Jacob is a self-serving man who seeks to control his world and control everything around him. It's led him to be a deceiver, a manipulator, and self-reliant. And yet, God in His grace, as I said last week, will often do this. He brought Jacob to Laban, an even greater deceiver, an even greater manipulator, an even greater controller, an even greater self-reliant man. And as I said last week, Very often, God brings labans into our lives. And God brought Jacob to Laban in order to discipline Jacob, in order to prune Jacob and move Jacob from being self-reliant to being God-reliant. And so last week we saw how Jacob became wealthy through this bizarre process of peeling branches and throwing them in water troughs and all of this stuff. And this came out of the deal with Laban that he made with Laban that all of the abnormally colored animals would be Jacobs and Laban agreed to it because those are very rare. That would be unlikely that Jacob would build any kind of a flock or herd whatsoever. And so Laban agreed, believing he couldn't lose. And yet even two minutes into this agreement that he knew he couldn't lose or believed he couldn't lose, he's already reneging on his word, cheating on his word, and going back on his word and breaking his promises. Laban is a man who loves power. He loves wealth. But he's about to find out, as is Jacob, that he's actually not in control as he thinks he is. And so let's turn to Genesis 31. As I said, this is a long chapter. We have a lot of territory to move through. This morning I was telling my wife on the way here to church, there's so much more in this chapter that I wish we had time to develop, but we just won't. but it's a great chapter for you to come back to and revisit this week and see what else is there, because there's more in here than I can bring out this morning. We'll begin in verse 1. Now, Jacob heard the words of Laban's son, saying, And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. Then the Lord said to Jacob, return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you. So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock and said to them, I see your father's countenance, but it is not favorable toward me as before, but the God of my father has been with me. And you know that with all my might I have served your father, yet your father has not deceived me, or your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. If he said thus, the speckled shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus, the streaked shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore streaked. So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. And it happened at the time when the flocks conceived that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray spotted. Then the angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, Jacob. And I said, here I am. And then he said, lift your eyes now and see all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray spotted. For I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel. where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to me, now arise, get out of this land and return to the land of your family. Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us and already completely consumed our money. For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do it. Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels, and then he carried away all his livestock, all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father's. And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. So he fled with all that he had. He arose, crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead. So our first point here this morning is Jacob discovers a source of his success. And now amongst a family of wealth and power such as Laban's, you can imagine that an outsider who comes into the family and grows in wealth and power as a result of being in that family is gonna be disliked by that family, gonna be held in contempt. And that's exactly what we see in this passage. Jacob is held in contempt on two fronts. First, the front of Laban's sons they it's interesting the language they say they have taken what was our fathers and given it to Jacob Jacob has taken what was our fathers and It's interesting to remember we've heard those words before in this story of Jacob Where have we heard those words before we heard him from Esau Esau said the same thing he took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing and But with Esau, Jacob had taken it away by theft, lying, deceiving, manipulating, controlling. But here, he has done none of that with Laban. Rather, God has given it to him. The second source of dislike comes from Laban himself. As we saw last week, there's irony in that Laban kept Jacob and manipulated Jacob to make sure he stayed so that Laban could continue to grow in wealth. But it's actually the opposite that has happened. Laban's wealth has decreased while Jacob's wealth has increased. Jacob observes these changes, he begins to fear, and rightly so, because at this time, Jacob has no source of protection. He is hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles from his family, from his clan, from his brethren, and he's in the land of Laban with Laban and all of Laban's clan, and if Laban wants to hurt Jacob, Jacob cannot stop him. And at this point, God speaks to Jacob again, presumably for the first time in 20 years. He commands Jacob, return to the land of your fathers, and I will be with you. It's interesting because this echoes the command of God in Genesis 12 to Abraham to pick up and go to the land. And there it's Abraham who goes essentially alone. I mean, he has a couple of people with him, but now it's the same command from the same place, pick up and go to the land. Now with the very young nation of Israel. God is favorable to Jacob, even though Laban is not. And we see once again the promise of God to be with Jacob. This is an echoing of chapter 28, verse 15, when God speaks to Jacob as Jacob is fleeing from Esau to Laban. Ironically, God says, Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land for I will not leave you. And so in response to this command from God to pick up and go, Jacob is out in the field with his flocks and he sends for Rachel and Leah to come out to the field in order to talk with them. And this is significant. It would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for Jacob to leave with his flocks and with his wives and children if his wives were not on board because they are Laban's daughters. And if they don't want to leave, then it's going to be almost impossible for Jacob to leave. So he has them come out to the field. Why out to the field? Because there's secrecy there. The tents are not having soundproof walls, in case you didn't know that. And you never know who could be outside hearing. So he calls him out to the field because of secrecy. And so he knows that Laban can't get wind of this, because if Laban does, then Laban would stop him and maybe even harm him, which is an accurate fear, as we're going to see here soon. And so Jacob seeks to convince his wives that fleeing is necessary. And this is the first time we finally see evidences of faith in Jacob that are rooted in God and who God is. He declares in verse 5 that the God of his father has been with him. And then Jacob goes on to say how he worked hard for Laban, but Laban continually deceived him, changed his wages. This word deceive here means to be made a fool of and to promise something and not follow through on the promises. So Laban has been deceiving him. And then Jacob gives an example of this, which is really kind of humorous. Laban initially said, well, the spotted will be your wages. And then all the spotted were born. And then Laban says, well, no, no, no, you can't have the spotted anymore. Now any streaked that are born, and then all the streaked are born. Laban just can't win, the poor guy. He must have been so frustrated, this controlling man, not having control. Some of you know exactly what Laban's like. Because you like to control and have everything, all your ducks in a row, and when those ducks start getting out of order, you start to lose it. Laban must have been losing it over and over again. But notice the change in Jacob. Verse 7. God did not allow him to hurt me. Verse nine. God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. And here we're reminded everything is the Lord's everything. You do not have what you have in your life because of your great wisdom, wits and character and whatever else you want to add on to there. God owns it all. It's all his. Reminded of this from Psalm 50 verse 10, every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you for the world is mine and all of its fullness. And here we need to be reminded and humbled that God owns it all. Everything you have is because God has seen fit to give it to you. It is the Lord's. And we should also note here as we kind of have been trying to make sure we keep this in context of the Old Testament of what's happening, we'll also see this as the language of the Exodus. We'll see a lot of parallels in this chapter with the Exodus. It's one of those things where if I had more time, We'd look at that more, but I just don't have enough time. But we see the same language. God has taken away the livestock of your father, given it to me. Where do we see that again? Later on in Exodus chapter 12, verse 36, it speaks of God took away from what was the Egyptians and gave it to the Israelites. And the concluding words are thus they plundered the Egyptians. And so Jacob has come to this humbling realization here. That his wealth is not because of his silly ideas of peeling the bark off of branches and throwing it in watering troughs. Rather, it's from God. Now, how did he come to know this? Well, God told him in the dream. Look again at verse 10. This is really important to see this. Jacob describes his dream. and it happened at the time when the flocks conceived and I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream and behold the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked speckled and gray spotted then the angel of God spoke to me in a dream saying Jacob and I said here I am and he said lift your eyes now and see All the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel." What is God saying there? He's saying, your idea is really cute, Jacob. That was a nice thought. But all of that, what was happening, I did it. It was me. I caused all those animals to be born. And you can just imagine, Jacob, we've been following him now for 20 years, he's just this controlling, self-reliant man. His whole world comes crashing down. You mean that wasn't my great idea? No, Jacob, it wasn't your great idea. In fact, peeling bark off of sticks and throwing them in the water is just kind of dumb. That was actually me. Jacob is humbled. We should also note here the identification with God saying he is the God of Bethel. Why would he say that? Because the last time that Jacob encountered God was at Bethel and God promised to be with him and bring him back to the land. And God is saying, remember that 20 years ago? Yeah, I'm not God. I'm the God of Bethel. So because of Jacob's new understanding, he comes to realize, hmm, maybe I need to trust God more than I need to trust myself. And maybe I need to obey God more than obey my own desires. And so he calls his wives to meet with him to persuade them to that end. And he is essentially saying, hey, it's God who has protected us. It's God who's protected me. It's God who has flourished me. It's God who has brought all this. And so if God says this, then we should obey God. And so what will the women say? What will they say? Will they be willing to leave their land, to leave their dad, to leave their brothers? Perhaps their mother is dead, because we have no mention of her, we don't know. But they both answer Jacob together. It's interesting, these once warring sisters are now united together. They share a list of grievances they have. They said he's taken away their inheritance, treated them as strangers, sold them, consumed what money they did have. And not to mention, just think about the contempt they both must have had towards their father for their botched marriages. Essentially, they're saying, there's nothing here for us. There is no future here for us at all. shows the extent of Laban's wickedness when his own daughters say it's better to trust the words of God than to trust Laban's words. And so they say, you should go. We should go. Flee. Follow God. Now this is the second time Jacob is set about to flee. It's interesting, again, there's so many things to look at. One interesting, really quick note, parallel to see here. Jacob originally had to flee alone because of his deception. Now he has to flee again because of Laban's deception. It's come full circle. Now he's the one that has to flee, only he's got all of these flocks, and he's got all of these servants, and all of these children, and you don't just get a U-Haul and a cattle truck and pull out and be gone. What is he gonna do? This is a challenge. And sometimes we don't think about this. There's great difficulty here in Jacob obeying God. And yet the fact that he does is a demonstration of real, true faith. If you look at verse 13, look at verse 13 there, it says God, or God speaks to him and says, now arise, get out of this land. And then look at verse 17, then Jacob arose. You see, we're to see that connection there. Jacob is not going because of his own self-serving interests. He is going because God has commanded him. God said, rise, Jacob rose. He's obeying. takes everything, leaves for the land of Canaan. And another side note to see here is when God calls us to obey, he often does so with us needing to exercise wisdom, discernment, and good decision-making. It's very rare when those things are not going in conjunction with obedience to God's word. And Jacob has done that. He's met with his wives, he's persuaded them in secret, because he knows they have to be on board. But then we're gonna see it again, why? Because he leaves when Laban is shearing the sheep. Now in this time, they would have been away shearing the sheep, and it was a several days process of long days using all of the daylight hours to shear sheep. It was long and slow. And so Laban's absence is once again the opportunity for Jacob's success. But it's also, as we see here, an opportunity for Rachel. Seems to come out of nowhere, doesn't it? We're reading along like, all right, yeah, good story, good story. Wait, Rachel stole Laban's household idols? Yeah, that's what it says. What exactly is going on here? What are these? Why did she steal them? Well, the most likely understanding is they were small figurines representing the gods that Laban and his family worshipped for protection. And as we saw last week, also for divination, which Laban seemed to practice. Now, why did Rachel take them? Well, there's multiple options. Probably the two most plausible is first, because if they were made of precious metals, she could have seen taking them as a way of getting some of the money back for her that Laban had stolen from him from her. But I think the more likely thing is Rachel has been raised in a in a pagan environment of worshiping multiple gods and worshiping these idols. And she's Her leaving is scary and she is taking these idols for her protection and seeing them as as important for her safety. I Think that's probably what's going on here And yet as we'll see her stealing the idols puts everything in jeopardy everything and in stealing them we see she is her father's daughter and her husband's wife It's interesting to note here, Rachel, verse 20, stole the household idols, and then verse 21, or I'm sorry, later in verse 20, or I'm sorry, 19, Rachel stole, verse 20, Jacob stole away. And so without knowing, Laban is off shearing his sheep while Jacob disappears. Well, let's pick it up again in verse 22 and see how this progresses. And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said to him, Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad. So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains and Laban was with his brethren pitched the tents in the mountains of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done that you have stolen away unknown to me and carried my daughters like captives taken with a sword? Why did you flee away secretly and steal away from me and not tell me? For I might have sent you away with joy and songs and timbrel and harp. And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing. It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad. And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father's house. But why did you steal my gods? And then Jacob answered and said to Laban, because I was afraid, for I said, perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force. And with whomever you find your gods, do not let them live. In the presence of our brethren, identify which I have of yours and take it with you. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. And Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, into the two maids' tents, but he did not find him. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. And now Rachel had taken the household items, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, let it not displease my Lord, that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me. And he searched, but did not find the household idols. Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, what is my trespass? What is my sin that you have so hotly pursued me? Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? See it here before my brethren and your brethren that they may judge between us both. These twenty years I have been with you, and your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. that which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you, I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night, there I was. In the day, the drought consumed me and the frost by night. My sleep departed from my eyes. Thus I have been in your house 20 years. I served you 14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flock. And you've changed my wages 10 times. Unless the God of my father the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac had been with me Surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night Wow Crazy story it just continues The second point we have here this morning, labor encounters Jacob's God. It takes three days before Laban finally figures out what's happened. Then he gathers up his men and his wouldn't have been just his men, because it says his brethren. So it was just not only his sons, but also probably his slaves, his servants and other men of the area who went with him. And they went after Jacob, taking seven days to catch up or so. and this language of pursued and overtook are telling us his intentions. Why? Because this language of pursued and overtake are military terms. They are conquering terms. They are plundering terms. In fact, we're going to see the exact same language later in Exodus as the Israelites are fleeing and Egypt's pursuing him. So the Egyptians pursued them and all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea. And as we know, the Egyptians didn't pursue the Israelites because they wanted to stop for tea with them. No, they were going to plunder them. We see the same language in Judges of pursuing an overtaken. Laban is pursuing Jacob to harm him. And it's interesting, you can do this on your own. If you go and look at how many times there's references in this chapter, Laban intends to harm Jacob. He himself will admit it in verse 31. And finally, after about 10 days or so after Jacob left, Laban catches up to him. He's both furious and confident. Why? Because he greatly outnumbers Jacob. Confident they'll plunder him in the morning, Laban goes to bed, and there as he sleeps, the powerful God of Abraham and Isaac comes to him and warns him sternly. Essentially, God says to Laban, don't contradict Jacob. That's the essence of that language there. It's a divine warning of a sovereign God who is protecting his covenant people. And here we're reminded that God is ultimately for his people. So what will Laban do with this new information? Well, as we'll see, Laban is sufficiently afraid so as to not harm Jacob as he planned to do, but he is not so impacted to be humbled. And so we can just imagine, imagine if you're Jacob, and you're sitting there, and you're watching this plume of dust come towards you, and you know it's Laban, because no one else is gonna be chasing you like that, and as they come into view, you see all of Laban's men, and they're all coming, and they don't look happy. And here's Jacob with his four wives, his children, and some servants thinking, hmm, now what? We see the animosity between the two. The first words spoken are not, hey, how are you doing? Good to see you. No, it is, what have you done, says Laban? What have you done? Now, there's all kinds of ironies in this chapter again, just like last chapter. And the irony is this is the exact same words that Jacob said to Laban when he realized in the morning that Laban had switched women on him. And he was actually now married to Leah. And he goes to Laban and he says, what have you done? Laban says the same thing now to Jacob, crying out in horror. What have you done? Laban then goes on and accuses Jacob of bold aggression, stealing his daughters, forcing them out like captives. But then in the next verse, he's contradicting himself, describing Jacob as fleeing away like a timid, a fearful little man who snuck out through the bushes. He goes on to say Jacob could have just said he wanted to leave and Laban would have sent him out with a party, singing and dancing. Laban not only misunderstands the situation, But he's a lying fool as well. He's wrong in saying Jacob aggressively forced his daughters away. They ran from him. And he's flat out lying, saying he would have thrown a party for them to leave. Because when they tried to leave before, he had no intention whatsoever of letting Jacob go. Essentially, Laban is a wicked man who has the audacity to point a finger at Jacob and say, you're the wicked man. Essentially what he is saying here to Jacob is, what possible reason could there be for you leaving? He's playing the part here of a loving, caring, honest father who's wounded by his son-in-law's actions. A just man who's been treated unfairly. Poor Laban, always so honest, always so good-hearted, and yet always getting taken advantage of for his goodness. That's the card he's playing, the victim card. It's been being played for thousands of years, hasn't it? And then he says, it's in the power, my power to do you harm, but I won't because God confronted me last night. Well, he's mistaken here as well. It's not in his power to do Jacob harm. And the fact that he's being prevented shows that it's not his power. He's not in power at all. And in all of this, Laban has to admit, it's interesting, Jacob has done nothing wrong. There is no crime that Jacob can be pinned with by Laban, save for one, and Laban is going to now play this final card, the trump card, so to speak, that end the argument. And he says, why have you stolen my idols? You see, this is significant, because if Laban can prove that Jacob did wrong and did steal, he can bring Jacob back, he can take everything back, and he can win it all back and present it to the countrymen, the townmen, and say, Jacob stole from me, so that makes all of his earnings illegitimate, it's all mine. And now we see how dangerous Rachel's silly sin was. Friends, never underestimate how a silly sin can have huge ramifications. One bad choice can change the course of things for a long time. She put the whole family in danger. Jacob, he knows he's acted with integrity. He hasn't stolen anything. And he knows Laban can search through the entire flock and not find one pure colored animal. And he knows that Laban can search through every tent and not find one thing that's from his household. He stole away from Laban, but he did not steal from him. And so he answers Laban's first question with this brutal honesty. Hey, I expected you to take your daughters by force. Which confirms his fears at the beginning of the chapter that they're legitimate. And then Jacob answers the second question with bold innocence. He says, whoever you find the idols with, don't let them live. Jacob could only say something like this if his conscience was clear that he didn't take it or anything of Laban's and Yet without realizing he has put his beloved wife his cherished wife in the path of the sword So you've got two things going on now. You've got Jacob at risk of losing it all and now you've got the risk is also losing his beloved wife and Moses the author then adds Jacob did not know Rachel had stolen them And suddenly we're on edge what's gonna happen now If you're reading this for the first time This is the point in the story where you start to go. Oh What's gonna happen now? Is Jacob gonna lose it all is Rachel gonna be killed? Because if the idols are found with Rachel Laban's not gonna believe that Jacob didn't put her up to it Narrative even slows down to a snail's pace here. It's been just chugging right along then all of a sudden it just slows down Laban searched Jacob's tent and then Laban searched Leia's tent and then Laban searched the maid's tent and he did not find the idols and then He went back and he searches Rachel's tent Now we know the idols are in this tent, but Laban doesn't, nor does Jacob. The fact that Laban went to this tent last shows that it was the last place he expected to find them, not with dear sweet Rachel. She would never do something like that. We're then told Rachel had hidden the idols under the camel's saddle and sat on the saddle. And then the story slows down even more. For now we read the description of this search in this tent. And Laban, verse 24, searched all about the tent but did not find them. That word, that Hebrew word search is interesting. It means to grope and to feel. So Laban meticulously went through every part of the tent, every corner, every possible thing, feeling where are my idols? He's desperate now. Where are they? His painstaking search reveals how badly he wanted them back and how badly he wanted to be able to accuse Jacob of stealing. And Rachel, straight from her father's genes, says, Meaning that she's on her cycle. And it's then reiterated that Laban searched, he can't find the idols, but he doesn't look under Rachel because it would be inconceivable for that to be where they are because Laban knows that for the idols to be under a woman in her cycle was to defile the idols. That would be the last place. There'd be no way that Rachel would do that. He does not look there because of that. It's unthinkable. And yet her disrespectful actions and her lies show how much she esteems her father, which isn't very much. Why? Well, you gotta remember, she loved Jacob. She was going to be married to Jacob, and on her wedding night, she sits alone while her sister has been switched with her by Laban. Her dreams of marriage has been shattered by her deceiving father and her chaotic family is a result of her father. But there's something else I think that we are meant to see here that Israel as they read this would have seen. And that's the comparison between the gods of the world and the one true God. Israel was to see here a man desperately trying to rescue his gods and realize they serve the one true God who never ever needs to be rescued. In fact, it's God who does the rescuing. The gods of this world had to be protected by a woman who acted in such a way as to defile them. These gods can't defend themselves. They're unclean, they're not holy, they're powerless. But the true God, the holy God, protects his people in a way that purifies them and preserves them. God does this by sending Christ to die for the sins of his people. It is we who are defiled. It is we who are unholy. It is we who are impure because of sin. It is we who need purifying. And our sin prevents us from being in the presence of a holy God. And so God rescues us through Christ. And he makes us holy. 2 Corinthians 5.21. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. You see, we will never, ever have to rescue God. Rather, we are rescued by him. And so when Jacob sees Laban can't find anything, he unleashes, doesn't he? 20 years of penned up anger comes exploding from his mouth. What is my trespass? What is my sin? And he then goes on to say all the ways that Laban has wronged him, and yet Jacob didn't retaliate. He just took it and kept going. And it's interesting here. He even calls on Laban's men to verify it. And then he lists all of these grievances, and Laban's men have to stay silent because they know that Jacob is right. Laban is not the innocent good-hearted man. He has pretended to be They can't contradict what Jacob says But notice how Jacob ends this long rebuke look again at verse 42 Unless the God of my father the God of Abraham the fear of Isaac had been with me surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night Jacob is growing because before he would have said Surely because of my wits Because of my clever tactics because of my better understanding of things I have preserved me No now he says The God of Abraham the fear of Isaac the God of my father He's come to realize his only hope was God being with him and Not his wits. Not his creativity. It's God who gets the praise. It's also worth noting how Jacob said, God has seen my affliction. Now again, read this in context. Where have we last seen this? We just saw it. Where was it? It was with Leah. As she is the unloved wife, and she has the firstborn son, and she names him Reuben, saying, God has seen my affliction. Isn't that interesting? His pagan wife saw that God saw her before Jacob himself did. But now he's realizing it as well. And friends, God sees you as well. In all your joys and all your sorrows, in your successes, in your afflictions, God is with you, never to abandon you, never to forsake you, and understanding this changes everything. Let's go on now, finish the chapter, verse 43. And Laban answered and said to Jacob, You can almost hear them huffing. Well, these daughters are my daughters. And these children are my children. And this flock is my flock. All that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have born? Now therefore come. Let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And then Jacob said to his brethren, gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. And Laban called it Jagar-sahaduthah. But Jacob called it Galid and Laban said this heap is a witness between you and me this day therefore its name is called Galid. Also Mizpah because he said may the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from one another if you afflict my daughters or if you take otherwise besides my daughters although no man is with us see God as witness between you and me. Then Laban said to Jacob, here is this heap and here is this pillar which I have placed between you and me. This heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not pass beyond this heap to you and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me for harm. the God of Abraham the God of Nahor and the God of their father will judge between us and Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac and then Jacob offered a Sacrifice on the mountain and called his brethren to eat bread and they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain and early in the morning Laban arose Kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them then Laban departed and returned to his place And so now we see here what I would call Laban's helpless solution. He's stuck now. His deception, his lies, his wrongdoing have been publicly called out in the presence of his brethren, and they have not been contradicted. He's the guilty one. And all he can do is try to save face, which he desperately tries to do, saying, all of this is mine. It's all mine, but I, good Laban, will let you have it. Well, it's only partly true, because Laban deceived Jacob and gave him the wives, literally made him take Leah, and God gave the flock. It's a vain attempt to try to appear good-hearted and generous. And then he declares there should be a covenant between them, but it becomes quickly evident this is not a covenant of peace, but a covenant of stalemate. I heard a, I was listening to a podcast and some Bible scholars were describing this chapter and they said, what is so interesting is the whole thing is building and then we expect this war, this battle and a victory, and instead it's like stalemate and then they just leave. So downhearted. But it is, it's the covenant of stalemate. And all of this, Laban is trying to stay in control. He is the one speaking, he is the one saying these things. He makes it sound like Jacob is a culprit or a criminal that needs to be watched. Laban can't watch him. So he invokes God to do it for him because he can't trust him Essentially what Laban is saying is this because I don't trust you out of my sight may God watch your every move you deceiving wicked man It's essentially what Laban is saying in all of this language He warns Jacob not to harm his daughters or take other wives Hard to know what his motive is behind those words but his parting words of the Covenant do reveal his motives and Look at what he says, I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me for harm. What is Laban doing here? He is continuing to be a self-reliant, self-protecting man. So what's going on? His motive here is purely selfish. See, he doesn't want Jacob to come back to harm him. since he can't harm Jacob himself. And so he's essentially saying, since I can't harm you, don't come and harm me. That's what the covenant is saying. He then swears on the God of Abraham, God of Nahor and the God of their father, which is interesting because these were aside from Abraham, we're all pagans. So he's swearing on all these pagan gods to Laban Yahweh is just another God among many. But Jacob swears upon the fear of his father Isaac. Now this is a reference for God that is not found anywhere else in the scripture. The word fear here means terror or dread of Isaac. And it likely means the God who puts fear into his enemies and fear into the enemies of his people. the God who defends his people, which is how God is seen by Jacob at this point. God is seen by Jacob as the one who defends him, protects him, and is with him. And so there's a feast, morning breaks, Laban rises up, kisses family, bless them, and departs a defeated man. He has lost his source of blessing in Jacob, he has lost his daughters, he has lost his grandchildren, but he's also been exposed for who he really was. and discovered he did not have the power and control that he thought he had. And so the self-confident, self-reliant, controlling Laban has been rendered powerless by God Almighty. And Jacob? Well, Jacob's got a new perspective on life now, doesn't he? He realized his hope didn't actually lie in how creative he was. how much he knew, how much he could control a situation. His hope was found in something greater. The hope that comes with understanding that God is with his people and God is for his people. See, the realization and understanding of this changes everything. Romans 15, 13, great passage on hope, says, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope. You can abound in hope. By the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God is the God of hope. A hope that is not rooted in good circumstances, not in having everything under control. which Jacob had to learn through years and years and years of God's pruning. Hope is in God himself, who saves us and is with us. And what is the result of the knowledge of God's presence? Well, it's hope. Genuine hope that flows out of genuine faith in the one true God. The hope that comes from the knowledge of that, no matter the circumstances. No matter what's going on, God is ultimately for us. As Paul said in Romans 8, there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Not the sword, not famine, not loneliness, not tribulation, not even death. Nothing, Paul says, can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, our Lord. See the saving and rescuing love of God is what gives us hope. Let's pray. Father, we are encouraged by this chapter one because we have seen a man who has been living for himself and on his own power and strength for several chapters now. And we've seen a transformation in him. But we're also encouraged because we're reminded that our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is not in circumstances. Our hope is not in our ability to control situations. Our hope is not in things going well. Our hope is not in health. Our hope is not in having everything set up just so. Rather, our hope is in you, the God who is with us and has proved He is with us through sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sin, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That's hope. And so, Lord, we praise you for the renewed hope that you give us this morning through your word. The encouragement that you give us, that just as you are with Jacob, so you are with us. You have promised to never leave us, to never forsake us. And so, Lord, help us to live with that hope. Help us to live with that knowledge. And may that transform the way that we think, the way that we live, the way that we speak. And Father, we thank you that you are the God of hope. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.