Genesis 31
Jacob’s Flight from Laban
1Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich at our father’s expense!”
This was not a true statement. It was human viewpoint. Divine viewpoint teaches that Laban was gaining wealth through the Abrahamic Covenant, but only when he blessed Jacob and his family. Laban’s sons were complaining, because they were losing their inheritance to Jacob.
It is important to note that the Holy Spirit added these historical events in Scripture to warn the satanic world system that they are not to steal, kill, or destroy the Jewish people. Anti-semitic governments, groups, and individuals who are ignorant of the Abrahamic Covenant are living a life of doom.
2When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed.
Laban loved material things, not God. Therefore, when Jacob took away his material wealth, he began to despise Jacob. His good luck charm was no longer working.
3The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you.”
This was Jehovah’s second appearance to Jacob. It came 23 years after the first vision. Jehovah commanded Jacob to return to Canaan. Laban and his family had seen the work of God in their midst, but they despised it. They were past the point of no return. It was time for the twelve tribes of Israel to settle in the land of Canaan.
4So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah to come to the field where his flocks were.
Jacob arranged a meeting in his secret fields. He spoke in privacy to his wives about this situation.
5There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me.
God was the true source of Jacob’s wealth.
6You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could,
Even though Laban had deceived Jacob, Jacob still kept his end of the bargain and worked hard for his father-in-law.
7but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm.
Laban’s trickery could not overcome God’s providence. The Abrahamic Covenant will defeat liberalism every time.
8If he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring.
Laban could not outwit God. This was a powerful witness to Laban and his family that God was with Jacob. However, Laban and his family rejected this witness and clung to their polytheistic idols.
9In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
Jacob now realized that it was not the zebra patterns that were increasing his personal flock. God had blessed him.
10“Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
God gave this dream to Jacob. This does not mean that God still gives dreams to modern-day charismatics. This is history, not doctrine. New Testament doctrine for the believer is found in Paul’s letters. God speaks to modern believers not through dreams and visions, but by the written Word of God.
11In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied.
The angel of God was the pre-incarnate Christ. He appeared to Jacob in a dream. Charismatics use this verse to teach others that angels (or even Jesus) appear to them in dreams as well. Satan does have the power to appear as an angel (or as Jesus himself) to ignorant Christians in dreams to deceive them. The only divine information today is from the Bible. Believers are to receive their doctrine from Paul’s letters, not dreams, tongues, or prophecies.
12Then He said, ‘Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.
The pre-incarnate Christ watched Laban violate the Abrahamic Covenant. He gave Laban and his family 20 years to come to the one true God.
13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land immediately and return to your native land.”
Notice that the angel of God called himself “the God of Bethel.” In Hebrew, Bethel means "house of God." El is the singular name of God which can be translated as "the Strong Singular-God." This name represented the strong unity of God.
The pre-incarnate Christ reminded Jacob that they had visited together 23 years earlier at Bethel. Jacob made a vow to God. Now, God wants Jacob to keep that vow and return to Israel.
14Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house?
The answer was no, since Laban now had sons, the inheritance would go not to his daughters, but to his sons. Ancient cultures gave virtually no inheritance or natural rights to women.
15Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted the money paid for us!
When Laban was cheating Jacob, he was actually cheating his own daughters. He sold both of his daughters to the same man for fourteen years of labor. This arrangement caused much family strife for his two daughters. There were many ancient fathers who did not possess agape love for their daughters. They sold their daughters to political leaders, older men, wealthy men, or to prostitution temples for the highest price. Daughters were basically merchandise in ancient cultures. Jesus will come to Rome 2000 years later and correct this teaching.
According to the Nuzi Tablets, the father was supposed to give some of the dowry money to his daughters. Laban refused to keep this ancient Mesopotamian law. Instead of saving money for his daughter’s future, he spent it all on frivolous things for himself. Laban followed local laws and customs when it benefitted him. He ignored these laws and customs when it did not benefit him.
16Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you.”
The two daughters recognized that God was with Jacob. The wealth of their deceptive father had been transferred to Jacob. Since Laban was very materialistic, this greed would turn him against Jacob and his family.
17So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels.
Jacob came to Haran with nothing. He did not even have enough wealth to pay the bridal price for his two brides. Jacob had been blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant. He had purchased many camels with his wealth.
18He took away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac.
The camels would be used to transport his wealth from Haran to Canaan.
19While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father.
The Hebrew word for “household idols” is הַתְּרָפִ֖ים (teraphim), meaning idols that were kept in the house for worship. This does not mean that Rachel was an idolater. According to the Code of Hammurabi and the Nuzi Tablets, whoever owned the household gods could claim the family property.
20Jacob also deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving.
The Hebrew word for “deceived” is לֵב (lav), meaning conscience, thought, or personality. It does not mean “deceived” as some versions translate. Many translators attempt to show that Jacob was a deceiver, so they often interject this bias into their English translations. God did command Jacob to leave Laban's household and return to Canaan.
21He left with all he owned. He quickly crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
Jacob crossed the Euphrates River and headed to the trans-Jordan region, which was the land just outside of Canaan.
22Three days later Laban discovered Jacob had left.
Laban had originally set three days journey between his flocks and Jacob’s flock. His motive was to keep his flocks from cross-breeding with those of Jacob. Now, this decision cost him three days of extra journey.
23So he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob for seven days. He caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
Jacob was moving flocks, so his speed was not as fast as that of Laban. Gilead was the Trans-Jordan region, which was the land immediately outside of Canaan.
24But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, “Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.”
God reminded Laban that Jacob was protected by the Abrahamic Covenant. Laban now had direct revelation from God, so he had no excuse not to believe in Jehovah.
25Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too.
Charismatics like to use this verse to claim that they also receive dreams from God. This was a historical incident recorded in the Scriptures. This is not New Testament doctrine for the modern church. The modern doctrine for the church is found in Paul’s epistles. Believers are to receive divine revelation from the study of the Bible, not dreams. It is too easy for the demonic world to infiltrate one’s belief system by dreams. A mature Bible student who has studied the entire counsel of the Word of God at a deep level will not fall for this type of demonic trap.
26“What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war!
Laban was actually the one who was deceiving Jacob. The daughters were now the wives of Jacob. Wives were under the authority of their husband, not their father.
27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps?
Laban was using the excuse of a feast in order to make Jacob feel guilty.
28You didn’t even allow me to kiss my daughters and my grandchildren good-bye. You have acted foolishly!
Jacob was not acting foolishly. He was obedient to God.
29I have the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’
Laban’s intent was to hurt Jacob, but the Abrahamic Covenant would not allow him to do so. Notice that Laban said “the God of your father.” Laban recognized Jehovah as the God of Jacob, but Jehovah was not the God of Laban. Laban was polytheistic, seeing Jehovah as just one of many gods.
30Now I understand that you have gone away because you longed desperately for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?”
The real reason that Jacob left was because of Laban’s dishonesty. Notice the “my gods.” Laban was polytheistic. He feared that Jacob would come back and take his property. Jacob must have been surprised by this accusation, because he did not know that Rachel had stolen the household idols.
31“I left secretly because I was afraid!” Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force.
Laban was deceptive, dishonorable, and dangerous. This was a legitimate concern. This is why God came in a dream to warn Laban not to harm Jacob.
32Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! In the presence of our relatives identify whatever is yours and take it.” (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.)
Jacob offered a public execution to the thief.
33So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s.
Rachel was in danger of public execution.
34(Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle and sat on them.) Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them.
The camel’s saddle was placed inside the tents and used for chairs.
35Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord. I cannot stand up in your presence because I am having my period.” So he searched thoroughly, but did not find the idols.
If Rachel was really having her period, then according to local customs, she did not have to rise. Also, the idols would be considered unclean, since they had come in contact with menstrual blood. Therefore, Rachel used local customs to deceive Laban. This is the curse-for-curse-kind-for-kind result of the Abrahamic Covenant. It is also possible that Laban knew the idols were in the saddle, but he did not want to execute his daughter.
36Jacob became angry and argued with Laban. “What did I do wrong?” he demanded of Laban. “What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit?
Laban could not produce any evidence against Jacob.
37When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? Set it here before my relatives and yours, and let them settle the dispute between the two of us!
Laban could produce no evidence against Jacob.
38“I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
No miscarriages is supernatural. A common sin mentioned in the Nuzi Tablets was shepherds eating the sheep of their master’s flock.
39Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. You always made me pay for every missing animal, whether it was taken by day or at night.
Whenever a sheep was killed by a wild animal, shepherds were supposed to bring the body of the dead sheep to the master. Jacob never did this. He absorbed the loss himself.
40I was consumed by scorching heat during the day and by piercing cold at night, and I went without sleep.
Shepherding was a tough job with many sleepless nights. Wild beasts would often hunt them at night. It was not a job for cowards.
41This was my lot for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!
The original agreement was seven years for Rachel, but Laban changed it to fourteen years for both sisters. Laban kept changing wages, because the curses of the Abrahamic Covenant were blessing Jacob.
42If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, and he rebuked you last night.”
Jacob reminded Laban of the one true God.
43Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today or the children to whom they have given birth?
Laban made this claim, but his daughters actually belonged to Jacob. Laban could not harm Jacob, because of the protection offered from the Abrahamic Covenant.
44So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace.”
Laban is the one who needed protection. Jacob was protected by the Abrahamic Covenant.
45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar.
The pillar was a heap of stones piled upon one another in some type of shape.
46Then he said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile. They ate there by the pile of stones.
Covenants in that day were preceded with a fellowship meal.
47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
Jegar Sahadutha is Aramaic, meaning “the heap of witness.” Galeed is Hebrew, meaning “the heap of witness.”
48Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement today.” That is why it was called Galeed.
Covenants required two witnesses.
49It was also called Mizpah because he said, “May the Lord watch between us when we are out of sight of one another.
Mizpah means “watchtower,” meaning that God was watching Jacob and Laban to make sure that they both kept the covenant.
Many divorced or separated couples misuse this verse as a benediction. This verse is not Bible doctrine. It is recorded history. Bible doctrine is found in Paul’s epistles.
50If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize that God is witness to your actions.”
The Nuzi Tablets dictated that a man would lose his inheritance if he married another wife.
51“Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob.
Neither group could pass over the stones and pillars.
52“This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me.
Laban’s true motive was that he did not want Jacob to cross over the pile of rocks and use the teraphim to take away his property.
53May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared.
Terah was the father of Abraham and Nahor. Abraham worshipped Jehovah, but Terah and Nahor worshipped the moon god. This is why Terah and Nahor did not go into the land of Canaan with Abraham. They stayed in Haran and worshiped the moon god. Isaac and Jacob pulled Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah out of Mesopotamian moon god paganism.
Once the oath was made, then the teraphim were null and void. Laban did not have to worry about losing his property to Jacob. Of course, this did not matter to Jacob, since he had no knowledge of the stolen teraphim.
54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.
The covenant meal signified that the sons of Jacob and Laban were also responsible for keeping the covenant.
55 Early in the morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home.
Notice that Laban kissed Jacob when he arrived years ago, but he does not kiss Jacob when he leaves. Those who are blessed by God are hated by the world.
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In conclusion, the human viewpoint of the satanic world system teaches that all people are capable of love.
The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God teaches that those who are blessed by God are hated by the world.
Human viewpoint teaches that charismatics receive divine revelation outside of the Bible, such as by dreams and visions.
Divine viewpoint teaches that Bible doctrine for New Testament believers is found in Paul's letters, not the historical events of the Old Testament.