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March 29th, 2024
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gary damronMY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

 

From the time of Jacob’s encounter with God at the stairway at Bethel, twenty years has passed. During those years he worked hard for Laban, married and fathered eleven children, and appears to have made good progress in his journey of faith. 

Read Chapters 30 and 31 of Genesis to see a fascinating story of another exodus. Much as Abraham had left Ur, and later the children of Israel fled Egypt, Jacob began to make plans to leave Haran and escape the control of his father-in-law. “Now it came about, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, ‘Send me away, so that I may go to my own place and to my own country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you’” (Genesis 30:25-26). 

Laban who was shrewd, realized that Jacob’s years with his flocks had brought him good fortune, and at first pressed him to stay. Finally, he offered, “‘Name me your wages, and I will give them’” (Genesis 30:27-28). 

Goats were generally solid-colored and sheep white, but Jacob asked for all the “speckled and spotted” goats and the black sheep, which would normally be fewer in number. That way, when time for him to leave, it would be easy to distinguish which livestock belonged to each of them. Laban recognized a good deal when he saw it, and quickly agreed, believing that he would end up with a majority of the flock. 

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But Jacob had learned a great deal in his years of servitude. Through a combination of his observation of recessive genetic traits, the use of trees with medicinal properties, and revelation by the angel, Jacob’s flocks flourished and he became wealthy. When he heard that Laban’s sons were accusing him of cheating, he shared with Leah and Rachel how God had helped, and that he believed he should leave (Genesis 31:4-13). Interestingly, both wives came to an agreement favoring him over their father, and said they would go with him. They realized their husband was now a man in tune with the presence of God, and they knew well their father’s deceptions. 

Laban was away shearing his flocks, unaware until the third day that all of them were gone. The wives and children had mounted camels, and were sent ahead with the flocks, south toward the land of Canaan. Unbeknownst to Jacob, Rachel had stolen her father’s idols and carried them in her camel’s bags. 

Laban gathered some kinsmen and pursued them, catching up with the group on the seventh day. He protested in front of all the witnesses that they’d “stolen away” secretly, and also accused someone in Jacob’s party of stealing his household idols. 

Jacob vowed that anyone found with the idols would be killed, and insisted that Laban go through their belongings. Each tent was searched, until Laban came to Rachel’s. She said, “‘May my lord not be angry that I cannot stand in your presence, because the way of women is upon me.’ So [Laban] searched her tent but did not find the household idols” (Genesis 31:35). It’s difficult to find an explanation for what Rachel had done: perhaps she was trying to get even with her father, or was still holding on to some form of pagan worship herself. A positive reason could be that she was trying to stop her father from the worship of idols. 

At any rate, when Laban’s search was unsuccessful, Jacob burst forth with a tirade of righteous anger. The one who all his life had been called Deceiver or Heel-grabber publicly argued that he was a righteous man. In front of the kinsmen, he presented his case – he had served for fourteen years for his wives, six years for the flocks, he had been above-board in all his dealings, and Laban had changed his wages ten times. The final insult seemed to be the accusation about the idols. He concluded, “‘If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, so he rendered judgment last night’” (Genesis 31:42). The prophet Micah wrote later, “You will give truth to Jacob and favor to Abraham, which you swore to our forefathers from the days of old” (Micah 7:20). 

So, Laban relented and signed a covenant in front of the witnesses. One stipulation (verse 50) is humorous in light of all Jacob had been through – he was never to take any more wives.  After a feast and a night of rest, “early in the morning Laban got up, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place” (Genesis 31:55). 

Once again, we see how God intervened. Jacob had learned to listen to God’s messages and was becoming a different man than he once was. May his experiences encourage our faith in God. Next week as Jacob travels to face his brother, we’ll find another example of God’s love and reconciliation. 

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Reita Isaacs, Liberal

 

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