Problem Solver - Jacob

Since Jack shared about Problem Solvers yesterday, I thought I should put down some famous problem solvers in the Bible. The first one is who Jack mentioned in his sharing - Jacob (aka Israel).

Problem Solver - Jacob

Background: So Jacob worked 7 years for Laban in order to marry his younger daughter Rachel, but Laban cheated on him - he gave Jacob his older daughter Leah on their wedding night. Well, Jacob worked for another 7 years to get Rachel. And after having 7 sons and a daughter, Jacob decided to depart from Laban, but first he needed some flocks......

"So, what should I pay you?" Jacob said, "You don't have to pay me a thing. But how about this? I will go back to pasture and care for your flocks. Go through your entire flock today and take out every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. That way you can check on my honesty when you assess my wages. If you find any goat that's not speckled or spotted or a sheep that's not black, you will know that I stole it."
"Fair enough," said Laban. "It's a deal."

But that very day Laban removed all the mottled and spotted billy goats and all the speckled and spotted nanny goats, every animal that had even a touch of white on it plus all the black sheep and placed them under the care of his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob went on tending what was left of Laban's flock.

But Jacob got fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark, leaving white stripes on them. He stuck the peeled branches in front of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. When the flocks were in heat, they came to drink and mated in front of the streaked branches. Then they gave birth to young that were streaked or spotted or speckled. Jacob placed the ewes before the dark-colored animals of Laban. That way he got distinctive flocks for himself which he didn't mix with Laban's flocks. And when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob placed branches at the troughs in view of the animals so that they mated in front of the branches. But he wouldn't set up the branches before the feebler animals. That way the feeble animals went to Laban and the sturdy ones to Jacob. The man got richer and richer, acquiring huge flocks, lots and lots of servants, not to mention camels and donkeys.

I don't know how Jacob thought of that weird idea, but I guess it worked pretty well! He sure has the favor of the Lord!

Stay tuned for the next problem solver...
(hint: Jack also mentioned it in his message.)

Johnny