Trinity International Baptist Church, English language Bible study guide for February 5, 2008
Unlike the old chewing gum jingle which promised “double the pleasure, double the fun” when a good flavor was doubled, Jacob’s life is askew when there are two wives in his household.
I. Rachel asks Jacob to have a child with her servant Bilhah (1-8:)
1-2: The envious complaint: “Give me children, or else I die.” The angry response: “Am I in God’s stead?”
3-5: Take my handmaid…and he did
6-8: Jacob’s sons with Bilhah
- Dan
- Naphtali
II. Leah asks Jacob to have a child with her servant Zilpah (9-13:)
9: Take my handmaid…and he did
10-13: Jacob’s sons with Zilpah
- Gad
- Asher
III. Rachel bargains for mandrakes, and trades off her man (14-21:)
15: True or False: Rachel took Leah’s husband
17-21: Jacob’s last three children with Leah
- Isaachar
- Zebulon
- Dinah (a daughter)
IV. Rachel has a child of her own (22-24:)
Jacob’s first son with Rachel
- Joseph
V. Jacob and Laban conduct an exit interview with salary negotiation (25-36:)
25: The birth of Joseph sparks homesickness in Jacob
26: He asks leave of Uncle Laban, wishing to take his (4) wives and (12) children with him
28: Laban offers to give Jacob for his service
31: Jacob does not want Laban to “give” him anything
32-33: They agree that Jacob will tend Laban’s animals one last time, with the understanding that Jacob is free to take all the animals with spotted or speckled hide.
35-36: Jacob will start with unblemished animals (the blemished animals are culled from the herds and flocks).
VI. A lesson in animal husbandry (37-43:)
37-41: Unusual selective breeding techniques at work
42: Jacob kept the strong animals for himself
Meditation Points:
- Does God control who can have children and when those children will be born?
- Remember the trouble that Sarah started when she urged Abraham to have a child by their servant Hagar? Rachel follows Sarah’s bad example; and not long afterwards, Leah follows too.
- Only this time, the animosity in the home was not between the wife and the servant, but rather between the two wives.
- Food got Esau into trouble over a birthright, and food got Isaac into trouble over a blessing. Rachel’s craving for fresh fruit gets her into trouble over Jacob
- Notice the significance of the various names found in today’s reading.
- Laban knows that God has blessed him because Jacob was around.
- As Abraham didn’t want anything from the king of Sodom, so Jacob doesn’t want anything given to him by Laban.
- Animals in heat surrounded by folks in polka dot dresses don’t bear spotted-skinned offspring.
- Was Jacob’s breeding technique inspired or “lucky”?
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