Genesis 30:25-42 Day 1
Joy’s Notes:
Chapter 30 part2
Gen 30:25-43
The speckled/black sheep
The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom!
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This is a story of miracle working power through the heart of obedience!
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👉Jacob has been living with Laban for 20 yrs and worked for Laban for 14 yrs.
👉11 sons and 1 daughter were born during this time.
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Gen 30:25 “Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country.
Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”
Gen 30:27 “Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have become wealthy, for the Lord has blessed me because of you.
28 Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
• Laban believes God has blessed him BECAUSE of Jacob presence
• (Sodom & Gomorrah- saved if 10 righteous men could be found)
• Your home is blessed -because you are there.
• Your marriage is blessed- because you are there.
• Your workplace is blessed- because you are there.
• I was blessed because of my family’s faith— my Gos is not a GRANDFATHER God! (Bob Shirock)
• BUT even though those around may be blessed because of the lights we carry within— this causes them to rely on US TO BE THEIR GOD, then God Himself!🔥
• Laban lacked MATURITY in His faith.
First- Laban misunderstood the meaning of “BLESSED.”
Godly Blessings come from God— not from a person, place, thing, object (that’s superstition)
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BLESSING SONG (Laura Story)
“We pray for blessings We pray for peace Comfort for family, protection while we sleep We pray for healing, for prosperity We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering All the while, You hear each spoken need Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops What if Your healing comes through tears What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom Your voice to hear We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love As if every promise from Your Word is not enough All the while, You hear each desperate plea As long as we have faith to believe
When friends betray us When darkness seems to win We know that pain reminds this heart That this is not our home
What if my greatest disappointments Or the aching of this life Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy What if trials of this life The rain, the storms, the hardest nights Are your mercies in disguise.”
Gen 30:29
“Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. 30 You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?”
31 “What wages do you want?” Laban asked again.
Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks.
Gen 30:32 Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages.
• Jacob’s requesting: the SPOTTED & BLACK sheep.
In other words, he’s telling Laban that he can keep the best of the “full breed flock” & Jacob will take the “left overs/ scraps.”
ABRAHAM/LOT:
⁃ this story played out with Abraham & Lot (Gen 13:8)
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Abraham let lot choose any land he wanted … “if you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left!”
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• Abraham knew joy wasn’t found in external comforts!!!
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• lot chose the “finest” land.
LABAN CHOOSES “BEST” SHEEP & GIVES JACOB THE “left-over/scraps” SPOTTED/BLACK SHEEP:
🔥some say the phrase “black sheep” of family originated from this very verse!!!!!
• Do you feel like the “black-sheep” of your family?
• Do you feel like your heart is “spotted” with sin-stains?
• Do you feel like a “left over/ scrap?”
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John 6:12 “After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”
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“So they picked up the pieces and filled 12 baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.”
• 12 baskets of scraps for 12 disciples.
• Jesus must of had 12 baskets ready BEFORE this miracle
• The scraps were a reminder to disciples of who God is & what He CAN DO!
• THE MIRACLE WAS THE SCRAPS!!!
• The men He chose to carry the hope of the world didn’t receive the abundance of fish — but the SCRAPS!!😭
• The religious people thought the 12 disciples were “SCRAPS.”
If you feel like:
A scrap,
a left-over,
left-out,
left-aside,
spotted,
a black sheep — God wants to use you as a symbol of His power!!!!
The cross was a “scrap”
We never heard more about the boy,
the people who were fed—
but we DID hear about the 12 baskets of “left over”/ scraps given to the 12 disciples.
“God doesn’t see us as a problem to be solved— but a person to be loved!
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Gen 30:33 In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”
Gen 30:34 “All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.”
Gen 30:35 But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons,
• Laban secretly stole Jacobs sheep
Gen 30:36 “Laban & his sons went on a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was.
MEANWHILE Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.”
⁃ 🔥WHOA, stop. Jacob STAYED & CARED for Labans sheep while his sheep were stolen from him
⁃ how do you react in the face of temptation to RETALIATE? (Fight, flight, freeze)
⁃ unfair, unjust, wrong, =YES
-But BECAUSE Jacob KNEW the character of Jesus (He met on the pillow) — He knew he wasn’t being PUNISHED but PREPARED
• when we know GOD SEES this time of unfair treatment, injustice, slander, etc — we can know it’s not PUNISHMENT but PREPERATION
From Jamie: Charles Stanley Quote
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Our heavenly father understands our disappointment, suffering, pain, fear, and doubt. He is always there to encourage our hearts and help us understand that he’s sufficient for all our needs. When I accepted this as an absolute truth in my life, I found that my worrying stopped .
• it’s not documented- but Jacob must’ve had many intimate painful conversations with God 🥲
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Retaliation is a form of numbing pain from the hurt heart.
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Anger- secondary emotion so that we can avoid FEELING the grief, sorrow, anguish, sadness, betrayal, hurt, loss….
• When you are misunderstood, you’re going to have a tendency to get in there & defend yourself.
• When you’re attacked, your first reaction is often to attack back
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• “Don’t do it!
• Let God be your defender.
• Every time you’re under attack, criticized, put down, or misunderstood, you have two choices:
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1. You can defend yourself,
2. or you can let God defend you. “
(Sometimes God will say to speak… i only DO what God tells asks me to do— not what my FLESH tells me to do)
“When [Jesus] was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge” (1 Peter 2:23)
Psalm 62:5-7, David said this: “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter”
• Joseph chose PROMISE over PAYBACK
• what are you choosing in this time of UNFAIR TREATMENT? (Promise or payback)
• Josephs promise was that God would turn this evil into good. But if he chose PAYBACK He couldn’t also choose PROMISE!
• King David - Shemei (2 Sam 16)
“ leave him alone, and let him curse me, for the Lord has permitted him to do it. Perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wrong and will bless me because of these curses today. So David and his men continue down the road as shemei kept pace with them at a nearby hillside, throwing stones and dirt at David.”
Let God be:
Your protector,
your Savior,
your defender,
your victor,
your shelter.
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PROV 9:10 “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”
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Gen 30:37
THEN- Jacob took some fresh STICKS from poplar,
almond,
plane trees
and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them.
• all 3 of these sticks were used as natural medicine for livestock
• Jewish people have used almond tree bark to increase the production of mothers’ milk and to decrease birth pangs in livestock.
• I Believe we’re seeing here supernatural direction, wisdom & MIRACLE-WORKING POWER being given to him BECAUSE of his choose of PROMISE over PAYBACK!
Gen 30:38 Then he placed the peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated.
Gen 30:39 And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Gen 30:40 Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.
Gen 30:41
Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches.
Gen 30:42
But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s. 43 As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.
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STICK used in this miracle:
1. Moses stick (staff) turns into snake (Exodus 4:2 )“what’s in your hand, Moses?” A walking stick! “Throw it down,” said God. Moses threw the stick on the ground & it turned into a snake!
2. Moses staff (a stick) look up all the miracles:(snake, plagues, Red Sea….)
👉👉 Moses write Genesis!!
3. Ax head floats (2 kings 6:6) “Elisha threw a stick in the Jordan river and it made the ax float.”
4. Bitter water in the wilderness. (Exodus 15:22-26) Moses cried out to God and He showed him a stick— “throw it into the water & the water became clean.”
5. Paul gathered “bundle of sticks” (acts 28:3) & started a fire when a deadly snake came out from the sticks- & he didn’t die.
6. Peter (2 fires)
It was ‘THE STICK ✝️’ that was the ultimate miracle !
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• it was never about the STICK… but the POWER OF GOD to use the ORDINARY to reveal His EXTRAORDINARY
The COMMON people tre raking
the UNCOMMON God!
Matt 17:24
👉Peter fishes for silver coin (his ordinary to fulfill the extraordinary)
👉 David’s stones/sling (his ordinary to fulfill the extraordinary)
• is it possible we’re not witnessing Gods miraculous signs because we’re not bringing our ordinary with us to do Gods work? 🔥🔥
What’s your “ordinary” that God desires to use for His EXTRA-ordinary?
Obedience + ordinary = miracles