I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
After Leah had born Jacob four sons and Rachel none, Rachel became frustrated and demanded children of Jacob. Jacob responded that she needed to take the matter up with God. Rachel then had Jacob sleep with her maid, Bilhah, so that she could raise Bilhah’s children as her own. Bilhah gave birth to two sons. When Leah saw this, and that she had stopped bearing sons to Jacob, she gave Jacob her maid, Zilpah. Zilpah also gave birth to two sons. Leah had two more sons for a total of six sons. Then Rachel finally became pregnant and had a son. Over the course of this passage we see a family dynamic of unhealthy rivalry between the sisters that Jacob did nothing to improve (and very likely made worse). When I was growing up this passage was often used to explain why polygamy was a bad idea. I don’t know if that is the point, but it does show us how dysfunctional Jacob’s family was (which should come as no surprise considering how dysfunctional the family he grew up in was). This just goes to show that God can and will use those who dedicate themselves to Him, even though they have many human flaws.
After Joseph was born, Jacob began negotiating with Laban for new wages. Jacob begins the negotiations by saying that he wants to go back to where he grew up. Laban replies that he knows that Jacob has made him wealthy and asks Jacob what he owes him (this is really Laban’s way of saying, I don’t owe you anything, I have already given you the wages we agreed upon). Jacob comes back telling Laban he has worked very hard for Laban and that Jacob has indeed made Laban very wealthy, but when can Jacob start working to build his own wealth. Laban asks Jacob what he wants. Jacob suggests that he get all of the speckled, spotted and black sheep and goats that are in the herds he tends for Laban. Laban agreed to these terms, but he immediately went out and removed all of those that fit the criteria from the flocks that Jacob tended for him and put them in the flocks his sons tended. The passage tells us that Jacob placed pieces of wood with the bark partially stripped off in the watering troughs when the flocks were about to mate and this led to an abnormally large number of speckled, spotted and streaked lambs. As a result of his careful management of Laban’s flocks so as to maximize those that became his, Jacob became wealthy.
As Jacob’s wealth grew, the attitude of Laban and his sons towards Jacob began to turn sour. As Jacob noticed this change in their attitude, God told him to return to the land of his father and grandfather. Jacob called Rachel and Leah out to where he was tending the flocks (the passage does not say, but I am guessing they brought his entire household with them). He tells them that he works very hard for their father, but their father cheats him of his wages. Nevertheless God has blessed him and he has gotten wealthy. Jacob then tells them that God has told him it is time to return to the lands of his father. Leah and Rachel express resentment of the way their father has treated them since they married Jacob and support his decision to return to the land of his birth. This is perhaps the only time we see this family behaving harmoniously.
Jesus gathered His twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out demons and power to heal the sick, He then sent them out to preach the Good News in the towns of Israel. They are to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is near. In addition to the preaching they are to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons.” Jesus tells them to take no extra provisions with them but to rely on the people of the towns they preach in for sustenance. They should trust God to provide for them.
It seems clear to me from the way this is written that Matthew sees Jesus’ instructions to the Twelve as applying to more than them when Jesus sent them out to preach. He tells us that we are sheep among wolves. We are to be as shrewd as snakes, but as harmless as doves. We need to recognize the tricks people use to take advantage of others, but we should not use them. We will be persecuted and put on trial, but that will be our opportunity to testify about God’s love to unbelievers and the authorities. Don’t worry about what to say, or how to say it. Just let God’s Spirit speak through you. I need to let God’s Spirit speak through me more.
This psalm feels as if it was written today:
The faithful have vanished from the earth!
…
They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”
God answers that He sees the violence done to the helpless and hears the cries of the poor. We know that God will protect the oppressed, even though evil is praised throughout the land.
Wisdom is more valuable than anything else we can acquire, gold, silver and precious gems pale in comparison. Nothing else we can desire compares to wisdom. Search it out in order to find true joy.