Genesis 31:9 - Forerunner Commentary

Genesis 31:9

7 Yet your father has deceived me and ^achanged my wages ^bten times, but God ^cdid not allow him to hurt me.

8 If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ^a‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked.

9 So God has ^ataken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

10 “And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted.

11 Then ^athe Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’

12 And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for ^aI have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

13 I am the God of Bethel, ^awhere you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now ^barise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, ^a“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

Library

<< Genesis 31:8

Genesis 31:10 >>

Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Genesis 31:9:

Genesis 31:9-12

When Jacob took partially peeled, stripped, and spotted branches and placed them in the watering troughs so that they would be in front of flocks when they came to drink, did he believe that merely seeing the striped and spotted branches would cause the animals to give birth to spotted offspring? No, he did not. God commanded him [Genesis 31:9-12] to set up a striped branches, which he did, not as a physical means to the end of producing striped or spotted offspring, but rather as a symbol of Jacob’s faith and obedience.

Remember in a parallel situation God later caused Moses to set up a bronze snake in the wilderness when the people had been bitten by serpents. The people were not healed by the snake, they were healed by God through faith expressed in their obedience in looking to the snake. They were not looking to the snake for any power or healing, rather it was a symbol of what God was going to do.

In a parallel, but not identical way, Jacob’s trust in God would have been similarly rewarded. In the next chapter, Jacob speaks of having had a dream about streaked, speckled, and spotted cattle in which God spoke to him. It may be that God told him what to do on that occasion.

Excerpted from Created to Do God's Will and Work

<< Genesis 31:8

Genesis 31:10 >>

Join 137,114+ readers

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning

Consistent Bible study is hard to start.

The Berean gives you the starting point: one scripture and a focused commentary in your inbox each morning — read it in minutes, or go as deep as you like.

Free, daily, and spam-free. We never share your address. Unsubscribe anytime.

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning