The God of my Father Has Been with Me
Safety,
Prosperity, and Direction from Heaven
(Genesis 31, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, May 10, 2015)
(Genesis 31, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, May 10, 2015)
In
this chapter Jacob parts ways with Laban, his father-in-law for thirteen years
and employer for twenty years. God
instructs him to take his family and possessions and return to the land of
Canaan. Now is a good time to leave too,
for Laban and his sons’ attitude toward Jacob is growing increasingly
resentful. Laban is the kind of man who
likes you as long as he thinks he has the advantage over you and is profiting from
you. For the first fourteen years Jacob
was with Laban, this seemed to be the case.
But over the last six years, Jacob has been gaining more and more of
Laban’s flocks as wages, and Laban is not a happy camper. Though he has tried to change the specifics
of his wage arrangement with Jacob numerous times in order to gain the
advantage, Jacob has always ended up coming out on top.
Jacob
tells his wives God’s instruction to return to Canaan. His speech is rather impressive considering what
we have come to expect from Jacob. Here
is a man who, not unlike Laban, has always sought to gain an advantage for
himself. Yet now he has a lot to say
about the faithfulness and blessing of God.
He recognizes that God has been with him despite Laban’s repeated
attempts to take advantage of him. He credits
his prosperity to God’s kindness, not to his own scheming. God has shown this to Jacob in a dream. God also reminds Jacob of his experience at
Bethel where God had promised to be with him and one day bring him back safely
to Canaan. Jacob had at that time vowed
that if God would indeed be with him and take care of him then Jacob would have
him as his God. God has clearly kept his
promise up to now and he reminds Jacob of his own vow. Jacob is learning to trust in himself less
and to trust in God more. He obeys the
command to return home.
Leah
and Rachel are for their part ready to leave as their father has consistently
treated them poorly. Jacob sneaks his
family away for fear of Laban, and Laban follows after them with enough men to
do harm to Jacob. Once again, it is not
Jacob’s cunning that spares him but God’s mercy, for the LORD appears in a
dream to Laban and tells him not to harm Jacob.
Though God is protecting Jacob, Laban at least believes he has grounds
to accuse Jacob of wrong in sneaking away like this, and he accusing him of
stealing his gods. In truth, Rachel has
stolen them, but Jacob knows nothing of her actions and claims innocence. We are not told what Rachel’s motives were,
but her theft was a sin which almost led to disaster for them. Laban searches through all Jacob’s tents but
cannot find the gods. The last tent
searched is Rachel’s. The suspense
builds, but Rachel successfully deceives her father, and he leaves without
finding them. At this point, Jacob loses
it. All his pent up frustration comes
pouring out. He recounts his twenty
years of hard labor for Laban and Laban’s injustices against him throughout
those years. He also bears witness once
again to the fact that God has continually blessed him despite all Laban’s
attempts to take advantage of him. Jacob’s
words are true and all Laban can do in response is make an empty claim that
everything Jacob has is Laban’s. This is
simply false. He and Jacob had agreed
upon terms which had been met. Before the
two men part ways, Laban makes a treaty of non-aggression with Jacob. Because God has prospered and protected
Jacob, Laban does not have the advantage over him anymore that he once had, and
so he makes a treaty with him as an equal.
Why has God blessed Jacob as he has?
Not because of any merit in Jacob, or any merit in his wives, but
because of God’s own gracious promise.
Put the Word to Work: While
we might often seek safety, prosperity, and direction through our own schemes, God
has something better for us: his own heavenly presence and care.
Memory Verse from the Psalms of
Ascents: Psalm
130:6 ...my soul waits for the Lord more than
watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
Gospel Reading: Matthew
21:23-27 – The authority of Jesus challenged
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