Upright Jacob: A Guide for God's Strugglers · Season 1, Episode 8

Jacob: From Zero To Abundance

Genesis 28-32

What if you had to start from zero, in your middle age? No money, no job, no home, far from the people you know and trust.

Imagine if you were born into a wealthy and powerful family and were about to inherit the estate — and then, in an instant, you had to run for your life. Could you deal with the disappointment? Or would you be forever crushed?

We in the West may not have lost everything, but with each passing generation, life has gotten steadily more and more difficult. Getting married, buying a house, even buying a car — the things former generations took for granted — are now unrealistic dreams for the younger generation. Most Gen Z men can’t even think of getting married. There’s hardly a sane, godly woman within a 500-mile radius. And house prices are three times what they were when their fathers were in their 30s.

Does the Bible offer any guidance? Is there a godly solution to this very real dilemma?

Jacob: From Zero to Abundance

Last week we looked at Jacob, who had to flee his father’s tents in middle age and travel 651 miles on foot to find a suitable spouse. He had just secured the legal right to a vast fortune from his father, only to lose it all in a dramatic turn of events. His brother Esau had played a trump card — murder — forcing Jacob to flee. His ultra-wealthy father, who had never cared for Jacob, sent him away with nothing but a staff in his hand.

And so we ask ourselves: what would we do if we suddenly lost it all?

Isaac blessed Jacob with words and a command to get a good wife. But since he never loved Jacob, he gave him nothing but words — like the man in James 2 who said, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving Jacob the things needed for the journey, the bride price, or protection on a long, perilous road.

But God is God, and God our Father has none of the faults and failings our earthly fathers are afflicted with. We have a Father whose love is unfeeling. His love makes provision for every last thing we need for this life, as well as the next — and not just for special Christians, but for ordinary believers like you and me.

Although Jacob went to Haran with nothing, he returned with a great number of servants and a cornucopia of livestock. His gift to his murderous brother alone — which was only, according to Genesis 32:13, what came to his hand — amounted to 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milk camels with their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 foals: an estimated value of between $770,000 and $927,000. Whatever Jacob did, in the space of 20 years, Jacob was very rich indeed.

The time will pass anyway. Are you willing to invest your time to learn God’s ways of work and business?

Work Your Land

Before we dig into the Jacob-Laban story, here’s a powerful scripture that will help us orient ourselves:

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. — Proverbs 28:19

You’ve got to know what your land is. God has given us all a piece of land to occupy, so to speak. The meek shall inherit the earth, and each one has their own little corner to cultivate. Adam was given Eden to dress and to keep. So we have to figure out what our particular calling is — so we don’t follow worthless pursuits and try to work our neighbour’s land instead of our own.

Jacob’s calling was shepherding animals. He dwelt in tents, which Genesis 4:20 identifies with herding animals. Maybe that’s what’s tripping you up. Maybe you imagine there’s no money in what you’re presently doing. But what does the Lord say? Work your land. Don’t follow vanities. Don’t try to win the lottery. Don’t try to fit a square block in a round hole. Work your land.

Jacob’s Mastery of His Trade

We’ve already seen that Jacob applied himself to learning all aspects of his trade — and that took time, and lots and lots of work. Jacob knew it all, from how to make stew and bread to feed the workers, to advanced breeding techniques.

Genesis 30:37–31:36 gives us an account of how he arranged the feeding troughs in relation to peeled bark in order to breed vigorous and healthy speckled animals, which would come to form the foundation of his considerable wealth. Answers in Genesis has a useful article detailing that the bark was used for medicinal purposes, making Jacob’s flock more hardy — and it may also have helped the white animals express an underlying speckled trait, thus enriching Jacob according to the terms of his offer to Laban.

One proven way to get 90 years of experience when you’re only 30 is to learn from older men and put their advice into action. Jacob put himself in a position to learn from his father, who had decades of experience in the same business, and he worked with hundreds of Isaac’s servants, each with their own speciality. That’s a great place to start if you’re wondering what to do with your life. Start with your father’s trade and learn from him — or, if not your father, someone close to you in the family or neighbourhood.

Jacob’s knowledge of the sheep and cattle business went way beyond just herding them or breeding them. He knew the business in all its facets. And it wasn’t just head knowledge — he put his heart into his work.

Jacob Cares for the Flock

In Genesis 29:7–8, as soon as he arrived in Haran and came across Laban’s men, Jacob immediately showed his concern for the welfare of the flocks:

Look, it is still high day. It is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go and feed them.

He saw the problem immediately, knew exactly how to remedy it, and made it happen. Then he went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother.

In Genesis 29:2, this is called a great stone. This wasn’t just a case of taking a lid off or flicking a switch. Jacob had to strain his sinews, engage his arms and legs, and wrestle that great stone from its place.

The tragedy is that our education system today — even in many Christian schools — is geared to the space between our ears only. Our churches focus almost exclusively on training us how to feel. And so we graduate stunted but puffed up with facts, ill-equipped to make things happen in the real world.

But this world is the arena God has chosen for us to do our work in. There is hope — a guarantee. If we sow, in due time, we will reap. We may be weak right now, but we don’t have to stay that way. If we pick up the weights and pump iron consistently, we will inevitably grow stronger. That great stone will be no match for future you, trained you, strong you, whatever that stone may be. In time, you will cast it aside.

Consider this: there are flocks of people who thirst for what you can offer — yes, you. So train your mind, train your body, train your heart, so you can cast aside the great stone that stands in your way and supply the marketplace with what only you can offer.

Managing Men

Another skill Jacob had evidently mastered was managing men. Only seven verses into Genesis 29, he’s already giving orders:

Look, it is still high day. It is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go and feed them.

He wasn’t being a bully or rude. He just knew his job, cared about the sheep, and wasn’t afraid to be a man and give the young men orders. And if we’re going to prosper, we’re going to have to learn to do the same, or else the sheep will go thirsty.

But did Jacob solve the problem by himself? Did he water the sheep one by one? No. He did the heavy lifting — what only he could have done — and then delegated the rest to the apprentices. He used his well-honed managerial skills to get things done.

If we don’t learn to give orders, someone else will — someone who doesn’t have the same heart for the flock. Good leaders don’t do it all. They delegate.

Listen to Revelation 1:5–6: Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. We are kings. Perhaps you’d say: everyone except me is a king. I’m not cut out to rule. But that’s not humility — that’s disobedience. God has made you a king. He has given you everything you need to be one.

Romans 5:17 tells us: Those who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. Christians reign in life. It’s what we do.

Deuteronomy 17:18–20 tells us that the king shall write for himself a copy of God’s law and read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God. A king has to know God’s ways. And God’s ways are found in God’s holy law.

Jacob knew the law of God. Deuteronomy 22:4 says: If you see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, you shall not ignore them. It’s the law of God that gave Jacob his big heart. Psalm 119:132 states: I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart. There’s a synergy between knowing and keeping God’s commandments in business — and being big-hearted. When he saw those sheep in peril, he knew it would be a sin to let them continue to suffer.

Work Ethic and Good Name

Listen to Jacob’s words to the accusing Laban in Genesis 31:38–40:

These 20 years I’ve been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it. You acquired it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. There it was, in the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes.

Jacob had a tremendous work ethic. He was parched in the day and chilled to the bone by night. He literally worked day and night.

You’ll hear a lot of people talking about work-life balance. But Jacob’s back was against the wall. His father-in-law saddled him with a wife he didn’t want and seven years of extra work. Laban was sly, conniving, dishonest to the nth degree — the worst possible boss. And Jacob had an ever-growing household to feed.

This was not the time for a work-life balance — and I submit that the times we live in demand urgency. If you haven’t already started work on applying God’s ways to your work life, this is no time to pursue a work-life balance either. The 2020s will eat you alive if you don’t start sweating by day and grinding by night to become the best you can be in your own field of endeavour.

But it wasn’t just hustle. There was another plank in Jacob’s strategy: he was building up a good name.

In Genesis 32, the deceitful Laban cornered the fleeing Jacob and accused him of treachery. But the mud he slung at Jacob wouldn’t stick — because Jacob had gone to extraordinary lengths to be an excellent shepherd. Any livestock lost from Laban’s flock, through no fault of Jacob’s, Jacob would replace from his own flock at his own expense. His good name was worth more to him than money — more than the time, effort, and frustration it cost to dig into his own pocket and give to an atrocious two-faced hypocrite of a boss.

If you want to succeed in business, years of back-breaking work won’t mean a thing if you aren’t fanatical about doing the right thing when no one is looking. Making and preserving your good name in the marketplace is where your efforts should be focused above all else. A good name is better than riches.

The Art of Making Offers

Jacob was a master at making offers. He made an offer to Esau, who was delighted to sell his birthright — a win-win deal. Rachel commanded a serious bride price, so Jacob worked for Laban for nothing for a full month, demonstrating his know-how, and was then able to make an offer for her hand in return for seven years of service. Another win-win offer.

But Jacob couldn’t stay there forever. He had to obey God’s plan for his life — the promised land and his own father’s estate beckoned. So Jacob made Laban an incredible win-win deal: Jacob would care for Laban’s flocks, whilst only keeping the speckled animals for himself.

If you want to go into business for yourself, you need to learn how to make offers — win-win propositions that the marketplace wants and needs. If you can make someone an offer in a free exchange in the marketplace, then you’ve got a business. Something that you own. Glory to God.

Jacob’s zero-to-abundance formula, in summary:

There is so much more to say about Jacob and his zero-to-abundance formula. But for now, God’s word has the answers for our needs in the real world.

If you have any questions, you can email me at questions@godsworldgodsway.com. See you next week.