City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, “Let not my Lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods. Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.” Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? Come now, 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. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.” Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country. Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

Genesis 31:33-55

So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.”

Genesis 31:4-7

Reflection

We’ve come into the middle of the final confrontation between Laban and Jacob and while there’s much to unpack about this family’s trait of deception, the key takeaway is that in the midst of all the double-crossing, God is ultimately the one protecting Jacob from Laban for His purpose. God protects Jacob despite the fact that at this point Jacob still sees God as the “God of [his] father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac,” not necessarily as his personal God.

Rachel stole her father’s household gods and if Laban had found them, he would have been within his rights if he accused Jacob of theft. However, God had warned Laban in a dream to leave Jacob alone (Genesis 31:24). God also mercifully shielded Jacob from having to carry out his rash pronouncement of killing the thief even as the thief, Rachel, lied to her father. When Laban couldn’t find the gods, Jacob got angry and let Laban really have it.

Theft, idolatry, lies, and anger, this scene wouldn’t be one I’d readily point to and say “Oh look! God’s at work here.” Yet we see God’s grace at work exactly where it is needed – among sinful people; we also see God’s commitment to His purpose unshaken by their sin. It was God who commanded Jacob to return to Canaan and God ensured that nothing Laban, Rachel, or Jacob did or said deterred Jacob’s return.

Application

When we say “yes” to a relationship with God through Jesus, we are committing to living our lives obediently to God’s purposes. This doesn’t mean, we won’t face opposition; Jesus told us as much, that we would have troubles in this world (John 16:33). Whether these troubles are the doing of others or from our sinfulness, we can rest assured that nothing will stop God from fulfilling His purposes in the lives of all who trust Jesus for eternal life.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 ESV

Prayer

Dear Father, You are the strong God who brings Your purposes to pass. Please, help me to trust You for protection when I face troubles from others for obeying You. Please draw me to repentance, when I face troubles from my own sin because of the hope You give me in Jesus, amen.