The Torah portion last week featured, among other things, the story of Jacob security his wages from Laban. Jacob makes a deal with Laban that when Jacob leaves Laban to go back to Canaan that he (Jacob) will take all the speckled, spotted, and brown sheep while Laban will keep all the ship with white wool. So Jacob takes some wood and breeds the strong sheep in front of the wood which made the offspring speckled, and the weak sheep he would not breed in front of the wood and their offspring would have white wool. In the end the strong sheep were spotted, speckled, and brown, while the weaker sheep were all white.
It's a confusing story on most levels, especially to us Bible followers who know that God wants us to sacrifice the best of what we have without blemish. So if God doesn't want us to sacrifice to Him a blemished sheep then why would Jacob want the sheep with the blemishes? I've gone around and around with this for years, always glossing over this story without truly having any interpretation revealed - until today.
I was reading a Facebook post today about this story where the Poster said that Laban was getting the better end of the deal in this agreement because the sheep's white wool was more valuable and could be dyed any color. This got me thinking, did Laban really get the better end of the deal? There must be something deeper to this story, why would Jacob want the blemished sheep?
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, and the story of Abraham and Lot going their separate ways popped into my mind. Could this story of Jacob and Laban be the same story as Abraham and Lot? I feel that it certainly could be that and more.
The Abraham and Lot storied basically said that there wasn't enough room for all of Abraham's herd and all of Lot's herd. Abraham agrees to let Lot go his own way and tells Lot that he can choose which way to go, so Lot looks around and sees the better land and chooses it. So Lot goes that way and Abraham the opposite.
In the story of Jacob and Laban, Laban chooses the sheep with the wool that looks better to the eyes, the white sheep - and Jacob takes the rest. In both stories, the one party chooses based on what they see, while the other chooses to put their trust in God and let Him lead.
However, while that connection may be good in and of itself, it is nothing compared to the revelation I received. The white sheep were indeed have a better outer look about them than the blemished sheep, but if we look closely at the Torah, the blemished sheep - the ones promised to Jacob - were the stronger sheep while the white sheep were the weaker sheep. One received something that appeared valuable on the outside but was worthless on the inside, while the other received something that appeared worthless on the outside but was strong on the inside. Jacob was able to manipulate the outward appearance of the sheep through the strips of wood he used during the breeding process. He was able to supply himself with a strong herd of sheep, while Laban was stuck with a weak herd. In addition, if Jacob could manipulate the appearance in one direction perhaps he knew that he could manipulate their appearance back to white sheep once he was back in Canaan.
Finally, if we look at what Yeshua says, it is the inside of us that is important and not how we appear on the outside. In Mathew 23:28 Yeshua says, "So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." Yeshua is speaking of the white sheep with the weak character. Others judge us by our appearance just as Laban judged which sheep were more valuable by their outward appearance. But, it's what's inside of us that matters, our strength comes from the Lord and it is through Him that we can breed a strong character to fill this world with His love. Our value, your value, is not measured by our outward appearance, but by the character of our spirit. I pray that we all work on our inner strength and that God blesses you and keeps you in His light always.
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