Jacob, ever since we’ve seen him introduced to us in Genesis, has been a man surrounded by tension. Tenson was there at his birth as he strove with Esau in the womb. Tension was there in between he and Esau once again at the selling of the birthright for some stew. Tension was there between he and Isaac as he deceived his father to receive the blessing intended for Esau. Tension was there when Jacob had to flee his own home fearing for his life. And tension has been present the whole time Jacob has been at Laban’s house, in his service. Yet, the tension Jacob experiences at Laban’s isn’t from his own doing, no. The tension Jacob experiences at Laban’s was Laban’s doing, for Laban deceived and manipulated Jacob many times, resulting in Jacob serving Laban for nearly 20 years.
Chapter 31 in Genesis show us how Jacob and Laban finally part ways. But even here as this chapter in Jacob’s life closes, tension remains thick. Perhaps thicker than we’ve seen yet. Chapter 31 is long, 55 verses are before us today. To make it more digestible, I’ve broken the chapter up into five scenes, similar to how we’ve done it before when longer chapters have been before us.[1] So see first…
Scene 1 (v1-3)
“Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
As soon as v1 begins we’re in the midst of tension yet again. Jacob hears the rumors swirling around Laban’s estate that he is no longer favored. Why? Well, because he’s grown wealthy. But it’s more than that. Specifically the way Jacob’s wealth is being spoken of is that he was grown wealthy and rich because he’s taken or stolen it from Laban. That’s what v1-2 are getting at. The sons of Laban were growing weary of Jacob and his many possessions, so much so that it seems Laban himself began growing weary of Jacob as well. So with both brothers-in-law and father-in-law against him Jacob has become persona non grata.[2]
Into this setting comes v3, “Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” As Abraham heard God’s call long ago in chapter 12 to go out to a certain land, now Jacob hears God’s call once again. And what welcome news this would’ve been! He had longed to go home before but had been unable to, now as he hears the command to go coupled with the promise of God’s presence with him in v3, Jacob sets himself to go home.
Scene 2 (v4-16)
“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. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
After hearing the call in v3, Jacob sets his sights on returning home and the first thing he knows he must do is convince his wives. So he thinks up a plan and in v4 he calls Rachel and Leah to himself. Note here the order of his wives? Leah is older, yet Rachel is mentioned first (v14 as well) because Jacob preferred her over her sister.[3] What follows in v5-13 is what Jacob says in order to convince them to leave.
This is where I must pause and be totally transparent with you about the text. Normally when I study I not only look at the text but I look at commentaries that talk about the text. And normally those commentaries are very good, and I agree with them and what they say about the text. But here, I must say I disagree with almost every commentary I have on Genesis. I don’t normally disagree with most of my commentaries and so it’s very surprising that I find myself in this position, but here I am. In general, what the commentaries say is that Jacob here shows himself to be very a godly man, honest and upright in talking to his wives about why they should all return back to his home. I could not disagree more. I think Jacob, in v5-13, is actually very ungodly. I think he deceptively makes up a tall tale about God giving him a dream to get his wives on his side to convince them to leave. Now, you can disagree with me here all you like but just be aware that as I explain and work through the rest of this whole chapter I’m explaining it to you from my opinion that Jacob is being deceitful here.
See how he begins in v5. He says Laban hasn’t favored him, and has treated him cruelly for many years, changing his wages ten times (bit of hyperbole), yet all the while he says God has been with him. So from the beginning Jacob is pitting Laban against God, and saying God is on his side not Laban’s. Then he explains a ‘dream’ he had about all the striped, spotted, and mottled goats, and making it seem like God was the one doing all of this to increase his flock and decrease Laban’s flock. Yet what do we know? God didn’t do this, Jacob did this. The last chapter showed that to us, how Jacob intentionally mated the flocks to manipulate the outcome. In portraying these events like this, and using God to justify it all, Jacob is flat out lying. He’s using God for his own purposes, trying to convince his wives of his innocence and Laban’s guilt, to justify leaving. This is religious deception 101. ‘God came to me in a dream, and told me…exactly what I want to do already.’ The result is clear. It works! In v14-16 the wives agree with him, and they all decide to leave.
Scene 3 (v17-24)
“So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
So after duping his wives with made up tales about divine dreams, Jacob and his wives and all their possessions leave Laban’s estate for Canaan, Jacob’s home. We learn some details here in this third scene. It just so happened that Jacob left while Laban was away shearing sheep, and that by leaving in this way Jacob tricked Laban. So it’s as if Laban left to shear while all seemed well at home, only for Jacob to quickly leave as soon as Laban was out of sight. We learn that Rachel stole Laban’s idols (probably the ones he used earlier in chapter 30 for divination). It’s curious as to why she did this, we don’t really know whether she was planning to use them herself, or just steal something of worth to Laban. We also learn that when Laban was told of Jacob’s departure during his shearing, and that he chased Jacob for seven days before catching up to him, only to be warned by God to “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” Quickly, notice how Moses (the author of Genesis) says that this dream actually happened. Contrast that with how Jacob earlier just told his wives that he had a dream and that we never see it actually happen. I see a difference in dreams here. Jacob made his up while Laban was actually visited by God. Last detail to note is that Laban, for the first time I think, is referred to as the Aramean. This is a foreshadow we’re meant to see. Jacob and Laban are no longer united, they are indeed two separate peoples.
Scene 4 (v25-42)
“And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. 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.”
So after finally catching up with Jacob Laban begins the interaction in v26-30 with ironic words. “What have you done…” were the same words Jacob said to Laban after his wedding night, but now they’re on his own lips as he is distressed. Laban follows this with empty words, saying he would’ve sent Jacob away with joy and song and feasting and celebration (not likely), but instead Laban says Jacob tricked him by leaving like this. He calls Jacob a fool and then threatens him saying if he wanted too he could harm him, but God (defined as ‘the God of your Father’ once again indicating Laban’s ignorance of God) this God spoke and warned him against saying anything good or evil to Jacob, yet here Laban is speaking all kinds of evil against Jacob. After all this supposed lack of courtesy Jacob has shown Laban, he then states his last complaint, that his gods have been stolen.
Jacob’s convinced he’s innocent so he doesn’t even address these initial questions from Laban (yet) but just tells him to search through his stuff and that if anyone has his gods they will die. Tension has already been rising, but now it rises higher because we know what Jacob doesn’t, that Rachel has taken them! But, with a breath of relief Laban doesn’t find them, though he searches through everything.
This is when Jacob loses it. 20 years of pent-up frustration erupts in v36-42 as he lets Laban have it.[4] How he’s served him for 20 years and has done well in his service, though it has cost him much over the years. In times of ease and plenty Jacob says he did not overstep any boundaries in his work, and in times of hardship and loss Jacob says he bore the losses himself. In heat, in cold, and in sleepless nights he says he’s served him faithfully even though Laban didn’t return the favor. Then in v42 we see a monumental statement, “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.” Jacob certainly has not been free of guilt here, but here he cuts Laban to the heart. Laban has been all about amassing his own possessions and Jacob points it out harshly yet honestly. If it weren’t for God blessing Jacob despite Jacob, Laban would’ve prevailed and given Jacob nothing. But now, Laban knows v42 is true. God, called here the Fear of Isaac, has been on his side. What will Laban do? See it next in…
Scene 5 (v43-55)
“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.”
Laban is clearly caught.[5] He knows he must let it all go. Daughters, children, and flocks. You can almost hear him grieving the reality of the situation in v43 with his ‘my’ statements. But sees clearly now, and has been sobered by the God of Jacob, so he requests a covenant be made between. Jacob doesn’t have to do this, but I think he agrees to it because it establishes Jacob and Laban as two separate heads of their own households permanently.[6] So they do it, made a heap of stones as a pillar give names to it, and had a meal around the stone heap to confirm it. Three times in Jacob’s life he will set up a pillar like this. We saw the first one back at Bethel chapter 28, we see the second one here in this text, the we’ll see the third one as he buries Rachel in chapter 35. Each turning point in Jacob’s life is marked by these pillar, covenantal moments.[7]
Thus, another chapter in the life of Jacob closes. A chapter filled with frustration and sin, yet a chapter filled with the blessing and protection of God.[8]
Conclusion:
Church, this chapter in Jacob’s life reminds us of the sinfulness of sin. It’s reality, it’s entanglement, and it’s consequences. I’d we have as much to learn from Laban as we do from Jacob here in regard to their sin. But perhaps in general we could just say this. Be warned, sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. Sin exacts a heavy toll. Could you imagine what would have happened to Laban and Jacob if v42 was not true? If God was not with Jacob in all this mess, it’s very likely that these two would’ve killed each other in their anger. Yet there was God, restraining these sinners, and bringing to pass His own purpose.
The same is true in our lives too Church. I trust that most of you can also look back in your lives and confess what Jacob does in v42, if God were not with you, if God were not on your side…you would be lost. But praise God we can always say ‘Our Father is with us’ for He is ours in the gospel! He only knows where our sins would take us. Even in the midst of the mess of our lives at times, let’s be glad, that God keeps us and always brings His promises to pass. God is no mere idol to hidden under a saddle. He is the fearsome and faithful God, ever with His people, alone and ever worthy of our trust.
Genesis 31 invites us to look back and to look forward.[9] Looking back we can see how this chapter parallels Genesis 12, when Abraham went out and left his home in obedience to God’s call to go into the promise land with everything that he had. Looking forward we can see how this chapter will come to parallel the Exodus. Here Jacob’s large family flees from Laban, there the large people of Israel will flee Pharaoh. Here Jacob’s family plunders Laban, there Israel will plunder the Egyptians. Here Laban is forced to let Jacob and his family go, there Pharaoh is forced to let Israel go.
And looking further forward, we can bring it all the way to Christ, who like Jacob and like Israel but in a far greater way accomplished a plundering of His own. In His life and death and resurrection the Lord Jesus plundered the Devil’s house by rescuing and bringing freedom to those held in bondage and slavery to sin.
[1] Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2001), 422.
[2] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, WBC (Waco, TX: Zondervan, 2000), 269.
[3] Waltke, Genesis, 424.
[4] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 277.
[5] Wenham, 279.
[6] R. Kent Hughes, Genesis, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 394.
[7] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 279.
[8] Wenham, 283.
[9] Hughes, Genesis, 389.
