SIN & GRACE: A ONE-SIDED CONTEST
GRACE DEFENDS AND REWARDS GOD’S PEOPLE
Genesis 30:25-43
INTRODUCTION
The assertion of self-will by a toddler is what makes life with a toddler
both hilarious and aggravating. An infant is dependent upon its mother
and father from the moment of birth. Everything that happens in the life
of the infant happens because of the parents. She is fed, clothed, bathed,
and put down for a nap according to the parent’s desires and by the parent’s
work. However, as the infant becomes a toddler a remarkable change begins.
"I can do it myself", becomes the most popular phrase in her
vocabulary. The other day I was watching Jaimee and she got in our car
on the drivers side and was pretending to drive while I watched her. Suddenly,
she stood up on the seat, stuck her hand out towards me and said, "Give
me some money." I said, "What?" She said, "Give me
some money!" I said, "What do you need money for?" She
said, "I go to McDonalds." When I explained to her that she
could not have any money and she could not go to McDonald’s without me,
she didn’t like it and we were headed for a major disagreement until I
suggested we go swing, which got her mind off McDonald’s. The toddler
asserts her will, often to her own harm, out of an inner compulsion to
do other than what the parent requires. Self-determination and self-reliance
become the cornerstones of her personality as she grows. The child’s determination
to do what she wants to do in the way she wants to do it becomes the cause
of many conflicts with her parents. Good parents know that they must restrain
this insistence to "have it my way" or the child will become
a menace both to herself and to those around her.
While it is necessary for infants to learn to do things for themselves
if they are to become functioning adults, the demand for self-determination
and self-reliance is antithetical to a life of faith. We have seen in
Jacob an adult with a strong insistence to have life go his way and a
hardened dependence upon his own resources. Even though God has made enormous
promises to him he has continued to pursue his view of happiness his way.
But it has now been 14 years since he left his home in Canaan. He has
served as the slave of his uncle for all 14 of those years. He has 4 wives
and 12 children and no money. The fruit of all these years of labor belongs
entirely to his uncle Laban.
It would appear, as we read this story, that these 14 years of labor
and especially the last 7 since Laban deceived him and during which his
12 children were born have had an effect upon his self-directed and self-dependent
lifestyle. The suffering of the last 7 years has had its intended effect.
God’s discipline has produced a humble man who prefers God and his ways
to worldly success. During the six years that this passage covers, God
both defends and rewards him. We are not told until the next chapter why
and how God does this. In this passage we simply see God’s gracious provision
and how Jacob lives while God defends and rewards him.
Up to this point in the story of Jacob we have had forcefully presented
to us that God does not choose Jacob and bless him because of anything
that Jacob does. We have been shown that God’s saving work in people’s
lives is never in response to what we deserve, in response to what we
have done. He does not repay us as our sins deserve but he deals kindly
with his people because he is merciful. However, in this passage we begin
to see what always happens when God graciously chooses a person and promises
salvation to him or her. The person always grows in faith, which is the
opposite of self-determination and self-reliance. Or as Paul says in Ephesians
2: 8-10, when God graciously saves a person that person does good works,
not to gain heaven but because they are going to heaven.
MAIN POINT
God graciously defends and rewards his people therefore,
I. They fix their attention on his eternal reward (vv. 25-30)
Right after the birth of Joseph to Rachel, Jacob goes to his father-in-law
and demands to be released from his slavery, along with his wives and
children so that he can return home. If you’ll remember, Jacob served
Laban these past seven years in exchange for Rachel being given to him
as a wife. He has fulfilled his part of the bargain and wants nothing
more than to be allowed to leave with his family to return to the land
of Canaan. Laban responds in his typical cunning and hypocritical way.
He has figured out that the reason he has become so wealthy in the past
14 years is because of Jacob. There is no way he is going to allow this
"goose that lays golden eggs" to get away from him. While he
says, "please stay" it is quite obvious that he is not going
to permit Jacob to leave.
It is quite possible that legally, because the children are born to a
man who is a slave that they belong to Laban and not Jacob. So Jacob cannot
leave with them unless Laban gives his permission. Whether that is the
situation or not, Laban is a heartless man. He ought to gladly let Jacob
return to Canaan and give him a very generous gift to help him out because
these are his daughters and grandchildren and Jacob is the reason he is
wealthy. But, what does he propose? He seeks to get Jacob to sign another
contract in order to get him to stay permanently. Laban cares nothing
for his own flesh and blood. All he cares about is his money. He fears
losing Jacob and uses Jacob’s poverty against him. In essence he is saying
to Jacob, "You have no way to get back to Canaan without my help
and I’ll not give it to you. I will however, pay you to stay and work
for me indefinitely. You decide, Jacob. What will it be? An attempt to
take your wives and children on a 500 mile journey on foot with no supplies
or to stay here and let me pay you so you can at least feed your family?"
In v.29 Jacob rebukes Laban for his greed. Here is what Jacob is saying,
"Laban how can you possibly want more from me? God has so kindly
and graciously blessed you because of me. You only had a few livestock
when I came here but now you have enormous herds. You are one of the wealthiest
men in this region. God did this for you because of his promises to me.
I do not begrudge you this blessing. God has blessed you as he promised
to bless all nations through me. I’m simply asking that you permit me
to leave, as we agreed so that I can return to the land of promise and
care for my own family. Does not the great love of God for you move you
in any way to return this small kindness and permit me to leave?"
There are two things in Jacob’s speech that lead me to believe that Jacob
is a changed man. First, he says that he wants to return to "his
own place and his own land" (This is the literal translation of the
NIV’s "my own homeland".). This phrase is a direct recollection
of God’s promise to Jacob in 28:13-14. God promised to give him "this
place", Bethel and all the land to the east, west, north and south.
Jacob does not own any land back in Canaan. He can only refer to it as
his place and his land because of God’s promise. He does not possess any
land and yet he calls it his land, because of God’s promise, not
because he owns land. God has cleared his vision of hope in earthly comfort
and wealth and has caused him to fix his hope entirely on the fulfillment
of God’s promises. He is, as the author to the Hebrews says, "longing
for a better country, a heavenly one."
But also notice the lack of bitterness in his approach to Laban. He does
not resent Laban for being blessed by God. He has faithfully served these
seven years and watched all that he has done make Laban, the man who deceived
him, rich. Yet he freely acknowledges that this is what God wanted to
do and he is not asking Laban to do anything for him other than to let
him go home. His motivation in v. 29 is to appeal to Laban based upon
God’s mercy to Laban. He is not trying to get Laban to give him anything
other than what he agreed to, his freedom.
People who know that God will defend and reward them have their hope
fixed on heaven, not on earth. They are single-minded in their goal. They
want just one thing, to make it safely to their heavenly home by trusting
and obeying their heavenly Father. They do not covet what the world has
or demand to get their "share". They see God’s hand in all of
life. They know that when others have more than they do, it is God’s doing.
They rest in the fact that God is the one who opens his hand and supplies
the needs of every creature. They are not bitter or jealous or resentful.
They know what God wants them to do and they do not hesitate to take a
risk in order to do what God wants. On one hand it would be far safer
for Jacob to remain with Laban. At least he is dealing with a known quantity.
It really is an act of faith to ask to be released so he can make a 500-mile
journey on foot with four wives and 12 children under 7 and no supplies.
He is not asking Laban for any favors, he is simply asking him to honor
what he promised 7 years ago. He wants what God promises more than he
wants a safe and prosperous life on planet earth.
Based on what happens next I also think Jacob is trying to give Laban
a way out that won’t result in his destruction. Verse 29 is similar to
what God did with Cain in Genesis 3 when he warned him that sin was crouching
at the door of his life. It is what Jesus did with Judas during the last
supper. Jacob is trying to give Laban a way to do the right thing because
Jacob knows what is going to happen to Laban if he doesn’t cooperate.
He, by personal experience has learned that God is not mocked. He repays
everyone according to what they have done. Whatever a man sows, that will
he also reap.
Jim Elliot was an All-American wrestler in college. He was handsome and
intelligent. He could have done anything he wanted with his life. But
while in college he made this entry in his journal in response to what
Jesus says in Luke 9, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it
but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a
man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very life."
Elliot wrote, "A man is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to
gain what he cannot lose." He went on to become a missionary to a
tribe of cannibals in Ecuador. In 1956 they killed him and three other
men who were trying to make contact with them. Each of the men left behind
a wife and at least one child. You don’t have to be a missionary or a
martyr to live like Jacob. But to live like Jacob, like Jim Elliot, you
will need to renounce your hope of finding life here and set your sights
on heaven. People who have their mind set on heaven spend their money
and their time differently than those who hope in this life alone. They
treat others differently. They do not demand "fair" treatment.
They are always on the lookout for ways to show that their hope is in
heaven alone, as Jacob is about to show us.
God graciously defends and rewards his people therefore,
- They fix their attention on his eternal reward
- And…
II. They are meek and live by faith for the glory of God (vv. 31-36)
Laban’s response to Jacob’s appeal is as hard-hearted as you can get.
He says, "Don’t tell me your problems. I’m not letting you go anywhere.
I’m not going to ask you again, what do you want me to pay you? You’d
better speak up now or do you just want me to decide?" What Jacob
does next is absolutely astounding and is certain evidence that he is
a changed man. He tells Laban that he doesn’t want him to give him anything.
What he proposes doesn’t make any sense unless we give a little thought
to shepherding sheep and goats. Most sheep are white but as we know from
the poem, "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", a few sheep are born black.
Goats, on the other hand, are usually completely dark colored but a few
will have spots of lighter fur. So Jacob tells Laban that he will stay
and watch over Laban’s flocks in exchange for all the dark sheep and the
spotted or stripped goats in his flocks. But, not only does he ask for
a very small percentage of the sheep and goats as payment, he also tells
Laban that he will remove all the black sheep and spotted goats from Laban’s
herd so that his payment will be all the multi-colored offspring yet to
be born. In other words, he proposes as his payment all the dark sheep
and spotted goats that are born in a herd that only has white sheep and
dark goats.
Laban cannot believe what he has just heard and he quickly agrees to
the deal. But, because he is a crook, he suspects everyone else is a crook
and so he doesn’t permit Jacob to remove the dark sheep and spotted goats.
He does it himself and then he gives the herd of dark sheep and spotted
goats to his sons and they move a three-day journey or about 30 miles
away. He wants to make sure there is no chance for dark sheep and spotted
goats to breed with the monochrome livestock. Laban is so excited he can
hardly stand it. Not only is he going to get to keep Jacob around and
so have his herds increased even more because of God’s blessing but also
he will pay Jacob virtually nothing for his labor. Dark sheep and spotted
goats are rarely born when both parents are either white sheep or dark
goats.
It is not hard to understand why Laban so readily agrees to this arrangement.
What is puzzling is why in the world does Jacob make such a crazy proposal?
When we look at Jacob’s actions in vv. 37-42 and the result in v. 43 it
is clear that Jacob knows something that Laban does not know. Is Jacob
being cunning and deceitful because he knows a secret way to get white
sheep to make dark lambs and dark goats to make spotted goats? Or does
Jacob have access to knowledge from another source? Again, is Jacob just
up to his old tricks or is something new going on? No one would ever put
themselves at such a disadvantage without some certainty that what looks
like a disadvantage is really an advantage. Where does he get this certainty?
Is he just working a con, making it look like he is in the weaker position
so that Laban agrees to the deal but all the time having a "card
up his sleeve"? Is he trusting God? There are two clues in this text
that he is trusting and obeying God and not being deceptive. In verse
43 when it says, "the man grew exceedingly prosperous", the
verb that is used is the same one used in v. 30, "the few that you
had before I came increased greatly" and in 28: 14 when God made
his promise to Jacob. In other words, by the use of this verb, Moses is
tipping us off that God is keeping his promises and blessing Jacob. Second,
this verse is very similar to Genesis 12:16, "Abram acquired sheep
and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and
camels." In other words, as he blessed Abraham, God is blessing Jacob.
However, we don’t know for sure if Jacob is trusting God or up to his
old tricks until we read chapter 31. In this chapter we discover that
Jacob has been trusting God. Now what we need to think about here is why
does Moses report Jacob’s behavior without telling us why he is doing
this? Is Moses just engaging in good story-telling so we will read on
or is there a reason for showing us what Jacob does before he reveals
why Jacob does what he does? By showing us what Jacob does before
he tells us about Jacob’s faith he is emphasizing the sovereign grace
of God as the determinative agent, not Jacob. We don’t know for sure that
Jacob is trusting God and not running a scam and so we are again reminded
that God has chosen Jacob and that is the reason that Jacob is blessed.
But after we read chapter 31 and find out that Jacob is trusting God we
can look at his actions and see what trusting God looks like.
What we discover is that Jacob intentionally puts himself in a position
where the only way he will survive is if God acts on his behalf. He is
very meek in his dealings with Laban. He does not demand anything from
him. In fact he refuses all help that Laban might have given him. He trusts
God and puts himself in a position that will result in God being glorified.
If Jacob makes it, it will only be because God delivers him and so God
will be shown to be great, not Jacob. Let me make a word of caution here.
He is not doing what a guy I met did when he became a Christian. He was
married and had at least one child when he became a Christian. He read
Matthew 6 that says we should not worry about what we will eat or drink
or wear because God will provide. He quit his job, took all their money
out of the bank in cash and drove down the highway and let it go out the
window. He told me that he wanted to trust God completely to provide for
him. I can tell you with absolute certainty that God did not want this
man to do this. He was putting God to the test, not living by faith. Jacob
is not doing something foolish. As we’ll see when we get to chapter 31,
he is doing this in obedience to and trust in a specific command and promise
from God.
What Jacob shows is that people who know that God graciously defends
and rewards his people are risk takers. But they are people who take risks
that God’s word tells them to take. They do not test God, like this acquaintance
of mine did and like Satan tempted Jesus to do when he told him to jump
off the top of the temple. Here are just a few examples of ways I’ve seen
people who know they are defended and rewarded by God take risks. Instead
of buying a new piece of furniture they give the money to a missionary.
They keep loving their spouse even when their spouse hurts them. They
take time to read the Bible and pray with their family instead of mowing
the lawn after supper. They quit their jobs, go to seminary and then go
plant a church in a foreign country. They don’t steal from their employer
even though they are treated like dirt and they continue to work as diligently
as if they had the best boss in the world. They decide to live on one
income so that one parent can stay home and train the children. They ask
their sibling to forgive them without demanding their sibling apologizes
for what they did. Christians know that God will care for them so they
delight to do God’s will in situations where they will be destroyed unless
God delivers. They delight to rely upon God and for God to show off his
greatness by keeping his promises as they take risks in obedience to God’s
commands.
God graciously defends and rewards his people therefore,
- They fix their attention on his eternal reward
- They are meek and live by faith for the glory of God
- And…
III. They obey divine prescriptions no matter how foolish they appear
(vv. 37-43)
This description of Jacob’s putting sticks of wood with part of the bark
peeled in the watering troughs, on the surface looks like trickery and
superstition. It appears that he actually believes that when animals mate
while looking at speckled and stripped sticks that they will produce speckled
and stripped offspring. However, based upon what we are going to be told
in chapter 31 I believe that what we are seeing here is Jacob obeying
God’s command. Again, I would say that the reason we are told what
Jacob does and not why he does it is to emphasize God’s grace and
to show us how foolish a life of faith often looks to the world. Jacob
has been a shepherd most of his life. You can bet he has never done anything
like this before. How foolish must he have felt except that he knew God
commanded that by this means he would both make Jacob prosper and punish
Laban for his wicked greed?
There are scores of examples in the Scriptures of God commanding similarly
foolish acts in order to accomplish his will. In Numbers 21, God judges
Israel for their complaining against him by sending snakes into their
midst. When they repent and cry out for God to save them from the snakes
he tells Moses to make a bronze statute of a snake and put it on a pole
in the center of camp. Then he says, whenever a snake bites a person and
they look at the bronze snake they will be healed. God tells Gideon to
attack an army of 600,000 with three hundred men who are armed with torches
and trumpets. Jesus tells Peter to go fishing in order to get a coin to
pay the temple tax. Jesus tells Peter, Andrew, James and John, after they
have been fishing all night and caught nothing, to go fishing in the middle
of the day and cast their nets where he tells them to and they catch so
many fish their boat begins to sink. God says that the death of one man
on a cross in 30 AD satisfies his wrath against the sins of all his people
for all time. He promises that this death secures forgiveness of sins
and eternal life for all his people. Since when do bronze snakes heal
snakebite? When God says so. Since when do 300 soldiers with torches defeat
an army of 600,000? When God says so. Since when do you get money to pay
the tax by catching a fish with a gold coin in its mouth? When God s says
so. Since when do you catch enough fish to sink a boat in the middle of
the day? When God says so. Since when does a man dying on a cross forgive
the sins of millions of other men and women? When God says so. Since when
do peeled sticks make white sheep bear dark sheep and dark goats bear
spotted goats? When God says so.
God could have made the white sheep bear dark sheep and the dark goats
bear spotted goats without Jacob’s help. But God repeatedly accomplishes
his work through, by means of, the faithful obedience of his people. He
does this to increase our joy and his glory. The New Testament applies
the principle over and over to the preaching of the gospel. In 1 Cor.
1: 22-24 Paul says, "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look
for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews
and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." It makes
no sense that the eternal destiny of human beings is dependent upon hearing
the message of a crucified man. But the countless multitude of all those
whom God has saved through this "weak" message will worship
God for this simple, saving message forever. And, all those who had a
part in proclaiming that message will be full of joy in the presence of
God because of those who are saved through their faithful proclamation
as Paul says in 1 Thess. 2: 19-20, "For what is our hope, our joy,
or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of the Lord Jesus
when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory, our joy?"
Do you want God to be seen as a great and powerful Savior? Do you want
to increase your joy in heaven? Then do the things that the world thinks
are foolish but God commands. Read the Bible to your children. Memorize
it. Talk with your neighbor, your co-worker about Christ. Pray for others
to be saved the way Paul prayed for his Jewish brothers. Love those who
offend you. Don’t insult but bless those who curse you. Be happy when
people mock you for your faith. Work hard and well even when everyone
else is working at 40% capacity. Give your money away for the cause of
Christ. Send your kids to be missionaries. You go be a missionary. Spend
a day in prayer. Skip meals so you can pray more. The only way any of
these things make any sense is if there is a God who intends to defend
you and reward you forever. Living like this makes no sense if God does
not exist because none of these things will get you more of what the world
has to offer.
God graciously defends and rewards his people therefore,
- They fix their attention on his eternal reward
- They are meek and live by faith for the glory of God
- They obey divine prescriptions no matter how foolish they appear
© Copyright
2001 John Swanson.
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