STREAKED, SPECKLED & SPOTTED FLOCKS (GEN 30)
And after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to his Uncle Laban, “I want to go home to the land of my father Isaac. Release me and let me take all of my wives and children, for I have certainly earned them by working all these years for you”.
And Laban replied, “Yes you have served me well and your Alahim Yahuah has blessed me and I’ve become very wealthy from all of your hard work. I’d really like you to stay though Jacob for we are family. So what is your price?”
And Jacob said, “Look my Uncle, I’ve worked my fingers to the bone increasing your livestock and herds, and we both know that you had ‘next to nothing’ before I came along but now Yahuah has blessed you through all of my hard work. But I need to start thinking about my own family now and provide for them”.
“So name your price then?” Laban said.
And Jacob said, “I don’t want anything more from you, except this one thing. I’m going to go and check out all the flocks and take out all the sheep and goats that are streaked, speckled or spotted (lesser quality breed having impurities) plus all the black sheep too. Give these to me as my wages so I can start providing for my own family. And in the future when you inspect any of my flocks you’ll see that I’ve been honest with you because of their colors. But if you find any goats without any streaks, speckles or spots, or any sheep that aren’t black, you will know that I have cheated and stolen from you. This will keep us honest. Let me do this and I’ll keep looking after all of your flocks”.
“Ok agreed” Laban said, but that night he went out into the pastures and removed all the male and female goats that were streaked, speckled, spotted or had any white patches, as well as all the black sheep. He gave them to his own sons, who took them on a three days journey from where Laban lived so Jacob would never know about them.
And Jacob continued to live with his Uncle, feeding and guarding his flocks, even though he noticed that none of the flocks had any streaks, speckles or spots (all of a sudden!), and there were no black sheep either for his wages. And once again he knew he’d been cheated by his slimey Uncle.
ANCIENT GENETIC BREEDING
So Jacob cunningly took the fresh branches from the poplar, almond and chestnut trees, peeled off the bark, making white streaks on them and exposed the inner rods. Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that’s where they all mated. And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to lambs that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. Then 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. And whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would again place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches. But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were his. And by doing this for several years, Jacob himself became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.
But one day Jacob heard his cousins (Laban’s sons) grumbling and complaining about him saying, “Jacob has scammed our father out of all his wealth and everything he’s got is really from us”.
And he also noticed that his Uncle was behaving very differently towards him now that there had been a ‘shift in the wealth’. So that night YAHUSHA spoke to Jacob, “It’s time to go home my son, back to the land of your father Isaac (who lived in Beersheba). Gather your whole family and go, and remember that I will always be with you”.
So Jacob had a chat with his wives out in the field, while he kept an eye on the flocks (to gauge how they really felt about this big move), and he said to both Rachel and Leah, “Surely you can both see that your father hates me now, because his own scam has backfired on him, and Yahuah, the mighty Alahim of my fathers, has been increasing and blessing us all. You both know how hard I’ve worked for that man over the years and time after time he has lied, cheated and changed my wages, but Yahuah has allowed all this to happen without him harming me. Your father told me that all the speckled animals will be my wages, then the whole flock began to produce speckled young. Then your father changed his mind and said that all the striped animals will be my wages, then the whole flock produced striped young. Yahuah showed me how to take everything from your father because of his dishonest, deceitful behaviour and now He has given everything over to me”.
“Yahuah also came to me in a dream during the mating season, saying, “Jacob, can you see that it’s only the streaked, speckled, and spotted males that are mating with the females of your flock. I have seen the despicable way that your Uncle Laban is treating you and I Am the One Who appeared to you at Bethal, the place where you annointed the memorial stone and where we raised up a Covenant. Now gather your whole family and leave this place”.
And both Rachel and Leah agreed, “That’s fine, there’s no inheritance for us now from our father anyway and we have as much influence as a foreign women does. And after he sold us to you, he squandered all the money you paid him, so the wealth Yahuah has given you from our father actually belongs to us and our children anyway. Let’s go ahead and do what Yahuah has told you to do and stop being our father’s slaves.”
A LARGE PART OF THE BRIDE-PRICE WAS SUPPOSED TO GO TO THE BRIDE BUT LABAN KEPT ALL OF THE MONEY JACOB PAID HIM, FOR HIMSELF.
