GENESIS

Jacob's depart from Laban

Chapter 31 and 32

Hey amazing readers, okay for this chapter I'm going to do something a bit different. These two chapters aren't the type that I can think of making a story of, because it has a lot of scenes and it might not really make sense. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter nevertheless.

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Chapter 31 begins with Rachel being sad about not having any children. Of course I can't blame her, her sister already had four. She complained to Jacob which only made him angry. < Am I in God's stead, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb> he had said. Sad but determined, she gave her maid Bilhah, to her husband for her to have children through the maid.

Apparently, that was completely normal to do.

Her maid successfully gave birth to two sons. I guess her sister, Leah was jealous, so she gave her own maid, Zilpah to Jacob to have children from her. This was after she realized she could not give birth again. This maid bore two sons and so the competition between the sisters continued.

On one faithful day, Reuben, one of Leah's sons found mandrakes, a plant supposedly meant to make a person horny. He gave them to his mother. When Rachel found out, she asked her sister for some. That was when Leah finally voiced her annoyance < Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband? and would you take away my son's mandrakes also > she said.

I kinda sure Rachel would have wanted to scoff at her sister, after all, Jacob was meant to be hers alone, if not for her father's meddling.

To let sleeping dogs lie, Rachel let her sister lie with Jacob and she gave birth to two sons. Now she had six. That must have been a blow to Rachel's face. Luckily for her, God decided to have mercy and He opened up Rachel's womb. Finally, after so many years of waiting, Rachel gave birth to the one and only, Joseph.

After 20 years of service that Jacob had done for Laban, he was ready to return home. He went to Laban and told him of his plans to leave. Of course Laban didn't want this. Since Jacob had arrived to work for him, he had received increase. The number of cattle he had, skyrocketed and he knew for sure he was blessed by God through Jacob. < Appoint to me your wages and I will give it to you> he said after telling him to stay.

Jacob decided that he was going to take all the cattle that were spotted or brown and leave the white ones for Laban. He was to do this while taking care of Laban's flock. He also added that if he was to take any cattle which wasn't spotted in any way, it would be counted as theft. It was agreed and Jacob began to take his wage.

Jacob then took a rod which had a white inner part and peeled it so that only the white part would show. He then put this rod in the river in which the cattle drank so that even if two white cattle mated, their offspring would be spotted. I guess Jacob had always been crafty. Anyway, he did this only for the healthy looking cattle and left the unhealthy ones for Laban. With this, the number of cattle he had began to multiply.

In Chapter 32, the sons of Laban noticed that Jacob's flock was increasing continuously and this got to Laban. With this, Laban must have been a bit angry because the manner in which he related with Jacob changed. After Jacob noticed this, he decided that he and his family should leave before any trouble could arise.

On leaving, Rachel stole some of her father's idols to keep with her and they all fled with their belongings and servants. Before then, Jacob had set a three days' distance between his household and Laban's, so the news only got to his three days later.

When he heard of this, he and his men chased after Jacob and caught up to them at mount Gilead. But before then, God had warned Laban that he should not do any bad to Jacob. So, when they met, Laban demanded to be given what he thought Jacob stole from him. With this Laban searched Jacob's tents for his gods.

When Rachael realized that she could put Jacob in trouble for taking Laban's gods, she gathered them and sat on them as they search her tent. She then lied that she was on her period and that was why she could not stand up from where she was seated.

Alas, Laban wasn't able to find the stolen property and Jacob got angry, complaining that Laban was trying to keep him back when he had already served 20 years with Laban and not received anything even after Laban had tricked him into marrying is first daughter, Leah.

Ashamed, Laban decided to leave Jacob and they made a covenant, creating a heap of rocks which they called Galeed. They promised that neither of them would cross the structure so one would never meet the other again.

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So what do you think about this chapter? Did you like the way it was in a narrative form or you prefer it as a story? Thanks for reading. Comment, vote and share. Have a nice day. :)