JACOB WOULD NOT RECEIVE MATERIAL REWARDS FROM LABAN
As a child of Abraham, we would expect that Jacob would also not receive rewards for ministry. We find this to be true in the following story. To understand this part of Jacob’s story, however, we must first appreciate the earlier part where Jacob was sent by his father Isaac to find a wife from the family of his mother’s brother. Jacob, being obedient, did what he was told while his brother Esau disobeyed and took Canaanite wives.
It is also important to understand the symbolism of finding a wife as a ministry. Jacob understood God’s promise to Abraham regarding fruitfulness and he was willing to do whatever to expand God’s kingdom by taking an acceptable wife and raising Godly children with her. With that understanding we see that Jacob was on a twenty-one year missionary journey. It is near the end of that journey that we learn Jacob’s attitudes about receiving payment for his missionary services.
Genesis 30: 25-43:25 Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, ” Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. 26 “Give {me} my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If now it pleases you, {stay with me;} I have divined that the LORD has blessed me on your account.” 28 He continued, ” Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
29 But he said to him, ” You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. 30 “For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 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: 32 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. 33 “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.” 34 Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.” 35 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. 36 And he put {a distance of} three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
COMMENTARY: Jacob was willing to work without pay for a wife, (i.e. New Covenant disciples), but he was also willing to bargain for a bonus of more people (i.e. sheep) that would count as a successful ministry effort. Therefore, he offered to take the less desirable sheep (i.e. the speckled, spotted and black sheep and goats) as his payment. For Jacob, this deal enhanced his ministry with more people (i.e sheep) who would become folded into God’s kingdom.
37 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. 38 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. 39 So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 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. 41 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; 42 but when the flock was feeble, he did not put {them} in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.
COMMENTARY: We see here that Jacob had the heart of a discipler just like his grandfather Abraham. Having a spiritual wife and children was his objective — not income or other financial rewards. Thus we see him saying “give me my wives and children” instead of asking for any material reward. He had a chance to name his price for his labor for Laban, but he said that all he wanted from Laban was that he would let him pasture and keep Laban’s flocks. This is what a discipler does.
In fact, this is the second time Laban offered to pay Jacob and Jacob chose a person (Rachel) over material wages. Jacob eventually got what he wanted (a wife), but he had to work another seven years first. In the meantime he also received two other women (Zilpah and Bilhah) with whom he had children. So in the end, Jacob received many bonus wives and children for his shepherding (discipling) efforts.
That was all very good for a man like Jacob, however, because he, like Abraham, desired to have many spiritual children. This was a fulfillment of God’s command to Adam, Noah, Abraham and Isaac that they should be fruitful and multiply. Jacob was so invested in fulfilling the command that he was willing to work for twenty years to build a family of wives and children without any material payment.
To understand this scripture, it is important to interpret it as more than Jacob working for a natural wife. Consider Jacob’s time with Laban to be an extended mission in which he worked to disciple his wives and children. (Actually, it is a picture of Jesus discipling His bride – the church.) Jacob declined to receive financial payment for his labor. Similarly we have no Biblical reports of anyone giving money to Jesus. Like Abraham, and Jesus, the people were important to him no matter how much it cost him personally.
Having thus declined to receive direct financial payment from a natural person (Laban), God rewarded Jacob financially anyway through a miracle of many sheep. Symbolically, this is God rewarding Jesus with a bride (also referred to as a flock). The sheep Jacob acquired in this process were those who Laban considered undesirable (i.e. speckled, spotted). These are the kinds of people Jesus wants also (i.e. blemished) so that he can redeem them.
We should consider our lives to be like an extended mission in which we disciple spiritual children to build the church. And, like Jacob, we also should not expect to receive direct financial payment for our ministry. After all, it is not our ministry anyway. We are not working for ourselves, but we are working for Jesus to help Him gain His bride – one person at a time. If we do that, God will somehow miraculously provide for us just as He provided for Jacob and Jesus during His earthly ministry.