Genesis 30:37-43 – The power and potential of the mind

As agreed, Jacob began to tend to his uncle’s flock comprising mainly of single-coloured sheep and goats. To benefit from whatever he was doing, Jacob had to think of a way fast to make those monochrome animals produce mottled sheep and goats. So he thought of a plan using the function of the animals’ mind to get them to produce mottled young. He took shoots of various trees and peeled off the barks in such a way till the white strips were seen on the tree. Then he placed this trees in the front gutter of the watering trough where the animals would come for their drink. It was around the watering trough that the animals would also mate. What Jacob was trying to do was to cast the image of stripes created by the stripped trees on the mind of the animals. So that the image would be on the animals’ minds as they mated. Amazingly, the young given birth by those animals were spotted and speckled. He further bred the blotchy animals with the single-coloured ones so as to increase his own flocks even more. He also chose the stronger animals and bred them so that those that ultimately belong to him would be strong and not feeble. So Jacob was blessed and he became exceedingly prosperous and had great livestock and plenty of maids and servants.   

Ultimately, we know that it was definitely God who had helped with the production of those botchy and mottled animals. But the lesson we learn here is about the power of the mind. The imagination is perhaps one of God’s unique gifts to His creation. And He had given the wisdom to Jacob to use the function of the mind and imagination of those animals to bring about the birth of spotted and speckled animals. We may not be able to fully explain the phenomenon, yet the result was telling. Jacob deployed it to his advantage on those animals and was greatly rewarded. Several texts of the Bible suggest to us the great potential of the imagination. It has potential for either good or evil. For example the imagination of the people who wanted to build the tower of Babel was not exactly healthy. So in Genesis 11:6, God saw that there was nothing that could prevent them from accomplishing what their mind had imagined. But we can use our mind and imagination for good. We can do what Philippians 4:8 exhorts us to do. So “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” And Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to this world but be transformed through the renewal of our mind. We must constantly engage our mind to meditate and think about God’s Word. We cannot even begin to plumb the depth of what God can do through our transformed mind. Amazing indeed!