In response to Jacob’s cry of deception concerning the substitution of Leah for Rachael, Laban responds with “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.”

When we look at all the times that God bypasses the firstborn in favor of younger sons, it seems as if God says repeatedly that man’s ways are not His ways. God is telling us He doesn’t play by our rules.

If God set down the rules of marriage in the Garden of Eden to be between one man and one woman, why does Jacob have two wives and two concubines? Even though the custom of the day allowed such a thing, it was still contrary to God's plan. Another example of how God's people are called to be different from the world around them. No matter what the custom of our day is, we should always seek God's ways and not the ways of the world. However, as usual, God used Jacob to fulfill His plans anyway!

What on earth is the significance with the speckled, spotted, dark and light colored lambs, goats, and sheep? And what’s the deal with the white striped branches?

The manipulation of the colored animals was purely a matter of dominate and recessive genes. Jacob received more of the speckled and spotted, lambs, goats, and sheep simply because that was in the genetic code. The striped branches had nothing to do with it, except for the fact that Jacob appears to be superstitious. Not a good thing!