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The time had come for Jacob to move his large family to his own homeland and be on his own. He now had eleven sons and one daughter, and he had more than fulfilled his part of the bargain. He had earned the right to freedom. It was time to stop working for Laban and start building his own future security.
But crafty Laban wasn’t about to lose his son-in-law, especially when he knew that Jacob’s presence had brought to him the blessing of God (vv. 27-30). Meanwhile, Laban wasn’t interested in Jacob’s God; he was interested only in the blessings he received because of Jacob’s God. Laban surely knew of the promises God had made to Abraham and his descendants (12:3), and he wanted to get the most out of them.
This time, however, Jacob was prepared for his father-in-law, because the Lord had talked to Jacob in a dream and told him exactly what to do (31:1-13). All Jacob wanted for his wages was the privilege of building his own flock of sheep and goats from the speckled and spotted animals in Laban’s flocks, animals that were considered inferior anyway. These would be separated three days’ journey from Laban’s flock so that Laban could investigate at any time and immediately know whether Jacob was robbing him.
Jacob’s peeled sticks belonged in the same category as Rachel’s mandrakes: They were both superstitious practices that had nothing to do with what actually happened. It was God who controlled the genetic structure of the animals and multiplied the spotted and striped sheep and goats, thus increasing Jacob’s wealth very quickly. At Bethel, God promised to bless Jacob, and He kept His promise (28:13-15), and since Laban had agreed to Jacob’s terms, he could do nothing about the results. All of those animals belonged to Jacob.
During the next six years, Jacob became a very wealthy man because of his faith and the blessing of the Lord. Now he was ready to strike out on his own, return to his own land and people, and fulfill whatever purposes God had planned for him. When he had arrived in Padan Aram twenty years before, all he had was his staff (32:10). But he had worked hard, suffered much, and trusted God. Now he had a large family and owned extensive flocks of healthy sheep and goats, as well as camels and donkeys and servants to care for all the animals.