2. Jacob’s Labors under His Uncle Laban

World Scripture

Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful and lovely. Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” So Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her… And in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to wife… So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years…
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength; yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled.
Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go forth from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’” Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? Does he not regard us as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
Genesis 29.15-30; 31.3-16

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Jacob went to the land of Haran and worked as a servant for his maternal uncle Laban for twenty-one years. His uncle had promised to give him his daughter Rachel as his wife. But after seven years, Laban deceived Jacob and gave him her sister Leah instead. If it had been you, you would have immediately protested. But Jacob kept silent, worked for another seven years, and got Rachel. Even after that, his uncle Laban deceived him again and again, trying to cheat him of the possessions that God had given him. Still, Jacob did not complain. Here we must know that even though Jacob was in the loneliest of situations, still he thought of nothing else but God’s Will. Because of that, other things in his life did not matter; the important thing was to accomplish God’s Will. He grew farther from the world but came to receive more love from God.
(52:64-65, December 22, 1971)

After being chased out and spurned by his relatives, how did Jacob overcome his difficulties? He never forgot the blessing he received from God, and he kept unwavering faith in God. He vowed he would not change no matter how his circumstances changed. Jacob had such faith that, even if Heaven did not believe in him, he was determined to make his family believe in him. He was determined to complete the unfinished task of the blessing given to him, and thus laid the foundation upon which God could advance His providence. With a burning desire to inherit the will of Heaven’s principle that God had tried to establish through Abraham’s family, Jacob could form a family of faith and return after twenty-one years.
(4:139-40, March 30, 1958)

You are in the position of Jacob. You knew that God’s blessing was yours, and with faith in this movement you left your homes. Those of you who faced opposition and persecution from your parents and siblings, raise your hands.… After leaving his home, could Jacob go directly to God? No, he had to go to Haran. You, too, must go to your own “Haran,” the world where you must experience drudgery and there restore people and possessions.
(67:123, May 27, 1973)