Shrewd but Innocent

"So he said, 'What shall I give you?' And Jacob said, 'You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.' Laban said, 'Good, let it be according to your word.' So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons. And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks. Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods. He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods; but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys." -Genesis 30.31-43

This second half of Genesis 30 is one I've been thinking about since yesterday. It's an interesting situation. Jacob and Laban agree on wages, and Jacob does what he can to make sure he's getting the most out of the deal. In the margins of my Bible I wrote years ago, "Deceiving again." But as I've been thinking about it I'm not so sure he is. It's not like he's painting spots on the sheep and taking ones that aren't his, he's just doing what he can to help the sheep be born spotted. And he's only doing it with the stronger animals. He's doing what he can to provide for his family.

Men, our role is to be a provider. God has placed us as head of our household, and a big part of that is providing. When my wife was only my girlfriend we were ready to get married. We knew we were supposed to be together, but at the time I didn't have a job that would allow me to take care of her, and even though I had started making payments on a ring, I had told her that I couldn't ask her to marry me until I had a job. My role is to be a provider. And again, this isn't saying that women can't be, but that it's the responsibility God has given to men.

And as I read this section a verse came to my mind from the New Testament. In Matthew 10.16 Jesus said, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." The Greek word for "shrewd" means "wise, intelligent, or prudent". I think this is what we find Jacob doing. Again, he isn't stealing from Laban, just doing what he can to make sure their deal works out better for him. He's being shrewd, but he's innocent.

Men, let us be shrewd. Let us be intelligent and wise. Let's make sure we do all that we can to provide for our families. But let's be honest. We can't be men of God if we cheat, lie, and steal to get ahead. So in our shrewdness we must be innocent. Be shrewd, do what you can to provide for your family. But don't throw someone else under the bus to get ahead, be innocent.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor