Genesis Chapter 31: Verses 10-12 (NIV -UK Translation)
‘In the breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. The angel of God said to me in the dream, “Jacob.” I answered, “Here I am.” And he said, “Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
Genesis Chapter 31: Verse 29 (NIV -UK)
I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
Genesis Chapter 31: Verse 43 (NIV – UK)
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, we read in the preceding chapters, was a bit of a schemer. It seems to run in the family, for so it seems was his uncle Laban. In verse 38 onwards in this chapter we read that Jacob had worked 20 years for Laban. Laban had kept changing the conditions for his wages, being paid in the produce of the flock. But God had intervened and looked after Jacob in all that time. Now it was God’s time for him to go back to Canaan. This chapter also tells us that Jacob tried to sneak away with his family, but God didn’t let that happen. My mum was very fond of saying two wrongs don’t make a right. Isn’t that true? Its not our place to take matters into our own hands.
Jacob’s pent-up frustration boiled over after his Father-in-law accused him of stealing, although nothing was found. Laban was right though, but it was his daughter Rachael who had stolen from him, and lied about it. It seems that God did not expose Rachael at that time, perhaps to prevent both men from taking any rash actions that they might later regret. Laban on this occasion did not rise to Jacob’s outburst and suggested that the two men make a covenant before God, which they did. Sometimes its right to agree to disagree, and sometimes it is okay to compromise.
What can we learn from this, beside the fact that the heroes of the Bible are just as flawed as us, and God was as gracious to them as He is to us? God misses nothing; at the right time He will intervene, but it may not be right away. When we feel frustrated and angry, its best to take the matter to God and not take it out on anyone else. God can speak to the person who has wronged us, and if He does, we need to accept what He says. After all, God wants to move in their life as much as He wants to move in ours. He loves them just as much as He loves us – Jesus died for them too.
Dear Lord,
I’m grateful for Your example of mercy and grace in the midst of human frailty. Thank You for the times the same mercy and grace continues to be extended to me. Help me to also do likewise. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.