Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: Rachel and Leah have children through maidservants, Leah has two sons and a daughter, God opens Rachel's womb and Joseph is born, Jacob devises a plan to get payback for lost wages, and God tells Jacob to leave Laban and return to the land of his fathers.
When Rachel sees that Leah bears Jacob sons when she herself cannot, she becomes jealous. She actually tells Jacob to give her children or she will die! He becomes angry at this and tells her that he is not God. So Rachel has the "brilliant" idea of giving Jacob her maidservant to bear children through. to which Dan and Naphtali are born. Leah also sees that she has ceased to bear any more children, so she does the same with her maidservant, and thus, Gad and Asher are born.
A peculiar story. Leah's son, Reuben, finds some mandrakes and brings them to her. When Rachel asks for some also, Leah says basically, "You stole my husband, and now you want my mandrakes, too?" So Rachel pretty much says, "Fine, you can have him for tonight in exchange for the mandrakes." (Wow, petty?) So when Jacob returns from the field, Leah greets him and tells him that she bought him for the night for the price of some mandrakes. He must be okay with it, because he sleeps with her, and Issachar is born. After that, she becomes pregnant with Zebulun and Dinah (a daughter) respectively.
At this point, God remembers Rachel and "listens to her," and she is able to have a son. She gives birth to Joseph. The name means "He will add," because she says that God will give her another son also.
After all this, Jacob asks Laban to send him away to his own country, but Laban tells him that he will just up his wages, because he sees that Jacob is blessed by God, and he has become blessed because of him. So Jacob has the idea of asking for all the speckled, spotted, and streaked lambs and goats, and Laban agrees. Then, he takes the branches of chestnut and almond trees, and carves them with a knife so that they appear streaked and spotted. He sets them up by the water troughs so that the animals will see them when they are mating. Lo and behold, when the animals give birth, it is to specked and spotted young. He then breeds the stronger animals together for himself, and the weaker ones for Laban. (God had showed him all this in a dream, an answer to his prayers for the injustice he has suffered through Laban. More on that in a bit...) So God makes Jacob prosperous.
Jacob overhears Laban's servants talking about how Jacob has taken from their master, and he also sees that Laban's "countenance" is not favorable toward him as before. At this point, the Lord speaks to him and tells him to return to the land of his fathers and family, and that He will be with him. So Jacob talks to his wives and relays the message, while also saying that their father has been deceitful to him in changing his wages 10 times. He also recounts the dream he had where God showed him about the specked and spotted animals- and most likely gave him the plan concerning them as well, although it is not explicitly stated. The women agree that they should leave, since their father has not treated them well either by basically selling them to Jacob and not giving them an inheritance. They tell Jacob to do "whatever God has said," but before leaving, Rachel steals her father's household idols from his tent.
Jacob takes his family and all his possessions and flees to the mountains while Laban is away. When Laban finds out, he pursues and overtakes them. Laban confronts Jacob, asking why he left in secret so that he could not kiss his sons and daughters goodbye or send them away with joy. Moreover, someone has stolen his household idols. Jacob tells him that whoever is found with the idols will die. Laban searches but does not find them- when he goes to Rachel's tent, she has hidden the idols in the bag of her camel and sat on it, excusing herself by saying that "the manner of women is with [her.]" Then, Jacob angrily confronts Jacob not only for accusing him of stealing but for mistreating him for 20 years. So Laban suggests they make a covenant, which they do by gathering a pile of stones and eating atop them. Jacob swears by the God of his father Abraham not to cross the pillar of stones to do Laban harm, and Laban swears also. The next morning, Laban kisses his sons and daughters and departs.
Thoughts/Questions:
A lot of people say that Jacob was reaping for all those years what he himself sowed in deception. It sure seems like it. What are your thoughts on this?
God can give us creative ideas for how to prosper.
Sometimes, we want something quickly and make choices that lead to years of dysfunction. Have you had this experience? (You don't have to answer!) God can redeem!