Every worker deserves his wages. Jacob deserved his too, but his position in his father-in-law's house was such that he could hardly insist firmly on anything...
Every worker deserves his wages. Jacob deserved his too, but his position in his father-in-law's house was such that he could hardly insist firmly on anything. He could only ask and come to an agreement. And hope for God's intervention. In general, this whole situation was a continuation of God's teaching. Jacob wanted to be a leader, as he himself thought, the leader of his tribe. God, however, wanted to see him as the leader not of a tribe, but of His people.
Here it was necessary above all to learn to rely on God entirely, while Jacob from childhood had been somewhat self-confident. The main problem was that he was accustomed to relying on his own strength. He was used to obtaining everything himself, not always without the help of others, but always on his own initiative. Jacob had his own plan for his life, which he wanted to carry out.
In this sense he is a thoroughly modern person, because in our day precisely such planning of one's own life is usually considered optimal for solving any task. It really is partly so, but with one significant correction: the plans must be God's, not human, and their realization must be first of all God's work. That is what happened with Jacob's reward for his work as a shepherd. Jacob, clearly not on his own initiative, refuses fixed pay and agrees to a certain share of the offspring, about which no one could know in advance whether it would be large or not.
Here there is precisely the complete uncertainty that Jacob generally did not like. Most likely, this was not his initiative but God's. Jacob agrees to it. This is a serious decision, not only because he can no longer be certain of anything, not even whether he will receive any reward at all for his work, but also because of the very fact of trusting God. Jacob entrusts his affairs to God, a very difficult step considering how much he generally disliked losing control of a situation. Yet God teaches Jacob precisely this, because He needs a leader for His people. Such a leader must learn to "let go" of the situation, to hand it over into God's hands, while at the same time remaining within it and acting as though he himself were directing everything and guiding everything. In this way God prepares Jacob to fulfill his mission, the mission of which Jacob had dreamed, though at first he had little idea what he wanted and what he was striving for.
30 In this chapter we have an account of the increase,
Gad and Asher by Zilpah, Leah's maid, Gen 30:9-13.
Issachar, Zebulon, and Dinah, by Leah, Gen 30:14-21.
And last of all Joseph by Rachel, Gen 30:22-24.
And in the six years further service he did to Laban, God wonderfully blessed him, so that his flock of all cattle became very considerable, Gen 30:35-43.
And herein was fulfilled the blessing which Isaac dismissed him with, Gen 28:3.
God make thee fruitful and multiply thee.
30:34 Laban was willing to consent to this bargain, because he thought if those few he had that were now speckled and spotted were separated from the rest, which was to be done immediately, the body of the flock which Jacob was to tend, being of one colour, either all black or all white, would produce few or none of mixt colours, and so he should have Jacob's service for nothing, or next to nothing. According to this bargain, those few that were party - coloured were separated, and put into the hands of Laban's sons, and sent three days journey off: so great was Laban's jealouly lest any of those should mix with the rest of the flock to the advantage of Jacob.
30:37 Here is Jacob's policy to make his bargain more advantageous to himself than it was likely to be: and if he had not taken some course to help himself, it would have been an ill bargain indeed; which he knew Laban would never have considered, who did not consult any one's interest but his own.