Jacob was in
trouble. He knew that his boss and
brother-in-law was jealous of his success, and his own distaste for Laban was
only matched by Laban’s growing paranoia.
Yet what could he do? This was
his brother’s wife – his own family. As
he took the matter to the Lord, the answer that came back was the obvious. “Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the
land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” [1]
With such an
encouragement, one can imagine that Jacob could feel a sense of relief and
release. Surely now he could confront
Laban and tell him his plans to go, knowing that it was God’s command and Laban
would have to honor that. But Jacob,
having just heard from God, does not follow through in a godly way. Instead, he hatches a plan to leave without
saying goodbye. He infects his famiy
with his distrust and bitterness, loads up his worldly goods and leaves. But by failing to have a crucial conversation
with his brother-in-law Laban before leaving, he made it appear as if he was feeling
the scene of some heinous crime. Worse,
his wife had committed such a crime (idolatry and theft) immediately prior to
their departure, and the theft was one that Laban could not help but
notice. His household gods would’ve been
either made of or covered with gold or silver, and Jacob’s bitter words against
Laban’s greed had inspired Rebekah to take them as they left. Jacob had gone from simply being in trouble
to getting himself into a real predicament.
The Lord had
given him release before, but would He do so again? For all Jacob’s haste and bitterness, God
still watched over him. Laban was warned
in a dream not to harm him, and Jacob was subsequently able to see a truce
established by a boundry marker. By
God’s grace and in spite of his own foolishness, he was free of Laban’s threats
and had finally broken off that destructive relationship.
But where
would he go? The Lord had told him to go
back to his native land. Perhaps after
the celebratory meal with his brother in law Laban, contemplating the path
ahead to his family’s homestead the next day, Jacob thought of his own brother
Esau. There was a even more strife
between him and Esau than between him and Laban! Surely Jacob would have to think back to his
failure to have a crucial conversation before he had left his father’s
household so long ago. That meant that
Esau would’ve had at least 14 years to stew in his anger against Jacob for
stealing his blessing. In today’s colloquialism
we would say Jacob was between a rock and a hard place. It seemed that every time he found release,
he only found himself next in a tighter spot.
“Early the next morning Laban kissed his
grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned
home." 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.”[2]
Is God really
with you when each time you hear His Voice or see His Hand in answer to prayer,
you soon find yourself needing Him even more desperately? Jacob had followed the Lord, and yes, the
Lord had blessed him. But he found
himself in servitude to a greedy brother in law who kept changing his
wages. He prayed, and he heard the Lord’s
voice telling him to go. Going, he found
himself in a confrontation with Laban that could easily have turned
violent. The Lord’s hand was in that situation,
and he was miraculously delivered. Now
he faced perhaps his greatest fear, in seeing his brother once more. Sick from worry, God sends His angels to meet
him.
We know from
reading the rest of the story in Gen 32 that Jacob’s fear is not so easily
discarded, even after he hears God’s Voice, sees God’s Hand at work and is met
by God’s angels along the way. But he is
on the right path, and to his eternal credit, Jacob does not veer from that
path, through confrontation after confrontation is on it. From his perseverance we have much to learn.
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