Gen 30:27 | KingComments | STEP | When Joseph was born, Jacob desires to return to his land. It is also spiritually the same in the life of the believer: when the Lord Jesus – of whom Joseph is a beautiful picture – comes to live in him, he desires to enjoy the blessings of the heavenly land. Jacob experiences the child Rachel gets as a special blessing. Laban acknowledges that God has done him well for the sake of Jacob. In prophetic terms this is also the case: whoever treats Israel, God’s people, well, will experience the blessing of it from God. When Jacob has indicated that he wants to leave, Laban asks Jacob what he wants as his wages. He does this to bind Jacob even longer to himself. Someone that is such a blessing for you, you don’t let just go. Jacob wants to keep working for a while. As wages for this he asks cattle. He determines what kind of cattle will be his. Laban agrees with this. Laban, however, is cunning and takes measures to safeguard the cattle that Jacob asked for himself. He takes all striped and spotted male goats, and all speckled and spotted female goats, and all black sheep, which Jacob has stipulated as his wages, and put them under the care of his sons. He also built in a safety zone of a three days’ journey between himself and Jacob. In this way he prevents that there can be crossbreeding between the cattle he has separated and that which is under Jacob’s care. Thus there will be no chance that in the flock of Jacob a striped and spotted male goat or female goat or a black sheep will be born, which he would have lost.

‏ Genesis 30:27

Jacob Acquires His Flock

When Joseph was born, Jacob desires to return to his land. It is also spiritually the same in the life of the believer: when the Lord Jesus – of whom Joseph is a beautiful picture – comes to live in him, he desires to enjoy the blessings of the heavenly land. Jacob experiences the child Rachel gets as a special blessing.

Laban acknowledges that God has done him well for the sake of Jacob. In prophetic terms this is also the case: whoever treats Israel, God’s people, well, will experience the blessing of it from God.

When Jacob has indicated that he wants to leave, Laban asks Jacob what he wants as his wages. He does this to bind Jacob even longer to himself. Someone that is such a blessing for you, you don’t let just go. Jacob wants to keep working for a while. As wages for this he asks cattle. He determines what kind of cattle will be his. Laban agrees with this.

Laban, however, is cunning and takes measures to safeguard the cattle that Jacob asked for himself. He takes all striped and spotted male goats, and all speckled and spotted female goats, and all black sheep, which Jacob has stipulated as his wages, and put them under the care of his sons.

He also built in a safety zone of a three days’ journey between himself and Jacob. In this way he prevents that there can be crossbreeding between the cattle he has separated and that which is under Jacob’s care. Thus there will be no chance that in the flock of Jacob a striped and spotted male goat or female goat or a black sheep will be born, which he would have lost.