Genesis 31 Commentary
You always feel something is wrong with how things happen for Jacob. And why not? We have seen how the LORD God dealt with Abraham and Isaac!
Of course, Jacob wasn’t alone in the Fear department. In one case, Abraham and Isaac faced the same fear and dealt with it poorly. But a point came when Abraham defeated powerful kings; he didn’t run away.
Isaac didn’t run away. Instead, the threatened King Abimelek came and sought peace with Isaac. In this chapter, it’s Jacob who feels threatened! He runs away!
The instruction, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you” doesn’t sound like, “Run away” or “Escape”. You guess the patriarch missed the chance to ask the LORD God how to part from Laban.
“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2v13. Then we know the LORD God can be detailed! The word “escape” could be used instead of the word “Go”, depending on what the LORD God wants you to do. The word “escape” could be implied in Jacob’s case but we doubt it. The more probable scenario is that Jacob is Jacob.
One constant feature in Jacob’s life is how poorly messages from the LORD God are interpreted and consequently implemented. Rebekah heard the LORD God say Jacob would be higher than Esau. Both Rebekah and Jacob employed deception to “achieve” the prophecy.
At Bethel, the LORD God promises to take care of Jacob but check Jacob’s response!
We ponder these facts with a heart drawn to our own times. How do we go about the word of the LORD God?
Verses 10 to 13 give us details of another message from the LORD God – about streaked, speckled, or spotted animals. But check how Jacob went about the business to help the process. Deception was always part of Jacob’s tools box! Chapter 30.
There is something more important about these lines: The grace of the LORD God. Laban is warned by the LORD God not to touch Jacob. Yes, don’t touch Jacob even when there are stolen but hidden gods in Jacob’s camp! Ponder. Of course, the saint must eventually get rid of these foreign gods! Chapter 35.
Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force…” Abraham and his wife Sarah; Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and now Jacob and his wives! These men and their fear of losing their wives! Some things run deep in the blood!
The chapter closes with a peace agreement between Jacob and Laban. His fathers had these peace agreements without too much trouble. The LORD God “punched holes” through Jacob’s “solutions” and grace had the final say. Ponder.
Regardless, we have seen how the saint can have a troubled ride because of sinful solutions.
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