In yesterday's passage we read the sad story of the sexual assault that a young man perpetrated upon Jacob's daughter Dinah. When word comes to Jacob that she has been so horribly violated, he doesn't take immediate action but waits for his sons to come in from their work in the fields. While he awaits their return, the father of the young man is on his way to see Jacob.
"Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. Meanwhile, Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob's daughter---a thing that should not be done." (Genesis 34:6-7) A more accurate way to translate verse 7 is that "Shechem had done an outrageous thing against Israel"---Israel meaning the new name of Jacob, not the nation of Israel. Jacob (Israel) and his family have been living and working among the people of the city peacefully. They've done no harm to anyone and expected no harm to be done to any of them. Jacob believed his daughter was safe when she went out to visit her female friends. Should he have made certain she was always provided with an escort? Maybe, but I think the hospitality the people had shown him had lulled him into a sense of complacency. He is a wealthy and well-known man in the area and owns property there. I think he expected the people of the city to treat him as one of their own. I think he thought they would consider him and his family untouchable. Most of the people probably did respect him too much to do him any harm, but an impetuous and spoiled young man was the bad apple in the barrel.
Hamor, the father of this young man, is a prominent person himself. The Bible told us in our passage yesterday that he is a ruler in the region. He comes out to Jacob's house to try to smooth things over by sharing what he thinks is welcome news. His son wants to marry Dinah. His son hasn't used Dinah and then cast her aside. He wants her for his wife and Hamor is here to help his son's wishes come true. He presents his case in a way that he thinks will seem advantageous to Jacob. "But Hamor said to them, 'My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it." (Genesis 34:8-10) Have you ever heard someone speak words that sound like the smooth words of the devil himself? Right now I think Hamor is being a spokesperson for the devil, though he doesn't realize it. There's nothing Satan would love more than to entice Jacob to allow his family to intermarry with idolaters. He'd love to turn Jacob's family toward idols and away from the one and only living God.
As always, the devil disguises his true intentions. He presents this plan of Hamor's to Jacob in a very attractive light, trying to tempt him into thinking, "My daughter's honor has already been violated. She probably won't be able to make a good match now and she might even be expecting a child. The best thing to do is allow her to marry this young man who is a reckless heathen but who is also the son of a wealthy and influential man. Then she will be well-provided for at least. If we make this match we can always live at peace among these people. We will be joining our growing, wealthy family with another growing, wealthy family. We can keep adding to our flocks and herds and our land holdings. We can travel anywhere we please in this territory without fear because no one would dare lay a finger on anyone connected with me or with Hamor. Our family will be too powerful for anyone to even think of doing us wrong."
If Jacob had agreed to this request, it would have been his downfall and the downfall of his entire family. It would have changed the course of history. There would be no nation of Israel because Jacob's descendants would have blended with the heathen peoples around them and would have become just like them. They would have stopped believing in and following the one true God and would have been bowing their knees to gods who don't exist. In time, judgment would have fallen upon them for wickedness and idolatry just as it fell on the tribes of Canaan.
I believe this is one more Satanic plot to try to prevent the Messiah from coming. The Lord has said that the Messiah will come from the descendants of Abraham, through Abraham's son Isaac's family line. It has become evident that of the two sons of Isaac, Jacob is the one who has the blessing of God and from whose descendants the Redeemer will be born. There's nothing in heaven or on earth or in hell that could prevent the Lord from carrying out His plan to offer redemption to mankind, but Satan thought he might be able to lure Jacob and his family into so much sin that the Lord would abandon His intention to offer salvation to the human race through a descendant of this family.
Jacob and his family are not going to join themselves with the wicked people of Canaan, but Jacob's sons are not going to turn down Hamor's offer in a godly way. In their outrage and anger, they are going to resort to vigilante justice. Oh, if only Jacob had gone home to his family as the Lord instructed! His daughter wouldn't have been sexually assaulted in Isaac's hometown. But even after making the mistake of settling in a godless city, and even after having his daughter attacked, Jacob could have done more to prevent this situation from exploding like a powder keg. As the father and as the head of the family, it was his place to settle matters with Hamor. Jacob is not infirm in body or in mind and is perfectly capable of taking charge, but instead he lets his sons have the power that only he should wield. They may be grown men, but he is still their father and he is the father of the young woman who was violated. It's his place to make demands and it's his place to set terms that will restore honor and dignity to his family.
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Friday, February 7, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 131, Bad Times In Shechem
Jacob has not yet gone home to his relatives as the Lord instructed him but has lodged in Shechem and has even bought a plot of land there. Choosing to live in this godless city is going to bring terrible trouble on Jacob and his family.
"Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women in the land." (Genesis 34:1) By this time Dinah is old enough to be considered a woman and is of marriageable age, as we will see shortly. Naturally she wants to make friends in this new location. She probably misses the friends she had in her old hometown and wants to get to know the other young ladies in Shechem. While Dinah lived on her grandfather's estate on the outskirts of Ur she likely never had to worry about visiting her friends without a protector along. She and her family assume she doesn't need a guardian to accompany her as she visits friends in Shechem. But Shechem isn't like the sophisticated (but sinful) city of Ur. Shechem is like an old west town that's rough and tough, a town where a person can have anything he wants if he's able to take it. A young man sees the attractive Dinah and wants her and decides to take her.
"When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her." (Genesis 34:2) This young man is named after the city he inhabits. Or maybe the city was named for him since he is the son of a prominent man; the Bible doesn't say why this man and the city both have the same name. But he thinks that because of who he is he can do anything he pleases. As a woman, it pains me to know that sexual violence toward women has been happening ever since the beginning of man's sojourn on earth. Even here in 2020 it's not always safe for a woman to be out alone anywhere she pleases. It should be safe, and no woman ought to have to fear being assaulted, but we still have to be on the alert even in these modern times.
"His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, 'Get me this girl as my wife.'" (Genesis 34:3-4) Shechem thinks he's fallen in love with the woman he's violated. I think maybe, now that he's done this deed, he feels possessive of her. He doesn't want any other man to ever have her and decides he must marry her to prevent that from happening. To him this possessive feeling is love. Due to his heathen, lawless background he doesn't know what real love is. Real love doesn't force itself on anyone. Real love doesn't physically attack and violate anyone. The Bible defines love like this: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
If Shechem really was in love with Dinah, he should have never laid a hand on her but should have courted her and had his father speak with her father about arranging a marriage. He's like the type of person who says, "It's better to ask forgiveness than to get permission." He goes ahead and takes what he wants and assumes Dinah's family will gladly and hastily arrange the marriage for a couple of reasons. One reason is that it will be difficult to find a husband for her now that she is no longer a virgin. In those times a man expected his wife to be a virgin unless she had been previously married and widowed. The other reason is that within a few weeks it might turn out that Dinah is pregnant. The family wouldn't want her to be an unwed mother. Shechem, the spoiled son of a high official who is used to getting what he wants, thinks there will be no problem in having his father arrange the marriage, especially now that Shechem has already slept with Dinah.
We don't know exactly what happened next. Perhaps poor Dinah went tearfully home and told her mother what had happened and then her mother brought the sad news to Jacob. Some scholars suggest that Shechem may have held Dinah hostage while his father attempted to arrange the marriage for him, so it may have been a messenger from Hamor's household who brought the shocking news to Jacob. "When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home." (Genesis 34:5)
Why does Jacob sit still and do nothing until his sons come home from work? Is he in shock? Is he grief-stricken and unable to think clearly? Does he feel guilty for not making sure his daughter was kept safe wherever she went? We would expect a loving father to be outraged and to either appeal to the authorities or to take matters into his own hands. I'm trying to think what my own father would have done in a situation like this. I know he'd have been beside himself with rage and grief. I think he'd have gone to the young man's house to confront him and his father or else I think he'd have called the police to have the young man arrested.
I'll give you an example of my dad's outrage when something a lot less happened to me than what happened to Jacob's daughter. I started having boyfriends at the age of fourteen but I wasn't allowed to go out in cars with boys until I turned sixteen. The winter that I was sixteen I was unceremoniously and rudely invited to get out of a young man's car in my driveway because I refused to have sexual relations with him after the school Christmas dance. This young man couldn't have been more gentlemanly prior to the dance (coming to the door to meet my parents, holding the passenger door open for me to get into his car, making sure the hemline of my long formal dress was all the way inside the car before shutting the door, and so on). But when he dropped me back off he couldn't get me out of his car fast enough. He pulled up at the end of my driveway, not even near the steps to my house, and slammed the brakes on and waited angrily for me to get out. I had barely managed to get the car door closed behind me when he tried to peel loudly away, but we had a gravel driveway and some slushy snow was on the ground so he didn't make a very dramatic exit. His tires just kind of spun uselessly and wetly for a minute until he was able to pull slowly away. I slogged up the long driveway in the snow with much difficulty in my high heeled shoes. My mother had waited up for me but my father didn't hear about how I was treated until the next day and he angrily stated that if "that boy" ever called me again or showed up at our house again he was going to do some really bad things to him. I won't quote what my father actually said because in his anger he added some curse words to the threats he was making. He also threatened to call the young man's father and tell him how I'd been treated and the only reason he didn't is because I pleaded with embarrassed tears for him to let it go and leave this behind us. If my father was this angry over a young man who just verbally tried to coerce me into sexual relations with him, I can only imagine what my father might have done if this young man had physically tried to force himself on me. This is why it's hard to figure out why Jacob doesn't show any reaction at all.
It might have been better if Jacob had done something himself instead of waiting for his sons to get home. As an older man Jacob would have dealt more calmly with the situation than his sons will. Jacob's sons are are going to show all the outrage Jacob does not. They are young and tough and impulsive and strong. They are not going to stand for what has been done for their sister. They are going to avenge her and the troubles of Jacob are going to go from bad to worse.
"Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women in the land." (Genesis 34:1) By this time Dinah is old enough to be considered a woman and is of marriageable age, as we will see shortly. Naturally she wants to make friends in this new location. She probably misses the friends she had in her old hometown and wants to get to know the other young ladies in Shechem. While Dinah lived on her grandfather's estate on the outskirts of Ur she likely never had to worry about visiting her friends without a protector along. She and her family assume she doesn't need a guardian to accompany her as she visits friends in Shechem. But Shechem isn't like the sophisticated (but sinful) city of Ur. Shechem is like an old west town that's rough and tough, a town where a person can have anything he wants if he's able to take it. A young man sees the attractive Dinah and wants her and decides to take her.
"When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her." (Genesis 34:2) This young man is named after the city he inhabits. Or maybe the city was named for him since he is the son of a prominent man; the Bible doesn't say why this man and the city both have the same name. But he thinks that because of who he is he can do anything he pleases. As a woman, it pains me to know that sexual violence toward women has been happening ever since the beginning of man's sojourn on earth. Even here in 2020 it's not always safe for a woman to be out alone anywhere she pleases. It should be safe, and no woman ought to have to fear being assaulted, but we still have to be on the alert even in these modern times.
"His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, 'Get me this girl as my wife.'" (Genesis 34:3-4) Shechem thinks he's fallen in love with the woman he's violated. I think maybe, now that he's done this deed, he feels possessive of her. He doesn't want any other man to ever have her and decides he must marry her to prevent that from happening. To him this possessive feeling is love. Due to his heathen, lawless background he doesn't know what real love is. Real love doesn't force itself on anyone. Real love doesn't physically attack and violate anyone. The Bible defines love like this: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
If Shechem really was in love with Dinah, he should have never laid a hand on her but should have courted her and had his father speak with her father about arranging a marriage. He's like the type of person who says, "It's better to ask forgiveness than to get permission." He goes ahead and takes what he wants and assumes Dinah's family will gladly and hastily arrange the marriage for a couple of reasons. One reason is that it will be difficult to find a husband for her now that she is no longer a virgin. In those times a man expected his wife to be a virgin unless she had been previously married and widowed. The other reason is that within a few weeks it might turn out that Dinah is pregnant. The family wouldn't want her to be an unwed mother. Shechem, the spoiled son of a high official who is used to getting what he wants, thinks there will be no problem in having his father arrange the marriage, especially now that Shechem has already slept with Dinah.
We don't know exactly what happened next. Perhaps poor Dinah went tearfully home and told her mother what had happened and then her mother brought the sad news to Jacob. Some scholars suggest that Shechem may have held Dinah hostage while his father attempted to arrange the marriage for him, so it may have been a messenger from Hamor's household who brought the shocking news to Jacob. "When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home." (Genesis 34:5)
Why does Jacob sit still and do nothing until his sons come home from work? Is he in shock? Is he grief-stricken and unable to think clearly? Does he feel guilty for not making sure his daughter was kept safe wherever she went? We would expect a loving father to be outraged and to either appeal to the authorities or to take matters into his own hands. I'm trying to think what my own father would have done in a situation like this. I know he'd have been beside himself with rage and grief. I think he'd have gone to the young man's house to confront him and his father or else I think he'd have called the police to have the young man arrested.
I'll give you an example of my dad's outrage when something a lot less happened to me than what happened to Jacob's daughter. I started having boyfriends at the age of fourteen but I wasn't allowed to go out in cars with boys until I turned sixteen. The winter that I was sixteen I was unceremoniously and rudely invited to get out of a young man's car in my driveway because I refused to have sexual relations with him after the school Christmas dance. This young man couldn't have been more gentlemanly prior to the dance (coming to the door to meet my parents, holding the passenger door open for me to get into his car, making sure the hemline of my long formal dress was all the way inside the car before shutting the door, and so on). But when he dropped me back off he couldn't get me out of his car fast enough. He pulled up at the end of my driveway, not even near the steps to my house, and slammed the brakes on and waited angrily for me to get out. I had barely managed to get the car door closed behind me when he tried to peel loudly away, but we had a gravel driveway and some slushy snow was on the ground so he didn't make a very dramatic exit. His tires just kind of spun uselessly and wetly for a minute until he was able to pull slowly away. I slogged up the long driveway in the snow with much difficulty in my high heeled shoes. My mother had waited up for me but my father didn't hear about how I was treated until the next day and he angrily stated that if "that boy" ever called me again or showed up at our house again he was going to do some really bad things to him. I won't quote what my father actually said because in his anger he added some curse words to the threats he was making. He also threatened to call the young man's father and tell him how I'd been treated and the only reason he didn't is because I pleaded with embarrassed tears for him to let it go and leave this behind us. If my father was this angry over a young man who just verbally tried to coerce me into sexual relations with him, I can only imagine what my father might have done if this young man had physically tried to force himself on me. This is why it's hard to figure out why Jacob doesn't show any reaction at all.
It might have been better if Jacob had done something himself instead of waiting for his sons to get home. As an older man Jacob would have dealt more calmly with the situation than his sons will. Jacob's sons are are going to show all the outrage Jacob does not. They are young and tough and impulsive and strong. They are not going to stand for what has been done for their sister. They are going to avenge her and the troubles of Jacob are going to go from bad to worse.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 130, Jacob Meets Esau
Morning has broken and Jacob is going forward to meet Esau.
"Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother." (Genesis 33:1-3) Jacob can see his brother approaching from a fair distance away and he has time to arrange his family in a particular order. I can't think of any reason why he would arrange them in this order unless he is putting his favorite wife and favorite child last. Putting them last in the line would give them a better chance of escaping if Esau and his men attack, so I feel that Jacob arranges his family in the order in which they are most important to him. The two female servants (also his secondary wives) are placed in the front of the procession with their children. It was not common for a child of a secondary wife to be the main heir unless a man had no sons with a primary wife, and I think he's more willing to lose these sons than the others.
He puts Leah and her children after the servants and their children, even though Leah is his first and chief wife and even though a son through her should be (and will end up being) his heir. But he still loves Leah less than he loves Rachel. He places Rachel and Joseph last in the procession. I wonder if perhaps he intended to make Joseph his heir, disregarding the laws and customs of his day. We will see later on in Genesis that Joseph is his favorite son and that his obvious favoritism for Rachel's child causes even more family dysfunction than is already present. Joseph's brothers will hate him for being the favored child and they will do something to ensure he cannot become the heir. Jacob is a changed man---a better man than he used to be---but he isn't perfect. You and I didn't become perfect when we accepted the Lord as our Savior, and the Lord is going to be working on us our whole lives, and the Lord is going to have to work on Jacob his whole life.
Jacob places himself in front of the group and bows before his brother seven times as a way of appeasing his anger. But Esau isn't angry. God has had twenty years to deal with his heart. As we said in our study a couple days ago, Esau comes with four hundred men not because he's amassed an army but because he's put together a welcoming party. "But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept." (Genesis 33:4) Esau has reflected for twenty years upon his own behavior. He knows he's as much to blame for despising his birthright as Jacob is for deceiving their father into bestowing it upon the "wrong" son. Jacob himself has been deceived while he's been gone and now he understands what a terrible thing it is to treat a person this way. The two brothers are willing to let bygones be bygones. They might not have been very good friends with each other in their youth, but they are brothers and they love each other.
"Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. 'Who are these with you?' he asked. Jacob answered, 'They are the children God has graciously given your servant.' Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down." (Genesis 33:5-7) The entire family shows their respect to the elder brother.
"Esau asked, 'What is the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?' 'To find favor in your eyes, my lord,' he said." (Genesis 33:8) In yesterday's passage Jacob sent servants and many animals from his flocks and herds ahead as gifts to Esau. He was trying to smooth the way for a reconciliation.
"But Esau said, 'I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.'" (Genesis 33:9) Esau has matured greatly in twenty years. He's a wealthy and successful man in his own right. He's no longer the impulsive young man he used to be, a man who was so irresponsible and so incapable of planning ahead that he traded his birthright for a bowl of stew simply because he was very hungry in that moment. He doesn't need or want anything from Jacob's flocks and herds. He has plenty of his own.
But it's important to Jacob that his brother accept these gifts from him. Esau's acceptance will be the outward sign of what has taken place in his heart. He's forgiven his brother. Accepting these gifts is like him saying, "We're square now. We're at peace. The past is the past and we're not going to think about it or ever bring it up again." Jacob insists he wants his brother to have the gifts. "'No, please!' said Jacob. 'If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.' And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it." (Genesis 33:10-11)
It's interesting that Jacob says seeing Esau's face is like seeing the face of God, especially when we consider that the previous night Jacob actually saw the face of God in the person of the pre-incarnate Christ. What does he mean by comparing Esau's face to the Lord's face? I believe it's because he saw forgiveness in the eyes of both the Lord and Esau. Instead of condemnation, he found mercy in the eyes of both the Lord and Esau. Instead of an accusing glare, both the Lord and Esau had compassion in their eyes.
Esau intends to accompany Jacob home. "Then Esau said, 'Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you.' But Jacob said to him, 'My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.'" (Genesis 33:12-14) Jacob will slow Esau down if they travel together. The animals and the smallest of the children can't be expected to make fast progress on the way. Jacob himself can't move very fast because his hip was wounded during the previous night's wrestling match with the Lord. Also, Jacob will end up lodging in another area instead of going on to stay with his brother in Seir. The Bible doesn't tell us why he never takes Esau up on his offer to stay with him on his way back to their father's house. I don't know whether it's because he doesn't want to inconvenience his brother in any way or whether he feels uncomfortable staying with his brother after twenty years of them not speaking to each other. Jacob may feel so bad about what he did that he is loathe to cause his brother any trouble at all by lodging with him. It could be that because of how he once treated Esau that he just can't accept generosity from his brother.
Some scholars suggest Jacob is still wary of Esau, as if Esau might not actually be at peace with him but is planning to do him harm, but I feel that if Esau intended to do him harm the best opportunity for that is right here in our current chapter. Jacob really has nowhere to go and Esau has four hundred men with him. If Esau wanted to kill Jacob and his family or take them captive, he could have already done so.
Esau is still busy showing hospitality to his brother. He's concerned that Jacob is vulnerable to robbers out here in the wilderness with no soldiers to protect him. "Esau said, 'Then let me leave some of my men with you.' 'But why do that?' Jacob asked. 'Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.'" (Genesis 32:15) Jacob says, "Don't trouble yourself on my account. It's enough that you are no longer angry with me." Jacob isn't afraid in the wilderness because he knows the Lord is with him.
"So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth." (Genesis 33:16-17) The word "Sukkoth" means "shelters".
"After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel." (Genesis 33:18-20) He names this place "mighty is the God of Israel". This indicates he is thankful that the Lord has brought him this far, but the Lord never told him to stop off at Shechem and buy a plot of land there. Instead of doing this, Jacob would have been better off if he'd taken his brother up on his offer and had lodged with him on his way back to his father Isaac's house. When the Lord instructed Jacob to leave the estate of his father-in-law, the Lord said, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." (Genesis 31:3) But Jacob doesn't go immediately back to his relatives as the Lord commanded. He avoids going to Esau's house and stops off at Shechem and purchases land there. He's not where the Lord wants him to be and trouble is going to find Jacob's family in the godless city of Shechem.
We are going to feel frustrated with Jacob from time to time. I think we are going to have to cut him some slack though, because anyone reading the story of my life or reading the story of your life is going to feel frustrated with us from time to time. Like Jacob, our hearts belong to the Lord. But like Jacob, we have to live in weak human bodies in a fallen world filled with sin and temptation. We are going to fall short sometimes and fail to follow all the way through when the Lord gives us instructions. We are going to put ourselves in positions that bring hardship into our lives. But, just as the Lord never casts Jacob aside, the Lord isn't going to cast us aside. Whenever we stumble and fall, He'll be reaching out a helping hand to us.
"Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother." (Genesis 33:1-3) Jacob can see his brother approaching from a fair distance away and he has time to arrange his family in a particular order. I can't think of any reason why he would arrange them in this order unless he is putting his favorite wife and favorite child last. Putting them last in the line would give them a better chance of escaping if Esau and his men attack, so I feel that Jacob arranges his family in the order in which they are most important to him. The two female servants (also his secondary wives) are placed in the front of the procession with their children. It was not common for a child of a secondary wife to be the main heir unless a man had no sons with a primary wife, and I think he's more willing to lose these sons than the others.
He puts Leah and her children after the servants and their children, even though Leah is his first and chief wife and even though a son through her should be (and will end up being) his heir. But he still loves Leah less than he loves Rachel. He places Rachel and Joseph last in the procession. I wonder if perhaps he intended to make Joseph his heir, disregarding the laws and customs of his day. We will see later on in Genesis that Joseph is his favorite son and that his obvious favoritism for Rachel's child causes even more family dysfunction than is already present. Joseph's brothers will hate him for being the favored child and they will do something to ensure he cannot become the heir. Jacob is a changed man---a better man than he used to be---but he isn't perfect. You and I didn't become perfect when we accepted the Lord as our Savior, and the Lord is going to be working on us our whole lives, and the Lord is going to have to work on Jacob his whole life.
Jacob places himself in front of the group and bows before his brother seven times as a way of appeasing his anger. But Esau isn't angry. God has had twenty years to deal with his heart. As we said in our study a couple days ago, Esau comes with four hundred men not because he's amassed an army but because he's put together a welcoming party. "But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept." (Genesis 33:4) Esau has reflected for twenty years upon his own behavior. He knows he's as much to blame for despising his birthright as Jacob is for deceiving their father into bestowing it upon the "wrong" son. Jacob himself has been deceived while he's been gone and now he understands what a terrible thing it is to treat a person this way. The two brothers are willing to let bygones be bygones. They might not have been very good friends with each other in their youth, but they are brothers and they love each other.
"Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. 'Who are these with you?' he asked. Jacob answered, 'They are the children God has graciously given your servant.' Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down." (Genesis 33:5-7) The entire family shows their respect to the elder brother.
"Esau asked, 'What is the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?' 'To find favor in your eyes, my lord,' he said." (Genesis 33:8) In yesterday's passage Jacob sent servants and many animals from his flocks and herds ahead as gifts to Esau. He was trying to smooth the way for a reconciliation.
"But Esau said, 'I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.'" (Genesis 33:9) Esau has matured greatly in twenty years. He's a wealthy and successful man in his own right. He's no longer the impulsive young man he used to be, a man who was so irresponsible and so incapable of planning ahead that he traded his birthright for a bowl of stew simply because he was very hungry in that moment. He doesn't need or want anything from Jacob's flocks and herds. He has plenty of his own.
But it's important to Jacob that his brother accept these gifts from him. Esau's acceptance will be the outward sign of what has taken place in his heart. He's forgiven his brother. Accepting these gifts is like him saying, "We're square now. We're at peace. The past is the past and we're not going to think about it or ever bring it up again." Jacob insists he wants his brother to have the gifts. "'No, please!' said Jacob. 'If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.' And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it." (Genesis 33:10-11)
It's interesting that Jacob says seeing Esau's face is like seeing the face of God, especially when we consider that the previous night Jacob actually saw the face of God in the person of the pre-incarnate Christ. What does he mean by comparing Esau's face to the Lord's face? I believe it's because he saw forgiveness in the eyes of both the Lord and Esau. Instead of condemnation, he found mercy in the eyes of both the Lord and Esau. Instead of an accusing glare, both the Lord and Esau had compassion in their eyes.
Esau intends to accompany Jacob home. "Then Esau said, 'Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you.' But Jacob said to him, 'My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.'" (Genesis 33:12-14) Jacob will slow Esau down if they travel together. The animals and the smallest of the children can't be expected to make fast progress on the way. Jacob himself can't move very fast because his hip was wounded during the previous night's wrestling match with the Lord. Also, Jacob will end up lodging in another area instead of going on to stay with his brother in Seir. The Bible doesn't tell us why he never takes Esau up on his offer to stay with him on his way back to their father's house. I don't know whether it's because he doesn't want to inconvenience his brother in any way or whether he feels uncomfortable staying with his brother after twenty years of them not speaking to each other. Jacob may feel so bad about what he did that he is loathe to cause his brother any trouble at all by lodging with him. It could be that because of how he once treated Esau that he just can't accept generosity from his brother.
Some scholars suggest Jacob is still wary of Esau, as if Esau might not actually be at peace with him but is planning to do him harm, but I feel that if Esau intended to do him harm the best opportunity for that is right here in our current chapter. Jacob really has nowhere to go and Esau has four hundred men with him. If Esau wanted to kill Jacob and his family or take them captive, he could have already done so.
Esau is still busy showing hospitality to his brother. He's concerned that Jacob is vulnerable to robbers out here in the wilderness with no soldiers to protect him. "Esau said, 'Then let me leave some of my men with you.' 'But why do that?' Jacob asked. 'Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.'" (Genesis 32:15) Jacob says, "Don't trouble yourself on my account. It's enough that you are no longer angry with me." Jacob isn't afraid in the wilderness because he knows the Lord is with him.
"So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth." (Genesis 33:16-17) The word "Sukkoth" means "shelters".
"After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel." (Genesis 33:18-20) He names this place "mighty is the God of Israel". This indicates he is thankful that the Lord has brought him this far, but the Lord never told him to stop off at Shechem and buy a plot of land there. Instead of doing this, Jacob would have been better off if he'd taken his brother up on his offer and had lodged with him on his way back to his father Isaac's house. When the Lord instructed Jacob to leave the estate of his father-in-law, the Lord said, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." (Genesis 31:3) But Jacob doesn't go immediately back to his relatives as the Lord commanded. He avoids going to Esau's house and stops off at Shechem and purchases land there. He's not where the Lord wants him to be and trouble is going to find Jacob's family in the godless city of Shechem.
We are going to feel frustrated with Jacob from time to time. I think we are going to have to cut him some slack though, because anyone reading the story of my life or reading the story of your life is going to feel frustrated with us from time to time. Like Jacob, our hearts belong to the Lord. But like Jacob, we have to live in weak human bodies in a fallen world filled with sin and temptation. We are going to fall short sometimes and fail to follow all the way through when the Lord gives us instructions. We are going to put ourselves in positions that bring hardship into our lives. But, just as the Lord never casts Jacob aside, the Lord isn't going to cast us aside. Whenever we stumble and fall, He'll be reaching out a helping hand to us.
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 129, Jacob Wrestles With God
Today we're looking at one of my favorite Old Testament stories. Jacob is going to send his family and everything he owns on across the river from him while he stays alone to pray and prepare himself for seeing his brother Esau face to face. But the Lord has another meeting planned before that one; before morning light Jacob will have seen the face of God.
"That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions." (Genesis 32:22-23) Jacob gets everyone and everything he has across the stream during the night. Some scholars believe this signifies his faith because once they are across the stream it will be difficult to retreat if they are met by Esau and an army. Others feel that getting them across the stream during the night gives them a better chance of fleeing in the morning if Esau attacks when he appears. My pastor, who preached on this passage recently, feels that Jacob separates himself from his family as a way of saying to Esau, "I'm the one you want. Let these people go. Your dispute is with me, not with them."
The Bible doesn't tell us why Jacob separates himself from everyone and everything else during the night, but I think it may have been so he could spend time with the Lord alone. Jacob can scarcely hear himself think while surrounded by a frightened crowd of adults and children and hundreds of noisy animals. It would be very difficult to focus on prayer while camping in this company and perhaps Jacob needs silence and solitude to commune with the Lord. The reason I believe Jacob prays is because the Lord shows up. "So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak." (Genesis 32:24)
This is not a mere man. The prophet Hosea makes mention of Jacob's nighttime wrestling match, saying, "In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame Him; he wept and begged for His favor. He found Him at Bethel and talked with Him there---the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is His name!" (Hosea 12:3-5) Hosea clearly identifies Jacob's opponent as the Lord. This man---this angel---is another pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. We've previously seen occurrences of this in Genesis. Even before His incarnation, when Christ appeared to human beings He appeared as a man. He is also sometimes referred to in the Old Testament as "the angel of the Lord" when He appears. So we find the Bible referring to Jacob's opponent as "a man" and as "the angel". The Bible doesn't describe this man's arrival, what He looked like, or how the wrestling match began. Perhaps Jacob was deep in prayer and suddenly someone laid hands on him. Startled, he would naturally have begun defending himself. But as the night wears on Jacob realizes this is not a human being like himself. This is the Lord.
There's a reason why our prayer time is often referred to as "wrestling in prayer". Prayer can be hard work. Prayer is a time when we bring all our concerns and requests to the One who is able to take care of them. Prayer is a time when the Lord brings to our attention things that need to be dealt with. Prayer is when the Lord can instruct us what to let go of and what to hang on to. Jacob and the man don't wrestle til daybreak because they are evenly matched; they wrestle til daybreak because that's how long it takes for God to do business with Jacob. That's how long it takes for Jacob to let go of anything in his heart that might have been putting distance between him and God. That's how long it takes for Jacob to fully surrender to God.
The sun is about to rise over the hills and these two are still locked together in combat. Jacob still hasn't quite reached his destination, spiritually speaking. But the meeting with Esau is imminent and time is running out for Jacob to arrive wherever the Lord is leading him in his heart. "When the man saw that He could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, 'Let Me go, for it is daybreak.'" (Genesis 32:25-26a)
The Lord could have overpowered Jacob at any time. He could have pinned Jacob to the mat, so to speak, and held him down until he gave up. But the Lord is a gentleman. Did He force any of you to accept Him as your Savior and King? Did He overpower you to the point that there was nothing you could do but give in and give Him your allegiance? Of course not, and He didn't deal with me in that manner either. He wants us to give Him our hearts willingly. As the sky begins to lighten, there's something Jacob hasn't yet given the Lord willingly. Jacob is continuing to struggle against something in his heart. That "something" may be his old nature---the nature that compelled him to be a liar and a deceiver in his younger days. That "something" may be his self-reliance, for we've seen he's an intelligent and crafty man who has the skills to be successful in life. We don't know exactly what it was that Jacob needed to hand over to the Lord, but he struggles all night with the need to hand it over. I've been reluctant to let go of things, haven't you? I've held onto wrong attitudes or wrong beliefs. But just as a doctor can't heal a deep cut unless we stop covering it with our hand and allow him to treat it, the Great Physician can't heal the things wrong with us until we stop covering them and allow Him access to them.
Jacob is out of strength. He can't wrestle any longer. All he can do is cling to the Lord. "But Jacob replied, 'I will not let You go unless You bless me.'" (Genesis 32:26b) Yes! This is what the Lord wants to hear! Jacob is saying, in the words of a popular hymn, "All to Jesus I surrender." He's saying, "I can't do anything on my own. I need You, Lord. I surrender! I surrender everything I am and everything I have to You. Without You I am nothing. Without You I have nothing. Without You nothing matters. Unless You bless me I have no hope because I can't do anything worthwhile on my own. I need You, Lord."
The Lord is going to bless him but begins by asking a question, "The man asked him, 'What is your name?' 'Jacob,' he answered." (Genesis 32:27) The Lord is able to make him into a new man, but first Jacob must confess to being the old man: Jacob the supplanter, Jacob the deceiver. These are some of the meanings of his name and, just as we must confess to being sinners when we come to Christ for salvation, Jacob must confess to the Lord that he is a sinner. He must admit that he has not always lived in a way that honors God. He must agree with God that he has violated God's principles. He does this and now he and the Lord are on the same page.
The Lord gives him a new name. Jacob is no longer who he used to be, and neither are we when we surrender to the Lord. The Bible tells us that we become new creatures in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Because Jacob has a new relationship with the Lord, the Lord gives him a new name. "Then the man said, 'Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.'" (Genesis 32:28) Jacob receives a name which commemorates the night he wrestled with God and overcame his old nature through God. He didn't prevail over God; he prevailed by surrendering to God.
"Jacob said, 'Please tell me Your name.' But he replied, 'Why do you ask My name?' Then He blessed him there." (Genesis 32:29) I think He's saying, "Jacob, you know who I am. You don't even have to ask."
It's apparent that Jacob does know who the man is when we see the name Jacob gives to the place where they wrestled. "So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, 'It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.'" (Genesis 32:30) The name "Peniel" means "face of God".
"The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon." (Genesis 32:31-32) When eating meat the Israelites would not eat that particular portion in order to remember the day the Lord touched Jacob.
Jacob will limp for the rest of his life. He will have a daily reminder of the night he surrendered his heart to the Lord. At every turn, and at every step, he will remember that the Lord touched him. Jacob could very easily sing the words of a song that's often sung in churches today, "He touched me. Oh, He touched me. And, oh, the joy that floods my soul! Something happened, and now I know, He touched me and made me whole." Jacob may have a limp in his body, but his heart and soul have been made whole. The limp is a perpetual reminder of the healing and blessing he received from God.
"That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions." (Genesis 32:22-23) Jacob gets everyone and everything he has across the stream during the night. Some scholars believe this signifies his faith because once they are across the stream it will be difficult to retreat if they are met by Esau and an army. Others feel that getting them across the stream during the night gives them a better chance of fleeing in the morning if Esau attacks when he appears. My pastor, who preached on this passage recently, feels that Jacob separates himself from his family as a way of saying to Esau, "I'm the one you want. Let these people go. Your dispute is with me, not with them."
The Bible doesn't tell us why Jacob separates himself from everyone and everything else during the night, but I think it may have been so he could spend time with the Lord alone. Jacob can scarcely hear himself think while surrounded by a frightened crowd of adults and children and hundreds of noisy animals. It would be very difficult to focus on prayer while camping in this company and perhaps Jacob needs silence and solitude to commune with the Lord. The reason I believe Jacob prays is because the Lord shows up. "So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak." (Genesis 32:24)
This is not a mere man. The prophet Hosea makes mention of Jacob's nighttime wrestling match, saying, "In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame Him; he wept and begged for His favor. He found Him at Bethel and talked with Him there---the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is His name!" (Hosea 12:3-5) Hosea clearly identifies Jacob's opponent as the Lord. This man---this angel---is another pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. We've previously seen occurrences of this in Genesis. Even before His incarnation, when Christ appeared to human beings He appeared as a man. He is also sometimes referred to in the Old Testament as "the angel of the Lord" when He appears. So we find the Bible referring to Jacob's opponent as "a man" and as "the angel". The Bible doesn't describe this man's arrival, what He looked like, or how the wrestling match began. Perhaps Jacob was deep in prayer and suddenly someone laid hands on him. Startled, he would naturally have begun defending himself. But as the night wears on Jacob realizes this is not a human being like himself. This is the Lord.
There's a reason why our prayer time is often referred to as "wrestling in prayer". Prayer can be hard work. Prayer is a time when we bring all our concerns and requests to the One who is able to take care of them. Prayer is a time when the Lord brings to our attention things that need to be dealt with. Prayer is when the Lord can instruct us what to let go of and what to hang on to. Jacob and the man don't wrestle til daybreak because they are evenly matched; they wrestle til daybreak because that's how long it takes for God to do business with Jacob. That's how long it takes for Jacob to let go of anything in his heart that might have been putting distance between him and God. That's how long it takes for Jacob to fully surrender to God.
The sun is about to rise over the hills and these two are still locked together in combat. Jacob still hasn't quite reached his destination, spiritually speaking. But the meeting with Esau is imminent and time is running out for Jacob to arrive wherever the Lord is leading him in his heart. "When the man saw that He could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, 'Let Me go, for it is daybreak.'" (Genesis 32:25-26a)
The Lord could have overpowered Jacob at any time. He could have pinned Jacob to the mat, so to speak, and held him down until he gave up. But the Lord is a gentleman. Did He force any of you to accept Him as your Savior and King? Did He overpower you to the point that there was nothing you could do but give in and give Him your allegiance? Of course not, and He didn't deal with me in that manner either. He wants us to give Him our hearts willingly. As the sky begins to lighten, there's something Jacob hasn't yet given the Lord willingly. Jacob is continuing to struggle against something in his heart. That "something" may be his old nature---the nature that compelled him to be a liar and a deceiver in his younger days. That "something" may be his self-reliance, for we've seen he's an intelligent and crafty man who has the skills to be successful in life. We don't know exactly what it was that Jacob needed to hand over to the Lord, but he struggles all night with the need to hand it over. I've been reluctant to let go of things, haven't you? I've held onto wrong attitudes or wrong beliefs. But just as a doctor can't heal a deep cut unless we stop covering it with our hand and allow him to treat it, the Great Physician can't heal the things wrong with us until we stop covering them and allow Him access to them.
Jacob is out of strength. He can't wrestle any longer. All he can do is cling to the Lord. "But Jacob replied, 'I will not let You go unless You bless me.'" (Genesis 32:26b) Yes! This is what the Lord wants to hear! Jacob is saying, in the words of a popular hymn, "All to Jesus I surrender." He's saying, "I can't do anything on my own. I need You, Lord. I surrender! I surrender everything I am and everything I have to You. Without You I am nothing. Without You I have nothing. Without You nothing matters. Unless You bless me I have no hope because I can't do anything worthwhile on my own. I need You, Lord."
The Lord is going to bless him but begins by asking a question, "The man asked him, 'What is your name?' 'Jacob,' he answered." (Genesis 32:27) The Lord is able to make him into a new man, but first Jacob must confess to being the old man: Jacob the supplanter, Jacob the deceiver. These are some of the meanings of his name and, just as we must confess to being sinners when we come to Christ for salvation, Jacob must confess to the Lord that he is a sinner. He must admit that he has not always lived in a way that honors God. He must agree with God that he has violated God's principles. He does this and now he and the Lord are on the same page.
The Lord gives him a new name. Jacob is no longer who he used to be, and neither are we when we surrender to the Lord. The Bible tells us that we become new creatures in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Because Jacob has a new relationship with the Lord, the Lord gives him a new name. "Then the man said, 'Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.'" (Genesis 32:28) Jacob receives a name which commemorates the night he wrestled with God and overcame his old nature through God. He didn't prevail over God; he prevailed by surrendering to God.
"Jacob said, 'Please tell me Your name.' But he replied, 'Why do you ask My name?' Then He blessed him there." (Genesis 32:29) I think He's saying, "Jacob, you know who I am. You don't even have to ask."
It's apparent that Jacob does know who the man is when we see the name Jacob gives to the place where they wrestled. "So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, 'It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.'" (Genesis 32:30) The name "Peniel" means "face of God".
"The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon." (Genesis 32:31-32) When eating meat the Israelites would not eat that particular portion in order to remember the day the Lord touched Jacob.
Jacob will limp for the rest of his life. He will have a daily reminder of the night he surrendered his heart to the Lord. At every turn, and at every step, he will remember that the Lord touched him. Jacob could very easily sing the words of a song that's often sung in churches today, "He touched me. Oh, He touched me. And, oh, the joy that floods my soul! Something happened, and now I know, He touched me and made me whole." Jacob may have a limp in his body, but his heart and soul have been made whole. The limp is a perpetual reminder of the healing and blessing he received from God.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 128. Jacob Prays And Prepares
Jacobs messengers brought him the frightening news that Esau is approaching with a group of four hundred men. He thinks this is an army coming against him and that Esau may kill him and everyone with him, so he prepares a plan that he hopes will save at least some of his family. Then he prays and reminds God of His promises to him.
"In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. He thought, 'If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.'" (Genesis 32:7-8) Esau has no idea how many people Jacob has with him. It's not as if Esau will know if half of the group is missing, so Jacob hopes if Esau attacks one group at least the other group will remain hidden from him.
Jacob is trying to do everything humanly possible to protect those who depend on him. Why did he not turn to God first? Why is he not bold at the impending approach of Esau as he was when Laban confronted him? I think his faith is struggling against his guilty conscience. When Laban pursued him and accused him of things he didn't do, Jacob knew he was innocent. He could stand up to Laban fearlessly because he was in the right and Laban was in the wrong. In that case I believe Jacob trusted the Lord to vindicate him and protect him. But in the case of Esau, Jacob is in the wrong. Jacob treated his brother unfairly and dishonestly. If Esau is bent on exacting revenge, Jacob hardly has the high ground. Jacob is guilty of any accusations Esau might bring against him regarding their relationship and the family inheritance and the blessing of the firstborn. Jacob doubts whether the Lord will protect him against the righteous indignation of his brother. He doubts, and yet in his mind he retains the promises of God. If God is going to fulfill the promises He's made to him, He can't allow Esau to kill him. These promises are the only firm footing Jacob can find in his panic, so now that he's done everything he can humanly do, he turns to the God who can do all things.
"Then Jacob prayed, 'O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, You who said to me, 'Go back to your country and to your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But You have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'" (Genesis 32:9-12) This is a beautiful, humble prayer. I think we can learn a lot from the way Jacob prays to the Lord in verses 9-12.
First of all, Jacob reminds himself who God is. This is the God his father Isaac trusts. This is the God his grandfather Abraham trusted. The Lord has done great things for Isaac and Abraham. Surely He is still the same God. Surely He is just as mighty. Surely He hasn't used up all His mercy but has plenty to spare for Jacob. When we come to the Lord in prayer, especially when we are asking for a big thing, it helps to remind ourselves how powerful God is. This is the One who spoke everything into existence out of nothing. This is the God who has done great things in the past and He is still the same God. His power and His mercy are not diminished in any way. He has plenty left for us.
Second, Jacob admits he is unholy and that God is holy. He humbly confesses that he is unworthy of God's kindness and faithfulness. I think sometimes our unworthiness is a reason we don't fully trust God. We think, "Why should He help me? I can understand Him helping people who have more faith than I do, or helping people who work harder in the church than I do, or helping people who are nicer and more compassionate than I am. But I've messed up a lot. Why should He help me?" Jacob had these same thoughts but he doesn't let them stop him. Instead of dwelling on his own unworthiness, he chooses to dwell on God's love. None of us is worthy of God but He loves us anyway. Because of His great love for us He has shown us compassion instead of judgment. Because of His great love for us He has made promises and kept them. If His offer of mercy depended on our worthiness, we'd have no hope. But it depends on His love, the love that compelled Him to make a way of salvation for us even though we could never earn or deserve salvation on our own. The Apostle Paul, who was once a far worse man than Jacob, marveled at God's love and mercy toward him and made this powerful statement: "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Christ didn't say, "Okay, you've gotta shape up, people. If I'm going to make this great sacrifice for you, you're going to have to clean up your act first." No, while we were still sinners and while we were still unworthy and while we were still unprofitable, Christ died for us! He died for us so that He could make us profitable servants worthy of being called by His name.
Third, Jacob reminds himself how far God has already brought him. Jacob left Canaan for Harran with nothing to his name but his walking stick. Now he has a big family and many servants and large flocks and herds. When we're struggling in the face of a problem, it helps to remind ourselves how many times God has rescued us before. Our faith will be strengthened by looking back on our lives and realizing how many times God has turned situations around. He's done miracles in my life. He's fixed things that were absolutely not fixable by human standards. They looked as hopeless as they could be, and they were hopeless if they depended only on human strength. But the God of the universe stepped in and everything changed.
Fourth, Jacob reminds himself that the Lord promised to protect him and make him prosper. If God doesn't protect him from Esau, then God is going back on His word. And God doesn't go back on his word. "God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19) We have to stop thinking God is like man. We've all had people break promises to us. We've all had people tell us one thing and then do another. But God is not like man who makes a promise without thinking it through. God is not like man who breaks his word. The Lord promised to be with Jacob and protect him wherever he goes, and God will not break this promise. He can't. It's not in His nature to lie or change His mind or break promises. Those traits are human traits, not God's.
Jacob concludes his preparations for meeting his brother by putting together a gift for him. He wants to show Esau he's coming in good faith and in peace. He's not coming to take over their father's estate or to claim the birthright and to lord over Esau. He has come to bless, not to receive blessing. "He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, 'Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.'" (Genesis 32:13-16) Esau is coming with his men and he is going to be met by one herd after another along the way. He's going to be increasingly impressed as he encounters each herd. He's going to want to know whose animals these are and why he's being met by them.
Jacob tells the servant who will be in front what to say when Esau asks the meaning of this procession. "He instructed the one in the lead: 'When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?' then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.'" (Genesis 32:17-18)
Jacob makes sure the leader of each herd knows what to say. "He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: 'You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. And be sure to say, 'Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.' For he thought, 'I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.' So Jacob's gift when on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp." (Genesis 32:19-21) These gifts aren't intended to make up for what Jacob did to his brother. Nothing can replace missing out on the birthright and the blessing. The gifts are intended to smooth the way so that Jacob can enter Esau's presence peacefully. King Solomon recognized the value of gifts in paving the way for a successful meeting, and he said, "A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great." (Proverbs 18:16)
Jacob has done all that can be done. Now he just has to wait to see what will happen. We've all been there, haven't we? We've all had to just be still and wait to see what God will do. God is going to do more than Jacob ever imagined.
"In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. He thought, 'If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.'" (Genesis 32:7-8) Esau has no idea how many people Jacob has with him. It's not as if Esau will know if half of the group is missing, so Jacob hopes if Esau attacks one group at least the other group will remain hidden from him.
Jacob is trying to do everything humanly possible to protect those who depend on him. Why did he not turn to God first? Why is he not bold at the impending approach of Esau as he was when Laban confronted him? I think his faith is struggling against his guilty conscience. When Laban pursued him and accused him of things he didn't do, Jacob knew he was innocent. He could stand up to Laban fearlessly because he was in the right and Laban was in the wrong. In that case I believe Jacob trusted the Lord to vindicate him and protect him. But in the case of Esau, Jacob is in the wrong. Jacob treated his brother unfairly and dishonestly. If Esau is bent on exacting revenge, Jacob hardly has the high ground. Jacob is guilty of any accusations Esau might bring against him regarding their relationship and the family inheritance and the blessing of the firstborn. Jacob doubts whether the Lord will protect him against the righteous indignation of his brother. He doubts, and yet in his mind he retains the promises of God. If God is going to fulfill the promises He's made to him, He can't allow Esau to kill him. These promises are the only firm footing Jacob can find in his panic, so now that he's done everything he can humanly do, he turns to the God who can do all things.
"Then Jacob prayed, 'O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, You who said to me, 'Go back to your country and to your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But You have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'" (Genesis 32:9-12) This is a beautiful, humble prayer. I think we can learn a lot from the way Jacob prays to the Lord in verses 9-12.
First of all, Jacob reminds himself who God is. This is the God his father Isaac trusts. This is the God his grandfather Abraham trusted. The Lord has done great things for Isaac and Abraham. Surely He is still the same God. Surely He is just as mighty. Surely He hasn't used up all His mercy but has plenty to spare for Jacob. When we come to the Lord in prayer, especially when we are asking for a big thing, it helps to remind ourselves how powerful God is. This is the One who spoke everything into existence out of nothing. This is the God who has done great things in the past and He is still the same God. His power and His mercy are not diminished in any way. He has plenty left for us.
Second, Jacob admits he is unholy and that God is holy. He humbly confesses that he is unworthy of God's kindness and faithfulness. I think sometimes our unworthiness is a reason we don't fully trust God. We think, "Why should He help me? I can understand Him helping people who have more faith than I do, or helping people who work harder in the church than I do, or helping people who are nicer and more compassionate than I am. But I've messed up a lot. Why should He help me?" Jacob had these same thoughts but he doesn't let them stop him. Instead of dwelling on his own unworthiness, he chooses to dwell on God's love. None of us is worthy of God but He loves us anyway. Because of His great love for us He has shown us compassion instead of judgment. Because of His great love for us He has made promises and kept them. If His offer of mercy depended on our worthiness, we'd have no hope. But it depends on His love, the love that compelled Him to make a way of salvation for us even though we could never earn or deserve salvation on our own. The Apostle Paul, who was once a far worse man than Jacob, marveled at God's love and mercy toward him and made this powerful statement: "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Christ didn't say, "Okay, you've gotta shape up, people. If I'm going to make this great sacrifice for you, you're going to have to clean up your act first." No, while we were still sinners and while we were still unworthy and while we were still unprofitable, Christ died for us! He died for us so that He could make us profitable servants worthy of being called by His name.
Third, Jacob reminds himself how far God has already brought him. Jacob left Canaan for Harran with nothing to his name but his walking stick. Now he has a big family and many servants and large flocks and herds. When we're struggling in the face of a problem, it helps to remind ourselves how many times God has rescued us before. Our faith will be strengthened by looking back on our lives and realizing how many times God has turned situations around. He's done miracles in my life. He's fixed things that were absolutely not fixable by human standards. They looked as hopeless as they could be, and they were hopeless if they depended only on human strength. But the God of the universe stepped in and everything changed.
Fourth, Jacob reminds himself that the Lord promised to protect him and make him prosper. If God doesn't protect him from Esau, then God is going back on His word. And God doesn't go back on his word. "God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19) We have to stop thinking God is like man. We've all had people break promises to us. We've all had people tell us one thing and then do another. But God is not like man who makes a promise without thinking it through. God is not like man who breaks his word. The Lord promised to be with Jacob and protect him wherever he goes, and God will not break this promise. He can't. It's not in His nature to lie or change His mind or break promises. Those traits are human traits, not God's.
Jacob concludes his preparations for meeting his brother by putting together a gift for him. He wants to show Esau he's coming in good faith and in peace. He's not coming to take over their father's estate or to claim the birthright and to lord over Esau. He has come to bless, not to receive blessing. "He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, 'Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.'" (Genesis 32:13-16) Esau is coming with his men and he is going to be met by one herd after another along the way. He's going to be increasingly impressed as he encounters each herd. He's going to want to know whose animals these are and why he's being met by them.
Jacob tells the servant who will be in front what to say when Esau asks the meaning of this procession. "He instructed the one in the lead: 'When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?' then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.'" (Genesis 32:17-18)
Jacob makes sure the leader of each herd knows what to say. "He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: 'You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. And be sure to say, 'Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.' For he thought, 'I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.' So Jacob's gift when on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp." (Genesis 32:19-21) These gifts aren't intended to make up for what Jacob did to his brother. Nothing can replace missing out on the birthright and the blessing. The gifts are intended to smooth the way so that Jacob can enter Esau's presence peacefully. King Solomon recognized the value of gifts in paving the way for a successful meeting, and he said, "A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great." (Proverbs 18:16)
Jacob has done all that can be done. Now he just has to wait to see what will happen. We've all been there, haven't we? We've all had to just be still and wait to see what God will do. God is going to do more than Jacob ever imagined.
Monday, February 3, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 127, Jacob Prepares To Meet Esau
Jacob is on his way back to Canaan and he hasn't seen his brother Esau in twenty years. He doesn't know whether Esau still wants to kill him, but the Lord has orchestrated Jacob's life in such a way that Esau has had plenty of time for his temper to cool off. As we learned yesterday, not only was Jacob tricked into having to work fourteen years for the woman he wanted, but it took him six additional years of work to establish his own flocks and herds to be financially stable enough to make the trip home. The Lord has had mercy on Jacob and on his brother Esau as well. If Esau murdered his brother he would either be put to death or else he'd have to flee for his life, living in exile for the rest of his days.
But Jacob doesn't know yet how his brother will receive him. He's afraid that Esau's resentment has continued to grow during the twenty years they've been apart. Jacob wounded his brother deeply and he knows that wounds that aren't treated can fester and become worse over time. He's living in a day when there is no reliable method of communication over long distances. He can't call his brother or email him or chat with him on social media. There's no postal service through which he can send a letter. It was possible in those days to send letters by paying a messenger and providing his supplies if he had to travel a fair distance. This is probably what Rebekah had in mind when she promised to send a message to Jacob when it was safe for him to return, but he has never received any word from her. I believe she died some years prior to Jacob's return.The Bible never tells us about Rebekah's death but she is not mentioned alive again after she says goodbye to Jacob when sending him to Harran. When Jacob returns home only his father is mentioned, and later when Isaac dies the Bible will tell us that he is buried with Rebekah in the cave at Machpelah alongside of Abraham and Sarah. It may be that Rebekah passed on before Esau's heart changed toward Jacob, so she never got the opportunity to send a message containing the good news that Esau is no longer angry.
Jacob has just finished making peace with his father-in-law who has gone on his way back to Harran. "Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, 'This is the camp of God!' So he named that place Mahanaim." (Genesis 32:1-2) The Bible doesn't describe this encounter with the angels of God, but because Jacob knows the Lord is with him he names this place "double camp" or "two camps". He's saying, "God is camping here with me."
Jacob isn't too far now from where his brother lives, so he sends word to tell Esau he's coming. "Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He instructed them: 'This is what you are to say to my Lord Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there til now. I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.'" (Genesis 32:3-5) Jacob doesn't want his brother thinking he's come home to claim anything. He already has everything he needs. He's not showing up after twenty years to take over and push Esau aside.
"When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, 'We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.'" (Genesis 32:6) I picture Jacob turning pale and his knees growing weak at this news. Four hundred men sounds like an army! Jacob can't fight off four hundred men. All he has are his wives and children and the servants and animals he's responsible for providing for and protecting. When he hears Esau is coming with four hundred men, he believes he's doomed. He believes his brother still wants him dead and that there is no escape.
But, oh, the grace of God! Praise be for the mighty power of the God who has changed Esau's heart toward Jacob! He's not coming with an army of four hundred men; he's coming with a welcoming party of four hundred men! Jacob won't encounter his brother until Chapter 33 but in the meantime he thinks the worst. In the meantime he tries to come up with a strategy for protecting as many of his people as he can. And in the meantime he experiences the defining moment of his life---the pivotal event upon which everything will turn. He promised the Lord on his way to Harran that if He'd protect him and bring him safely back to Bethel, Jacob would make Him his God. God is going to keep the promises He made to Jacob and Jacob is never going to be the same. And finally, when the two estranged brothers see each other face to face, both their hearts will be in the right place. All these years they never expected to have their broken relationship mended, but God specializes in making things whole.
How many times do we think the worst? How often do we dread things and worry about things only to arrive there and find that God has smoothed the way for us? This is the state Jacob is in during the first half of Chapter 32. He thinks he and the people with him will end up dead, so he will devise a plan to try to at least preserve as many lives as possible while still expecting to lose his own. But he can't go back to Harran. He and his father-in-law made a binding agreement that neither of them will enter the other's territory ever again. To do so would give the other man the right to kill him. Jacob can only go forward into the unknown. But God goes with him into the unknown. And God goes with us into the unknown. We are safe in the hands of the One for whom nothing is unknown and of Whom it is said, "Even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You." (Psalm 139:12)
But Jacob doesn't know yet how his brother will receive him. He's afraid that Esau's resentment has continued to grow during the twenty years they've been apart. Jacob wounded his brother deeply and he knows that wounds that aren't treated can fester and become worse over time. He's living in a day when there is no reliable method of communication over long distances. He can't call his brother or email him or chat with him on social media. There's no postal service through which he can send a letter. It was possible in those days to send letters by paying a messenger and providing his supplies if he had to travel a fair distance. This is probably what Rebekah had in mind when she promised to send a message to Jacob when it was safe for him to return, but he has never received any word from her. I believe she died some years prior to Jacob's return.The Bible never tells us about Rebekah's death but she is not mentioned alive again after she says goodbye to Jacob when sending him to Harran. When Jacob returns home only his father is mentioned, and later when Isaac dies the Bible will tell us that he is buried with Rebekah in the cave at Machpelah alongside of Abraham and Sarah. It may be that Rebekah passed on before Esau's heart changed toward Jacob, so she never got the opportunity to send a message containing the good news that Esau is no longer angry.
Jacob has just finished making peace with his father-in-law who has gone on his way back to Harran. "Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, 'This is the camp of God!' So he named that place Mahanaim." (Genesis 32:1-2) The Bible doesn't describe this encounter with the angels of God, but because Jacob knows the Lord is with him he names this place "double camp" or "two camps". He's saying, "God is camping here with me."
Jacob isn't too far now from where his brother lives, so he sends word to tell Esau he's coming. "Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He instructed them: 'This is what you are to say to my Lord Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there til now. I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.'" (Genesis 32:3-5) Jacob doesn't want his brother thinking he's come home to claim anything. He already has everything he needs. He's not showing up after twenty years to take over and push Esau aside.
"When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, 'We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.'" (Genesis 32:6) I picture Jacob turning pale and his knees growing weak at this news. Four hundred men sounds like an army! Jacob can't fight off four hundred men. All he has are his wives and children and the servants and animals he's responsible for providing for and protecting. When he hears Esau is coming with four hundred men, he believes he's doomed. He believes his brother still wants him dead and that there is no escape.
But, oh, the grace of God! Praise be for the mighty power of the God who has changed Esau's heart toward Jacob! He's not coming with an army of four hundred men; he's coming with a welcoming party of four hundred men! Jacob won't encounter his brother until Chapter 33 but in the meantime he thinks the worst. In the meantime he tries to come up with a strategy for protecting as many of his people as he can. And in the meantime he experiences the defining moment of his life---the pivotal event upon which everything will turn. He promised the Lord on his way to Harran that if He'd protect him and bring him safely back to Bethel, Jacob would make Him his God. God is going to keep the promises He made to Jacob and Jacob is never going to be the same. And finally, when the two estranged brothers see each other face to face, both their hearts will be in the right place. All these years they never expected to have their broken relationship mended, but God specializes in making things whole.
How many times do we think the worst? How often do we dread things and worry about things only to arrive there and find that God has smoothed the way for us? This is the state Jacob is in during the first half of Chapter 32. He thinks he and the people with him will end up dead, so he will devise a plan to try to at least preserve as many lives as possible while still expecting to lose his own. But he can't go back to Harran. He and his father-in-law made a binding agreement that neither of them will enter the other's territory ever again. To do so would give the other man the right to kill him. Jacob can only go forward into the unknown. But God goes with him into the unknown. And God goes with us into the unknown. We are safe in the hands of the One for whom nothing is unknown and of Whom it is said, "Even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You." (Psalm 139:12)
Saturday, February 1, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 126, Laban And Jacob Call A Truce
In yesterday's passage Laban accused Jacob of stealing his idols, but it was Rachel who stole them and Jacob doesn't know she did such a thing. When we closed yesterday, Jacob had invited Laban to look through everything at the campsite to assure himself that his idols aren't there.
I picture Laban angrily bustling about the campsite, messily going through everyone's possessions and flinging stuff everywhere. "So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing." (Genesis 31:33-34) Household gods were not large. They were small and portable, about the size of a china figurine we might have on a shelf. It wouldn't be hard to hide all of Laban's idols under Rachel's saddle.
To explain why she doesn't stand up in respect when her father enters the tent, she makes an indelicate statement that we don't expect to find on the pages of the Bible. "Rachel said to her father, 'Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand in your presence; I'm having my period.' So he searched but could not find the household gods." (Genesis 31:36) In the KJV her statement is worded more subtly: "Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before me; for the custom of women is upon me." I've been a liar just like Rachel because I used to use this same excuse when I didn't want to dress out for gym class in high school. My male gym teacher didn't want to know about or think about such things, so as soon as he caught on to what I was about to say he'd start waving his hand at me to stop talking and he'd instruct me to sit on the bleachers during class. I think when Rachel says what she says, Laban waves his hand at her to say no more. It doesn't occur to him to ask her to stand up because he believes she's feeling unwell. He doesn't think she'd disrespect his idols enough to sit on them like they are common objects and not objects of religion. He especially doesn't think she'd sit on them while "the custom of women" is upon her. He finishes looking through the rest of her stuff and leaves her tent.
Jacob feels vindicated that his father-in-law has found nothing. He's insulted that Laban would even suggest he or his family would steal anything. "Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. 'What is my crime?' he asked Laban. 'How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.'" (Genesis 31:36-37)
Jacob really gets on a roll now. He's taken abuse from his father-in-law for many years but he gritted his teeth and said nothing and put up with it. He doesn't have to put up with it anymore and all the things he's bottled up inside come pouring out. "I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or by night." (Genesis 31:38-39) If a wild animal attacked a sheep or goat, the shepherd was expected to try to save the sheep or goat. This could entail beating the wild animal with a rod, trying to chase it off, or attempting to wrestle the sheep or goat away from it. A shepherd could easily lose his own life defending the flock, which is why the Lord Jesus said when referring to Himself as the good shepherd: "A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11) If a shepherd could not save the life of the sheep, he was to bring its torn body to his master as proof that he tried to wrestle it from the mouth of the lion but couldn't. Then he would not be held accountable for the loss of the sheep. But Jacob says he didn't even do that. He held himself to a high standard, so when he was unable to wrestle a sheep free and save its life, he paid for the sheep himself.
"This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night He rebuked you." (Genesis 31:40-42) Laban ought to be ashamed. But he's not and he tries to justify his behavior. He won't acknowledge that anything at the campsite belongs to Jacob or that Jacob has a right to possess anything after his many years of service. But because the Lord has rebuked Laban, and because the Lord will avenge Jacob if Laban doesn't let him go in peace, Laban proposes a truce. "Laban answered Jacob, 'The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.'" (Genesis 31:43-44)
"So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. He said to his relatives, 'Gather some stones.' So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jeger Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed." (Genesis 31:45-47) They break bread together as a sign that they are at peace with each other. Laban names the heap of stones "round heap of witness" and Jacob names the heap "watchtower".
"Laban said, 'This heap is witness between you and me today.' That is why it was called Galeed. It was also called Mizpah, because he said, 'May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.'" (Genesis 31:48-50) Mizpah means "to watch". Laban is saying, "I might not see it if you do wrong, but God will see it and He will punish you." Laban has never been very concerned with God seeing or punishing his own wrong deeds, but he's not above threatening Jacob with the wrath of God. Laban is a man who only uses religion when there is something to be gained from it.
"Laban also said to Jacob, 'Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.'" (Genesis 31:51-53a) Jacob has served Laban faithfully, yet Laban behaves as though he can't trust him. He's in no danger of Jacob sneaking back to Harran to murder him in his sleep. He doesn't need to say these things to Jacob and he has no reason to require Jacob to take an oath that he will not harm him. But Jacob takes the oath anyway. It's easier just to go along with Laban than to argue with him. "So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac." (Genesis 31:53b) This verse in the original language is literally: "He took an oath in the name of the One who made Isaac tremble." Isaac had a healthy reverence for the Lord. Isaac trembled on the day when he realized that, in spite of his efforts to establish Esau as his heir, the Lord kept His word that Jacob would be the heir. The Lord had the last word because He is sovereign over all things, and this realization made Isaac tremble in holy fear.
Jacob makes a sacrifice to the Lord and prepares a feast to commemorate the truce. "He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home." (Genesis 31:54-55)
If Laban had been a better man and had treated Jacob fairly he could have enjoyed a relationship with his daughters and grandchildren for the rest of his life. Instead he will never lay eyes on any of them again.
But this is an example of God using someone's evil intentions for the other person's good. If Laban had done the honorable thing and made Jacob the heir---or at least an heir---of his estate, Jacob would not have headed back to Canaan. But it's the Lord's will for Jacob to head back to Canaan because the Lord has promised the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendants. The Lord has promised Jacob the birthright and the leadership of the family. Jacob must return home in order for these things to fall into place, so the Lord has used the poor character of Laban to entice Jacob home.
We will go through hard times in life. We will endure unfairness and mistreatment from others. How might the Lord intend to use these things in our lives later on? How might He weave these hard times into the tapestry of our lives to bring us to the places we're meant to be? Laban is a bad man and I'm sure he had to answer to the Lord for his sins. But at least his sins against Jacob weren't for nothing. The Lord used them to bring Jacob to the place where he's meant to be. Soon Jacob will have a fresh new encounter with the Lord---an encounter he wouldn't have had if he'd remained with Laban.
I picture Laban angrily bustling about the campsite, messily going through everyone's possessions and flinging stuff everywhere. "So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing." (Genesis 31:33-34) Household gods were not large. They were small and portable, about the size of a china figurine we might have on a shelf. It wouldn't be hard to hide all of Laban's idols under Rachel's saddle.
To explain why she doesn't stand up in respect when her father enters the tent, she makes an indelicate statement that we don't expect to find on the pages of the Bible. "Rachel said to her father, 'Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand in your presence; I'm having my period.' So he searched but could not find the household gods." (Genesis 31:36) In the KJV her statement is worded more subtly: "Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before me; for the custom of women is upon me." I've been a liar just like Rachel because I used to use this same excuse when I didn't want to dress out for gym class in high school. My male gym teacher didn't want to know about or think about such things, so as soon as he caught on to what I was about to say he'd start waving his hand at me to stop talking and he'd instruct me to sit on the bleachers during class. I think when Rachel says what she says, Laban waves his hand at her to say no more. It doesn't occur to him to ask her to stand up because he believes she's feeling unwell. He doesn't think she'd disrespect his idols enough to sit on them like they are common objects and not objects of religion. He especially doesn't think she'd sit on them while "the custom of women" is upon her. He finishes looking through the rest of her stuff and leaves her tent.
Jacob feels vindicated that his father-in-law has found nothing. He's insulted that Laban would even suggest he or his family would steal anything. "Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. 'What is my crime?' he asked Laban. 'How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.'" (Genesis 31:36-37)
Jacob really gets on a roll now. He's taken abuse from his father-in-law for many years but he gritted his teeth and said nothing and put up with it. He doesn't have to put up with it anymore and all the things he's bottled up inside come pouring out. "I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or by night." (Genesis 31:38-39) If a wild animal attacked a sheep or goat, the shepherd was expected to try to save the sheep or goat. This could entail beating the wild animal with a rod, trying to chase it off, or attempting to wrestle the sheep or goat away from it. A shepherd could easily lose his own life defending the flock, which is why the Lord Jesus said when referring to Himself as the good shepherd: "A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11) If a shepherd could not save the life of the sheep, he was to bring its torn body to his master as proof that he tried to wrestle it from the mouth of the lion but couldn't. Then he would not be held accountable for the loss of the sheep. But Jacob says he didn't even do that. He held himself to a high standard, so when he was unable to wrestle a sheep free and save its life, he paid for the sheep himself.
"This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night He rebuked you." (Genesis 31:40-42) Laban ought to be ashamed. But he's not and he tries to justify his behavior. He won't acknowledge that anything at the campsite belongs to Jacob or that Jacob has a right to possess anything after his many years of service. But because the Lord has rebuked Laban, and because the Lord will avenge Jacob if Laban doesn't let him go in peace, Laban proposes a truce. "Laban answered Jacob, 'The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.'" (Genesis 31:43-44)
"So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. He said to his relatives, 'Gather some stones.' So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jeger Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed." (Genesis 31:45-47) They break bread together as a sign that they are at peace with each other. Laban names the heap of stones "round heap of witness" and Jacob names the heap "watchtower".
"Laban said, 'This heap is witness between you and me today.' That is why it was called Galeed. It was also called Mizpah, because he said, 'May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.'" (Genesis 31:48-50) Mizpah means "to watch". Laban is saying, "I might not see it if you do wrong, but God will see it and He will punish you." Laban has never been very concerned with God seeing or punishing his own wrong deeds, but he's not above threatening Jacob with the wrath of God. Laban is a man who only uses religion when there is something to be gained from it.
"Laban also said to Jacob, 'Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.'" (Genesis 31:51-53a) Jacob has served Laban faithfully, yet Laban behaves as though he can't trust him. He's in no danger of Jacob sneaking back to Harran to murder him in his sleep. He doesn't need to say these things to Jacob and he has no reason to require Jacob to take an oath that he will not harm him. But Jacob takes the oath anyway. It's easier just to go along with Laban than to argue with him. "So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac." (Genesis 31:53b) This verse in the original language is literally: "He took an oath in the name of the One who made Isaac tremble." Isaac had a healthy reverence for the Lord. Isaac trembled on the day when he realized that, in spite of his efforts to establish Esau as his heir, the Lord kept His word that Jacob would be the heir. The Lord had the last word because He is sovereign over all things, and this realization made Isaac tremble in holy fear.
Jacob makes a sacrifice to the Lord and prepares a feast to commemorate the truce. "He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home." (Genesis 31:54-55)
If Laban had been a better man and had treated Jacob fairly he could have enjoyed a relationship with his daughters and grandchildren for the rest of his life. Instead he will never lay eyes on any of them again.
But this is an example of God using someone's evil intentions for the other person's good. If Laban had done the honorable thing and made Jacob the heir---or at least an heir---of his estate, Jacob would not have headed back to Canaan. But it's the Lord's will for Jacob to head back to Canaan because the Lord has promised the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendants. The Lord has promised Jacob the birthright and the leadership of the family. Jacob must return home in order for these things to fall into place, so the Lord has used the poor character of Laban to entice Jacob home.
We will go through hard times in life. We will endure unfairness and mistreatment from others. How might the Lord intend to use these things in our lives later on? How might He weave these hard times into the tapestry of our lives to bring us to the places we're meant to be? Laban is a bad man and I'm sure he had to answer to the Lord for his sins. But at least his sins against Jacob weren't for nothing. The Lord used them to bring Jacob to the place where he's meant to be. Soon Jacob will have a fresh new encounter with the Lord---an encounter he wouldn't have had if he'd remained with Laban.
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