Fellowship in the Word

Bil Gebhardt: That's God's message to us. We don't go through anything like this. You see, one thing is for sure, all of us at some time or another have a Laban or a Laban-like person in our lives.

It could be your boss, family member, neighbor. It could also be a circumstance that you find yourself in. But you have to deal with something like Laban in your lives. And what God is saying to Jacob and he's saying to us, I've seen it all.

Guest (Male): Today, on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bil Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bil Gebhardt.

Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church, located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bil Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world.

Bil Gebhardt: We've been studying the life of Jacob, and I called him the poster child of grace. There is nothing admirable about this fellow at all. In fact, as we've gone through the story, there is nothing admirable about anybody in the story. It didn't matter Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, Jacob, Leah, Rachel.

There is not one good thing about any of them. And the worst of them all, Laban. Laban was a scheming and deceiving and self-serving individual. And as you read the story of Jacob and Laban, you start feeling sorry for Jacob because of how much he had to go through with Laban.

He worked 5,110 days to get two wives. One he didn't want. 5,110 days. And then he's going to labor six more years now for Laban, who changes, and you'll see this later in the text, changes his salary 10 times, always for Laban's benefit. That's Laban.

And you wonder if you're Jacob that God appeared to Jacob on his way his 500-mile trek to go see Laban and where Rachel was. And he never appeared to him again, never said a word to him for 20 years. So you start wondering if you're Jacob, like where's God? All this stuff, all this injustice, all this scheming, where's God in all of this?

Well, by the way, have you ever had that thought? You ever been have you ever had that thought? Where's God in this mess? This whole thing we're going through, where's God in this? Well, God has this thought that he had. And he's going to give Jacob the same answer he's going to give us.

We'll get the answer first then go to the context. Go to Genesis 31 with me. Genesis 31 and verse 11. And Moses writes here, he says, "Then the angel of God said to me in a dream, 'Jacob.'" And I always love it in scripture when this happens. Jacob said, "Here I am." I always love that. Give your name. I'm here.

He's thinking 20 years I waited. Now I get this. And he said, "Lift up," he says, "now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled and mottled." And we'll talk about that in a few moments. And then he says this, "For I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you."

20 years. God said, "I saw it all. I've seen everything that Laban has been done to you." That's God's message to us. We don't go through anything like this. You see, one thing is for sure, all of us at some time or another have a Laban or a Laban-like person in our lives.

It could be your boss, family member, neighbor. It could also be a circumstance that you find yourself in. But you have to deal with something like Laban in your lives. And what God is saying to Jacob and he's saying to us, "I've seen it all. Don't worry about that, I've seen it."

Now let's go back and get some context. Look at chapter 30 and verse 25. We pick up the story from last time. Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, and Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away that I may go to my own place and into my own country." It's time now. Finally Rachel has a child.

Leah has six sons, the bride he didn't want, the wife he didn't want. Rachel has one. He says, "Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you. Let me depart, for you yourself know my service which I have rendered to you." 20 years. By the way, Laban's extremely rich because of Jacob, and Jacob has nothing.

He has two wives who don't like each other, and one he doesn't care much for. He continued and he said, "Name me your wages and I'll give it to you." The reason is Laban said in verse 27, "If now it pleases you to stay with me, I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account."

Now Laban's not a believer, he's not a seeker of God at all. But he divined this. Think of this. He had this much wealth when Jacob came. He now has this much. And he divined that he's been blessed through this. Really? He said yes, I don't know what it meant he divined it.

It's usually something not very good in scripture, but it says that he divined it and he said, "Now I know I'm being blessed because of you." So in verse 29, he said to him, "You yourself know how I've served you and how your cattle have fared with me.

For if you had little before I came, it has increased to a multitude and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?" He has nothing. So he said to him, "What shall I give you?"

And Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again," he says, "pasture and keep your flock." Now, please understand something. This is two of the most deceptive scoundrels in scripture. Okay, this is A1 and B1. I can't believe either one of them ever thought for a moment what the other one was telling them was true.

So but Jacob said, "Look, you don't have to pay me anything." Laban's like, "Hey, I'm kind of interested in not paying you anything. What are we talking about here? Wow." He says, "Let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and such shall be my wages."

Now spotted sheep and spotted or striped goats have much less value than non-spotted. They're also a distinct minority. There's not a lot of them. They're usually the first that are going to be slaughtered for some other reason. They can't be used for sacrifice or anything like that. But the point of it is so Laban's hearing this said this is too good to be true. He wants to take my few worthless sheep and goats? That's his deal? I like it.

Well, he said then so my honesty in verse 33 will answer for me later when you come concerning your wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, you can consider it stolen. I'll not take one of your not one lamb, not one sheep, not one goat.

Laban said, "Good, let's do it according to your word. Let's shake on it. I like that deal." So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, everyone with white in it and all the black ones among the sheep and gave them to the care of his sons. And he put a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob.

So that's pretty far. There's several miles apart now. It says and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods.

Now that is about the most nonsensical verse I've read in scripture. Like you figuring out what's going on here? Not yet. He set the rods which he had peeled in the front of the flock in the gutters, even in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, and they mated when they came to drink there.

So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled and spotted. What? Yeah. Now remember Jacob's been a shepherd for 20 years. He wasn't a shepherd, he was kind of a wealthy landowner back in Canaan.

And so now there's apparently some myths going about the shepherd community and said if you want to get spotted, striped, speckled sheep or goats, you just pull the pull some of the bark off these trees and wherever the water troughs are, set it up there.

So that they can look at this and if they look at this while they're mating, then you're going to get spotted and speckled animals. Sound sound, doesn't it? By the way, I spent way too much time this week trying to follow this thing. Andrew Steinman wrote this. He's the only guy I know.

He said, "What's going on here? Was this superstition, folklore or was Jacob ahead of his time?" He said, "I think so. It has been recently proposed that Jacob's stripping the bark from the branches may have exposed some nutrient that when in the drinking water thereby changed the color of the coats of the young that they bore."

Now that's him. I read 20 other sources that said that's nonsense. That's just completely nonsensical. But Jacob believed it. You see that Jacob has to have an angle. Everything he does has an angle. That's why he made the deal with Laban. He said, "If I do this, almost all the sheep and goats are going to come out for me."

So that's what he ends up doing. So what ends up happening is it says verse 40, "Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban, and he put his own herds apart and did not put them with Laban's flock."

Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters so that they might mate by the rods. And when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in. So the feebler of Laban's were allowed to mate without the stuff in the trough.

So the man became exceedingly prosperous and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys. There's a success story. How to get rich simply by scheming. Okay, that's what he did. Now I'm just you'll see in a moment. That had nothing to do with this. Nothing.

But in Jacob's mind, I need to have an angle. I always need to find a way to deceive. Verse 1 of 31. "Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons." Laban now has his own sons. He said, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's and from what belonged to our father he has made all his wealth."

This guy's becoming prosperous, his flocks are huge. Jacob saw the attitude of Laban and behold it was not friendly as formerly. No, it wasn't as formally friendly. Why? He was taken. He believes that Jacob took him and he wanted to take Jacob. And he's been taking Jacob for 20 years.

And so now he's a little bit upset by all this. Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives and I'll be with you." First time God's spoken for 20 years to him. He never a word. Remember he doesn't have any written scriptures, nothing like that. All he has is God's word.

20 years later God says now just what I told you before go back home. I told you I'd send you home. I told you I'd protect you. That's all he told him. So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field.

And he said to them, "I see your father's attitude, that it's not friendly toward me as formerly, but that the God of my fathers has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength. Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages 10 times. However, God did not allow him to hurt me."

"If he spoke thus, 'the speckled shall be your wages,' that's what he said and then all the flock came forth speckled. And he spoke thus, 'the striped will be your wages,' then all the flock was brought forth with striped. Thus God has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me."

Now there's that somewhat insightful on his part. "And it came about when the time when the flocks were mating that I lifted my eyes and I saw in a dream, 'Behold the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled and mottled.'" So finally when they're doing this God shows him some insight.

This isn't about the bark. This isn't about what you're doing. This is about me. Then the angel said to me, "Jacob, I am here. Lift up your eyes now 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.

I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now arise, leave the land and return to the land of your birth." So God basically says to him, "I did everything it's done here. Not your conniving, not your scheming, not your deception."

Well, Rachel and Leah said to him, "Do we still have any portion of the inheritance of our father's house?" I love these girls. We want more. We live for more. I love the fact that you're wealthy now, but I don't care how about some of my father's wealth? I want some of that too.

"Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us and he said also entirely consumed our purchase price." Now understand the way it was. When you paid a dowry for a woman in those days, the father of the bride would take the dowry and keep it. You see he would hold it.

And then later in life he would give it back to his daughter usually as an inheritance. Now Laban took seven years labor that's an enormous amount of money for both of his girls and he spent it all in Laban. And the girls knew it. He wasn't giving them a penny because that's Laban, he doesn't care about his daughters, he doesn't care about anybody but Laban.

That's just the way he works. "Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then whatever God has said to you go ahead and do it. We're with you." Jacob arose and he put his children and his wives upon camels.

And he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered. He acquired the livestock which he had gathered in Paddan Aram to go to the land of Canaan and to his father Isaac. Now when Laban had gone to shear his flock, that's a distance away, then Rachel stole the household idols which were her father's.

She's a nice girl. Now she's stealing from her father, but she has something in mind. In that culture, if you got the possession of the household idols, you have a larger portion of the inheritance. So she stole the idols so that when she finds out Laban dies she can come back and say, "I had all the idols, they have to give her more."

She's motivated just like Jacob and just like Laban. And Jacob notice it says deceived Laban. That word deceived is the exact same Hebrew word as the verse before when it says she stole. They just translated it to deception. "He deceived Laban the Aramean," he says, "by not telling him that he was fleeing."

He said, "We gotta get out of here without your father knowing he's shearing sheep let's get out of here." So he fled with all that he had and he arose and he crossed the Euphrates and he set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. They start a 500-mile walk back to the promised land.

When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, it says then he took his kinsmen with him and he pursued him a distance of seven days' journey and he overtook him in the hill country. Now he has the men he said, "I'm going to go get them."

There was a change though. God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said, "Behold be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad." Now he never had that before. Now he's told by Jacob's God and he knows by Jacob's God why he was wealthy.

So he says, "I don't want you to say a bad word about him or a good word." Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword, my little girls."

He doesn't care about his daughters at all, he never has. "They're just my little girls, you took my little girls from me. Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and did not tell me?" because he said, "I might have sent you away with joy and with songs and timbrel and lyre. I want to throw a party for you guys.

I want to have a party so we could all celebrate together." There'd be no party with this guy. "You did not allow me to, you didn't even allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you've done foolishly."

He said, "It is in my power to do you harm." Go ahead and try. You see what I mean? He's saying that just as a bluff. "It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night said be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob."

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor Bil Gebhardt on the radio ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com.

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If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bil delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website fbcnoia.org. That's fbcnoia.org.

At our website you will find hundreds of Pastor Bil's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online or if you prefer you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience.

And remember you can do all that absolutely free of charge. Once again our website is fbcnoia.org. For Pastor Bil Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.