This stripping the bark from sticks of poplar, almond and plane trees—hocus-pocus? Science proves otherwise.
Remember: Jacob’s name means “heel grabber.” His wrestling career began while he was still in the womb and had continued to this day. Laban was a match for him, as he said, “Your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me” (Gen 31:7). Now Jacob decides to try some breeding experiments. If he could keep all the speckled and spotted sheep and goats, what if there ended up more of those than the plain ones? And what if they were bred to be the stronger and healthier ones? What could he do? You might want to read Genesis 30:37-42. We read, in part: “Jacob took…rods of green poplar…almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them…And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks…in the watering troughs…So the flocks conceived…and …brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.…And…whenever the stronger livestock conceived, …Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock…that they might conceive…But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s” (Gen 30:37-42). Note that the Lord explained things to Jacob in a dream (31:10-12). Apparently the spots were a recessive gene, and by using spotted rams to breed, the flocks increased. As to the sticks, many studies in animal husbandry to this day show the beneficial properties of these particular trees. One Animal Feed Science and Technology report (2004) showed that poplar supplementation “increased ewe reproductive rate by approximately 20 and 30% units…with a higher proportion of pregnant ewes, and a higher proportion of multiple pregnancies.” And God showed Jacob this almost 4000 years ago! Amazing!