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
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