Genesis 30:25-31:55: Provision and Protection

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Genesis, and today the next passage we come to is Genesis 30:25 through 31:55, so I’ll be reading a selection of verses from that passage. It says,

²⁵ As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you. ²⁸ Name your wages, and I will give it.”…³¹ Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: ³² let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages….³⁴ Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵ But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. ³⁷ Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. ³⁸ He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, ³⁹ the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, ⁴² but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys. ¹ Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” ² And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”…¹⁷ So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸ He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac…. ²² When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³ he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” ²⁵ And Laban overtook Jacob…. ⁴³ Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.”

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we understand from Hebrews 4 that your Word is living and active. So may it be living and active in our lives today. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

One assumption people can sometimes make is that their lives will get easier if they become a Christian. They think that whatever problems they’re facing will suddenly disappear and that everything will just be smooth sailing from that point on. Yet, of course, those of us who have been Christians for any significant amount of time know that’s just not true. There’s definitely a joy found in Jesus that’s unlike anything else in this world and that transcends whatever else we might be facing. But that doesn’t mean life is easy.

This is why Jesus tells those who are thinking about becoming his disciples to first count the cost. In Luke 14:28-30, he says, ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

So, Jesus is very direct when he tells people to “count the cost” before they decide to devote their lives to him. He’s basically putting a warning label on Christianity. The message is pretty clear: When you become a Christian, you’re not signing up for an easy life. Instead, being a Christian is hard. And you need to make sure you have realistic expectations for how hard it’s going to be before you commit yourself to it.

Because, first of all, when you become a Christian, you’re going to be swimming against the cultural current. The vast majority of the culture is going to be flowing this way, and you’re going to be trying to swim this way. It’s not an easy thing to do. Not only that, Satan will be trying his best to discourage you in your walk with God and ultimately derail everything God’s been doing in your life. From day one of becoming a Christian, you have a massive target on your back. Then, as if all of that weren’t enough, the fact is that we sometimes just have difficult days as Christians. Our hearts sometimes grow cold. There may also be seasons when we struggle with depression—sometimes without even understanding why. We may even get to the point where it feels like we’re only hanging on by a single thread and we’re not sure how much longer we can make it.

However, despite our weakness and frailty, God’s always faithful to sustain us and to supply everything that’s necessary for us to grow and flourish and become the people he wants us to be. And we see a picture of that in Genesis 30-31. These chapters revolve around a man named Jacob. And, back in Genesis 28, God had made Jacob a series of promises as Jacob was leaving the land of Canaan. Among other things, God had promised him in Genesis 28:15, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

And, in our main passage, we see God fulfilling that promise. So, our main idea is that God demonstrates faithfulness to Jacob by giving him both provision and protection. That’s what we see happening in Genesis 30-31. God demonstrates faithfulness to Jacob by giving him both provision and protection. So, we’ll first look at God’s provision and then at God’s protection. 

In Genesis 30:25-43, God provides for Jacob in a big way. He doesn’t just provide the bare minimum for Jacob and his family to eke out a living. He provides abundantly. You may recall that Jacob had been forced to leave his home in Canaan because his life was in danger. And he had left with virtually no material possessions at all. He describes in Genesis 32:10 how he left with nothing but the staff in his hand. He then arrived at his uncle Laban’s house, worked for Laban for seven years in order to marry Laban’s daughter Rachel, was instead tricked into marrying Laban’s other daughter Leah, and therefore had to work an additional seven years so that he could marry Rachel as he had initially wanted to do.

And that’s where the story picks up in Genesis 30:25-28. Look what it says: ²⁵ As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you. ²⁸ Name your wages, and I will give it.”

So, Jacob’s now been working for Laban for a total of fourteen years and has been exploited by Laban in a very significant way and just wants to be done with Laban. I’m sure most of us have probably, at one time or another, had a boss who wasn’t a good boss at all and who had no regard for anything but their own personal advancement. That’s the kind of boss Laban was, and Jacob was tired of it. However, when Jacob tells Laban he wants to put in his two weeks’ notice, Laban tries to persuade him to stay. He says, “Name your wages, and I will give it.”

We then read this in Genesis 30:29-32: ²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: ³² let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages.

Typically, both sheep and goats would only be one color. Sheep would typically be white, and goats could either be black or brown—but usually not more than one of those colors. However, there were a few sheep and goats that, instead of being one color, were “spotted” or “speckled.” And those are the ones Jacob requests for himself as his wages in order to continue working for Laban.

Verse 34 then records Laban’s response: “Laban said, ‘Good! Let it be as you have said.’” So, Laban thinks these are great terms. He believes he knows a deal when he sees one and therefore eagerly agrees to Jacob’s proposal. But, just as we might have predicted, old uncle Laban—being the sneaky con artist that he is—has a trick up his sleeve. Look at verse 35: “But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons.” So, Laban removes all the sheep and goats that would otherwise go to Jacob and gives them instead to his sons.

However, the subsequent verses describe how Jacob implements a plan of his own. He takes a variety of sticks, peels them back so that they’re white, and sets the white sticks at the place where the flocks of sheep and goats would breed. And that might seem a bit random and unusual, but there was apparently a commonly held belief back in ancient culture that if animals saw something vivid while they were mating, their offspring would be marked by that vivid sight. Of course, that was just a superstition without any scientific basis, but Jacob believed it. And the narrative’s presented in these verses from Jacob’s point of view—as if the white sticks result in offspring that are speckled and spotted and as if Jacob is outwitting Laban.

Verse 43 then tells us, “Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.” So, against all odds, Jacob ends up prospering to a phenomenal degree. Jacob’s prosperity was undoubtedly beyond anything Laban ever thought possible.

And the reason for Jacob’s prosperity, of course, wasn’t because of his superstitious practice of putting sticks at the breeding grounds. He may have thought that played a significant role, but it obviously didn’t. Instead, the real reason for the massive increase in Jacob’s net worth was the fact that God was blessing him. God was the one who caused those flocks to have so many spotted and speckled offspring. He was the one who intervened in order to make Jacob so wealthy. And Jacob himself, despite his misguided superstitions, ultimately realizes this. In verses 9-12 of the next chapter, Jacob credits God for the increase in his flocks.

So, because of God, Jacob literally went from rags to riches. He had originally came to Laban with nothing but his staff yet now had a significant amount of wealth because of God. God showed himself faithful in fulfilling the promise he had made to Jacob back in Genesis 28. He provided for all of Jacob’s needs and did so abundantly. 

Similarly, God provides all we need as well. The most obvious connection between what we’ve seen so far in Genesis and our lives today is that God promises to provide for our material needs—just as he did for Jacob. We read what Jesus has to say about that in Matthew 6. Yet, material sustenance is only the beginning of what God provides for his people. In reality, God provides everything we need to be sustained not only physically but also spiritually. And that’s probably the most significant way he provides for us. So, let me briefly give you four ways in which God provides for our spiritual needs.

The first way is through the Son of God—Jesus Christ. Jesus is God’s greatest provision because he meets our greatest need. That need is to be rescued from our sins. You see, even though we often like to think of ourselves as good people—usually according to our own standards of goodness—the Bible says each one of us is actually not good at all because we’re in a state of rebellion against God. And the consequence of our sin is eternal punishment. And try as we might, there’s nothing we can do to escape that.

Yet, as John 3:16 so famously says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God “gave” his own Son. He provided the Savior we so desperately needed. And the way Jesus accomplished his saving work was by dying on the cross in our place and to pay for our sin. He then resurrected from the dead so that, as we just read, “whoever believes in him”—that is, whoever puts their trust in him—"should not perish but have eternal life.”

Yet, that’s actually not the end of Jesus’s ministry. The Bible says that, after Jesus resurrected from the dead, he ascended to heaven, where he currently functions as our High Priest before God the Father. In the Old Testament, the priests functioned as intermediaries between God and the people of Israel. First, they offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people—which Jesus has already done through his sacrifice on the cross. And they also offered prayers on people’s behalf—which Jesus is doing right now in heaven. Hebrews 7:25 tells us, “Consequently, he [Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” “Intercession” is just a fancy word for prayer. In addition, Romans 8:34 states that Jesus “is at the right hand of God” and is right now “interceding for us.” That’s what he’s doing every moment of every day.

In his prayers, Jesus is reminding the Father of what he accomplished on the cross so that our sins aren’t held against us and is also praying for all kinds of different things on our behalf. Isn’t that an encouraging thought? Even when you’re negligent in your prayer life, Jesus is still praying for you. Whatever needs you have, Jesus is praying for those needs. And we can be sure that the Father hears and will answer the prayers of his Son. So, that’s one way in which we enjoy God’s provision in our lives—through the Son of God.

Then, another way is through not only the Son of God but also through the Spirit of God. In John 14, Jesus says to his disciples that he’s not going to leave them as orphans but that he’ll come to them and actually dwell within them, through the Holy Spirit. And that’s exactly what happened in Acts chapter 2. The Holy Spirit descended from heaven in a dramatic way and took up permanent residence within the early Christians. And whenever someone becomes a Christian today, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in their hearts as well. That’s why Romans 8:9 states that if anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he doesn’t belong to Christ.

So, it’s not like Jesus saves us and then just turns us loose to live the Christian life on our own. He’s not like, “Alright, I’ve saved you—so you’re going to heaven when you die. But in between now and then, you’re on your own. Good luck living the Christian life.” No! As soon as someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit immediately begins to dwell within their hearts and give them the spiritual empowerment they need to live in a close relationship with God and walk in God’s ways.

In fact, you may remember that we discussed various aspects of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives a couple of months ago. Just to name a few of those aspects, according to the New Testament, the Holy Spirit helps us to understand and apply the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). He also shapes us to be more like Jesus by exhibiting the so-called “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23). He also stirs our affections for the Lord by pouring the love of God into our hearts (Romans 5:5). The Spirit also empowers us for ministry to other Christians in unique ways through the use of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). He also empowers us in our witness so that we can share the gospel with boldness (Acts 4:31). He even guides us in the words we say in our gospel witness so that we have no need to be anxious (Luke 12:11-12). And the Spirit also provides more general guidance as well for the various decisions we make in life (Acts 16:6-7). And, of course, all of this only scratches the surface of what the New Testament teaches about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So, as you can see, the Spirit of God is a central component of God’s provision for us.

Then a third way in which God provides for our needs, after the Son of God and the Spirit of God, is the Word of God. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. That means we don’t have to wonder about the answers to life’s biggest questions. We don’t have to grope around in the dark in a futile attempt to figure out who God is or what he desires for our lives or how he designed this world to operate. Instead, he’s already told us the answers to all of these questions in the pages of Scripture. And his revelation is sufficient. That’s what verse 17 says: “that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” In the Bible, God’s told us everything we need to know in order to have a close and satisfying relationship with him and to serve him faithfully.

And the Bible doesn’t just inform our minds. It also shapes our hearts and imparts to us spiritual life and vitality. That’s why Psalm 1:3 says this about the person who drinks deeply of the Bible. It says, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” So, the Bible is where we find the spiritual nourishment we need in order to flourish in our lives and in our relationship with God. It’s just as necessary for our spiritual health and vitality as regular food is for our physical health and vitality.

Then a fourth and final way in which we experience God’s provision is through the people of God. So, we have the Son of God, the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and now the people of God. And by that, I mean Christian brothers and sisters in the church. In Romans 12:5, Paul writes that “We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” That means God didn’t design us to be independent of one another but rather to be interdependent. Other passages in the New Testament use the metaphor of a family. As Christians, we’re a spiritual family that’s called to love each other, care for each other, support each other, hold each other accountable, and minister to each other in a variety of other ways that help us thrive spiritually.

And I’ll just say that to think you don’t need that is appallingly arrogant. There’s no such thing in the New Testament as a “Lone Ranger” Christian who’s able to do just fine on their own. You might be able to stumble along and manage to survive spiritually apart from a local church, but you’ll never thrive. Kind of like if someone’s stranded on a deserted island for numerous years—like in “Cast Away” or something like that. It might be possible for them to survive, but they’re not going to flourish. They’re going to be in pretty rough shape. I mean, Tom Hanks was talking to his volleyball by the end of that movie. Similarly, you might survive, but you won’t flourish apart from other Christians and apart from the community of a healthy local church.

So, all of these are ways in which God gives us not just amble provision but abundant provision for our lives. Just as God abundantly provided for Jacob in Genesis 30, he abundantly provides for us through the Son of God, the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and the people of God.

Then, returning to Genesis and moving forward to chapter 31, we see a description not only of God’s provision but also of God’s protection. God protects Jacob as he makes his “escape,” as it were, from Laban. We read in Genesis 31:1-3: ¹ Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” ² And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

Jacob then talks to his wives to make sure they’re good with the plan and sets off for the land of Canaan with his entire household and all his possessions. Look at verses 17-21: ¹⁷ So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸ He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. ²⁰ And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. ²¹ He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

So, Jacob doesn’t even put in his two weeks’ notice this time. He just flees while Laban’s away on a business trip—probably because he expects Laban to do something devious in order to keep him there. We then read in verses 22-24: ²² When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³ he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

So, when Laban hears about Jacob leaving, he pursues him probably with the intention of doing something violent. But God intervenes. He appears to Laban in a dream and warns him, basically, not to mess with Jacob. Then, in the subsequent verses, Laban catches up to Jacob and there are some tense interactions. But Laban doesn’t inflict any harm on Jacob, and the two of them end up making a covenant not to commit any acts of aggression toward each other from that point on. Laban then returns home, and Jacob continues on his journey toward Canaan. So, the point of the chapter is that God protected Jacob in in a big way. When Laban was coming after Jacob with every intention of inflicting harm on him, God intervened and kept Laban from doing whatever he was intending to do.

Likewise, God protects us from various things that threaten to cause us harm. One of these is sin. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul says that “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” God protects us from temptation that would otherwise overpower us.

In addition, he also protects us from Satan. In 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Paul writes, “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” The fact is that, like Jacob, we also have an enemy who’s pursuing us with the intention of causing us harm. And he’s obviously a much more dangerous and formidable enemy than Laban. Yet, God promises to protect us from this enemy and keep Satan “on a leash,” so to speak, so that he’s not able cause us the harm he’d otherwise be quite eager to inflict.

So, God’s committed to protecting us from spiritual harm and bringing us safely through all of the earthly hazards we face into his heavenly kingdom. That’s the confidence we have as Christians. In John 10:28, Jesus describes it this way. He declares, with reference to his disciples, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

You know, it’s true that we’re weak and frail and often inconsistent in our devotion to Jesus. So, if staying saved depended on us, we wouldn’t stay saved. As John MacArthur once said, “If you could lose your salvation, you would.” Within ourselves, we don’t have the spiritual ability or power to remain faithful to God throughout our lives. Our hearts are too wayward, and the spiritual hazards are too great. However, as we see here in John 10, our salvation doesn’t depend on us holding on to Jesus but on Jesus holding on to us.

A couple of months ago, my family and I drove to West Virginia and went out on a large rock on the top of a mountain that looked out over the vast landscape. You could see for miles and miles from this overlook. And it was very high up. If you slipped off of that rock, you’d fall at least 50-100 feet before hitting more rocks and probably dying. But it was a great view, and the view was the best if you went right out to the very tip of the rock. So, very carefully, I took each of the kids, one by one, out to the tip. And you’d better believe that I was holding onto them very tightly. Now, of course, they were also holding onto me, but I wasn’t trusting their ability to hold onto me. I was trusting my ability to hold onto them so firmly that even if they let go of me and started totally freaking out, I would have still been able to maintain my hold on them.

And that’s the way Jesus holds onto us. “No one will snatch them out of my hand,” he says. His hold is so secure that, no matter what happens—no matter what challenges we face or what Satan tries to do—none of that will be able to prevail over us or keep us from persevering in our faith all the way to heaven. So, just like God protected Jacob in Genesis 31, he’s also committed to protecting us. Our salvation couldn’t be more secure.

So, the next time you feel weak, beaten down, or discouraged in your walk with God—the next time you feel like your spiritual gas tank is nearly empty—just remember what we’ve seen here in Genesis 30-31. God’s faithful to give us both provision and protection throughout all of life’s challenges until we one day arrive safely at our heavenly home. We might be weak, but God is strong. You know, it’s sometimes said that God won’t give us more than we can handle. I don’t think that’s true. Instead, I’d prefer to say that God won’t give us more than he gives us the strength to handle. There’s a big difference. The power comes not from us but from God.

In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Paul writes about a hardship he faced in life and says, ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.