Jacob
Man of Action
GENESIS 27 – 31
27:1-4
"Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, 'My son.' And he answered him, 'Here I am.' Then he said, 'Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.'"
As previously stated, "Isaac loved Esau but Rebekah loved Jacob" (25:28). That being the case, here we see that Isaac was determined to give the blessing to Esau ignoring God's word that "the elder shall serve the younger" (25:23). So, Isaac sets the stage to bless Esau rather than Jacob. An important principle that comes to mind here is, "One cannot accomplish spiritual goals using fleshly methods".
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27:5-13
"Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, 'Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, "Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death." Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.' But his mother said to him, 'Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.'"
Rebekah overheard Isaac's plan to bestow his blessing on Esau. Now, Jacob and his mother were connivers and Rebekah came up with a scheme that fit Jacob like a glove. But, they had to act fast to counter Isaac's plan to bless Esau. So, Rebekah's plan to get the blessing for Jacob by fraud and deceit was frantically set into motion. Again, remember, one can never use fleshly methods to accomplish spiritual goals. It just never works. Rebekah and Jacob set about to insure that God's word about Jacob's position would be secured. Their scheme to do that, however, would have far-reaching and unforeseen consequences and bring division and great grief to the Isaac family.
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27:14-29
"And he went and got them and
brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such
as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the
choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the
house, and put them on Jacob her younger
son. And she put the skins of the kids of the
goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had
prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went to his
father and said, 'My father.' And he said, 'Here I am. Who are
you, my son?' Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your
firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and
eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.' But Isaac
said to his son, 'How is it that you have found it so quickly, my
son?' And he said, 'Because the LORD your God brought it to me.'
Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Please come near,
that I may feel you, my son, whether you are
really my son Esau or not.' So Jacob went near to Isaac his
father, and he felt him and said, 'The voice is Jacob's voice,
but the hands are the hands of Esau.' And he
did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his
brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.
Then he said, 'Are you really my son Esau?' He said, 'I am.' He
said, 'Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's game, so
that my soul may bless you.' So he brought it near to him, and he
ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac
said to him, 'Come near now and kiss me, my son.' And he came
near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing,
and blessed him and said: 'Surely, the smell of my son Is like
the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. Therefore
may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the
earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and
nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let
your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses
you, and blessed be those who bless you!'"
At first blush, this whole plan of Rebekah may sound a bit far fetched but,
keep in mind, that Isaac was very old at this time and, unfortunately,
the elderly are easily taken advantage of. It is notoriously easy to
deceive and bilk them. It happens all the time. Once during my ministry, a very elderly woman in our
congregation, who was in her late nineties, announced that she was getting
married. Her husband, as it turned out, was a young, local con-artist in our community. Nothing,
however,
could deter her. She went ahead with the marriage and subsequently lost
everything that she owned including her new and very expensive home. Only
through the courts were her children able to recover some of the losses. I
believe this is why Jacob and Rebekah were able to so easily take advantage of
Isaac. Did you notice
that Jacob even brought God into it when he spoke to his father?
What a pious fraud he was. Isaac erred in not giving the
blessing to Jacob in the first place but Jacob erred in stealing
it from his aged father. Had both acted with integrity, God would
have doubtless worked it out correctly and saw to it that Jacob
got the blessing, fulfilling his Word on the subject.
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27:30-40
Now it happened, as soon as Isaac
had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from
the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in
from his hunting. He also had made savory food, and brought it to
his father, and said to his father, 'Let my father arise and eat
of his son's game, that your soul may bless me.' And his father
Isaac said to him, 'Who are you?' So he said, 'I am your son,
your firstborn, Esau.' Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said,
'Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I
ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him; and indeed
he shall be blessed.' When Esau heard the words of his father, he
cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his
father, 'Bless me; me also, O my father!' But he said, 'Your
brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.' And Esau
said, 'Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me
these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has
taken away my blessing!' And he said, 'Have
you not reserved a blessing for me?' Then Isaac answered and said
to Esau, 'Indeed I have made him your master, and all his
brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I
have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?' And
Esau said to his father, 'Have you only one blessing, my father?
Bless me; me also, O my father!' And Esau
lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his
father answered and said to him: 'Behold, your
dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of
heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and you shall
serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become
restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.'"
When Esau learned that his blessing had been stolen by his brother,
Jacob, he cried, "Is he not rightly
named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times".
Remember, Jacob's name meant "supplanter" or "underminer".
By his deception and theft of
Isaac's blessing, he had truly lived up to his name. Before you and I get too down on
him, though, are you aware that we all have hearts like Jacob to one degree or another? That's right. We are all crafty and sneaky
aren't we. We have all had occasions when we went to any lengths to get our own way
and secure what we wanted regardless of the consequences. Have you ever deceived someone so that you
could get your own way? The Bible says...
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." Jeremiah 17:9-10
I sure am glad that God is merciful and gracious to us Jacobs, aren't you? He forgives our self-centered, conniving, greedy and unloving trespasses and is ready, willing and able to help us grow into true righteousness and character. He even helps us to patch up our past transgressions and teaches us how not to repeat them in the future. This will be the case with Jacob as well. But, for now, Jacob had really gone and done it! He would be paying for his greed and deceit for decades to come.
Esau was crushed. He had sold his birthright, which would have given him a double portion of the inheritance. And, now, he had lost his blessing as well, which would have put him in charge as head over the household. Sometimes people just go too far. I suspect that when Jacob and Rebekah heard Esau cry (remember, they did dwell in tents) with an exceedingly great and bitter cry it no doubt sobered them to the bottom of their sandels with the enormity of what they had done. On top of that, they had also, no doubt, overheard Isaac's prophecy and blessing on Esau which likewise could not have produced anything short of foreboding and fear in their minds. Isaac's words, "By your sword shall you live" was a pregnant phrase that probably echoed over and over again in Rebekah and Jacob's minds.
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27:41-46
"So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, 'The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.' And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, 'Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away, until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?'
Now, that is real trouble, brother. The Isaac family now had a full-blown crisis on their hands. There are a lot of different kinds of trouble in the world. There are financial problems, relative problems, health problems, business problems, work problems, church problems ... the list goes on and on ... but of all those troubles ... nothing compares to seriousness of family trouble. A very successful businessman uncle of mine used to say, "You don't know what trouble is until you've had family trouble". There is a lot of truth in that statement. Now, in the Isaac family, one son hated the other and was plotting to kill his brother. And, he meant business. Like Cain before him, Esau was fully prepared to murder Jacob as soon as his father had passed away. But, when Rebekah got wind of it, she immediately sent Jacob away to her brother in Haran for a few days until Esau cooled off. Those few days, however, turned into 20 years and Rebekah never lived to see her favorite boy, Jacob, again. Let me say it again ... using fleshly means to achieve spiritual objectives never works. The cost is always too high.
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27:46-28:5
"And Rebekah said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?' Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: 'You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.' So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau."
You can't help but admire poor old Isaac here. Even at his great age and, in the midst of his family breaking up, he kept his head and his spiritual perspective. He had blessed Jacob unwittingly but now he blesses him openly, having great compassion on his wayward deceptive son. That is grace and maturity and a good heart, brother. Like Isaac, we parents need to consistently operate on that level with our kids. No grudges ... no vengeance ... just grace and blessing toward all our children. My, how many Christian homes and children would be transformed if this were the nature of their parents and their parent's dealings with them. And so, Isaac passed on the promise of Abraham to Jacob for his safekeeping. Isaac knew that God had chosen Jacob. As you have it in Romans 9:10-13...
"And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls, it was said to her, 'The older shall serve the younger.' As it is written, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.'"
One more thought here before we leave these verses. It is an axiomatic truth in the Word of God that what we sew we will reap. Another way of putting it is, "People are paid back in our own coin". Jacob was on his way to live with Uncle Laban and he was in for an education. Uncle Laban, you see, was a master at deceit and craftiness.
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28:6-9
"Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, 'You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,' and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had."
It appears that Esau now decided that he wanted his parents approval of a wife. So, having seen that they were upset about the two Canaanite wives he had taken, he went out and took a third wife from a relative, namely one of Ishmael's daughters. I guess, Esau just didn't get it. Isaac and Rebekah desired godly wives for their sons ... not just relative wives for their sons. Oh well, that's the flesh and the blind mindset of a carnal person. They just never get it. Reminds me of that old commercial about Charley the Tuna. "Charley! Starlkist want's tunas that taste good. Not tunas with good taste!" If you're too young to remember that one ... just indulge me. Anyway, this incident is just another confirmation of why God chose Jacob over Esau, is it not?
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28:10-19
"Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: 'I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.' Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.' And he was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously."
Bethel is about 40 some miles from Beersheba where Jacob began his journey. I suspect, due to fear of Esau, Jacob hadn't stopped to rest those first two days out. He was fleeing for his life. Having stolen the blessing, yet now, he was poor as a church mouse and had to sleep with a rock for a pillow. When he finally paused to rest, he probably was so exhausted that he should have slept sitting up. In the midst of his fitful dreams, however ... lo, he received a vision from God. He had been chosen, you see. It was through Jacob that the promised Seed would come and the other promised of the Covenant would pass down. That night, Jacob received from the Lord the now famous Jacob's Ladder vision. Jesus told Nathaniel that he too would one day see this same thing, by the way. As you have it in John 1:51...
"And He said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'"
In a deep sleep, Jacob was the first to see this reality of the spirit world. Jacob saw angels ascending and descending from the throne of God. Then, God spoke to him. He spoke to Jacob about the Abrahamic Covenant and what Jacob's own role in it would be. My, what promises God gave Jacob that night! Four unconditional blessings were given to him from God upon his throne. Let's look at them. God said...
When Jacob awoke, he should have been blessed out of his socks ... but, he was terrified. He had never experienced anything like what he had just seen and heard nor had he ever been spoken to directly by God before. He said, "How dreadful is this place." Then, he hurried about to make an offering and worship. He didn't have much, so he poured oil on the rock that he had been using for his pillow. It was a small offering to the Lord. But, it was all that he had to give. I'm sure it was incredibly sweet to the Lord, however, who looks upon the heart and not the gift. I believe it was the beginning of a real relationship between Jacob and his God.
Next, Jacob named the place. Previously, the little town nearby had been called Luz (which means "almond tree"). Jacob changed its name to Bethel (which means "house of God"). It would become famous in the years to come and in the annals of scripture. In retrospect, when Jacob thought on it later, it must have been a mega encouragement to this young saint of God who had brought so much grief and trouble upon himself. Jacob, flawed though he was, had received great and wonderful promises from his God. And, they were just for him.
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28:20-22
"Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.'"
Next, Jacob attempted to bargain with his God. It sounds like "Let's Make a Deal" to me ... how about you? Jacob was a real babe at the point in his experience with God. Obviously, he doubted God's word as given him in the dream he had just received. What a fatal weakness this is in the sons of men, aye? Unbelief. It is the greatest hindrance to our walk with God. Furthermore, this babe, Jacob, even thought he could buy God's favor! How infantile. Before we get on Jacob's case too hard though, maybe we should ask ourselves, "What do I offer to God to pay for his favor and blessings?" Nothing, I hope. At worst, that would be an insult and a slap in the face of God and at best, a glaring sign of our spiritual immaturity. I never cease to be amazed at God's long-suffering with us sinners. We can't offer anything to God to secure his favor and blessings, brother and sister. We can't pay God back for his goodness or his great salvation or buy his favor ... not even with our tithes (contrary to popular opinion)! God is just plain good to us because that is the way he is. Accept it and get on with it! My son Dave called me not long ago from El Paso, Texas, just to tell me about a blessing he received from God in selling an item on E-bay. He said, "Dad, God blesses us just because he wants to bless us!" I said, "Amen, son. You're exactly right." God is Good! Believe it and receive it.
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29:1-10
"So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East. And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well's mouth. Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well's mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well's mouth. And Jacob said to them, 'My brethren, where are you from?' And they said, 'We are from Haran.' Then he said to them, 'Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?' And they said, 'We know him.' So he said to them, 'Is he well?' And they said, 'He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.' Then he said, 'Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.' But they said, 'We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep. Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.'"
Ever notice how many "coincidences" there are in the lives of the people of God? Have you seen it in your own life? God is at work, isn't he! Not long ago, while working as a courier for Providence Health System, I had just finished my day and was heading for the main hospital to deliver all the blood specimens I had picked up that afternoon (I had regular pickups as well as radio dispatched pickups). As I was relaxing and driving along, all of a sudden, an overwhelming impression came over me, "Go over to Sellwood Medical. There are specimens in their box." Sellwood Medical was a somewhat regular customer but not a regular stop. When they had something to be picked up they would call dispatch and then dispatch would call me to go there and pick up their specimens. They had not called and I ignored the impression and kept on driving. But, it came again and again ... more persistent, "Go to Sellwood Medical. There are specimens in their box." Finally, I broke off from returning to the hospital and cut across country to Sellwood Medical. They were closed. I opened their box with my key and there they were ... several blood specimens for the lab. They had forgotten to call them in. By morning, they would have been ruined. Was one of those specimens from one of God's children and vital to their health? Or, was God simply leading me, His own child? I don't know. I know this though, looking back over my life I can clearly see that God has lead me. He leads his own. As you have it in Romans 8:14...
"For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
He has been with me all the way. Sometimes it was in obvious ways, such as the Sellwood incident. Often it was in not so obvious ways that perhaps I will did not even recognize at the time. But this much I know...
"He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where-e'er I be,
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me, By his own hand He leadeth me!
His faithful follower I would be, for my His hand He leadeth me.
God was leading Jacob. His word to Jacob at Bethel would now begin to be worked out in Jacob's life in shoe leather. As he had said to Jacob...
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." 28:15
Coming back to our text, notice here how similar this event of Rachel, just showing up at the well, was with that of Abraham's servant when Rebekah just showed up in the same way and from the same household (24:15). Do you think that God does not lead his people? He surely does, doesn't he!? As you have it in Psalm 32:8 ...
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye."
The next verse there in Psalms 38, is also interesting, by the way, says...
"Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you."
Beloved, God not only leads us. He often wants us to know it when he leads us. This brings a whole new level of fellowship with God into a believer's life. A while back, my wife and I arrived in Chicago to visit our son who was attending school at Wheaton. We came into town down from Wisconsin and when we got closer in I called my son on my cell phone to let him know we were getting close. He said, "Where are you?" We were sitting at a red light and I looked up at the street intersection sign and said we were at the corner of such and such. There was a moment of silence, then he said, "Pull over, I'm just two blocks away!" A couple of minutes later we were hugging. Ever been to Chicago? It's huge .... go figure!
Coming back to the text, we have here one of the Bible's great love stories in the making. Do you believe in "love at first sight"? Well, Jacob fell "head over heals" for this girl, Rachel when he first laid eyes on her there at the well. I believe that when he saw her and kissed her he was a goner. Although Jacob was fleeing from the wrath of his brother, fundamentally he had been sent to Haran to find a bride. This would be the second and third brides that were to come out of the Laban family. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
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29:11-14
"Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. So she ran and told her father. Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, 'Surely you are my bone and my flesh.' And he stayed with him for a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, 'Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?"
Granted, this was no romantic kiss we are talking about here. This was that oriental custom that we still see today between people who greet one another in that culture. Paul's admonition to the Romans comes to mind here...
"Greet one another with a holy kiss." Rom. 16:16a
After the traditional kiss of greeting, what happened next surely must have shocked Rachel. How strange it must have seemed to her when this young relative, after greeting her with a kiss, immediately lifted up his voice and wept! She must have asked herself, "What is he crying about?" But, Jacob's emotions had overcome him. No doubt, the familiar story of his mother having been found in this same exact place and ... in this exact same manner ... at the well in Haran had been playing over and over again in Jacob's mind with every step of his long journey. It was a story doubtlessly burned upon his brain. He had heard it over and over from a child. The likeness of it to his present situation was just too overwhelming. Although everything else had gone bad ... still his God had been looking out for him and was leading him just as he had led his father and mother before him. By God's hand, he had arrived safely at Laban's house and, of all things, he had been greeted at the well by a beautiful girl ... Rachel! De ja vu! Furthermore, I believe Jacob sensed that this girl would be his future wife. There was nothing for it but to weep. Have you ever felt like that after you have been plodding through the dark valleys of tribulation and then suddenly discovered that God had been striding along with you, protecting you and leading you all the way? Sometimes, it is just overwhelming. Shortly afterward, Jacob went to work for Laban.
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29:16-20
Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, 'I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.' And Laban said, 'It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.' So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, 'Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.' And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, 'What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?' And Laban said, 'It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.' Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years."
When it says here that Leah's eyes were delicate that ... is putting it delicately. The King James says tender eyed. Actually the word means "weakeyed". To put it bluntly, Leah was cross-eyed! Not exactly a mark of beauty in any culture. The verse here contrasts this with Rachel who it says was beautiful of form and appearance. These two sisters compared to each other like the ugly duckling and the swan. And, as our texts states, Jacob loved Rachel.
The plot thickens. Jacob, the trickster, had met his match in Uncle Laban. Laban had two daughters and he badly needed to marry off the older ugly one. So, he set about to trick Jacob into marrying her. In the end, the conniver (Jacob) was out-connived. There really is something to that old adage, "What goes around comes around". As unlikely as this may seem in our culture, in that culture it was not only quite possible to palm off the wrong bride ... but Laban actually pulled it off. Apparently, brides were heavily clothed and veiled throughout the marriage ceremony in those days and they only physically revealed themselves to their grooms when they were alone in their honeymoon chamber. In addition, I suspect that there may have been a good deal of celebrative drinking at the wedding. Leah no doubt took it a step further, probably feigning modesty and blowing out the lamps before getting undressed and getting into bed with Jacob.
Now, I don't know about you, but I think one of the funniest lines in scripture is found right here where it says, it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. BEHOLD indeed. At first light, Jacob found he was not staring into the lovely eyes of Rachel but into the crossed eyes of Leah! I chuckle even as I write this. Brother, that must have been the behold of all beholds. Now, I'm not making fun of Leah. As it turns out, of the two sisters, she was the one that had the real beauty. Leah's beauty was inward and far outshined that of Rachel. These two sisters were opposites outside in beauty and on the inside they were opposites in the other direction. Make no mistake about it, when Jacob got Leah for his true and first wife, he got a prize indeed. And, Leah being his first wife, was his true wife and the woman that God had planned for Jacob all along. Leah, not Rachel, (we will see a bit later), would be buried with Jacob in the cave of Machpelah where Abraham and Rebekah were buried ... and, I might add, rightly so.
Immediately, Jacob confronted Laban over this blatant deception and they struck a deal for Rachel to become Jacob's second wife as soon as Leah's one week honeymoon period was over. Also, Jacob agreed to work an additional 7 years to pay for her. Actually, this was how Uncle Laban had pictured it working out all along. He would get top dollar for Leah then, immediately after, he would also give Rachel to Jacob and get top dollar for her as well. Keep in mind that, in oriental cultures, brides are purchased ... and the more desirable the bride is ... the higher the price she will bring. This custom still prevails even in our day. I recall back in July of 05, former President Bill Clinton received an offer from an African official to give him 40 goats and 20 sheep for his daughter Chelsea! I don't suspect that Chelsea was amused but by African standards that probably was quite an offer.
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29:28-30
"Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years."
Now, God never intended for a man to have more than one wife. This is clearly seen in the one man one woman creation account back in the first chapter of Genesis. Jesus also said that marriage was a monogamous relationship as does the whole of the New Testament scriptures. However, polygamy was practiced in many of man's cultures and the Bible simply records the facts of it. However, it invariably always caused trouble. We see it here at the very beginning of Jacob's marriages to two women. When we read, he also loved Rachel more than Leah we know that things are not going to go well in the Jacob household. From the beginning, this home was in for some very rough water.
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29:31-35
"When the
LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb;
but Rachel was barren. So
Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben;
for she said, 'The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now
therefore, my husband will love me.' Then she conceived again and
bore a son, and said, 'Because the LORD has heard that I am
unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.' And she called
his name Simeon.
She conceived again and bore a son, and said, 'Now this time my
husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him
three sons.' Therefore his name was called Levi.
And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, 'Now I will
praise the LORD.' Therefore she called his name Judah.
Then she stopped bearing."
My, what a great heart of compassion and justice of our God has. When he saw that Leah was unloved, it greatly touched his heart and he began to give Leah children to make up for it. It isn't unusual for God to step in and even the playing field, by the way. That is the basic principle behind Jesus' words concerning the future day of rewards, when he said...
"But many who are first will be last, and the last first." Matt. 19:30
Before Jacob had finished working off Rachel, Leah had presented him with four strapping baby boys. Hallelujah! With each subsequent birth of her first 3 boys, Leah was sure that the new son would cause Jacob to love her. But, it was not to be. Sad. Very sad. Notice though, she didn't have that expectation with the fourth one. When little Judah came along, she simply said, "Now I will praise the Lord." How appropriate and how prophetic! Messiah would come through Leah's boy, Judah. Blessed and happy mother Leah ... indeed!
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30:1-8
"Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, 'Give me children, or else I die!' And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, 'Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?' So she said, 'Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.' Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, 'God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.' Therefore she called his name Dan. And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, 'With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.' So she called his name Naphtali."
Once again, we come here to that custom among the ancients whereby a servant belonging to a wife could be given to her husband as a servant-wife (concubine) and the offspring of that union would be counted as the offspring of the wife that owner her. You will remember that this was the same custom that Sarah used with Hagar (Gen. 16) to get Ishmael. But, this just added to the conflicts that polygamy brought to Jacob's home. More than one wife vying for one husband's affections was bad news. These two sister's jealousy of one another was only exacerbated by the fact that Leah now had four sons but Rachel still had none. In pain and anguish of spirit, one day Rachel stuck out at Jacob accusing him for her barren womb. A verbal fight ensued. Then Rachel, realizing the flimsy nature of her accusation, decided to take matters into her own hands and give her maid, Bilhah, to Jacob so that she could attain children through her maid. This, she thought, would solve her immediate need to have children but, in reality, it made their home even more complicated and open to even more stress as their were now three wives vying for Jacob's time and affections. Nevertheless, two more fathers of the tribes of Israel, Dan and Naphtali, were born and Rachel had herself two surrogate boys.
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30:9-13
"When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, 'A troop comes!' So she called his name Gad. And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, 'I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.' So she called his name Asher."
Not to be outdone, Leah said, "Two can play that game!" So, she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob for a fourth wife. As a result, along came Gad and Asher. There were now six boys in Leah's column and two in Rachel's.
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30:14-21
"Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, 'Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.' But she said to her, 'Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?' And Rachel said, 'Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes.' When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, 'You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes.' And he lay with her that night. And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, 'God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.' So she called his name Issachar. Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. And Leah said, 'God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.' So she called his name Zebulun. Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah."
Interesting how parents draw their siblings into their quarrels, isn't it? Reuben, being fully aware of his mother's competition with Rachel, found some mandrakes in the field one day and promptly brought them home to mom. Mandrakes ("love-apples") were thought to be an aphrodisiac in those days. They are so mentioned in the context of lovemaking in the Song of Solomon.
"Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see if the vine has budded, whether the grape blossoms are open, and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. The mandrakes give off a fragrance, and at our gates are pleasant fruits, all manner, new and old, which I have laid up for you, my beloved."
Rachel heard about the mandrakes that Reuben had brought home to Leah and she was determined to get them for herself. This is beginning to sound like an episode of the Jerry Springer show, is it not?! Notice how bitter Leah was toward Rachel. She said, "You have stolen my husband and you want my mandrakes also?" Nevertheless, Rachel continued to bargain for the mandrakes and cut a deal with Leah. If she could have the mandrakes, she would tell Jacob to go to Leah's bed that very night. Apparently, Jacob normally slept with Rachael. A bargain was struck. The end result was that once again Leah became pregnant. She gave birth to a fifth son, Issachar, and she gave the Lord the glory. Notice that this baby was an answer to prayer. As you have it above, and God listened to Leah.
At this point in time, Rachel just didn't seem to be with it when it came to the Lord. But, I believe she was growing, as we will see shortly. Then, Leah became pregnant again. This time she gave birth to her sixth son, Zebulun, both giving glory to God and renewing her hope that now, as the mother of eight of Jacob's sons, he would at long last love her. Unfortunately, that was not to be ... for now. (I say, "for now", because when we come to chapter 35, we will come to the death of Rachel. She died in childbirth giving birth to Benjamin. Ever wonder how things turned out after that for Jacob and Leah ... after Jacob had lost the great love of his life? I believe that Leah benefited greatly. I will comment on that when we get to 35). Again, Leah became pregnant and Jacob's first daughter, Dinah, was born. The score was now Leah 9 ... Rachel 2.
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30:22-24
"Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore a son, and said, 'God has taken away my reproach.' So she called his name Joseph, and said, 'The LORD shall add to me another son.'"
Good going, Rachel! You have gotten around to call upon the Lord and he has heard you. Hallelujah! This is exciting territory. God hears the cries of his people. The problem is ... we too often fail to seek his face. As James bluntly puts it, you have not because you ask not (James 4:2b). Rachel cried unto God and asked God for a child and as a result she gave birth to one of the greatest saints of all recorded history, Joseph! Beloved, do you ask God for things? Jesus said,
"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."
And again...
"Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." John 16:24
The Psalmist says,
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11
Again, James says,
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." James 1:17-18
Ask.
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30:25-36
"And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, 'Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.' And Laban said to him, 'Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.' Then he said, 'Name me your wages, and I will give it.' So Jacob said to him, 'You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?' So he said, 'What shall I give you?' And Jacob said, 'You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.' And Laban said, 'Oh, that it were according to your word!' So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. Then he put three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks."
Notice that the blessings of God's favor on Jacob had all along been spilling over onto Laban. Laban's prosperity was clearly linked to Jacob's relationship with his God. Even Laban recognized it. Jacob wanted to leave and Rachel had now been paid for but Laban wanted him to stay. The two agreed that from now on there would be wages to be paid if Jacob was to stay. Jacob specifically asked that his wages be all the variegated (mixed colored) spotted and speckled among the flocks. Laban immediately agreed knowing that such animals were a minority amongst his herds and a deal was struck.
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30:37-31:2
"Now Jacob
took for himself rods of green poplar and of
the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white
strips in them, and exposed the white which
was in the rods. And the rods which he had
peeled, he set before the flocks in the
gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink,
so that they should conceive when they came to drink. So
the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought
forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward
the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put
his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban's
flock. And it came to pass, whenever the
stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before
the eyes of the livestock in the gutters,
that they might conceive among the rods. But
when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in;
so the feebler were Laban's and the stronger
Jacob's. Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had
large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, 'Jacob has
taken away all that was our father's, and from what was our
father's he has acquired all this wealth.'
And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and
indeed it was not favorable toward him as before."
Uh oh! Jacob the conniver was back. His plan was twofold. First, he would cause the flocks to mate in front of peeled rods to produce all variegated offspring which would then become his. Second, as time went on, he would improve on his herd by only allowing Laban's stronger animals to mate before the rods insuring that strong healthy variegated stock would be born for himself but puny weak ones would be left for Uncle Laban. "Is this scientific?", someone will doubtless object. Not to my knowledge. If you will wait for a few more verses though, I think it will all come clear to you how this occurred. For now, just let me say that God was leveling the playing field for Jacob who had basically worked for over 14 years for nothing except Laban's two daughters while Laban himself had become rich. As the scheme worked, you just have to smile when you read, Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. Labon, the master conniver, had been outfoxed at his own game ... not by Jacob, we will shortly see ... but by God himself. And, again, what goes around comes around."
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31:3-16
"Then
the LORD said to Jacob, 'Return to the land of your fathers and
to your family, and I will be with you.' So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his
flock, and said to them, 'I see your father's countenance, that
it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father
has been with me. And you know that with all my might I have
served your father. Yet your father has
deceived me and changed my wages ten times,
but God did not allow him to hurt me. If he said thus: 'The
speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore speckled.
And if he said thus: 'The streaked shall be your wages,' then all
the flocks bore streaked. So God has taken
away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I
lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which
leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted.
Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream,
saying, 'Jacob.' And I said, 'Here I am.' And He
said, 'Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the
flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen
all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God
of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow
to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of
your family.' Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, 'Is
there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father's
house? Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold
us, and also completely consumed our money. For all these riches
which God has taken from our father are really ours and our
children's; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.'"
It was time for Jacob to go home so God gave him his marching orders. No doubt, that was music to Jacob's ears. He would no longer be Laban's servant or employee. He would be on his own. He called for his wives and gave them the good news. He also told them of the plan God had given him in a dream to ask Laban for the streaked, speckled and gray-spotted flocks for his wages. Now, that clears things up considerably. It was the Lord that gave crooked Laban's flocks to Jacob as just recompense for his all of Jacob's 14 years of hard work. Jacob's wives were in agreement that this was just. They knew, all too well, of Laban's greed and how he had used Jacob. In addition, Jacob's wives pointed out that there was no longer an inheritance for them in Laban's house anyway. They said, in effect, Laban had sold them and then used up the money that he had gotten for them. The whole Jacob household were together on this. They all agreed that what they had received was justly theirs and that it was now time to leave.
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31:17-25
"Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father's. And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead. And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, 'Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.' So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead."
After 20 years, Jacob was now on "the road again" (31:41). The great escape commenced. The plot thickened. Laban was an idol worshipper. And, on the way out of town, Rachel stole Laban's household idols who she, no doubt, mistakenly associated with the prosperity and favor that Laban had enjoyed. Consistent with most of the ancient history of Israel, Laban's household were polytheists. He worshipped the Lord right along with other gods as well (31:30). Pathetic, but true. Apparently, God had not yet revealed his displeasure with such practices. That would come when he gave his Law to Moses.
Our text says Jacob crossed the river. That would be the Euphrates river. But, Laban heard of it and he and his band of men quickly caught up. Jacob was encumbered with women and children, flocks and herds, you see. However, God warned Laban in a dream not to mess with Jacob either good nor bad. I suspect, had not God spoken to him, Laban would have killed Jacob and seized all of his possessions. But, after God's intervention, Laban was forced to walk softly.
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31:26-35
"And Laban said to Jacob: 'What
have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and
carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? Why
did you flee away secretly, and steal away
from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy
and songs, with timbrel and harp? And you did not allow me to
kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so
doing. It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your
father spoke to me last night, saying, "Be careful that you
speak to Jacob neither good nor bad."
And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your
father's house, but why did you steal my gods?'
Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, 'Because I was afraid, for
I said, "Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by
force." With whomever you find your gods,
do not let him live. In the presence of our
brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.'
For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen
them. And Laban went into Jacob's tent, into
Leah's tent, and into the two maids' tents, but he did not find
them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.
Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel's
saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent
but did not find them. And she said to her father, 'Let it not
displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner
of women is with me.' And he searched but did not find the
household idols."
Notice here that Laban didn't obey God's command to him. According to verse 24, God had appeared to him and restricted him from speaking either good or bad to Jacob. That being the case, what do you think that Laban should have done? Obviously, the Lord left him no choice but to break off the pursuit and go back home lest he risk the Lord's wrath by saying anything at all to Jacob! But, Laban was a "bullhead" and he came on anyway. He was making a mad dash to catch Jacob and recover his gods. He was lucky to return home alive, brother. If God wasn't the God of all grace, mercy and longsuffering, Laban would have been toast. When Laban caught up to Jacob, he proceeded to chastise him stiffly and accused him of stealing his gods. This instituted a search of the camp and only Rachel’s lie and cunning saved her from having her father discover the stolen idols, which as it turns out, she sat on and told her father that she couldn't get up because her was having her period. Note that Laban was searching his own daughter's tent knowing that if he found them there Rachel would pay with her life! Does that tell you anything about the nature of this man?
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31:36-42
"Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: 'What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.'"
The love of money always causes injustice to reign. Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil." Laban was greedy. His love of money and material things had consumed him. It was more important to him than even his own daughters. God is just. He hates injustice. Therefore, he had taken from Laban and given it to Jacob his due. It was the right thing to do. Laban was a man driven by the philosophy of the world that says, "Get all you can get and keep all you can keep!" How sad. Laban's priorities, like those of countless others down through history, had run amuck. Jesus said...
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money)." Matt. 6:24
Are your priorities in the right place, dear saint? God's Word says...
"Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you."
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31:43-55
"And Laban
answered and said to Jacob, 'These
daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children,
and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine.
But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their
children whom they have borne? Now therefore, come, let us make a
covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.'
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a
pillar. Then Jacob said to his brethren,
'Gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap, and they
ate there on the heap. Laban called it Jegar
Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
And Laban said, 'This heap is a witness between you and me this
day.' Therefore its name was called Galeed,
also Mizpah, because he said, 'May the LORD
watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. If
you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my
daughters, although no man is withus; see, God is witness between
you and me!' Then Laban said to Jacob, 'Here is this heap and
here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. This
heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not
pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this
heap and this pillar to me, for harm. The God of Abraham, the God
of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.' And Jacob
swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Then
Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his
brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on
the mountain. And early in the morning Laban
arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then
Laban departed and returned to his
place."
Jegar Sahadutha means
"heap of witness" in Aramaic. Gileed means "heap of
witness" in Hebrew. Mizpah means
"watch". Jay Vernon McGee says that this was a
covenant between two rascals. From both sides it meant, "The
Lord keep an eye on you!" Thus they parted and I suspect
that neither would ever again miss the others company. Now, concerning Laban, let me say that he was the worse of the two by far. His
dearth of God's blessings was due to his
apostasy. He worshipped false gods and gave them the credit for his blessings. He would have to give up
those idols and get serious with the one and only true God,
the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, if he had any hope of real life,
blessing and eternal relationship with the Lord. Jacob, rascal that he
was, at least was not an idol worshipper. He had a long way to go
in attaining godliness in his life but he was on the right track
and that's what really matters does it not?
One final word here. When Jacob sealed his oath with Laban, our text says that he swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. This name of God is quite unique and very much to the point. Here, it is given to us as, "Fear". The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). One of the key characteristics of an unbeliever is that he or she has no fear of God. As you have it in Psalm 36:1...
"An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes."
Psalm 19:9 says...
"The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever..."
"Fear"
was the great and powerful name that Jacob chose to seal his oath with Laban.
I too fear the Lord. Do you fear him, dear reader? It is one of his names
you know. And, it is the beginning of wisdom.