Genesis 30:37–43
The Bible4Jesus.com Podcast
About this episode
We have a tendency in our modern, sanitized Christianity to prefer our patriarchs to be stained glass saints. We want our Bible stories to be neat, tidy, and suitable for flannelgraph. We want men of God to act like ethereal beings who float a few inches off the ground, receiving divine revelation in King James English. But the book of Genesis will not allow us this pious luxury. The Bible is a book about God's glorious work in the lives of gritty, earthy, and often deeply flawed men. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the life of Jacob. He is a man who lives by his wits. He is not above a bit of sharp practice, as his brother Esau and his father Isaac could testify. And for twenty years, he has been locked in a contest of wits with his uncle Laban, a man who is every bit his match in the art of the deal.