Genesis 30:25-31:21

What do you think?  Is Jacob honest?  Was his dealing with Laban honest?  At first, I wasn't sure.

Here, Jacob asks permission to return to his family, but Laban convinces him to stay by agreeing to wages for Jacob, so that Jacob might provide for his own family.  The wages at first don't seem like very much: the spotted or speckled sheep (which are a recessive gene, apparently) from amongst the herd.  Laban promptly tries to cheat Jacob by removing any of the flock that have the recessive gene (so that supposedly the herd could not produce any more, or many more, speckled or spotted sheep).

Now then, this is what Jacob does: he peels the bark from sticks and lays them out before the sheep when they mated so that they would produce speckled and spotted sheep for his wages.  He also mates the stronger of the sheep before his sticks so that his sheep would be stronger than Laban's.  Was this honest?  God certainly blessed Jacob by multiplying the number of speckled sheep born, and Jacob's proved to be stronger than Laban's because he used selective breeding.  What it honest of him to do so?  Would God have blessed dishonest practices?  I don't think so.  Looking at God's character throughout the Bible (which does not change), God does not condone dishonesty.  However, Jacob is the heir of God's blessings: would God have prospered Jacob just for those reasons?  I think God did bless Jacob because he was to inherit the blessings, but not despite dishonesty.  Laban tried to cheat Jacob of his wages, but Jacob was ensuring that he would in fact have wages.  Is that dishonest?  I don't really think so.

The most underhanded thing Jacob did was to leave without even telling Laban.  But again, Laban had become suspicious of Jacob because of the reports from his own sons (who were jealous of Jacob's prosperity).  Would you tell your employer who acted more like to throttle you than listen to you if you were to do something they didn't particularly like?

I don't think Jacob's behavior was completely on the up-and-up: he could have been upfront with Laban about leaving.  He could have bred the stronger sheep equally among the two groups; his breeding practices were not equitable.  But he was looking after his interests since Laban made it clear that not only would he not look out for Jacob, but he would cheat him: repeatedly.  And I do think God blessed Jacob to prepare for the things to come; I cannot pretend to understand the significance of the sticks or even Jacob's report later that God blessed them (for indeed, He did; at least Jacob recognized it).  My brain is too fried from a busy day and the late, late hour.

Side note: This rather makes you wonder what kind of father Laban was if he was so willing to swindle the only man that was providing for his two daughters?  Did he simply assume, or trust, they were getting additional income somewhere to purchase what they could not gain from the flock?  I just wonder.

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 31:22-55