M.
Genesis
31:13 – I [am] the
God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, [and] where thou vowedst a vow
unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of
thy kindred.
§
God tells us to
remind Him of His promises, here God reminds Jacob of the vow that he made to
God
o
Jacob’s vow: Genesis
28:20-22 - And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me,
and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and
raiment to put on, So that I come
again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And
this stone, which I have set [for] a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all
that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
o
God has kept his
end of the bargain, has Jacob?
§
Beth-el was
Jacob’s first encounter with God where he dreamed of the ladder into heaven.
N.
Genesis
31:14 – And Rachel
and Leah answered and said unto him, [Is there] yet any portion or inheritance
for us in our father's house?
O.
Genesis
31:15 – Are we not
counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our
money.
§
All of the dowry
money that Jacob earned over the 14 years he worked for Laban should have been
Leah and Rachel’s inheritance, but Laban consumed it all for himself.
§
By doing this its
as if Laban had sold them off to Jacob as property rather than present them to
him and hold the dowry in escrow.
P.
Genesis
31:16 – For all the
riches which God hath taken from our father, that [is] ours, and our
children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
§
Leah and Rachel
do not have a very high opinion of their father Laban.
§
Rachel and Leah
put their differences aside and submit to Jacob, who submits to God.
o
Jacob submitted
to his wives by seeking their input, the wives submitted to Jacob by consenting
to the command from God that he relayed to them, both Jacob and his wives
submit to the commands of God. When
God’s plan for marriage is executed there are no hard feelings.
o
It was clear to
Leah and Rachel that Jacob had been instructed by God. Their faith allowed them to trust their
husband’s leadership.
Q.
Genesis
31:17 – Then Jacob
rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
R.
Genesis
31:18 – And he
carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle
of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father
in the land of Canaan.
§
A microcosm of
when the Israelites left Egypt
o
Exodus 12:36 –
And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they
lent unto them such things as they required.
And they spoiled the Egyptians.
§
Jacob only took
what was rightfully his
S.
Genesis
31:19 – And Laban
went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that [were] her
father's.
§
Images – תרפים tĕraphiym,
idolatry, idols, image(s), teraphim, family idol
§
Wouldn’t Jacob
needed to shear his sheep as well? Would
this have tipped Laban off that Jacob was not present at the sheep shearing?
§
Contrary to
Jacob, Rachel was not so honest in that she took from her father what had not
been given to her. Even though Laban
“stole” her dowry, righteousness does not return evil for evil.
§
Why did Rachel
steal these “images”?
o
No evidence that
she actually worshipped false gods (other than the fact she tried to use
mandrakes to get pregnant)
o
According to
Matthew Henry’s commentary; “Some think they were only little representations
of the ancestors of the family in statues or pictures.”
o
These house gods
were valuable, she could have taken them for their value in order to recoup
some of her inheritance
o
According to
Arthur Pink :
a.
Scholars tell us that the word “teraphim” may be
traced to a Syrian root which means “to enquire.” This explains the reason why
Rachel took with her these family “gods” when her husband stole away
surreptitiously from her home — it was to prevent her father from “enquiring”
of these idol “oracles” and thus discovering the direction in which they had
gone. Gleanings from Genesis, A.
Pink
b.
If this is the
case then Rachel believed that these idols had power, do idols have power? There are evil spirits behind false gods so
it would not be surprising that the wicked spiritual entities provide the
worshiper some dark supernatural insights.
T.
Genesis
31:20 – And Jacob
stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
§
Jacob stole
Laban’s heart
§
Rachel stole
Laban’s idols
U.
Genesis
31:21 – So he fled
with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his
face [toward] the mount Gilead
§
The river – refers
to the Euphrates because of its magnitude à from whence comes the term Hebrew meaning from the
other side of the river
§
Again, passing
over the river can be a type of Red
Sea crossing experience that
occurred when the children of Israel Egypt
§
Gilead - גלעד Gil`ad,
“rocky region”, a mountainous region bounded on the west by the Jordan, on
the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by
Moab and Ammon; sometimes called 'Mount Gilead' or the 'land of Gilead' or just
'Gilead'. Divided into north and south Gilead .
From the root Gal’ed meaning a “witness heap” which we will see comes into play
later in this chapter.
§
What did Jacob do
with Laban’s flocks that he was attending?
There is no mention of the flocks of Laban that Jacob was tending. Did Laban come and get them to take to the
sheering? What about the goats, goats are not sheered?
II.
Laban Pursues Jacob (Genesis 31:22-43)
A.
Genesis
31:22 – And it was
told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
§
Who told him? did
Laban have spies in Jacob’s camp?Remember Laban is a three days journey away,
so if someone left immediately to tell him of Jacob’s abandonment it would have
been a three day journey.
§
This individual
may have been a servant that Jacob charged to bring Laban’s flocks back to
him. He either:
o
Left the flock
behind (not like a good shepherd to leave a flock unattended, couldn’t see
Jacob doing this)
o
Took Laban’s
flock with him (would have violated his agreement)
o
Sent the flock
back to Laban (seems like the most likely scenario)
§
Exodus
14:5 – And it was told the
king of Egypt Israel
o
Another event in
this narrative that foreshadows the reaction of Pharaoh to the departing
Israelites
B.
Genesis
31:23 – And he took
his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they
overtook him in the mount Gilead
§
3 days lead time,
7 days journey = 10 total days
§
Laban took his
brethren or relatives, these would have been Jacob’s and his wives’ relatives
as well and would have likely needed strong convincing to do any harm to Jacob
and his family.
C.
Genesis
31:24 – And God
came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that
thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
§
No evidence of
God communicating with Laban prior to this point
§
He says neither
“good nor bad”
§
Even though Laban
is a known idol worshipper, he acknowledges God here
§
Laban, likely
pitching a fit of anger by now and would have likely sought to do harm to
Jacob, is pacified by one word from God.
o
Its good to have
God on your side
o
God knows just
what to do to discourage his enemies, while in one case it may be as simple as
giving Laban a dream, others such as Pharaoh require much more
“convincing”. Eventually all much
relinquish their own will and submit to God’s will.
a. Exodus 14:8 – And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt Israel
§
Notice that God
did not tell Laban to turn around and go home. He allowed to confrontation to
occur, but laid the ground rules for Laban.
God granted Laban a means to vent his frustrations with Jacob without
harming Jacob or his family. Was this
done as a test for Jacob to trust that God would not leave him?
D.
Genesis
31:25 – Then Laban
overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his
brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead .
§
Exodus
14:9 – But the
Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his
horseman, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside
Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
E.
Genesis
31:26 – And Laban
said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me,
and carried away my daughters, as captives [taken] with the sword?
§
Did Jacob carry
his wives away as captives? This is a lie for remember Jacob consulted with his
wives before leaving and they chose to willingly go with him
§
Laban is the one who
treated his daughters as strangers in v. 15.
F.
Genesis
31:27 – Wherefore
didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me,
that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and
with harp?
§
Laban makes it
sound as if he was prepared to send Jacob out with a parade, hard to believe
that this would have been the case based on prior experience.
§
God’s ability to
judge the heart provides a distinct advantage over earthly judges in that
statements like this cannot be proven or disproven by an earthly judge, God
knows the heart and can judge accordingly.
§
Doesn’t this
sound like something Satan himself would say? Making accusations of the very crimes that he
commits. Were the wives captives under
Jacob or Laban? Subtle words of the
enemy trick us into trading our liberties for bondage.
G.
Genesis
31:28 – And hast
not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly
in [so] doing.
§
Sons – grandsons
§
Daughters –
daughters and granddaughters
§
Laban had access
to his daughters and grandchildren for the past 13 years, we can see from
Rachel and Leah that his treatment for them was anything but a loving father
and grandfather.
H.
Genesis
31:29 – It is in
the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me
yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or
bad.
§
Does Laban really
have the power to harm Jacob? God is
with Jacob, and its obvious to Laban that God was with Jacob so he appears to
be making an empty boast.
§
The God of “your”
father… Laban does not associate himself with the LORD of the covenant
I.
Genesis
31:30 – And now,
[though] thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy
father's house, [yet] wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
§
…MY gods… Laban
did not wish to associate with the Lord, but here he states that the idols that
Rachel stole were “MY” gods
§
Laban makes it
clear that Jacob’s God was not his god
