Gen 29 · Gen 30

Devotion 1 of 2: Gen 29

Laban had a deceptive, untrustworthy, shifty character because he promised to give Rachel as a wife to Jacob but deceived him and gave him Leah instead.

Gen 29 2nd answer: Yes, in a way, because Jacob had deceived his father to give him the firstborn blessing, so what he had sown, he was reaping.

Devotion 2 of 2: Gen 30

I also wrote 2 questions for Gen 30. Please answer only one. 1st Gen 30 question: What do you think was the key for Rachel to break the curse of barrenness and finally bear a son (v.22-24)?
2nd Gen 30 question: What spiritual lesson can we learn from Jacob concerning how he increased his flocks (v.25-43)?

Gen 30 1st answer 1: I think it was her perseverance in never giving up on getting a son, even though Leah and the 2 handmaidens had birthed 10 sons, and she, none! Her perseverance is shown by her efforts to get mandrakes from Leah in exchange for letting Leah sleep with Jacob. I think she believed there were some birth-producing ingredients in the mandrakes. At any rate, after this, Rachel finally gave birth to Joseph, who became the greatest of Jacob’s sons!

Gen 30 2nd answer: 1) He was humble in being willing to receive the undesirable speckled and spotted sheep for his wages, so God blessed him for this attitude. 2) Next he put speckled and spotted bark before the sheep when they drank, and they produced speckled and spotted lambs! So we can see the lesson of the power of seeing here. What we see or envision or dream, we will become! If we see ourselves as overcomers, that’s what we’ll become! But if we see ourselves as losers, we’ll become that, too! 3) Another lesson is the church that is willing to accept the “undesirables” of society will grow and become strong. David’s mighty men also began from undesirables, but they all were transformed into a mighty army!

Gen 30 1st answer: I think it was her perseverance in never giving up on getting a son, even though Leah and the 2 handmaidens had birthed 10 sons, and she, none! Her perseverance is shown by her working hard to get mandrakes from Leah by letting Leah sleep with Jacob. I think she believed there were some birth-producing ingredients in the mandrakes. At any rate, after this, Rachel did finally give birth to Joseph!

Gen 30 2nd answer: 1) He was humble in being willing to receive the undesirable speckled and spotted sheep for his wages, so God blessed him for this attitude. 2) Next he put speckled and spotted bark before the sheep when they drank, and they produced speckled and spotted lambs! So we can see the lesson of the power of seeing here. What we see or envision or dream, we will become! If we see ourselves as overcomers, that’s what we’ll become! But if we see ourselves as losers, we’ll become that, too! 3) Another lesson is the church that is willing to accept the “undesirables” of society will grow and become strong. David’s mighty men also began from undesirables, but they all were transformed into a mighty army!