God's Faithfulness in Jacob's Journey

This is Genesis chapter 31. Genesis chapter 31, page 33. James heard that Laban's sons were saying, Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belongs to our father. And Jacob noticed that Laban's attitude towards him was not what it had been. Then the Lord said to Jacob, Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you. So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.

He said to them, I see that your father's attitude towards me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. If he said that speckled ones would be your wages, then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young. And if he said that streaked ones would be your wages, then all the flocks bore streaked young. So God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me.

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 that all that Laban has been giving to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a band to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.

Then Rachel and Leah replied, Do we still have any share of the inheritance of our father's estate? Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.

Then Jacob put his children and his wife on the camels and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Canaan and Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's hat of God's. Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban in the Aram by not telling him he was running away. So he fled with all he had, crossed the river Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days, and then caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 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. Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. Then Laban said to Jacob, What have you done? You've deceived me and you've carried off my daughters by a captive new war. Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me so that I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps?

You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You've done a foolish thing. I have the power to harm you, but last night the God of your fathers said to me, Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad. Now you've gone off because you belong to eternity of father's castle, but why did you steal my goods?

That's still my gods. Jacob answered Laban, I was afraid because I thought he would take your daughters away from me by force. But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live.

In the presence of our relatives, seek for yourself whether there's anything of yours here with me, and if so, take it. And Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods. So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of two female servants, but he found nothing.

After he came out of Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the hat of gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them.

Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing. 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 hat of gods.

Jacob was angry and said to Laban's disciples, What is my crime? he asked Laban. How have I wronged you that you clung me down? Now that you've searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household?

Put it here in front of your relatives and mine and let them judge between the two of us. I've been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts, I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was sold by day and night. This was my situation. The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household.

I worked for you for fourteen... Twenty years now, your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts, I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. This was my situation, the heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you for fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. 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. 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 me? Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.

He said to his relatives, gather some stones. So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.

Laban called it Jigar Sahadutah, and Jacob called it Galid. Laban said, this heap is a witness between you and me today. That is why it's called Galid. It was also called Mizpah, because he said, may the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. If you ill-treat my daughters or if you take any wives inside my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me. Laban also said to Jacob, here is this heap and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Mabel, the God of their father, judge between us.

So Jacob took an oath in the name of the fear of his father Isaac. He offered a sacrifice there in the pool country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. Early the next morning, Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and left and returned home. Thank you, Peter. Do keep your Bibles open at Genesis chapter 31. We've been working our way, haven't we, through the story of Jacob on a Sunday evening, a fascinating story. It's not always easy to understand exactly what God is teaching us through these chapters, but we're doing our best to try to gain lessons from them.

Last week I said that Jacob's experience is a microcosm of the experience of the nation of Israel. So in this chapter, not only this chapter, but in this book, we see Jacob being set free from the grasp of Laban, just as Israel in due time will be set free from the grasp of Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

We see Jacob leaving with Laban's possessions, just as Israel in due time will leave Egypt with its possessions, or at least some of them. We remember how God made the Egyptians favourable towards the people of Israel. And Jacob makes his way towards the land of Canaan, just as Israel, the nation of Israel, in due time will make its way towards the land of Canaan. And I suggest that all of this points us to Jesus, God's Son, who sets us free from slavery to sin and sets us on a course towards the heavenly Canaan. But there are other things that we can learn from Jacob's story.

What else can we learn from this chapter that we're looking at this evening? Well, what I think we can learn from it is this, that the God, having called Jacob, is clearly at work in his life for his good.

And there is a growing realisation of this on the part of Jacob. And that I think has application to us, but we'll get to the application at the end. Now, this is a long chapter, well done Peter, for reading it.

We're not going to be able to look at it all in detail. So what I've done is come up with nine headings, which will help us see our way through the story.

And under each heading, I'll make a few comments as I go along. Okay, so firstly, we see that Jacob. chapter or that Peter for reading it. We're not going to be able to look at it all in detail, so what I've done is come up with nine headings which will help us see our way through the story, and under each heading I'll make a few comments as I go along. Okay, so firstly. Firstly we see that Jacob faces a change of attitude towards him in Haran.

We see that in verses 1 and 2. Now back in chapter 30, we saw how God blessed Jacob, and in a remarkable way.

He became exceedingly prosperous. He came to own large flocks, female and male servants, camels and donkeys, and we see that right at the end of the chapter in verse 43. If we look at verse 1 of chapter 31, we see that the sons of Laban have a bit of a moan. They feel that Jacob has taken away everything that their father owned. And it's around this point that Jacob realises that Laban's attitude towards him after all these years has changed significantly. The implication, I think, is that Laban now feels a considerable amount of resentment towards Jacob. Secondly then, we see that Jacob is told by God to leave Haran.

This is clearly spelled out in verse 3, let me read verse 3 to you. Then the Lord said to Jacob, go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives and I will be with you. Thirdly, we see Jacob telling his wives that he's planning on leaving Haran.

He points out to them a number of things in verses 4 to 13, that their father's attitude towards him has changed, that God throughout his days with their father has been good and protected him. But their father had been very unfair to him and changed his wages ten times.

But God had taken away their father's livestock and given it all to him. And that God had made it clear to him that he was to leave the land at once and go back to his native country, verses 10 to 13. And so fourthly, we see that Jacob's wives are willing to go with him back to the land of Canaan, verses 14 and 15.

Jacob doesn't actually ask Rachel and Leah if they will go back with him, but it's clear that he goes to them with the intention of speaking to them about going back with them. And if there were any concerns on his part, he need not have been concerned. They know, you see, that they no longer have a share in their father's inheritance. They know that their father now regards them as foreigners. They know that their father has effectively sold them. They know that their father has nothing to give them at the end of the day because he's used up all he paid for them. Sorry, all that was paid for them.

And they are fully persuaded that God took away from their father what now belongs to Jacob. And not only to Jacob, but also to them and their children. Do whatever God has told you, they say to him. As soon as we see that Jacob leaves with everything that belongs to him, verses 17 to 21, and he heads towards Canaan, driving his flocks ahead of him. But there is one little detail that I think I should point out at this point, and it is this, that before they leave, Rachel steals her father's gods.

They probably weren't very big. Maybe something about that high. Sort of gods that would have been put on a mountain or something like that.

But I must be honest and say that I'm not sure why she did this. We'll talk a little bit more about this in a moment or two. But if someone here this evening can enlighten me as to why she did it, please, please tell me after the service.

Then, sixthly, in verses 22 to 25, we see Jacob being pursued by Laban. Laban hears that Jacob has fled, and so he pursues him for seven days, and he eventually catches up with him in the hill country of Gilead. If you're wondering where Gilead is, it's just east of the river Jordan. And we might ask what Laban's intentions are. Well, I think Laban's intentions are to give Jacob.

I will see Jacob being pursued by Laban. Laban hears that Jacob has fled and so he pursues him for seven days and he eventually catches up with him in the hill country of Gilead. If you're wondering where Gilead is, it's just east of the river Jordan. And we might ask what Laban's intentions are. Well, I think Laban's intentions are to give Jacob a bit of an ear bashing and maybe to try to take back some of the things he feels that Jacob has taken from him.

It may be that he intends something even worse than these things. But of course God is watching over Jacob.

And God has promised to watch over Jacob. God is working for the good of Jacob. And God comes to Laban one night in a dream and he tells him to be careful not to say anything to Jacob whether good or bad. Which I don't think he takes on board for what we read on in the rest of the chapter. Secondly, we see that Jacob is accused by Laban of wrongdoing.

Verses 26 to 35. Laban feels deceived by Jacob. He feels that Jacob has carried off his daughters as though they were prisoners of war. He says to Jacob that if he told him, well, he could never do so. He could have thrown a party, there could have been singing and music. I wonder whether that would actually have been the case. Laban says that if Jacob hadn't run off without his knowledge, he would have been able to kiss his daughters and his grandchildren goodbye. Well, maybe.

I can understand him wanting to do this. But he also accuses Jacob of stealing his gods.

And there are quite a few verses, aren't there, given to Laban searching everyone's tents with a view to finding these gods, yet finding nothing. Where are they? Well, they're on Rachel.

She's sitting on a panel. They're hidden underneath her. What are these gods doing on Rachel? Why has she stolen them, I wonder? Then, eighthly, we're nearly there, Jacob expresses his fury against Laban. We see this in verses 36 to 42. Jacob clearly doesn't like being accused of something he hasn't done, of course he doesn't know, that Rachel has taken her father's gods. But there are years of pent-up anger and frustration being unleashed by Jacob on Laban.

I've served you well, but you did not treat me well. If God had not been with me and blessed me, you would have sent me away empty-handed. Imagine, can't you, all these years, Laban, that's the way Jacob has served Laban. Laban hasn't been very good to him at all, but he's kept quiet, he hasn't said anything. And now all the frustration comes out, and the tensions between the two seem to rise. Lastly, or ninthly, we see Jacob making a covenant of peace with Laban, verses 36 to 42. Though I hasten to wrap of it's Laban who is the instigator. Together they make a covenant not to harm one another.

Prince, God is at work for the good, for the well-being of his servant Jacob, one whom he has called to follow him. And there are quite a number of times in this chapter where we see Jacob acknowledging God and his goodness to him. Let me just identify a few of them to you.

Firstly in verse 5, where we read, he said to them, I see that your father's attitude towards me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. And then in verse 9, so God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me. And then in verse 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.

Jacob over the years has come to realise more and more that God is with him and working for his. And the fear of Isaac had not been with me, he 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." Jacob, over the years, has come to realise more and more that God is with him and working for his good. God works for the good of those whom he calls to himself. And we see this, don't we? This is the application. We see in the New Testament that this is true for the Christian too. Let me quote perhaps what is one of the most well-known verses in the New Testament.

Romans 8, 28, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I just love that verse. It's a verse that I hold on to, a verse that I hold dear, a verse that I need to hold on to when things are difficult. And life doesn't seem to be going in the way that I would like it to go. God is at work in the lives of those whom he has called to himself. He's at work in the good. He's at work in the bad. He's at work for the spiritual well-being of the believer.

He's at work for the ultimate good of the believer. Let me just read on a little bit into Romans chapter 8, where the Apostle Paul says, those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified.

We may not always understand what God is doing in our lives or in the lives of our families, or even in the life of our church. His ways may seem very strange to us at times, and at times we may feel as if there is a laden of something coming towards us, intent on doing us harm. But even in that, God is at work for our good.

If we have time, later on in the service, we're going to be praying for persecuted believers in Nigeria. Andrew knows more about these persecuted believers in Nigeria than I do. Their lives at times are made extremely difficult. You must wonder what on earth God is doing in the place where they live. It probably doesn't seem to make any sense to them at all. But even in their circumstances, this is still true, isn't it?

In all things, when the sun is shining, when the sky is dark and it's raining, when we're enjoying freedom of worship, when we're being persecuted by the authorities, in all things, God works for the good, the ultimate good, of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. I think this is one of those verses in the Bible that we probably need to underline and hold dear to our hearts, and at times pray for grace that we might be able to hold on to history. Because it's not always easy. And sometimes it's difficult.

But even in our darkest hour, when life makes no sense at all, we can trust that God is working for our good. Let me read a verse again.

I know you know it well. And you know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Let's pray together.