Browse Bible Study Resources

Daily Devotions

Genesis

Genesis 
Day 
Day 227

"For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." Psalm 103:14

Text: Genesis 30:1-43

ELEVEN SONS AND ONE DAUGHTER

Jacob came to the land of the East with nothing in his hands. What he did have was the promise of the Lord that He would watch over him. God would provide for him and protect him wherever he went.

Many years had elapsed since the first day he met up with Laban! He had since acquired four wives and had a family of eleven sons and one daughter. From Leah, Jacob had six sons. The last child she bore him was a daughter. From Bilhah and Zilpah, he had four other sons. From his beloved Rachel, he had one son, Joseph. By any standards, he had a large family. God had kept His promise and had blessed Jacob greatly, notwithstanding the fierce and dangerous struggle between Leah and Rachel.

Perhaps, God had placed in his heart that it was time to return home – and that meant Canaan. The children he had were now old enough to make the long journey home. He must have longed to provide better for his large family. As long as he worked for Laban, he would never be able to provide for his family as he would have wished.


PLANS TO RETURN TO CANAAN

Many were the reasons why Jacob wanted to return to Canaan. One of these was expressed to Laban.

” And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph,
that Jacob said to Laban, ‘Send me away, that I may go
to my own place and to my country. Give me my wives
and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go;
for you know my service which I have done for you.'”
GENESIS 30:25-26

1. “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country”

Jacob was not a native to the land of the East. He would always be seen as a foreigner in that land. He would always be seen and regarded as the son-in-law of Laban in the land. He belonged elsewhere. His heart longed to return home “to his own place and to his own country”. He formally asked for permission to return to his homeland. This request was most reasonable!

2. “Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you and let me go”

This was a most diplomatic way of speaking. Jacob was humbly requesting that he be allowed to leave with his whole family, wives and children! His approach is to be commended. He showed proper respect for his father-in-law.

3. “For you know my services which I have done for you”

Jacob could appeal to the way he had served his father-in-law. He had served fourteen years for Rachel (and Leah). He had stayed on for several more years, after he had faithfully discharged all the terms of his contract with Laban! Surely, he could not be faulted for the way he had served his father-in-law!