January 11: Genesis 30:25 – Genesis 31:55

Jacob's Prosperity – Genesis 30:25–43

• After Rachel gives birth to Joseph, Jacob asks Laban to release him so he can go home to his own country. Laban tries to bargain with Jacob, asking how much he owes Jacob (he has become very wealthy because of Jacob and doesn't want him to leave).
• Jacob again asks to be released, but Laban again asks him how much he owes him.
• Jacob tells him he doesn't want money, but asks if he can have all the spotted or speckled sheep and goats from the flocks, as well as the black sheep, as his wages.
• Laban agrees, and places the removed sheep and goats into his sons' care. His sons take the sheep and goats three days' journey away while Jacob stays to care for Laban's flocks.
• Jacob takes branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peels off the bark, making white streaks on them. He places the peeled branches in the water troughs where the flocks come to drink and mate. When they mate in front of the branches, they later give birth to streaked, spotted, or speckled lambs, which then become Jacob's.
• When the stronger females (but not the weaker ones) are ready to mate, Jacob places the peeled branches in front of them. This way the stronger lambs belong to Jacob and the weaker ones to Laban, and Jacob becomes very wealthy.

Jacob Flees from Laban – Genesis 31

• Jacob learns Laban's sons are grumbling about him robbing their father, and Laban begins to treat Jacob differently.
• God tells Jacob to return to his homeland and that He will be with him.
• Jacob calls Leah and Rachel to the fields and tells them that their father has cheated him and that God has told him to leave. They agree, knowing that they will not inherit their father's wealth anyway and that their father has wasted the money Jacob paid him for them.
• Jacob puts his wife and children on camels and drives his livestock ahead of them. He packs all the belongings he had acquired and sets out for Canaan, where his father Isaac lived.
• Before leaving, Rachel steals some of her father's household idols.
• With Laban away, they leave without him knowing about it.

Laban Pursues Jacob

• Three days later, Laban is told that Jacob has fled. Laban gathers a group of relatives and follows after him. They catch up with Jacob seven days later, in the hill country of Gilead. But the previous night, God had appeared to Laban in a dream and told him to leave Jacob alone.
• Laban questions Jacob why he has deceived him and why they left without telling him. He says he could destroy Jacob, but that God had told him to leave Jacob alone. Finally, he asks why Jacob has stolen his gods.
• Jacob responds that he rushed away because he was afraid Laban would take his daughters by force, but then tells him he hasn't taken his gods (he didn't know Rachel had taken them).
• Laban searches Jacob's and Leah's tents and doesn't find them. He then goes to Rachel's tent, Rachel, who is sitting on her camel saddle that holds the idols, does not get up and tells her father she is having her monthly period. Laban continues his search and doesn't find the idols.
• Jacob becomes angry with Laban. He asks what he has taken from Laban and points out that he has slaved for him for twenty years. Jacob tells him that if God had not been on his side, Laban would have sent him away empty-handed. Jacob points out that God has seen Laban's abuse and Jacob's hard work, and that's why he rebuked Laban in the dream.