Read with Me
Genesis 31:22-29 (HCSB)
On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him at Mount Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. “Watch yourself!” God warned him. “Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his brothers also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war! Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres, but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly. I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me: ‘Watch yourself. Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
Listen with Me
Even though Jacob had a three-day head start, he had to travel at the speed of the flocks. Laban could mount his camel with a few of his strong hired men alongside him and move much more quickly. Still, Jacob made it out of the area where Laban was known and respected to his own home territory before Laban caught up with him nearly two weeks after he left.
Laban’s original intention was to seize his daughters and bring them back to Haran along with their children. But God directly intervened, appearing to him in a dream and warning him that Jacob and his whole family were under His protection. So, Laban needed to put us aside any plans he had, either to seize what Jacob had by force, or to try to persuade him to return with more false promises.
Even though Laban was not a worshiper of God, he did know about Him through the stories of Abraham that had been passed down and the stories that Jacob had told. So, he knew that unlike the inert gods that he and the rest of the Arabians worshiped, this was a God who acted. So, when he confronted Jacob early the next day, that encounter was very fresh in his mind, causing him to strike a much more conciliatory tone than he had planned.
His central message was that Jacob had acted foolishly in sneaking away instead of acting honorably and giving Laban a chance to say good bye to his daughters and his grandchildren, perhaps even throwing a farewell party for them. By sneaking off while Laban was away, Jacob had thrown suspicion on his own character, seeming like a thief stealing away Laban’s family and property rather than an honest man wanting to return home.
Even with the warning God had given him, Laban still tried to appear threatening. He pointed out that he still had the ability to kill Jacob and take his daughter’s back by force, pointing to the strong, armed men behind him. But he also admitted that he had been warned away from such a course of action by the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac.
Pray with Me
Father, even though Jacob’s method were suspect and smacked of self-reliance, he was following Your command to return home (Genesis 31:3). And since he was obeying Your command, You were present to guide and protect him so that You could fulfill Your promise to bring him safely back to the land (Genesis 28:15). Help me, Lord, to walk each day in steadfast obedience to Your commands so that I can always experience Your guidance and Your protection myself. Amen.