Jacob Flees from Laban
31:1 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was 5 and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9 Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10 In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” 14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. 16 All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
17 So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18 He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20 And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. 21 He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. 29 It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31 Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.
36 Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”
43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? 44 Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.” 45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, 49 and Mizpah, for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. 50 If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”
51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.
55 Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home. (ESV)
41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?
44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
Laban, became jealous of Jacob’s prosperity and tried to take away everything from him, but no matter what he did, God provided for Jacob, because of his promise with Abraham and Issac. yes, God protects us, but it doesnt mean we should jump into any trouble and get hurt. we are only mortals because of the original sin of Adam and Eve.
persistent prayer wouldnt work unless you gave it a try.Pray for Maranatha!
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
THis verse caught my eye for two reasons. One… God is called Fear in this verse. I think thats pretty cool because we are supposed to fear God because of all he can do! The second is that if we are alone, we can do nothing. If we have God at our side, we can do all things according to his will! That is such a cool promise and that can help us so much when we are going through hard times like Jacob.
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
Jenae, the same verse stood out to me! One thing is reapeated over and over again in the book of Genesis…man is sinful, deceitful, and continually falls short, but God is faithful, true, and honest. Genesis reminds us that if we put our hope in other people they will fail us–every time! Only God is worthy of our trust because he is 100% trustworthy. Although Jacob and Laban continually took turns deceiving each other, God’s plan for His people Israel was being worked out. Just as God was there for Jacob to be sure that His plan and purpose was fulfilled in his life, God is there for us, guiding our way despite the unfair or deceitful things that happen to us.
3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
I noticed that through all these quarrels and dilemmas God was completely faithful to his promises. Laban and Jacob didn’t deserve God’s patience or help, yet God promised to be with Jacob. Through this we see evidence of how God is merciful and shows forbearance with Jacob’s sins. It is amazing that God would even associate himself with sinners like us. I can’t even imagine how patient God has to be with us waiting until we understand the basic concept that sin is bad. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6) Through God’s love and forbearance with our sins he sent his son, Jesus to suffer for our sins. If we could even display a hint of the patience that God has shown us then would we be able to fathom who God is, and how he could be so loving to us who are sinners.
Interesting how God always uses Jacob’s circumstances to point everyone back to Himself! Even Israel, Jacob, needs a gracious Savior! Thank You God for being that Savior!
9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
The mistreatment of Jacob by Laban did not go unnoticed by God. God blessed him and his flocks, even though he took matters into his own hands at times. God is just and will avenge those who are wronged (Romans 12:19). Thus we should trust in God for justice when we are wronged and not try to do enact it ourselves.
Let me just say that this my friends is a good chapter! I also look forward tonight for Church and Evangelism Night! Let’s take it to the streets and tell people the truth that Jesus Christ is the Lord and that He is the one and only way to salvation!
6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,
hmmm righteousness…this is what we need to do! Work at everything with all stregnth! I am been trying to apply this myself and when I do it, it has been effective, I got the best grades I ever did in school I think and just in sports like more playing time. It’s a command in Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” this could be really challenging to apply.
11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’
??????I have seen the phrase “Here I am” a lot in the book of Genesis, can anyone help me so I could get an understanding of why the phrase “Here I am” is used, that would be appreciated????????? Is this phrase used to show that God is with him like like what God says in verse 3, like I am with you so you will be safe when Jacob leaves Laban and goes home?
23 Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
This would be freaky to me a little bit, having your father-in-law chase after you as you leave. God protects Jacob as He told Jacob that He would and came to Laban in a dream telling Laban basically be careful not to speak to Jacob.
34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
What a break! God really protected Rachel in this situation! It was God’s will to have those false idols be taken away, so that He can get the praised that He deserves rather than Laban praising or serving other false Gods.
50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
I like this response by Jacob, “remember that God is a witness between you and me.” this is so true because God knows everything and He see’s everything (He’s the witness) and one day we are going to be before God’s throne and going to be judge on what we’ve done. We deserve the death, because the wages of our sins equal death and that deserves being thrown into hell, but Christ will be our defense and will be our way because He sacrificed Himself out of love and mercy on the cross for our sins to be justified. Let all praise be to Christ!
Marantha! Come quickly O Lord!
44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.
Laban was not being a good person. He became jealous and angry with Jacob. So, after Laban searches “everything,” they decided to create a covenant. After that, they eat, sleep, then Laban returns home. Interesting……
This is yet another example of God’s sovereignty. No matter what Laban tried to do to Jacob, God’s will was done. What an amazing God we serve! We can fully trust in Him, and know that His will is going to be done.
Dan, what you commented on stood out to me, too! I like in the passage where God says, “I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.” When we are mistreated by other people, God sees this! And even though Jacob tries to take some things into his own hands here by deceiving Laban and running away, it is ultimately God who protects him by showing up in a dream. And God can also protect us when we are being mistreated!
12… I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
God knew what was happening to Jacob, and He made sure that he was taken care of even though Laban tried to take advantage of him multiple times. In the same way, God knows everything that happens in our lives; He knows when we are persecuted for our faith, and when we are wronged. And He will make sure that those sins do not go unpunished. But if we retaliate in anger when we are wronged, we need to know that that will not go unpunished either; we need to have confidence that the God who sees everything will take care of us without us having to take revenge ourselves.
3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
Right here Jacob is told by the Lord to go back to his fathers land because of the issue with Laban. Jacob shows faith in the Lord and obeys the Him. In the end, everything turns out to be ok between Laban and Jacob. We need to show this faith in Christ and do whatever He says because we should know that whatevver the Lord tells us to do, He will be faithful.
41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you
God gives you and provides you with what you want. in the hardships thats the times we go to God the most and need him. and it says God and to fear Him and we all need to fear God but be ready for him to come.
44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
It is great that Jacob and Laban made up/ a covenant. Although it all started with God because he told Jacob to go back to the land of his father and Laban later followed to catch up to Jacob. God knew that Laban would go and follow him because Jacob had the livestock (verse 9). God is so great always having a plan/reason for everything he has us do. He knew that Laban wasn’t being fair to Jacob (verse 5 and 7) but God was with him and told him to leave after Jacob got all the livestock (verse 8). God is so great and I pray he comes soon to reign again. Maranatha!!!
Its interesting how Jacob does a lot of deceiving, yet God is still faithful. Here Jacob runs away, yet God protects him from Laban and ensures his return to Canaan. Its amazing to see how God works through everything for His perfect will for us, and instead of seeking ourselves, we need to seek Him knowing that He will take care of us in a way that we could never do for ourselves.
34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
Now, Rachel may be able to hide this from her father, but is she able to hide this sin from God?! NOOOO! Like Bobby said, there is no such thing as secrets and God knows EVERYTHING that is going on, whether it’s between two people, or just in the heart. God sees it and she will be punished for that. Remember to never try to hide anything from the almighty God, because God awesomely knows all. :D
16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
This verse really stood out to me… It almost seems as if Leah and Rachel are only caring about their inheritance and wealth, yet at the same time they want Jacob to obey the Lord, knowing that God has technically given it back to them. Obviously, they made the right decision to submit to their husband’s plan, because in the end God protected them from potential danger! Praise God for his glorious providence!
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
What a cool verse! Jacob knows that all the good things he has been getting came from God. He knew that only because God was on his side he got all those things and he was kept safe. God say the hard work he did. He watched Jacob those 14 years as he toiled away on Laban’s fields. God is watching out for him. He is letting Laban know this because Laban has been very jealous of all of Jacob’s blessings. He wanted to do something aobut it, but he couldn’t. God wouldn’t let him. Jacob had God protecting him and blessing him with the wealth that he gained. Today we can aplly this verse to our lives by remembering that all good things we get come from God. Whenver we are blessed, it’s from God. Whenever we get something we need, it’s from God. Also, We can rest assured that God is watching over us and is protecting us. He will keep us safe. If God is with us, who can be against us? Nobody, that’s who!
It just seems to me that some people just try to see how much they can get away wand he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.
21 So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead.
22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
23 Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
ith, without getting in trouble. Like in the beginning of this chapter.
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.
36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “What sin have I committed that you hunt me down?
Man, what lying and sin. And from the wife of Jacob. Wow. This shows that anyone can sin, and that is why we need GOD.
I really enjoyed Mike’s comment. God is aware of our circumstances and He cares for us. We do not need to retaliate when we have been wronged, sin will be dealt with.
3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.
Jacob trusted in God and talked to Rachel and Leah and told them how he wanted to go back to his father’s land. He didn’t know what was in store for him, but he trusted in the Lord. We should all be putting our faith in Him and go wherever He leads us to.
2And Jacob noticed Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
this verse reminds me how people we know today can change towards us tommorrow . especially when Gods rapture comes everyone we thought that were are friends will act like our enemies. but thankfully God will never change his love for His faithful ones. we can trust in Him forever in everything we do.
Throughout this chapter God has been telling Jacob what to do and where to go. And God has assured him that he will always be with him. (Pray for Maranatha!!) I feel we need to remember that when God tell’s us to do something we just need to do it without hesitation and to not fear, because God is always with us. :D
41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
this verse in particular reminded me of Pastor Bobby’ sermon of worldly sorrow versus genuine sorrow. throughout these past incidents with Laban, we have seem him be sorry, and then go on doing what he is “sorry” for. we need to make sure we are truly sorry for our sin, and not looking to apologize for our own gain, like Laban.
Like a lot of other people have said, God sees everything. Nothing happens without God’s aproval either good or bad; He saw when Jacob was being treated bad by Laban, and He was there when Jacob made an alter to Him at Bethel. Let’s be encouraged by this and remember that God sees the persecution we recieve from others, and He also sees when we cry out to Him for mercy and grace. He is always there for us and is worthy of our praise!
Throughout this chapter I was just reminded of how much we need God. Mankind sins so often! We need God because He is holy and he is the only one that can save us from our sin.
it’s amazing to see how much God is providing for Jacob by making the sheep that Laban promised him be the only ones to mate, keeping Jacobs wages high enough even when Laban had changed them 10 times, and then Warning Laban the previous night not to hurt jacob after he had left. All of this really encourages me because it shows me how much God cares for us and will meet our needs.
30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s house. But why did you steal my gods?”
Hey Laban! Maybe your gods are lame! You need to get some gods that people can’t steal!
Can you imagine this? What if we were always worried that God wasn’t going to be there anymore because someone had taken him? Ha!
As Christians we can know the exact opposite of this. We know that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8). Jesus has promised to be with us always (Matthew 28). Praise God that when we wake up in the morning, every morning, he will be there for us. And no one can take us away from him!
11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’
This phrase really stood out to me! Wouldn’t it be nice if God called us and we were able to submit to Him with words like, “Here I am, I’m ready to serve You no matter what You ask of me…” and as we recall and remember Him, we would thank Him for all that He has done in our lives?
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.” 43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?
Jacob tried to escape from Laban whom he betrayed. Jacob was afraid that Laban would mistreat him dearly for the wrongs he had commited against him. God had mercy on Jacob and warned Laban to be careful when talking to Jacob. Even though Jacob deserved to be punished, God knew there was a better way and warned Laban to be civilized. We need to learn from this and be forgiving to others just like Laban was to Jacob. Especially as Christians we need to be forgiving, and I mean actual legit forgivness. These days there are more non-christians being frogiving then Christians. We need to step it up.
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
Rachel wanted to secure that Jacob would receive her inheritance by having these gods. Basically whoever had the gods also got part of the inheritance… or something like that. =D Anyways, she was also bringing idolarty into the household, which is totally wrong because their family was supposed to be completely devoted to God! How ironic is it that Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife would be the one to do this???
50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
I really like this verse because it reminds us that God is watching us and is our witness! Even when we think that we could get away with sin and know one would know this a great reminder of who really does know!
Cool comments you guys(:
7 yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me.
This totally reminds me of that verse that says to not fear those who can kill the flesh but he who can kill the soul (or something like that). Fear God, NOT man.
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
I love the reliance on God this verse shows!