2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Today, we continue looking at the presence of the Angel of the Lord in citations God directs me to discuss. It is one thing to be told that God is sovereign and supreme over other gods. It is another to really see it in action. The story of the interaction of God with Jacob in GN 31 really illustrates this point. Jacob had been working for Laban, the father of his two wives, Leah and Rachel, for a long time. You will remember from earlier how Laban had tricked Jacob (after he had worked for him for seven years) into marrying Leah, when he really wanted to marry Rachel. Then, Laban got Jacob to work for him for another seven years to marry Rachel. [In those days, a man could have more than one wife]. GN 31 is the story of how Jacob, Leah, and Rachel finally flee from Laban.
Laban and Jacob took care of herds to make their living. By the beginning of this chapter, Laban was no longer as friendly toward Jacob as he had been earlier. Jacob hears the Lord say to him in (3), “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you.” Jacob sent for his two wives to meet him in the field. Then, he explained in (6-7), “You both know that I have worked for your father with all my strength. Yet he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not let him harm me.” Jacob went on to explain how Laban did this by determining Jacob’s wages by the number of either speckled, stripped, or spotted goats in his herd at a particular time. GN 31: 9-11, “God has taken flocks away from your father and given them to me. During the breeding season I had a dream, and I saw that the male goats that were mating were striped, spotted, and speckled. The Angel of God spoke to me in the dream and said, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘Look,’ He continued, ‘all the male goats that are mating are striped, spotted, or speckled. I am making this happen because I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God Who appeared to you at Bethel, where you dedicated a stone as a memorial by pouring olive oil on it and where you made a vow to Me. Now get ready and go back to the land where you were born.’ “
This story goes on with Leah and Rachel’s comment in (14-16), “There is nothing left for us to inherit from our father. He treats us like foreigners. He sold us, and now he has spent all the money he was paid for us. All this wealth which God has taken from our father belongs to us and to our children. Do whatever God has told you.” Laban had raised his family in Mesopotamia, and it is known that idolatry was practiced there. This is the reason that Rachel ran back to her father’s house and stole the household gods (19) that belonged there before leaving with Jacob (who didn’t know she had done this beforehand). Jacob (whose name means “deceiver”) waited until Laban had gone to shear his sheep and then left with his wives and children for Canaan, thus deceiving Laban. It is interesting to note that Rachel’s possession of the household gods, which she had kept a secret, caused an incident on the road that almost stopped them from getting to their destination. Laban pursued Jacob once he realized his son-in-law had left. He searched the tent for the household gods once he caught up with the rest of his family (31-35). It was that search that led to an eventual agreement between Laban and Jacob that Laban should no longer bar their path (44). This agreement took place at a location Laban called Jegar Shadutha, which in Aramaic means “a pile to remind us”-referring to the pile of stones they placed there to commemorate the occasion (46-48). Jacob called it Galeed, which in Hebrew means the same thing. In (49), Laban said, “ ‘May the Lord keep an eye on us while we are separated from each other.’ So the place was also named Mizpah,” which means “a place from which to watch” in Hebrew.
From this story, we can see that God’s will shall be done. We can also see that God was watching over Jacob the whole time. First this was done by observing that while Laban was being dishonest and outright tricky in trying to arrange for Jacob never to earn enough money to afford to work out his bride price debt, God kept increasing the number and of type of goats in Jacob’s herd that he needed. It is a sure bet that God made Leah and Rachel realize their father’s deceptions, which led to their pragmatic comments in (14-16) that Laban had nothing left to leave them. I find it most revealing and quite ironic that God allows Rachel’s theft of her father’s household gods to serve as the incentive for Laban to chase after his departing family, a chase that finally leads to Laban’s agreement to let them leave in peace (God’s will). Our Lord certainly has a sense of humor here. We can certainly see Who is in charge. It is no accident that certain names are placed in people’s minds. I believe that God has His hand in that too, which is why I always include the meanings of names when I can in my writing. It’s one more way that we can see God exerting His sovereignty in the affairs of mankind. That is never done unrighteously. Our Lord has no evil in Him, and I will be forever grateful for that!
PRAYER: O Lord, Your compassion and caring guidance offered to those who believe is revealed in this story of Jacob’s conflict with Laban and so many others in the Scriptures. It is true that You are the only true God Who is Sovereign and Supreme. If we have a healthy sense of humor in the course of our lives, it is a gift from You. It mirrors Your very own sense of humor, one seen at times in Your Son as well. You are always righteous, Dear Father. Your willingness to punish Laban’s deceptions and cruelty demonstrate that. Your willingness to protect Your children and to reward their faithfulness also demonstrates that. You invite us to place our trust, our very lives, in Your hands. Because You are always righteous, we can do that without concern that evil will destroy us. Your loving kindness toward those who are faithful is an undeserved gift by Your grace. When Jacob poured the olive oil over the stone at Bethel, these were very significant actions to You. They expressed his truly faithful heart, the heart that You gave him; and, they symbolized Your presence there. Your Son has been called the Rock [PS 18: 2, PS 86: 26, &1 COR 10: 4] or the “Stone of Stumbling” [IS 8: 14-15, IS 28: 16-17, & 1 PET 2: 8]. Olive oil has often symbolized the Holy Spirit [ZECH 4: 1-14] in Your word. In these magnificent ways, You choose to reveal Yourself to us, so that we might know you better. We humbly offer You our thanks, adoration, worship, praise, honor, glory, trust, and obedience. In Christ’s name, amen.
Our God-directed journey into the citations about the Angel of the Lord continues tomorrow. Be blessed, Dear ones, and know that our Father in heaven loves us more than words can say. Peter and I send our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn