Jacob in “As the Screw Turns: Sex, Drugs, and Livestock”

In our previous episode of Act 1, Scene 2 of God’s One Big Story, Biopic #3–our biographical picture on the life of Jacob–began.  At that time, he was on his way to Haran, fleeing from the wrath of his brother, when he stopped for the night at Bethel. While there, he had a personal encounter with the Lord, an experience marking his “conversion” and the beginning of his walk with the God of his fathers.  Then, armed with God’s assurance of His provision and protection for him on his journey, Jacob set off for Haran where he immediately met Rachel, his future wife, and Laban, her father.

Although his meeting with Rachel seemed to have been a case of love at first sight for Jacob, not having any material goods to offer as a Bride Price for her, he arranged to pay that off by working for Laban for seven years.  At the end of that time, however, when he should have been given Rachel to wed, Laban tricked Jacob by substituting his older daughter, Leah, instead.  So, in order to marry his true love, Jacob agreed to serve Laban for another seven years.  Because she was the unloved wife, the Lord blessed Leah with children while Rachel remained barren—a situation leading to a fierce competition between the sisters for the love of their husband.

In this present episode (taken from Genesis 30), not only we will watch as that competition escalates, creating all kinds of tension and dissension within the family, but we will also watch the relationship between Jacob and Laban deteriorate as they both try to out-scheme one another.

 

Episode #2 of Biopic #3
Cast:      Narrator     Rachel     Jacob     Leah     Laban

Setting the Stage:  When the curtains rise on this episode, we find the competition between Leah and Rachel at something of a lopsided standstill, with the score in the baby-making contest standing at Leah—4, Rachel—0. Not to be outdone, Rachel resorts to a practice that we have seen used before in the story of Abraham and Sarah–with disastrous results.

Narrator:  Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob…

Rachel:  Give me children, or else I die!

 

 

Narrator:  And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said…

Jacob:  Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?

Rachel:  Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.

Narrator:  Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.  And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.  Then Rachel said…

Rachel:  God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.

Narrator:  Therefore she called his name Dan.  And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.  Then Rachel said…

Rachel:  With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.

Narrator:  So she called his name Naphtali.  When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.  And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.  Then Leah said…

Leah:  A troop comes!

Narrator:  So she called his name Gad.  And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.  Then Leah said…

Leah:  I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.

Narrator:  So she called his name Asher.  Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah…

Rachel:  Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.

Narrator:  But she said to her…

Leah:  Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?

Rachel:  Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.

Narrator:  When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said…

Leah:  You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.

Narrator:  And he lay with her that night.  And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.  Leah said…

Leah:  God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.

Narrator:  So she called his name Issachar.  Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.  And Leah said…

Leah:  God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.

Narrator:  So she called his name Zebulun.  Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.  Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.  And she conceived and bore a son, and said…

Rachel:  God has taken away my reproach.

Narrator:  So she called his name Joseph, and said…

Rachel:  The LORD shall add to me another son.

 

 

Narrator:  And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban…

Jacob:  Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.  Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.

Laban:  Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.  Name me your wages, and I will give it.

Jacob:  You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.  For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?

Laban:  What shall I give you?

Jacob:  You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks:  let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages.  So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.

Laban:  Oh, that it were according to your word!

Narrator:  So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.  Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

 

 

Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.  And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink.  So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.  Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.  But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.  Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

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Our Review

Once again, in order for us to get the most out this segment of our story, let’s take a few minutes to review…

The Most Important Points in this Episode—

— Rachel envied—first, Leah envied Rachel because she was loved by Jacob; now, Rachel is envying Leah because she can have children, but Rachel cannot.

— Give me children/Jacob’s anger/Am I God—in frustration, Rachel demands that Jacob give her children and in anger, while Jacob responds that the problem is not with him but with her.

— Here is my maid—although this was a legal and socially accepted route to take, it was the same fleshy solution to the situation that had caused so many problems for Abraham and Sarah.  It seems that not having children was more intolerable than giving your husband to another woman.  Note— there has been no mention so far of any prayers being offered or of God’s will being sought in the matter.

— Bilhah conceived—twice, first Dan (Justice), then Naphtali (Wrestlings).

— Leah…gave her maid—not to be outdone by her sister, Leah sets up Jacob with Zilpah.

— Zilpah conceived—twice, first Gad (Fortunate), then Asher (Happy).

— Reuben…found some mandrakes—and this is where the drugs come in…

• • • • a Mediterranean herb (Mandragora officinarum) of the nightshade family with large ovate leaves, greenish-yellow or purple flowers, and a large usually forked root resembling a human in form and formerly credited with magical properties;
      • the root of a mandrake formerly used especially to promote conception, as a cathartic, or as a narcotic and soporific. [1]

— Please give me some—not only does Rachel hope they will help her conceive, but she also wants to keep Leah from doing the same.

— I have surely hired you— in return for the mandrakes, poor Jacob is “pimped out” for the night by Rachel.

— God listened to Leah—at last, it seems that there must have been some prayer offered up here.  She conceived three times—Issachar (Reward), Zebulun (Dwelling), and Dinah (Judgment).

— Then God remembered Rachel…she conceived…Joseph (Adding)—in the past, we learned that when a woman in Bible times was barren for a long time and then conceived, the child had a special part to play in God’s Redemption Story.  What purpose do you think could have been served by God’s delaying the birth of Joseph?

— When Rachel had borne Joseph—after Joseph’s birth, the competition between the sisters takes a backseat to the competition in one-upmanship between Jacob and Laban, as Jacob informs Laban that he wants to leave and return to his homeland.

— Please stay…name your wages—Laban knows that he has prospered because of Jacob’s service.  The last time Jacob named his own wages, Laban took him to the cleaners, so he figures he will come out ahead by using the same ruse.

— You shall not give me anything—Jacob does not want to owe Laban anything because it will always be held over his head.  Instead, he makes Laban an offer he is sure not to refuse–because…

• • • • Jacob’s pay would be the animals that would be less desirable because of their markings;
      • All of the solid-colored animals would be Laban’s and any future animals born speckled/spotted/striped would be Jacob’s—typically in that area, sheep were solid white, goats were solid black, and cattle were solid brown;
      • None of the present speckled/spotted/striped animals would be used for breeding purposes, but they would be a separate flock kept away from the normal colored animals.

— To Laban—this was a deal too good to pass up because…

• • • • He would lose nothing that currently belonged to him; and,
      • Since Jacob had no breeding stock of his own, it seemed unlikely that he would acquire any future animals through this process, as the solid-colored animals would most like produce more of the same.

— He removed that day—Laban took all of the speckled/spotted/striped animals and put them in a separate flock, under the watch-care of his sons, a three days journey away.

— Jacob took for himself rods—Jacob was over 90 years old at this point, and he had a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and experience when it came to taking care of sheep.  So…

• • • • He divided the animals into two groups—the weaker ones and the stronger ones;
      • He took “rods” from trees, peeled back the bark to create streaks, and then put them before the sheep when they came to water—but only putting them in front of the stronger sheep.

— Whenever the stronger livestock conceived—in the KJV, the word for conceive translates as “to be hot,” as in heat.  Jacob intended for the sight of the white-streaked rods to act as a stimulus to sexual activity among the stronger animals so that he could speed up the reproductive process in the shortest time possible.  In this way, a greater percentage of Jacob’s flock would be stronger.  Then, when discolored animals were born, Jacob would separate these so they would produce more of the same.

— Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous…male and female servants—since one man by himself could reasonably care for 50-100 sheep, when anything over that had been accumulated, it was necessary for him to hire servants to help him take care of them.  Since Jacob had already spent 14 years in service to Laban, and scripture tells us that he spent a total of 20 years in Padan Aram, he must have made his fortune in the relatively short period of 6 years.

And once again, the curtains close on this latest episode.

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In Summary

I don’t know about you but when I look back over the little bit of Jacob’s life that we have witnessed so far, it seems to display all the hallmarks of a modern-day soap opera! Livestock notwithstanding, it has all the drama, intrigue, deception, and dirty tricks that any daytime drama devotee could ask for—and, if I had to come up with a name for it, I think I would call it, As the Screw Turns!

This title is taken from a Biblical illustration that I heard many years ago, one about a poor carpenter whose son was born with deformed feet.  Having no money to provide him with any kind of medical treatment, the carpenter used what he had to work with and built wooden braces to straighten out his son’s crooked feet.  To hold the braces in place, he used screws and every so often, after the boy’s feet had become conformed to the shape of the braces, the father would tighten the screws just a bit in an effort to make his son’s feet even straighter.  Gradually over time, the bones in the boy’s feet became properly aligned and he was finally able to walk normally.

In reality, this is a picture of what happens in the life of every person after they come to faith in God. It’s what is referred to in the Bible as sanctification and it’s the process through which God systemically “tightens the screw” on His children—through testing—in order to straighten out their “walks” and bring them into alignment with righteous will. This is exactly what we find taking place in the life of Jacob, as God is teaching him to walk righteously in the face of life’s everyday challenges, as he deals with the consequences of his sorry past actions.

In light of this, and returning to our drama, here are some questions for us to ponder…

— What was the immediate source/root of the problems in this family?  Where did all the trouble start?

Laban deceived Jacob and exploited his love for his younger daughter in order to provide a husband for his older daughter.

— When/where was this seed sown?

When Jacob supplanted his older brother twice—first, taking advantage of him at a moment of weakness in order to get the birthright, then, through deceit, cheating him out of the blessing.

— When/where was this seed sown?

It was the result of the competition created through his parent’s favoritism.

— When/where was this seed sown?

This went back to the prophecy given before their births, that the older one would serve the younger one.  What does this say about Isaac and Rebekah?  Which one seems to have been the more spiritual in this case?

— In the future, where do you think this will this take us–that is, how do you think will it impact the future of our story?

— In looking back over your own life, can you trace the roots of any of your current problems back to any bad attitudes or poor decisions in your past? If so, have you brought them before the Lord, confessed them as sin, and been forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus? For…

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:9)

 

Be sure to join us next time as we venture further with Jacob in Episode #3 of Biopic #3, Jacob: Separation Anxiety.

 

 

 

[1] “Mandrake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandrake. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

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