In our study of Genesis chapter thirty one, we see how God was at work protecting his people from the schemes of a godless man. We can take comfort from the fact that this same God watches over us if we are in Yeshua.
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But then he heard what Lavan's sons were saying: "Ya'akov has taken away everything that our father once had. It's from what used to belong to our father that he has gotten so rich." He also saw that Lavan regarded him differently than before.
At the end of the last chapter, we saw that God had show Ya'akov how to overcome the deceptive practices of Lavan but, here, we see that Lavan and his sons had a different perspective of those events. The sons were saying that basically Ya'akov stole from their father. The Hebrew word "kavod" is translated here as riches but it actually speaks of honor and respect. Lavan and his sons equated honor with wealth which is not a godly perspective as they were focused on the flesh more than the spiritual things. Lavan's attitude towards Ya'akov had changed too.
ADONAI said to Ya'akov, "Return to the land of your ancestors, to your kinsmen; I will be with you."
Seeing the change, Ya'akov took the matter to the Lord in prayer and God's answer was that he should go home. God also promised that, if he went, God would be with him. We often hear that we must reconciled with all men but, here, we see that God sometimes wants us to separate ourselves from those that are not interested in His ways.
So Ya'akov sent for Rachel and Le'ah and had them come to the field where his flock was. He said to them, "I see by the way your father looks that he feels differently toward me than before; but the God of my father has been with me.
We see that Ya'akov informed his wives of the situation and, in the order that they are listed, we see that Ya'akov preferred Rachel and also that she was more attuned to the things of the spirit. Ya'akov explains that God had been faithful to him during the situation with Lavan.
You know that I have served your father with all my strength, and that your father has belittled me and has changed my wages ten times; but God did not allow him to do me any damage. If he said, 'The speckled will be your wages,' then all the animals gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, 'The streaked will be your wages,' then all the animals gave birth to streaked young. This is how God has taken away your father's animals and given them to me.
Ya'akov explains to the wives how their father has mistreated him in their business dealings but, even so, God was faithful and provided for them.
Once, when the animals were mating, I had a dream: I looked up and there in front of me the male goats which mated with the females were streaked, speckled and mottled. Then, in the dream, the angel of God said to me, 'Ya'akov!' and I replied, 'Here I am.' He continued, 'Raise your eyes now, and look: all the male goats mating with the females are streaked, speckled and mottled; for I have seen everything Lavan has been doing to you. I am the God of Beit-El, where you anointed a standing-stone with oil, where you vowed your vow to me. Now get up, get out of this land, and return to the land where you were born.'"
We see that Ya'akov lifted up his eyes which refers to prayer and that prayer was answered with a dream from God. God reminded Ya'akov of the vow that he had made when he had stopped on the way to Haran and said that it was time for him to go home.
Rachel and Le'ah answered him, "We no longer have any inheritance from our father's possessions; and he considers us foreigners, since he has sold us; moreover, he has consumed everything he received in exchange for us. Nevertheless, the wealth which God has taken away from our father has become ours and our children's anyway; so whatever God has told you to do, do."
The response of the wives was that they recognized that their father was not interested in the things of God even though they were and so they were ready to cut the ties to him. They recognized that it was God who had transferred the wealth from Lavan to them and Ya'akov and they agreed that it was time to go.
Then Ya'akov got up, put his sons and wives on the camels, and carried off all his livestock, along with all the riches he had accumulated, the livestock in his possession which he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, to go to Yitz'chak his father in the land of Kena'an.
Ya'akov had gone into a wicked land and yet God had caused him to prosper. Now, he was returning to the land that was promised to his father and he was leaving with much more than he had arrived with which speaks of God's providence.
Now Lavan had gone to shear his sheep, so Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father, and Ya'akov outwitted Lavan the Arami by not telling him of his intended flight. So he fled with everything he had: he departed, crossed the River and set out for the hill-country of Gil'ad. Not until the third day was Lavan told that Ya'akov had fled.
We see that Lavan was gone when they departed and that Rachel "stole" the idols of her father. At first glance, this appears to be very wrong as it is taking something without the owner's permission but we must look at the purpose behind the action. We remember that Rachel was a godly woman from an ungodly home and she was taking the ungodly idols from the home. This would have been a message of repentance to her father to turn from idol worship to the things of the one true God. When we think of stealing it is taking something for your own personal gain which is not what she was doing as she was removing them for the good of her father.
Lavan took his kinsmen with him and spent the next seven days pursuing Ya'akov, overtaking him in the hill-country of Gil'ad. But God came to Lavan the Arami in a dream that night and said to him, "Be careful that you don't say anything to Ya'akov, either good or bad." When Lavan caught up with Ya'akov, Ya'akov had set up camp in the hill-country; so Lavan and his kinsmen set up camp in the hill-country of Gil'ad.
So, Lavan pursued Ya'akov and, because he was stronger physically, he made up the three day delay in a short seven days. Once again, we see the faithfulness of God as He steps in and warns Lavan in a dream to be careful concerning Ya'akov and to be silent. At first look, we may not see why God would tell Lavan to not even say good things to Ya'akov but the simple reason is that, in his spiritual state, Lavan did not have the capacity to distinguish between good and bad.
Lavan said to Ya'akov, "What do you mean by deceiving me and carrying off my daughters as if they were captives taken in war? Why did you flee in secret and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you off with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and lyres. You didn't even let me kiss my sons and daughters good-bye! What a stupid thing to do! I have it in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night and said, 'Be careful that you don't say anything to Ya'akov, either good or bad.' Granted that you had to leave, because you longed so deeply for your father's house; but why did you steal my gods?"
We see that Lavan is acting in disobedience to God as he was told to keep silent yet he speaks all kinds of lies and deceit to Ya'akov. He tries to make it sound like Ya'akov is in the wrong and was stealing things from him but, as we have seen, that is not true. Finally, we see the reason as he says that he has the power to do harm to Ya'akov. In the original Hebrew, it makes clear that this power comes from his so-called gods that have been stolen and he contrasts that to the God of Ya'akov. We see that Lavan does not really care about anything concerning the real God who he calls ""the God of your father" but his focus is on idols.
Ya'akov answered Lavan, "Because I was afraid. I said, 'Suppose you take your daughters away from me by force?' But if you find your gods with someone, that person will not remain alive. So with our kinsmen to witness, if you spot anything that I have which belongs to you, take it back." Ya'akov did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
Ya'akov answers Lavan that he fled because he did not trust Lavan to live up to the marriage contracts for his daughters. He invited Lavan to look around and to take back whatever was his and he says that the guilty party will be put to death but he did not know that Rachel had taken the idols.
Lavan went into Ya'akov's tent, then into Le'ah's tent and into the tent of the two slave-girls; but he did not find them. He left Le'ah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household gods, put them in the saddle of the camel and was sitting on them. Lavan felt all around the tent but did not find them. She said to her father, "Please don't be angry that I'm not getting up in your presence, but it's the time of my period." So he searched, but he didn't find the household gods.
So, Lavan did not find the gods because Rachel had hidden them.
Then Ya'akov became angry and started arguing with Lavan. "What have I done wrong?" he demanded. "What is my offense, that you have come after me in hot pursuit? You have felt around in all my stuff, but what have you found of all your household goods? Put it here, in front of my kinsmen and yours, so that they can render judgment between the two of us! I have been with you for these twenty years! Your female sheep and goats haven't aborted their young, and I haven't eaten the male animals in your flocks. If one of your flock was destroyed by a wild animal, I didn't bring the carcass to you but bore the loss myself. You demanded that I compensate you for any animal stolen, whether by day or by night. Here's how it was for me: during the day thirst consumed me, and at night the cold - my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I've been in your house - I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock; and you changed my wages ten times!
Now, Ya'akov states his case concerning this dispute and gives examples of his integrity and God's blessing.
If the God of my father, the God of Avraham, the one whom Yitz'chak fears, had not been on my side, by now you would certainly have already sent me away with nothing! God has seen how distressed I've been and how hard I've worked, and last night he passed judgment in my favor."
Ya'akov goes on to explain that it is because of his fear of God's judgement that he did the right thing in dealing with Lavan and that it was only teh favor of God that kept him from being ruined by Lavan. Finally, he says that God has made a judgement in the case as he appeared to Lavan the night before.
Lavan answered Ya'akov, "The daughters are mine, the children are mine, the flocks are mine, and everything you see is mine! But what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne? So now, come, let's make a covenant, I and you; and let it stand as a testimony between me and you."
In Lavan's response, we see his arrogance as he says that everything is his but he goes on to say that he can be trusted for the sake of his daughters and their children. We see that Lavan is bluffing because inside he is afraid of Ya'akov as he asks for a covenant between them. This would be the modern equivalent of a peace treaty between the two and usually in that situation it is the weaker party that asks for the treaty so that they will not be destroyed.
Ya'akov took a stone and set it upright as a standing-stone. Then Ya'akov said to his kinsmen, "Gather some stones"; and they took stones, made a pile of them and ate there by the pile of stones. Lavan called it Y'gar-Sahaduta, while Ya'akov called it Gal-'Ed. Lavan said, "This pile witnesses between me and you today."This is why it is called Gal-'Ed and also HaMitzpah, because he said, "May ADONAI watch between me and you when we are apart from each other.
Ya'akov set up a stone just like he did in chapter 28 as a sign that he wanted God to be involved in this covenant. Then, they made a pile of stones as a witness and they ate there with the act of eating being an important sign of fellowship. They called the heap of stones "pile of witness" and Lavan also named it "the watchtower" saying that God would be the witness when they are apart.
If you cause pain to my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, then, even if no one is there with us, still God is witness between me and you." Lavan also said to Ya'akov, "Here is this pile, and here is this standing-stone, which I have set up between me and you. May this pile be a witness, and may the standing-stone be a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile to you, and you will not pass beyond this pile and this standing-stone to me, to cause harm. May the God of Avraham and also the god of Nachor, the god of their father, judge between us."
Now, we see that there is a change in the character of Lavan as he shows concern for his daughters but he does not trust Ya'akov and asks for an agreement to protect himself. We see that he also wants the God of Avraham to be the judge which is a departure from his idol worship.
But Ya'akov swore by the One his father Yitz'chak feared. Ya'akov offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his kinsmen to the meal. They ate the food and spent the whole night on the mountain. Early in the morning Lavan got up, kissed his sons and daughters, and blessed them. Then Lavan left and returned to his own place.
Ya'akov took an oath, offered a sacrifice and ate there which is a shadow of worship at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. After staying the night, Lavan said his goodbye and departed in peace.
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