#87 The Increase Genesis 30

Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban's flock. And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban's and the stronger Jacob's. Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camel and donkeys. Genesis 30: 37-43 NKJV

I am certain that Jacob is no stranger to animal husbandry and at over a hundred years old, he has been surrounded by it and involved with it his whole life. He is separating out the herd for selective breeding of the stronger animals, but also with the intent to produce animals of the agreed upon traits. I have a very limited understanding of husbandry from breeding tropical fish and reptiles. Some of the explanations I have seen for this passage are a bit of a reach. I would agree from my own practices that yes, there are outside influences that produce some changes in animals. For instance, by varying the incubating temperature of the eggs of certain animals, one can manipulate the sex ratio. In one of my old Ichthyology books I remember being shocked to find an experiment on light duration and angel fish development. The amount of or lack of exposure to light reflected in the fishes appearance. While these things are interesting, they don't produce breeding or locked in traits. As stated in the last blog, I believe the answer to be given in the next chapter. Jacob continues:

"And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. Then the angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob.' And I said, 'here I am.' And He said, 'lift up your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.'" Genesis 31: 10-13 NKJV

In the end I am not sure of the significance of the rods. I have read other commentaries that suggest they were more of a chemical aid to induce heat in the animals. This would be an aid to him so that he could better control which animals were breeding and when. But that is more of a stimulant, like a heavy  water change would induce breeding cycles when I kept Discus. 

Whether by mechanism of the rods, if you believe that, or by faith such as Naaman washing in the Jordan seven times in obedience before he was healed. The rods could be that of direction from his dream such as the likes of Gideon's lamps or Joshua's march around Jericho. Which ever way you turn on this, the writer in turn brings it back to God. For after all is God not the creator of the material and the mechanisms by which everything pro creates. "We are children playing in His sand box, with the materials He made, and a glorious and wonderful sand box indeed." Jacob is a great herdsmen but Jacob did not create himself nor the animals he breeds; I believe that all belongs to God.