Genesis
31 – Jacob’s Journey
Jacob
had been working so hard for Laban for twenty years; Fourteen years for his
wives, 6 years for the cattle. Now,
after all those years he overhears his brothers-in-law griping about him. It appears that jealousy runs in this
family. With further observance he
notices Laban is no longer happy with him.
Laban and his sons see that Jacob is blessed and there are few blessings
for them. The reason for this is because
of the deception on Laban’s part. God
sees all this too, so he tells Jacob to return to his family. God knows everything that goes on in our
life. When we do good, God blesses us
with more. When we do not do good, God
takes away what we have. Matthew 13:12 “For whoever has, to him more will be
given and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has
will be taken away.” That is the case
with Jacob and Laban. Now that God has
blessed Jacob so much God has decided it is time for Jacob to return to his
family and leave Laban behind. Jacob
tells Rachel and Leah, and they agree to go.
The only problem here is that Rachel thinks that God’s blessings are not
enough, and she feels entitles to take Laban’s idols. There are many people in
this world that have the feeling of entitlement. Maybe they grew up with very little and they
think the world owes them something. Maybe they have been mistreated and now
they feel they should be treated right so their expectations of others are more
than they should be. Whatever it is,
they are not content with what God has blessed them with already. We need to learn to be content with what we
have.
Now
Jacob and his family and all that he has, leaves Padan Aram and travels to the
land of Canaan.
Three
days later Laban learns that Jacob has fled and later he catches up with
them. He confronts Jacob, rebukes him
for leaving but because of God’s warning he does not take it any further than
that. Laban realizes he has lost everything
but feels the need to have his idols back. They search everything but because
of Rachel’s deception, they did not find them.
Now Jacob feels angry because he thinks he was falsely accused. In
return, he rebukes Laban. They solve
their argument with a promise that they will stay on their side of the fence
and not bother each other. They sealed
their promise with a sacrifice and a feast, then go their separate ways.
Jacob
and Laban both knew that God was in charge here because of their conversations
with God, so settling their differences the way they did showed maturity and
trust in the Lord.
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