Bible Discussion Thread

How did Jacob's trick with the rods before the animals while mating cause them to have different offspring?

Hello Don. That's a great question that I have never been able to figure out. I had to resort to a commentary but confess that I still don't understand how placing these rods before the flocks could produce offspring of certain colouring. So I will copy Albert Barnes' comment on this for your consideration:

"Jacob devises means to provide himself with a flock in these unfavorable circumstances. His first device is to place party-colored rods before the eyes of the cattle at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the pilled rods. "Put his own folds by themselves." These are the party-colored cattle that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban.

In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn. It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. The result is here stated. "The man brake forth exceedingly" - became rapidly rich in hands and cattle."

I hope this helps you somewhat - I'm still unsure how this could work & just accept this account as given.

Hi

I thought the rods were a switch from the wood of a certain tree that was known to affect lambing / birthing due to the substance it excreted into the water and the animals drank it

I've wondered that too. GOD directs some people to do out of the ordinary things & out of the ordinary things happen when they've done what GOD directed them to do. I think we're thinking too much into it like 'if we tried it will it work' here's some other examples

Exodus 17:6, Numbers 20:1-11, notice Numbers 20:8 GOD said "speak to the rock" , Numbers 20:12, Numbers 13 & 14,

Genesis 31:12,

Hi T. Lewis What you stated is absolutely correct many times in the old and new testament men of God did or told others what to do to Get Gods results and they did not question they just did it. Noah was told to build an Ark because the earth was going to be flooded by rain and until that time there is no record of rain upon the earth also he was given specific instructions on how to build a boat. New testament Jesus Christ ask the disciples how are we going to feed over 5 thousand with a few loves of bread and fish then told the disciples what to do and God supplied the need. In our day and time when we dare to believe whats written or told to us and act we can have the same results. I know a women who stopped in the middle of a teaching prayed for her son who at that exact moment had a loaded gun in his mouth pulled the trigger and the bullet discharged and turned into powder, later on he called his mother about it and she told him she prayed at that time and the result was him being born again. Our Job is to Let Go and Let God Work!

Hi Don It had nothing to do with what he fed them it had everything to do with following Gods instructions and seeing the results. It is a great example of receiving information or instruction from God its like when the children of Israel marched around Jericho seven times then blew trumpets and down came a wall. By the five senses natural mind it doesn't make senses but they followed the man of Gods instructions and got Gods deliverance. Throughout Gods word when people listened to men of God believed and acted they always got deliverance. When the man of God Elisha in 2 Kings 4:1-7 ask a widow what can I do for you, she explained she was broke and he gave her specific instructions and she did them and got Gods deliverance. He ask her yo do something that made no sense but she obeyed. In the gospels this happened many times between Jesus Christ and the disciples where he ask them to do something that by the senses made no senses but he walked by the spirit and knew God would always meet the need.