Day 9: Genesis 29-30

Day 9: Genesis 29-30

Today we continue to follow Jacob as he flees from his home in fear of his older brother, who rightfully has some reason to be a little upset. Part of Jacob’s mission is to escape his past, that entire thing with taking his brother’s birthright and blessing. Another part of his mission is to find a wife. Not just any wife, but a wife that comes from his own tribe. That’s right, we are back to inbreeding.

Jacob travels back to the land of his family, the land that his family left years ago. Once again we find the story at a well, this time where Jacob meets his family, his tribe. Yesterday I spent time talking about the importance of wells to the people at this time. Here we see another interesting encounter at a well.

Three flocks of sheep wait at the well to be watered. Jacob asks why they do not open the well and begin to provide the sheep with water. In response, the shepherds say that they must wait until all the sheep are gathered around the well to begin to provide them with water.

Why is it so important that they wait? Are the afraid that there will not be enough water for all the sheep? Or, do they wait to share their experience with all the sheep and people in their community? I favor the second possibility. Much like how we gather as a community to worship God, for our thirst to be quenched, these people waited to share the experience together, with all the sheep present.

Yet, after seeing Rachel, Jacob runs to open the well and begins to water her flock. Excited and anxious, Jacob runs around like a chicken with its head cut off, weeping. Then he runs to Rachel and kisses her. I can only imagine how the other shepherds entertained this site.

Wife Swap

Now Jacob fell for Rachel the moment he laid eyes on her. After a month of staying and working with his extended family, Jacob asks Laban, father of Rachel, for her hand in marriage as payment for seven years of work. Laban agrees.

Seven years pass. The night has finally arrived for Rachel to be given to Jacob. Much like a wedding feast, the family gathers to celebrate and partake in a feast, which I am sure included some special beverages. After the feast Jacob returned to his bed to wait for his new wife to be brought to him. In the dark, Jacob went “in to” (I just love how they talk about sex in the Hebrew Bible) the woman brought to him.

The morning came and Jacob realized that he had been brought the wrong woman, Rachel’s older sister Leah. After seven years of work I can only imagine how Jacob felt. I mean, I get upset at a restaurant when I am brought the wrong meal, nevertheless the wrong partner. He goes to Laban and asks why he has been deceived. Laban explains that a younger daughter could not be given before the eldest.

Apparently this doesn’t bother Jacob, instead he works another seven years for Rachel to be his wife also. Then the trouble begins. Jacob loves Rachel, but not Leah. As it turns out, Leah is the one who could produce children. A jealous poker game ensues as each woman places more children into the pot, so to speak. Rachel, unable to bare a child, even gives her maid as a surrogate. This battle of births continues, even after Rachel is able to conceive her own children, until Jacob has bore children with four women, including Leah’s maid.

Bah, Bah Black Sheep

Jacob, having enough in-law time, asks to leave the land of Laban. Laban offers, due to a divination (something I am sure many Christians overlook), to pay Jacob a wage for his time of service. Jacob, in a cunning plan, says that he does not wish to be given anything. Instead, Jacob stays on a little while longer to work with the herd. In the bargain Jacob makes a deal that he can take all the spotted and speckled animals, in essence all the animals that may not have been considered “pure.”

I find it interesting that Jacob chooses the striped, spotted and speckled. Throughout history we have deemed that in depicting good and bad we use the colors white and black. Even in old movies and cartoons we see the hero dressed in white and the villain dressed in black. White equals purity and righteousness, black equals bad or unworthy. Add spots and stripes to the mix and I am sure this differentiation becomes even more complex.

I think Jacob is a lot like God in this part of the story. God works through all of us, but at times, God seems to have a special place in ministry for those striped, spotted, and speckled. You know, those people who have been hurt, those who do not always fit in.

I saw this during a class project at Perkins School of Theology. Each class member was asked to map their spiritual journey. When we shared our maps we all saw times in our lives in which our spiritual path was black or distorted. In that time, and through that time, many of the future pastors and congregation leaders found God, their place in ministry and their call to be a prophetic voice for all those in need. Like Jacob, God takes the striped, spotted and speckled into the flock. Personally, I am very thankful for that.