Genesis 30
1When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children or I’ll die!”
In Semitic culture, children were considered a gift from God. The opinion of the community was that God was blessing Leah but not Rachel, since she was the first wife. Rachel was mad at Jacob, blaming the situation on him. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so he was most likely having more marital relations with her. Rachel commanded Jacob to give her children or “she would die.” This statement became true for Rachel at the later birth of Benjamin.
Many prosperity teachers will misuse this verse to warn believers about speaking negative words. They falsely claim that humans have enough power in their spoken words. They teach that a believer who is right with God can speak blessings or curses upon himself and others. This is charismatic superstition. This is a form of white magic where the charismatics think that their words can control God into giving them blessings or curses.
The words of Rachel in this verse are simply an historical incident that the Holy Spirit chose to record in the Scriptures in order to teach divine wisdom. Old Testament history is not Bible doctrine for New Testament believers. This is not Bible doctrine for charismatics to misuse in order to fit their own human theology. Bible doctrine for the New Testament believer is found in Paul’s epistles.
2Jacob became furious with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
It was God who was in control of producing children, not Jacob. Jacob recognized God’s sovereignty. Rachel did not. Modern evolutionists and secular humanists do not recognize God's sovereignty. Their pride and arrogance lead them to elevating their human opinions above God.
3She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with her so that she can bear children for me and I can have a family through her.”
According to the Code of Hammurabi, Rachel would be the legal parent.
4So Rachel gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with her.
Bilhah becomes the legal concubine of Jacob.
5Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son.
The seed-son now had a child through a concubine, which was not illegal in that day according to the Code of Hammurabi or the Nuzi Tablets. The Mosaic Law was not in effect as of yet.
6Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son.” That is why she named him Dan.
Rachel named the son of her concubine Dan, meaning“judge.” Perhaps Rachel was sending a message to the community that God had judged Rachel as a righteous wife, so God rewarded Rachel with this son. If this was so, then the name represents Rachel’s human viewpoint. She was inventing her own human-viewpoint theology and her own human-viewpoint doctrine.
7Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son.
BIlhah gave birth to a second son.
8Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.
Rachel named the concubine’s second son as Naphtali meaning “I have wrestled.” The name implies that Rachel was wrestling with Leah and Rachel was the winner. Again, this was human viewpoint. Rachel was devising her own human-viewpoint theology.
9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
This counter move would not make Rachel very happy. She would be angry at both Jacob and Leah. Although polygamy is never condemned in the Old Testament, it always brought family strife. Paul would later forbid deacons and elders to engage in bigamous marriages.
10Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son.
Rachel will now be angry at Zilpah as well.
11Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.
Gad means “good fortune.” Leah's message to Rachel was that God was blessing her with good fortune.
12Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son.
The son of Zilpah belonged to Leah by law.
13Leah said, “How happy I am, for women will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.
Asher mean’s happy. Leah was happy, but Rachel was not very happy.
14At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
The Hebrew word for “mandrakes” is דּוּדָאּים (dudaim), meaning love apples. It was considered an aphrodisiac.
15But Leah replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” Rachel said, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
Rachel most likely asked Jacob to cut off marital relations with Leah. However, Leah gave Rachel the mandrakes in exchange for one night with Jacob.
16When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations with her that night.
Jacob was sold for a one night stand for mandrakes. This was pagan superstition from the community of Haran.
17God paid attention to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time.
God, not the mandrakes, was the One who was responsible for Leah's fertility. Each son of Leah elevated her position in the community and deflated the social position of Rachel.
18Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” So she named him Issachar.
Issachar means “hire.” Issachar was born, because his father was hired to have marital relations with his mother. Leah made sure that the community knew that God was blessing her and not Rachel.
19Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time.
Leah was given her sixth child. Rachel had none. Jacob, Leah, and the community saw Leah as the blessed mother and Rachel as the cursed mother.
20Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.
Zebulun means “bridal gift.” Leah was hoping that her sixth son would renew her marriage with Jacob.
21After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
Dinah is the feminine for “judge.” Jacob had several other daughters, but she is the only one named in Scripture. The Holy Spirit introduced her here, because she will be a vital part of Israel history in later chapters.
It is interesting to note that the seven children of Leah were Reuben (behold, a son), Simeon (he has heard), Levi (joined), Judah (praise), Issachar (wages), Zebulin (to dwell), and Dinah (to judge). Many commentators attempt to make a gospel message out of these names.
22Then God took note of Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant.
Notice that it was God, not Jacob or the mandrakes, who was responsible for Rachel’s pregnancy.
23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.”
Barren women were looked down upon in Semitic culture.
24She named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
Joseph means “take away” or “addition.” Joseph took away Rachel’s shame of barrenness and was a new addition to Rachel’s life.
The Flocks of Jacob
25After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can go home to my own country.
Jacob was eager to get back to the land which God promised to him.
26Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I’ll depart, because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.”
Jacob’s fourteen year marriage contract had been paid in full, but he was penniless.
27But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, for I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.”
The Hebrew word for “divination” is נָחַשׁ (nachash), meaning divination by a serpent. Laban was a pagan who was involved in the occult. Laban found out that he was being blessed by Jacob’s God. He was being blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant. Laban did not want to lose this blessing. Jacob was his pagan good luck charm.
28He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.”
Laban will pay any amount to continue this blessing. Notice that the demonic forces that were communicating with Laban did not want Jacob to return to Canaan. Notice also that God allowed the demonic forces to persuade both Laban and Jacob to stay in Haran, maybe to avoid the influence of the Canaanites upon Jacob’s young family.
29“You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, “and how well your livestock have fared under my care.
There was a sudden explosion of growth of Laban’s livestock while they were under Jacob’s care. This explosive growth of cattle was a result of the blessing aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant.
30Indeed, you had little before I arrived, but now your possessions have increased many times over. The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?”
Notice the “I” pronoun. Laban was blessed wherever Jacob worked. This was the Abrahamic Covenant at work. Jacob now wanted to use the Abrahamic Covenant to provide financial security for his own family.
31So Laban asked, “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” Jacob replied, “but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:
Jacob was going to use the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant to his own advantage.
32Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.
These were the rarest of sheep. Laban had been made very wealthy by Jacob. This was a very generous offer. Laban was receiving the deal of a lifetime.
33My integrity will testify for me later on. When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.”
Laban liked this idea, because he thought that he could manipulate the flock to his advantage.
34“Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.”
Laban agreed to the wages.
35So that day Laban removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care of his sons.
Before Jacob checked the flock, Laban took all of the rare sheep promised to Jacob and gave them to his sons. This was a dirty trick. Jacob started with nothing. Laban also violated the Abrahamic Covenant, which was a big mistake. He would now receive the kind-for-kind curses of the Abrahamic Covenant.
36Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, while Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
This was to prevent crossbreeding. Laban was a very dishonest man.
37But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible.
Jacob stacked these branches in a black-and-white zebra pattern. He was hoping that the flocks would see the black and white patterns and then produce in these same black and white patterns. This was pagan superstition.
38Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink.
Jacob set the branches up where the matings usually occurred.
39When the sheep mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
The parents were not speckled or spotted, but they gave birth to speckled and spotted lambs. This was not natural. God was blessing Jacob and cursing Laban through the Abrahamic Covenant.
40Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks.
Laban’s pure white and pure black sheep were producing speckled and spotted sheep. This supernatural event increased Jacob’s flock and decreased Laban’s flock.
41When the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches.
Jacob mated the stronger flocks in front of the zebra pattern.
42But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban and the stronger animals to Jacob.
This was Jacob’s revenge for Laban’s deceit. Laban violated the Abrahamic Covenant. The curse was kind-for-kind. Laban attempted to deprive Jacob of sheep. Instead, Laban was being deprived of sheep. He ended up with a pasture of weak and feeble sheep.
43In this way Jacob became extremely prosperous. He owned large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.
Jacob was superstitious. He thought that the sheep would see speckled and spotted and then they would produce speckled and spotted. He will learn later that it was actually God who was prospering him through the Abrahamic Covenant.
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In conclusion, the human viewpoint of the satanic world system teaches that children are a product of random variation and chance.
The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God teaches God is the one who causes a child to be born.
The human viewpoint is that there is power in the spoken word.
The divine viewpoint is that it is superstitious to believe that there is power in the spoken word. The real power comes from mastering and applying Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God.