Although Jacob was squeezed and threatened by Laban, he could still play tricks on him (30:31-43). One day Jacob told Laban that he wanted to go back to his own country and that Laban should give him his wives and his children for whom he had served so many years (30:25-26). Laban answered, "I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake" (30:27). Laban seemed to be nice, but he was crafty. Crafty people are always nice. Whoever is nice to you is crafty, but whoever is bold with you is honest. Laban was very crafty with Jacob, saying that he had learned that by having Jacob stay with him, he had received the Lord's blessing. When Laban said to Jacob, "Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it," Jacob answered, "Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now, when shall I provide for mine own house also?" (30:28-30). Jacob seemed to be saying, "I have worked here for many years, but still I cannot provide for my own household. When shall I be able to provide for my own family?" Laban, realizing that if Jacob would leave, God's blessing would depart with him, seemed to say, "Stay with me. I don't care how much I pay you. Simply tell me what you want. As long as we are under God's blessing, everything will be all right."
Now we see that Jacob, who had suffered Laban's squeeze, had a way to steal Laban's wealth and make himself rich. When Laban asked him what he should give him as wages, Jacob said, "Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the black cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me" (30:31-33, Heb.). Jacob seemed to be saying, "Uncle Laban, promise me one thing and I will stay. Take from your flock all the speckled, spotted, and black cattle and leave all the white ones with me. From now on, the cattle which are spotted, speckled, and black will be mine." Laban thought that this was an excellent suggestion, for he knew that the white cattle could only produce white cattle and that they could not produce any that were speckled, spotted, or black. Hence, Laban removed from his flock all the cattle which were not purely white and gave them into the hand of his sons (30:34-35). The flock left to Jacob was purely white. Probably thinking that, once again, Jacob had fallen into his trap, Laban "set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks" (30:36). As we shall see, this gave Jacob the opportunity to play his trick on Laban.
In playing his trick, Jacob took rods of poplar, hazel, and chestnut trees and "peeled white stripes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods" (30:37). Jacob then set these striped rods before the flocks in the watering troughs, "that they should conceive when they came to drink" (30:38). In 30:39 we are told that "the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle striped, speckled, and spotted." Jacob then separated his cattle from Laban's cattle. Furthermore, when the stronger cattle conceived, "Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's and the stronger Jacob's" (30:41-42). Thus, the speckled, spotted, and striped cattle were stronger, and the white cattle were feebler. I do not believe that Jacob's scheme actually worked; it was merely an invention of Jacob's clever mind. But whether or not the trick worked, the results appeared, and Jacob thought that his plan had been successful.
When Jacob saw that the countenance of Laban was not toward him as before, the Lord said unto him, "Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee" (31:2-3). Then, according to 31:4-5, "Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock," and told them that their father's countenance had changed toward him. After this, he related a dream he had had during the time the cattle were conceiving. In this dream he saw that "the rams which leaped upon the cattle were striped, speckled, and spotted," and he heard the Angel of God saying, "Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are striped, speckled, and spotted: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee" (31:10-12). When I read the account of this dream in the past, I doubted the truth of it. I thought that Jacob was lying because he did not want to divulge his trick to his wives. Eventually, I discovered that the dream was not a lie, for in relating it, Jacob said that the Angel of the Lord had spoken to him, saying, "I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me" (31:13). Since this word cannot be false, the dream must have been true. While Jacob was playing his trick on Laban with the striped branches, God spoke to him in a dream, telling him to see that all the rams which leaped upon the cattle were striped, speckled, and spotted. In this way God indicated to Jacob that he did not acquire these cattle by his trick but by God's sovereignty. The principle here is the same as that in Jacob's gaining the birthright. While Jacob did his best to obtain it, it was actually given to him. Apparently, Jacob secured the birthright by his trick; actually, it was given to him by God's sovereignty. Likewise, apparently Jacob gained the riches of the flock by his trick; actually, these riches came by God's sovereignty.
There is a difficult problem in this section of the Word. In chapter thirty we are told that only white cattle were conceiving before the rods, but in the dream speckled, and spotted striped rams, not white rams, were leaping on others. How can we reconcile this? There are two ways. The first way is to claim that the dream was a lie. I cannot accept this. The second way is to say that this is a matter of God's sovereignty. According to this way, God changed the white cattle into speckled, spotted, and striped cattle in a way similar to His changing Balaam's curses into blessings (Num. 23:11-12; 24:10). However, regardless of the way we explain this occurrence, I do not believe that the speckled, spotted, and striped cattle were conceived through Jacob's trick but through God's sovereignty. Jacob's dream in chapter thirty-one reveals that it was God's sovereignty that actually produced these results. Compare this once again with the case of Jacob's securing the birthright. If God had not been sovereign in that situation and had not given Jacob the birthright, Jacob never could have obtained it through trickery. The principle is the same here. Jacob did not become rich through his trickery but through God's sovereignty.
Jacob had been chosen by God and he was under God's blessing. There was no need for him to play tricks in order to become rich. Since Jacob was under God's blessing, God granted him His blessing. Apparently, Jacob gained these riches through the success of his trickery; actually, they were given to him by God's sovereign, blessing hand. In principle, it is the same with us today. We also are God's chosen ones and are under His blessing. There is no need for us to strive or to play tricks in order to get God's blessing. God will grant us the blessing we need. Nevertheless, after being saved, we all have struggled and played tricks to get the blessing. In many cases it seemed that the blessing did come through our struggling and trickery. Actually, the blessing came through God's sovereignty. It is the same with everything related to us. We should not think that any blessing has come through our successful endeavors. Rather, we must realize that every blessing, whether spiritual or material, has come through God's sovereignty.