There is a great homesteading story in the Bible taken from Genesis 30:25-31:16. Was it good husbandry or a miracle from God to bless Jacob? You decide.
The story starts out with Jacob wanting to depart from Laban after working for Laban fourteen years in return for Jacob marrying Laban’s daughters Rachel and Leah. Laban being a shrewd businessman and homesteader, made a deal with Jacob for seven more years in exchange for a flock of sheep. Jacob accepted the offer.
The deal they made went like this. All the sheep would belong to Laban and Jacob’s wage would be the offspring from the sheep. However, Laban made it more complicated when he clarified that only the spotted, speckled, and striped (SSS) lambs would be Jacob’s. It appears that Laban did not want Jacob accusing him of stealing the solid color lambs.
Laban pulls a switch by taking all the SSS sheep and moving them a three day journey away from Jacob’s flock. Jacob left with only solid colored sheep, but remember he could only keep the SSS lambs. Laban was sure that only solid color sheep would produce solid color lambs.
Jacob had a plan. He peeled the bark from sticks of wood to make them look striped. He then had the Rams and ewes mate in front of the striped sticks. Lo and behold, the solid colored sheep produced SSS lambs.
Naturally, Laban was mad and accused Jacob of sheep rustling. However, by then it was too late. Jacob had his flock of SSS sheep was ready to leave Laban and start his journey with his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons.
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