Superstition


Genesis 30:25-43

http://www.esvbible.org/Genesis30:25-43
 
After seeing Rachel and Leah believe in the power of the mandrake to bring them children we now see that Jacob too has his share of belief in superstition. But that does not stop God from continuing to work His plan. “God must overcome their unheroic weakness in order to let good come out of evil”.
(Roehrs, W. H., & Franzmann, M. H. ©1998Concordia self-study comentary (Vol. 1, p. 45). St. Louis, MO: CPH.) 
God will later tell His people (in Exodus) not to practice divination, which is what Jacob had going with his poplar trees and mating in front of the white branches. It was a ridiculous notion but God puts that aside so that He might bless Jacob with large and healthy flocks. As we look at Jacob’s actions and wonder why he thought that would work, we might also examine our own lives for things that we do that may not be so smart either. All the time I hear people say, “knock on wood” (to ensure that something bad doesn’t happen) or play a series of numbers on the lottery they consider lucky that day. (Playing the lottery is NEVER lucky.) As people who believe in a sovereign God, we know that there is no such thing as luck or “knocking on wood” to help us out.

Also of note in this passage: we find that Laban is once again playing cagey with Jacob. After the deal has been struck for Jacob to receive all of the lambs and kids that are born with spots, speckles, or stripes, we find Laban removing all such animals from the herds. Laban is still willing to make Jacob’s success as difficult as possible. This is not a roadblock for God though. There are plenty of strong spotted, speckled, and striped animals born to swell Jacob’s flocks and herds. When God is working His plan, it doesn’t matter what we do to try and change things. It’s not going to work.

To bring that truth to even more light, let’s remember the story of the Passion of Jesus. Both Peter and Judas stood in front of Jesus in their respective ways, trying to keep Him from the Cross. In neither case did it work, for God’s plan was that He should die because of our sin. God’s will, God’s way – that’s it.

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