel based on her looks and her personality. It was apparently love at first sight and he was determined to marry her.
The two sisters were in a continual competition for Jacob’s affections. Think back to Genesis 25:27 where we are given a description of Jacob. We are told he was a “peaceful” man. With two quarreling wives, as well as eleven sons (Benjamin had not yet been born) and one daughter, I doubt Jacob had too much peace in those days. We will talk more about Jacob’s children in a future lesson.
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary gives us some additional insight into Rachel’s character. There seems to be nothing in Scripture that would lead us to place any high degree of admiration and esteem in Rachel. She was so unhappy and impatient over her inability to produce children that she even drove her loving husband to anger (Genesis 30:1-2). The theft of her father’s household gods also gives us reason to question her character. In a seemingly calm and collected manner, she concealed the theft by refusing to dismount her camel because “the manner of women” was upon her.
Deffinbaugh says, “God blessed Leah over Rachel. Leah bore six sons and one daughter, and her handmaid bore Jacob two more sons, while Rachel bore only two sons, and her maid another two (Genesis 35:22-27). Rachel died earlier than Leah and was buried along the road (Genesis 35:19), while Leah lived longer and was buried in the family burial place (Genesis 49:29-32). Rachel also seemed to be very much like her husband (see Genesis 30:8). You will note that Rachel’s two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, do not play a major role in the spiritual leadership of the nation Israel, while Leah’s sons, Levi and Judah, do.”
Sheep and Goats
After the birth of Rachel’s son Joseph, Jacob began to feel the pull of home. Not surprisingly, Laban balked at the idea because he knew he had prospered as a direct result of Jacob’s presence in his life, and he tried to convince Jacob to remain with him (Genesis 30:25-30).
It seems that Jacob was ready for Laban this time, and he suggested a deal that was too good for Laban to resist. Rather than take a salary to remain with Laban, Jacob said that he would simply take all of the speckled and spotted sheep and goats, as well as any black lambs that were produced by Laban’s flocks that were under Jacob’s care (Genesis 30:31-36).
When Jacob made his offer, Laban was probably holding his breath, but upon hearing Jacob’s terms, he surely breathed a sigh of relief. He probably also wondered if Jacob was off his rocker. Normally, goats in that land were black or dark brown, seldom white or spotted with white. Also, sheep were almost always white and seldom black or spotted. He quickly accepted the plan before Jacob could change his mind.
This is how Jacob’s “scheme” was supposed to work: “Jacob would examine the flocks that day, removing all the speckled and spotted animals, and these would be set aside as Laban’s property. These animals would be taken three days’ distance and kept by Laban’s sons. Only those newly born spotted or striped would become Jacob’s property. At some later time, the herd would be examined and the spotted or striped animals would go to Jacob, while the rest would be Laban’s. Removing the spotted and striped animals which were in the flock benefited Laban in two ways. First, it left these animals to him, not Jacob. Also, it lessened the chances of other spotted or striped animals being conceived since these would not be mating with the flock.” (Deffinbaugh)
Scripture says nothing about Jacob praying to God to build his flocks, and based on Jacob’s thought process, he apparently figured that it’s always good to have a back-up plan. So he set his plan into motion by employing three methods to build a large flock of speckled sheep and spotted goats.
First, he peeled stripes in fresh rods of poplar, almond and plane trees (probably chestnut) causing white stripes to appear on them. He placed the peeled rods in the gutters and watering troughs; they mated when they came to drink. (Genesis 30:37-43)
Secondly, the striped, speckled and spotted offspring, which belonged to him, were moved to an area by themselves. The rest of the flock was made to face toward these animals. Jacob’s logic was that the rest of the flock would see these striped, speckled and spotted animals and would be influenced by their appearance.
Thirdly, Jacob employed a “selective breeding” program. It was believed that lambing took place twice each year: once in the fall and once in spring. Those born in the fall were thought to be hardier because they had to endure the harsh winter. So Jacob removed
those that had been born in the spring, deeming them to be weaker, and only bred the superior, stronger animals.
Think About This: Was there any scientific validity to Jacob’s methods? Actually, modern day research does show that some of the same botanical specimens Jacob utilized are now being used to supplement livestock feed and for veterinary treatments on several diseases and other conditions. But the flock’s remarkable rate of growth was strictly due to God’s intervention. Genesis 31:12 says, And he (the angel of the Lord) said, “Lift up your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped speckled and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.” So all of Jacob’s scheming and use of the striped rods were rather like eating chicken soup for a cold: it might not help, but it probably won’t hurt.
When God revealed His intervention in the growth of Jacob’s herds, He also told him to “leave this land and return to the land of your birth.” So Jacob began making plans to leave Laban and return to Canaan, and that will be the subject of our next lesson.
Think About It, Talk About It
It appears that polygamy was very common in the Old Testament and in fact, it was present in the lives of both Abraham and Jacob. What should we infer from the fact that polygamy is so openly presented in the Bible?
Jacob’s relationship with Leah does not appear to be a loving one. What may have been some of Rachel’s qualities that made Jacob fall in love with her? Which of these women seems to have been blessed by God? Why?
How do you think Jacob felt when he learned that God was the reason his flocks had increased in number and made him a wealthy man?
Do you think he probably still thought his own efforts (striped poles) played an important role in his success? What element of his character comes to mind when you ponder this?
Sources
Deffinbaugh, Bob: Jacob from the series From Creation to the Cross,
Deffinbaugh, Bob: Jacob Gets Laban’s Goat from the series From Paradise to the Patriarchs (www.bible.org)
Hughes, R. Kent: Preaching the Word-Genesis (Crossway Books)
Lacey, Troy: Jacob’s Odd Breeding Program, featured in Answers in Depth (www.answersingenesis.org)
Lutzer, Erwin W.: Is Polygamy Justified Given the Old Testament Practice? (www.moodymedia.org)
McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee (Thomas Nelson Publishers)
Unger, Merrill F.: The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary-Rachel (Moody Bible Institute of Chicago)