Genesis 34:1-7 Compromise has consequences!

The Defiling of Dinah

1Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land. 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force. 3And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke to her tenderly. 4So Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”

5Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he held his peace until they returned. 6Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. 7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.

Jacob is partly at fault because he compromised and didn’t go where God wanted him to which put his family at risk. He decided to live near this ungodly Canaanite city where unaccompanied women were commonly were raped.

He didn’t act like the head of the family showing outrage when he heard of what happened (he held his peace) causing his sons to take matters into their own hands.

Compromise has consequences!

What kind of message did he display to his children when he met Esau and said he would catch up to him in several days and then went in the opposite direction? Deception.....

Deception and revenge are at hand, stay tuned.

Blessings, David 

Genesis 33:18-20 El-Elohe-Israel

Jacob Settles in Shechem

18After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city. 19And the plot of ground where he pitched his tent, he purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. 20There he set up an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Jacob wasn’t giving God full obedience as “He” wanted him to return to Bethel.

Genesis 31:13 (ESV)

“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.’”

It was good Jacob set up an alter and offered sacrifice but God wants full obedience before sacrifice.

El-Elohe-Israel: the meaning of the name El-elohe-Israel is: God; the God of Israel.

Who is your god?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 33:12-17 Let us be on our way!

12Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”

13But Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and I must care for sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard for even a day, all the animals will die. 14Please let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a comfortable pace for the livestock and children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

15“Let me leave some of my people with you,” Esau said.

But Jacob replied, “Why do that? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

16So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir, 17but Jacob went on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.

Why would Jacob say one thing to Esau but do another? Maybe he didn’t trust him, or he didn’t want to be too close to him? Whatever the reason, Jacob wasn’t trusting in the Lord or acting like his new name implies. (Israel)

“Yet at Succoth we read that he built booths — scarcely houses, I suppose, but more than tents. It was a compromise, and a compromise is often worse than a direct and overt disobedience of command. He dares not erect a house, but he builds a booth and thus shows his desire for a settled life.” (Spurgeon)

Succoth: a booth or hut roofed with branches.

Have you ever told someone one thing and did another, because you thought to yourself, “Let us be on our way”?

Blessings, David

Genesis 33:5-11 A great blessing!

5When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?”

Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.” 6Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. 7Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

8“What do you mean by sending this whole company to meet me?” asked Esau.

“To find favor in your sight, my lord,” Jacob answered.

9“I already have plenty, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what belongs to you.”

10But Jacob insisted, “No, please! If I have found favor in your sight, then receive this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me favorably. 11Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need. So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.

“Although Esau did not receive the great blessing — the covenant blessing, — that having gone to Jacob who secured it by deception, yet Esau did receive a great blessing of a temporal kind, which Isaac pronounced upon him with all the fervor of a father who loved his son most ardently. Esau thus received what he most wanted, for he cared very little for the spiritual blessing, — not being a spiritual man, — and when he obtained the temporal blessing, that satisfied his heart, and he said, ‘It is enough.’” (Spurgeon)

In that culture, one would never accept gifts from an enemy. But Esau accepted the gifts, thereby accepting the friendship.

Do you prefer a spiritual or a temporal kind of blessing?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 33:1-4 And they both wept!

Jacob Meets Esau

1Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. 2He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. 3But Jacob himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

4Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.

 Jacob was worried and divided his wives and children according to their status to him. But notice Jacob went ahead, he had changed when his name was changed to Israel. By bowing down he was submitting to Esau and stating he didn’t want social status over him.

Notice how God had worked on Esau’s heart....

“Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.”

“And they both wept”. What was past was past, nothing needed to be said. 

Jacob didn’t need to steal Esau’s birthright because God had stated the older shall serve the younger. Gen 25:23

Is God working on your heart to forgive or to accept forgiveness?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 32:27-32 A New Name!

27“What is your name?” the man asked.

“Jacob,” he replied.

28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me Your name.”

“Why do you ask My name?” he replied. And He blessed Jacob there.

30So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon at the hip socket, because the man struck Jacob’s hip socket near that tendon.

God gives everyone a new name, our secret name will not be revealed until we meet Him face to face like Jacob did.

Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.

“Dear friends, I am afraid that the lives of many of the Lord’s chosen people alternate between ‘Israel’ and ‘Jacob.’ Sometimes we are ‘strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might,’ and at another time we cry, ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ Like princes we prevail with God, and are true Israels; but perhaps ere the sun has gone down we limp with Jacob, and though the spirit be willing, the flesh is weak. We are Jacob before we are Israel; and we are Jacob when we are Israel; but blessed be God, we are Israels with God when we cease to be Jacobs among men.” (Spurgeon)

“The memorial of his weakness was to be with him as long as he lived… How pleased would you and I be to go halting all our days with such weakness as Jacob had, if we might also have the blessing that he thus won!” (Spurgeon)

“and he was limping because of his hip”. Jacob would be reminded every time he walked because of his struggle with God, not in the sense of the wrestling match but his spiritual struggle. After all, what does Jacob’s name mean? 

Jacob, the supplanter, the trickster, the scoundrel, has a new identity – Israel, which in Hebrew means “one who strives with God.” 

“Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon at the hip socket”. A new man made rule added to Gods law. 

“we are Israels with God when we cease to be Jacobs among men.”

Will you cease to be Jacob among men?

Blessings, David  

Genesis 32:22-26 Utter Weakness!

Jacob Wrestles with God

22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

24So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When the man saw that He could not overpower Jacob, He struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled. 26Then the man said, “Let Me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”

For protection, Jacob put his family across the river and returned to the other side by himself. It was here while alone God wrestled with him.

This is an image on how God wrestles with us, we must be alone and brought to our knees. 

“It does not say that he wrestled with the man, but ‘there wrestled a man with him.’ We call him ‘wrestling Jacob,’ and so he was; but we must not forget the wrestling man, — or, rather, the wrestling Christ, — the wrestling Angel of the covenant, who had come to wrestle out of him much of his own strength and wisdom.” (Spurgeon)

Christ wrestles with us for the same reasons, to wrestle out of us much of our own strength and wisdom.

“I suppose our Lord Jesus Christ did here, as on many other occasions preparatory to his full incarnation, assume a human form, and came thus to wrestle with the patriarch.” (Spurgeon)

He does that with us through our conscience! You cannot say you haven’t heard Him talk to you and tell you that you’re wrong, or don’t do that, or to do something....

“It was brave of Jacob thus to wrestle, but there was too much of self about it all. It was his own sufficiency that was wrestling with the God-man, Christ Jesus.” (Spurgeon)

When we wrestle against the Lord and His ways it is our self sufficiency fighting to keep our ways, not His!

“It is evident that, as soon as he felt that he must fall, he grasped the other ‘Man’ with a kind of death-grip, and would not let him go. Now, in his weakness, he will prevail. While he was so strong, he won not the blessing; but when he became utter weakness, then did he conquer” (Spurgeon).

Jacob lost, the Lord won. In our weakness we prevail in Christ, in salvation through Jesus, He blesses us.

Do you hang on with the death-grip of Jacob? 

“When you became utter weakness, then did you conquer”.

Blessings, David 

Genesis 32:13-21 Trust in God!

13Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 1530 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. 16He entrusted them to his servants in separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep some distance between the herds.”

17He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’ 18then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’”

19He also instructed the second, the third, and all those following behind the herds: “When you meet Esau, you are to say the same thing to him. 20You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esaub with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me. ”

21So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.

“What care he takes about the whole affair! We cannot blame him, under the circumstances, yet how much grander is the quiet, noble demeanour of Abraham, who trusts in God, and leaves matters more in his hands!” (Spurgeon)

It’s interesting that after Jacob prayed he took matters into his own hands again. Perhaps he thought he could purchase Esau’s anger when he threatened to kill him? Perhaps he was sending the message I didn’t come to take anything from my brother.

Perhaps it truly was just a gift.

But why didn’t he trust in the Lord instead of hiding in the back of the procession?

Elijah also lost trust in the Lord and ran for his life!

1 Kings 19:3And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Don’t hide like Jacob or run like Elijah, instead place your trust in God!

Blessings, David 

Genesis 32:9-12 Pleading Gods goodness!

9Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’ 10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me, and also the mothers and their children with me. 12But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”

“Notice that while Jacob thus pleads his own unworthiness he is not slow to plead God’s goodness.” (Spurgeon)

“Depend upon it, it will go hard with any man who fights against a man of prayer.” (Spurgeon)

After Jacob reacted in fear he took to prayer, he laid out his unworthiness and the the Lords promises. We need to keep Gods word at our fingertips and insert them in our prayers. Not to remind the Lord of His promises but to remind us of what He May do, for His promises are for us too!

“Beloved, I say to you, one and all, study much the promises of God’s word! Have them at your fingers’ ends. Remember what things God has said to men, and when he has said them, and to what kind of men he has said them, and discover by this means how far he has said them to you.” (Spurgeon)

George Mueller, was once asked what was the most important part of prayer. He answered: “The 15 minutes after I have said, ‘Amen.’”

https://www.onevoice4t.org/resources/revival/revivals-in-history/326-george-mueller-the-greatest-man-of-prayer.html

It’s interesting how the Lord used George Mueller and how He answered his prayers.  

“He and his best friend, Henry Craik, founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution (SKI) in Bristol, England, with one of their prime objectives being to establish Orphan Homes for the many homeless children in Great Britain.But Mueller and Craik had no money, nor did they intend to ask anyone for it: they believed that God would provide everything they needed - without patronage, without requests for contributions and without debts. All they had to do was pray, and God would provide.”

And He did!

May we have the faith and prayers of Jacob and George!

Blessings, David 

Genesis 32:6-8 The dread of Esau!

6When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—he and four hundred men with him.”

7In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels. 8He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.”

“Jacob had just been delivered from Laban, but he was oppressed by another load: the dread of Esau was upon him. He had wronged his brother; and you cannot do a wrong without being haunted by it afterwards.” (Spurgeon)

Are you haunted by past sin(s)?

“Jacob is the type of a believer who has too much planning and scheming about him; he is a wise man according to the judgment of the world… Abraham never descended to any of the tricks by which Jacob sought to increase his flocks; he lived, like a princely man, in simple, childlike confidence in God, willing to be injured rather than to seek his own interests.” (Spurgeon)

We are no different than Jacob, instead of trusting in the Lord we plan and scheme, worry and fret.

Trust in the Lord, and leave the planning up to Him!

Blessings, David 

Genesis 32:3-5 Trust!

3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now. 5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Jacob was trying to reconcile with Esau since twenty years ago Esau threatened to kill him.

He wasn’t bragging about his wealth, he trying to imply he didn’t come for Esau’s wealth.

Will Jacob be concerned with his messengers report?

Even men in the Bible have trouble putting their trust in the Lord!

Do you?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 32:1-2 Mission Impossible?

1Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.

“Our Mahanaims occur at much the same time as that in which Jacob beheld this great sight. Jacob was entering upon a more separated life. He was leaving Laban and the school of all those tricks of bargaining and bartering which belong to the ungodly world.” (Spurgeon)

Mahanaim. two camps, a place near the Jabbok, beyond Jordan, where Jacob was met by the "angels of God," and where he divided his retinue into "two hosts" on his return from Padan-aram ( Genesis 32:2).This name was afterwards given to the town which was built at that place.

“It may be that every star is a world, thronged with the servants of God, who are willing and ready to dart like flames of fire upon Jehovah’s errands of love. If the Lord’s chosen could not be sufficiently protected by the forces available in one world, he has but to speak or will, and myriads of spirits from the far-off regions of space would come thronging forward to guard the children of their king.”

“I do not ask that you may see angels: still, if it can be, so be it. But what is it, after all, to see an angel? Is not the fact of God’s presence better than the sight of the best of his creatures? Perhaps the Lord favored Jacob with the sight of angels because he was such a poor, weak creature as to his faith.” (Spurgeon)

John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave.

A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men with you there?”

Paton knew no men were present—but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station.

ANGELS GOD S SECRET AGENTS BY BILLY GRAHAM (free ebook download)

https://s3.amazonaws.com/myfilescloud54/angels%20god%20s%20secret%20agents%20by%20billy%20graham.pdf

Mission impossible?

Has God’s secret agents ever had you as their mission?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 31:43-55 Everything you see is mine!

Jacob's Covenant with Laban

43But Laban answered Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, these sons are my sons, and these flocks are my flocks! Everything you see is mine! Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne? 44Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”

45So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar, 46and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate. 47Laban named it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.d

48Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.”

Therefore the place was called Galeed, 49and also Mizpah,e because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from one another. 50If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

51Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is the mound, and here is the pillar I have set up between you and me. 52This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this mound to harm you, and you will not go past this mound and pillar to harm me. 53May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”

So Jacob swore by the One feared by his father Isaac.

54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his kinsmen to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain. 55Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.

“Laban at length realizes the true position of affairs, and proposes to end the feud by a covenant. A pillar is first of all raised, and then a heap of stones. The heap is called by Laban, in Syriac, "Jegarsahadutha" ("the heap of witness"), and by Jacob, in Hebrew, "Galeed," which has exactly the same meaning. The pillar is called "Mizpah" ("watch tower"), and is regarded as the symbol of the Lord watching between the two parties to the covenant and keeping guard over the agreement, lest either should break it. Then comes the solemn oath in the Name of God, followed by the usual sacrifice and sacrificial feast. These two were now "blood-brothers" (see Trumbull’s Blood-Covenant), pledged to eternal unity and fealty. The next morning Laban and his followers returned, and Jacob and his household went on their journey.

It is impossible to avoid noticing the curious misconception of the term "Mizpah" which characterizes its use today. As used for a motto on rings, Christmas cards, and even as the title of an organization, it is interpreted to mean union, trust, and fellowship; while its original meaning was that of separation, distrust, and warning. Two men, neither of whom trusted the other, said in effect: "I cannot trust you out of my sight. The Lord must be the watchman between us if we and our goods are to be kept safe from each other." Thus curiously does primary interpretation differ from spiritual application, and conveys a necessary admonition against the misuse of Scripture even by spiritual people.” Griffith Thomas 

I find it interesting that Laban said, Everything you see is mine!  His daughters, his grandchildren and Jacob’s livestock. Jacob worked for him for 20 years but it was still Laban’s!

“This is the last we hear of Laban in the Bible, and it is good that this is the end of him. Laban is of the world, and Jacob needed to be freed from this world in order to live wholeheartedly for the God of his fathers.” (Boice)

Laban resented and coveted the blessing of God on Jacob, he ended up with neither.

Are you of the world?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 31:36-42 He rendered judgement!

36Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me? 37You have searched all my goods! Have you found anything that belongs to you? Put it here before my brothers and yours, that they may judge between the two of us.

38I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock. 39I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night. 40As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

41Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times! 42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the One Feared by Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”

Jacob endured Laban’s unfairness for twenty years and he became incensed and lashes out. How long did he rehearse this speech? It was the custom of the culture that the sheepherder would bring a torn carcass to the owner to prove a loss but instead Jacob endured the loss and replaced it with his own stock. Laban was so unjust that if any of the stock came up missing he demanded payment from Jacob.

Jacob acknowledges if God of his father, the God of Abraham and the One feared by Isaac had not been with him Laban would have sent him away empty handed.

I love this part of verse 42; “But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”

God witnesses our affliction and toil of our hands too and one day He will render judgement!

2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.

Blessings, David 

Genesis 31:31-35 I was afraid!

31“I was afraid,” Jacob answered, “for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. 32If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

33So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.

35Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.

“I was afraid,” Jacob didn’t put his trust in God.

“Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.” Both sides of this family were full of deceit and lies. Rachel had learned from her father and it was reinforced through her husband.

“Jacob was of course entirely ignorant of Rachel’s theft, and is therefore able to assert his innocence and allow Laban to search through the tents for the lost teraphim. Rachel was a true daughter of her father and a match for him in cunning. But she little knew the trouble she was bringing on Jacob and herself by this deceit.” Griffith Thomas 

“Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.” Rachel lies....

If these gods were real gods with real power wouldn’t they have bitten Rachel in the behind, cast her to the ground or given her leprosy?

Are you afraid or do you put your trust in the Lord?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 31:22-30 Why have you stolen my gods?

Laban Pursues Jacob

22On the third day Laban was informed that Jacob had fled. 23So he took his kinsmen with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him at Mount Gilead. 24But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

25Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, and when Laban overtook him, he and his brothers camped there as well. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war! 27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps. 28But you did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and daughters goodbye. Now you have done a foolish thing.

29I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

It was three days..... this means Jacob lived some distance from Laban.  Laban pursued Jacob for approximately three hundred miles in seven days, that’s about 43 miles per day! And if Jacob was gone for ten days it means he quickly traveled about thirty miles a day with his household and livestock!

God warns Laban....

Laban says....“carried off my daughters like captives of war!” Really? They were his wives!

“I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.”

A lie and Jacob wasn’t buying it!

So Laban threatens him, “I have power to do you great harm”... 

“but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’”

Laban had no power, God had the power and He warned Laban!

“But why have you stolen my gods?”

Note; If your god can be stolen then your god is not a god!

Can your god be stolen? 

Mine God can’t!

Blessings, David