I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Genesis, chapter 30. Genesis chapter 30. Lord willing,
I'm gonna be in chapter 30, both services today. We're going through
the book of Genesis. And the good thing about going
through a book is that when you get to something that possibly
will calls you to stop for a moment and reconsider what you're reading,
you just have to deal with it. And Lord willing, today I'd like
to deal with this, out of these two messages, a passage of scripture
that at first reading appears to be hard to understand. at least hard to understand.
But I will say, if the Lord grants us eyes to see and an understanding
of what's being said right here, it is one of the most amazing
passages of scripture that you can possibly read. I'd like to
deal with verses in chapter 30, verses 25 to 36 today, and I'll
just deal with them as we go. But 11 of the 12 sons of Jacob
have been born. That's what we've been considering
the last few weeks. One more son is yet to be born,
which Lord willing, we'll see that in the next chapter. But
these 12 sons of Jacob, who was told of God, Jacob who was told
of God, that his name was not going to be Jacob anymore. His
name was going to be Israel, a prince with God. And these
twelve boys, born to Jacob, the sons of Israel, these boys' names
were the names that were born on the breastplate of the high
priest, when the high priest in the wilderness twelve stones
had the names of these twelve boys that we looked at. Their names on his heart and
six names on a stone on each shoulder. These boys represent
the whole church of God. It was these boys, their names
in Revelation chapter 7. Remember in chapter 7 it said
there were twelve 12,000 of the tribe of 12,000 of the tribe
and 12,000 of the tribe. Every one of those tribes named
these boys as their heads. So here is set forth. These boys represent the entire
body of God's elect, his bride. And these boys represent all
those whose guilt has been born by the Lord Jesus Christ, whose
sorrows were born by Him. There's no condemnation, the
scripture says, to these that are in Christ Jesus. So the significance
of what these boys represent. So we want to be very careful
while we're studying. So let's look at these continuation
of these scriptures here. 11 of them been born, and we're
gonna pick up in chapter 30, verse 25 and 26, I'm gonna read
right here. It said, it came to pass when Rachel had born
Joseph, that was the last one that we looked at that was born,
that Jacob said unto Laban, send me away that I may go unto mine
own place, unto my country. Give me my wives and my children,
For whom I have served thee, and let me go, for thou knowest
my service, which I have done. Now here we see the heart of
one that's been called of God. Jacob's thoughts, he wants to
go home. He wants to go back to where
he was born. He wants to go back to Canaan
is where he's wanting to go. The place of God's obvious blessing
that was shown toward Jacob. He was in Canaan whenever Jacob
received the blessing of his daddy, Isaac. Remember Esau was
the firstborn, Jacob was the secondborn, and the blessing
is supposed to go to the firstborn, but the scripture says, God said,
Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. And Jacob got the
blessing. You know, I won't go into the
details for sake of time, but he got the blessing that he wanted
to go home. Been there in Laban's house now
for, he's coming up now 20 years. Served 10 years where he thought
he was gonna get Rachel. He got Leah and served 10 more
years for Rachel. But he's actually, He's got 20
years under his belt, and he's wanting to go back to the place
of God's promise of inheritance. That's the home of his affection. His service to Laban has been
hard, and he's suffered, but thanks be unto God, the Lord's
kept him. But now, can we not enter into Jacob's thoughts here
spiritually? He wants to go home. I can't
help but think right now, we talk about Dee, our blessed friend.
Here's a dear brother, and this is what he keeps telling Christi,
I wanna go home. I just wanna go home. He told her, he said
these words, I wanna go and be with our Lord. That's what he
said. That's dying grace. That's dying grace. Who could
say that? Who could say, but for the grace
of God. You know, we're strangers and
we're pilgrims in this world. The scripture says we're in it,
but we're not of it. And we, like Abraham, are looking
for a city with foundations, a city whose builder and maker
is God. Jacob, like the Apostle Paul,
he'd fought a good fight. He'd been in this place where
God sent him to get his bride. That's what he'd come here for.
Hebrews 13, 14 says, for here we have no continuing city. but we seek one to come. So Jacob
wanted to go home, but the Lord was not pleased as yet for him
to go. Verse 27 says, and Laban said
unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry,
for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me
for thy sake. Laban has, according to his words,
he said, I've learned by experience that the Lord had blessed him,
Laban, for Jacob's sake, you know. Boy, we could hear, I mean,
we could stop right here, Brian, and just, you know, look at the
blessings that we all receive for Christ's sake. I mean, there's
just, in every one of these verses, I could just stop right there.
We could just preach a message out of that. He said, I know
God has blessed me for your sake. Is there any left of the house
of Saul that I may show mercy to, you know, for Jonathan's
sake? Is there any left? of the house
of Adam, home of Adam, that I can show mercy to for Christ's sake.
He's saying, I've noticed something. But now Laban, we're going to
see. Laban is a man that is a picture
of all men by nature. And he's gonna be looking out
for number one. Now he's speaking that which
is truthful. He did say something that was
truthful. And he saw and experienced, even
if it was the eyes of just natural eyes, he recognized that there
was a blessing that he received because of Jacob being there.
I mean, he saw that. I don't know what else he saw,
but he benefited from Jacob being there, but the point that I want
to look at here before I go to the next verse, he said, I learned
by experience. And I was going over my notes
this morning and had them all ready, they're all ready, they're
done, until I start reading over them again. And then you see
something else, and you start scratching out here, and I couldn't
help, hear those words of Laban. I've learned by experience. I
couldn't help but think, but to behold the wonder of our Lord
who came into this world. The scripture says when he humbled
himself, made himself a no reputation. This is God almighty, God almighty. This is not, this is not an angel
created. This is not, this is God. And
here's what it says about him. who came into this world, Hebrews
5a, though he were a son, capital S, yet learned he obedience by
the things which he suffered. Here's God Almighty that has
come into this world for the benefit of, the federal head
of, the representative of, his people. And he was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. He had no sin. But
he's made like unto his brethren. In all points, he was tempted,
like as we are, yet without sin. And here's where it says, though
he were a son, yet learned he obedience. You know what that
means? He learned it, he experienced it. He experienced it. He had
to experience obedience. He created all things. He made all things. All men,
women, all this earth, made by Him. And He was born of a virgin. And He submitted Himself unto
Mary. She was nothing but the vehicle
by which the Spirit of God used to birth Him into this world.
That's what she was, and he submitted himself. Children, obey your
parents in the Lord. This is right. Honor your father
and your mother. And he did that. He experienced
it. If anyone had no need to go to
the school of suffering for the purpose of learning,
if anybody didn't have that need, he didn't have that need, The Lord dignified that blessed
state of submission and suffering on our behalf that we might behold
him who in all things fulfilled the law of God. He obeyed, he
obeyed, obeyed. Oh, the blessing of his condescending
grace is our great federal head. He learned, he learned by humbling
himself, obedience by the things he suffered. But now coming back
to, to Laban. I didn't mean to get off course
there, but I couldn't help but think about our Lord's submission.
Laban, back in 27, said, if I found favor in your eyes, Terry, for
I've learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for
thy sake. And then the scripture says in
verse 28, and he said, appoint me thy wages and I will get it.
Laban knew that Jacob was an honorable man. He knew that.
He had seen that, and he left it up to Jacob. He said, you
tell me. He said, I want you, I know you
filled up the 20 years, 10 for Leah, 10 for Rachel, I got it.
But listen, God's blessed me with you being here, and I'd
like for you to stay, if you don't mind. And tell me, you
tell me what you want. You know, Proverbs 16.7 says,
when a man's ways please the Lord, when a man by faith believes
God, worships God in spirit, rejoices in Christ Jesus and
has no confidence in his flesh, the scripture says, when a man's
ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace
with him. Laban, basically, Laban was a
businessman. I mean, okay, it's his father-in-law
and I get it. But I'm telling you, Laban's
looking out for Laban. Well, that's just the way we
are. Jacob had faithfully served him,
and Jacob knew he had faithfully served him, but he also knew
something about the responsibility that he had for his family. He
had these wives, he had these children. So listen to how he
responded. He said in verses 29 to 33, he
said, This is Jacob speaking. He said
unto him, thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle
was with me. For it was little which thou
hatched before I came, and it's now increased into a multitude,
and the Lord has blessed thee since my coming. And now, when
shall I provide for mine own house also? And he said, what
shall I give thee? That's what Laban's asking. He
said, okay, I got it. Name your price. And Jacob said,
thou shalt not give me anything. What he's saying is, he said,
I'm not gonna give you a set amount. I'm not gonna set a dollar
amount per hour or anything per week. Thou shalt not give me
anything. If thou wilt do this thing for
me, I will again feed and keep thy sheep. Now here's what he's
gonna say. This is what it's gonna cost. I will pass through
all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled
and spotted cattle. Now, what we see cattle right
here, it's sheep. It's talking about sheep. It
calls cattle, but I looked it up. It's sheep or goats. And
it's talking about, you know, I'm gonna remove all the speckled
or spotted. I mean, you might have a white
one with some brown spots or brown with white spots, or you
can have, you know, they're not just one color, is what he's
gonna say. I'm gonna remove from thence all the speckled and spotted
cattle and all the brown cattle. Now that brown right there, it
does mean brown, but it's almost black. The word's also interpreted
black. So I'm gonna remove all the speckled,
spotted cattle, all the brown cattle among the sheep and the
spotted and speckled among the goats. And of such shall be my
hire. So shall my righteousness answer
for me in time to come when it shall come from my hire before
thy face, even one, I know every one that's not speckled and spotted
among the goats and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted
stolen with me. Now here's, let me explain to
you what he just said. It's an amazing statement of
faith on Jacob's part. He's being wise as a serpent
and harmless as a dove, And instead of specifically setting up a
wage for Laban to pay, Jacob is casting himself upon the Lord
God of heaven and his good providence. Jacob knew that the Lord orders
all things according to his will and purpose in heaven and earth.
And now he's walking by faith and not by sight. Jacob trusts
in the Lord, who according to the scripture says, who is able
to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according
to the power that worketh in us. And as he knew that all things
would be ordered according to God's providence, he was going
to offer Laban a deal that was going to be without question. He couldn't question the fairness
of this deal or the justice of the outcome. Jacob, here's what
he said, here's what he said, what do you want? Name your price.
He said okay, here's what I want. Jacob would remove all of the
speckled spotted cattle, sheep, and all the brown ones, blacks,
among the sheep, the spotted and speckled among the goats,
of such it's going to be my heir." Now it was not those that he
was removing at that moment. He went out there in Laban's
livestock, in his cattle, I mean, all of his sheep, there's a,
and they're just all mixed up. They just, you know, they just,
there's some of these spotted and these ring straked. Ring
straked actually means it's got like a, usually it's set around
the foot. It's just like a little white
band or something. It's got a band, maybe on a leg
or something like that. But they're not white. They're
not white. I'm gonna remove out of all of
your sheep and goats, I'm gonna take all of these out and all
of the multicolored ones and the brown ones, which is a black,
which I found out was very rare, very rare. One account I read,
I had to just look it up on the internet, I'll be honest with
you. It was just said that concerning black sheep, you know, come to
be known as the outcast. But in a lot of families, one
black sheep may be born every 97 years. So I mean, they're
rare, they're rare. But if there were any out there,
I'm gonna take everything out of your flock. And this is not,
he said, this is not what I want right now for my inheritance.
He said, I'm gonna take all of these. And he said, in verse
33, So shall my righteous answer for me. You see where it says,
in time to come, when it shall come from my higher before thy
face. What he's saying is, I'm going to separate all of the
actually, John Gill, John Calvin, I looked this up just to, you
know, this is their opinion, but it makes sense to me. What
they were basically saying was, I'm going to take everything
out that's not white. That's not a white sheep, single
color. It's just a single color and
whatever. I'm going to separate all of
them that's got marks, brown, black, and all the marked ones,
and I'm going to put them over here, and I'm going to put all
these white ones over here. He's going to separate them.
And he said, this is going to be my hire. Not what I'm separating
now. I'll show you in a minute what
he's gonna do with them. But all of them like this, all these
multicolored ones, speckled and spotted and brown ones, you know,
all of that, those like that, that are born to these white
ones. I'm gonna put all the white ones
over here. I'm gonna put all the multicolored ones over there.
And when these go into rut, If anything's born out of these
white ones that are multicolored and ring-streaked and spotted,
whatever comes out of them, out of these whites, all whites,
that'll be my hire right there. Well, scripture says that that
agreement was such that the sheep and goats being separated White
ones over here and multicolored over here, and if any multicolored
came out from the flock that Jacob was tending, then that
would be his wage. Well, Laban listened to that
deal, and he says in 34, Laban said, behold, I would, it might
be according to thy word. That don't sound like a bad deal
to me. You know, you think, you take two German shepherds and
they breed, what do you think you're going to get? A German
shepherd. Statistically speaking, you take
two white sheep and you know what you're going to get? A white
sheep. Somebody says, well, there's
very, well, okay. But Laban knew at best Jacob
was gonna come out on the short end of this stick. It's gonna
be, he's not gonna do, Laban said, verse 34, behold, I would,
it might be so. And he removed that day the goats,
the he goats that were ring straked and spotted, and all the she
goats that were speckled, spotted, and every one that had some white
in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into
the hands of his sons. Here's what happened. Jacob. is gonna go to work for Laban,
tending the white sheep. He said, I'll take it, we'll
separate them all. And he said, I'll tell you what you do. You
get your boys, Laban. You get your boys. And your boys
is gonna watch all these over here. Now that's the type that
I'm looking for. I don't want these. Any of them
that comes out of these right here. That's gonna be my hiring. You remove that day. Verse 36
says, and he said, three days journey betwixt himself and Jacob,
and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. Now, this sounds like
a good deal for Laban. He's got them all separated. I've been raising goats and sheep
a long time, he figured, and I pretty well know what is gonna
happen. But then when you set that three
days journey between these two flocks, the probability of being
mixed is slim to none. Laban's son's gonna watch these
multicolored sheep. They're not gonna let the white
ones come over here and uh-uh, uh-uh. No, they're gonna watch
out for their daddy. Statistically, Jacob is going
to lose. And is it not obvious that the
world would look upon this agreement as being ridiculous? This is ridiculous. Now let me
tell you, I'm getting ready to stop for this morning on this
first one right here. We're gonna pick right up here
in just a few minutes. But what we're getting ready
to see in these next verses is we're gonna see how God saves
his people from their sin. And it's all going to be set
forth in these ring-streaked and spotted and white. And it's obvious. Now this deal right here is really
ridiculous. Jacob is not going to end up
with hardly anything in Laban's mind. But the believer holds
as one born of God, to trust in the Lord. I can tell you,
and I'll show you this in a moment in this next message, Jacob didn't
come up with this idea on his own. He got this in a dream from
God. God told him to say this. And
this is exactly what he's doing. Jacob knew in whom he believed. That's what Paul said. I know
in whom I have believed. And Jacob, like Paul, was persuaded
that the Lord is able, able to provide, able to keep that which
was committed unto him against that day. The world, turn with
me to 1 Corinthians 1, and I'll read that one in one more verse,
and we'll stop for this first message. The world would look
at this deal, as being so limited. I mean, if Jacob was coming out
looking for a big, big, you know, flock, I mean a big, big flock. Humanly speaking, this ain't
the way to do it. This is not, you know. They look at this deal
as being so limited, so seemingly impossible, just like it looks
at the singular means of God, how he calls out his sheep. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 1 Corinthians
1 verses 21 to 29, 1 Corinthians 1, 21 to 29 says this, for after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God, now listen, by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men. I mean, just think about the
deal that Jacob made. And Jacob, the whole of his inheritance,
as far as those flocks, this is what he's gonna get for himself
and for his kids. He gonna end up with 12 kids,
well 13, he got one daughter too, Donna. And he gonna work
for this man, this is how we're gonna work. This is how I'm gonna
get paid. But Jacob, your deal doesn't
make any sense. Neither does the preaching of
the gospel to this world. 25, because the foolishness of
God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than
men. For you see your calling, brethren, have that not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to
confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things that are mighty, and base things
of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen,
yea, the things which are not, to bring to naught things that
are. Why? that no flesh should glory
in his presence. I'm going to tell you something.
This works out for Jacob. It's going to have to be by the
grace of God. And bless God it did. And I pray that as we consider
this next portion of scripture to behold the wonder of how God
Almighty saves his people. What these sheep represent. Both
of them, the white ones and the spotted ones, blemished ones
over here. When you see what God does and
gives to Jacob, it's such a beautiful picture of what the Lord's done
for his people in Christ. I pray God bless it to our hearts,
prepare our hearts even now for his glory and our good, amen. All right, let's take a quick
break and we'll come right back.