Well, if you have a copy of the scriptures, let me invite you to turn once again to the book of Genesis. As we have been in this ongoing exposition throughout this first and foundational book within the Christian scriptures, it lays out so many important things. You really can't understand the plan of salvation and God's purposes unless you understand the ways in which God worked out that plan and the roots of it here in Genesis. And today we're in Genesis and chapter 31 as we're continuing to look at the patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac, and now we're looking at Jacob. And we're at that point in this inspired narrative when Jacob is preparing to flee, to escape from the household of his father-in-law Laban and to take his family with him. We're going to be looking, God willing, at the entirety of Genesis 31, but I'm just going to read a few sections of it. to orient us to the heart of this chapter. So let me invite you, as you're able, let's stand in honor of the reading and hearing of God's Word. Again, I'm reading from Genesis 31. We'll begin by looking at verses 1 through 3. We're in Moses' records. And he heard the words of Laban's son, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our fathers, and of that which was our fathers hath he gotten all this glory. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as before. And the Lord said unto Jacob, return unto the land of thy fathers and of thy kindred, and I will be with thee. And then look at verses 22 through 24. And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. And he took his brethren with him and pursued after him seven days' journey. And they overtook him in the Mount of Gilead. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said unto him, take heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or bad. And then look at verse 42. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely thou had sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction, and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight. And then the final two verses, verses 54 and 55 of Genesis 31. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount and called his brethren to eat bread. And they did eat bread and tarried all night in the mount. And early in the morning Laban rose up and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. And Laban departed and returned unto his place. May God bless today the reading and the hearing of his word, and let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. Gracious and loving God, we give thee thanks once again for thy word. We know that the godly men of old, including godly Moses, were moved by thy spirit to record these holy events, not only to record historically what took place and to do so infallibly, but also to convey to every generation of believers spiritual truths that we are to apply to our own hearts and lives. And so open our eyes, open our ears, open our hearts to receive thy truth. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. And you may be seated. Well, we are picking up again, as I noted, this account of Jacob, the life of Jacob. And of course, from Jacob, as we've seen, will come the 12 tribes of Israel. And it is through these tribes of Israel, most notably through Judah, that there will come David. And from David will come the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord is working out, as I said, his plan of salvation. It was prophesied back in Genesis 3.15 that from the woman there would come a seed, and this man who would come from woman would crush the head of the serpent, though his heel would be bruised. And that was a prophecy of Christ. And God was working out over many years, over many generations, the bringing forth of salvation through Christ. Jacob was a very important part of that. The covenant had been made with Abraham, then with Abraham's son Isaac, and then Isaac had with Rebekah those two sons in the womb, and Jacob was the one whom the Lord sovereignly loved and Esau he hated, and it was through Jacob that the Lord would bring forward his plan of salvation. Now I've been looking at the last couple of chapters and trying to get a label over those chapters of what I think has been the dominant theme. And some of you may remember that when we were looking at Genesis 29, I suggested the theme was the Lord provides for fallen saints in a fallen world. Providence, I thought, was the key theme of Genesis 29. And that was when Jacob was looking for a wife, and he was told by Isaac to go back to the land of their fathers and to seek a wife. And the Lord provided for him Leah and Rachel. Again, he was a fallen saint in a fallen world. We're not thinking that's the ideal. But the Lord provided because he was working out his plan of salvation despite the sinful tendencies of men. And he was begging about the fulfillment of his promise that he gave to Abraham, that from Abraham, from his seed, there would be raised up a great nation. And for that to happen, Jacob had to marry and he had to have children. So God was fulfilling his plan. God was providing. And then in Genesis 30, I suggested last Lord's Day, the theme was the Lord blesses his fallen saints. in a fallen world. The Lord indeed did cause Jacob's household to be blessed with 12 sons and a daughter. And he caused, remember, his flocks to prosper as even his flocks overtook those of Laban, his father-in-law. And just remember how that chapter came to an end in verse 43, and the man referring to Jacob, increased exceedingly and had much cattle, had maidservants and midservants and camels and asses. And so God blessed and prospered Jacob in this way. And remember, as we talked about that, we gave a bit of a warning that we should not take, though, this chapter out of the context of all the other scriptures. We shouldn't take this as justification for some sort of health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, because in other circumstances, God sees fit to let his servants have little. We were reading from Paul in Philippians this morning. Paul in prison could say, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice externally. Paul didn't seem to be very blessed, but internally he was blessed. With Jacob, it was external blessing because the Lord was making sure his promise of raising up a great nation. And from this great nation would come the Lord Jesus Christ. But we've seen Genesis 29, the Lord provides for fallen saints in a fallen world. Genesis 30, the Lord blesses fallen saints in a fallen world. And we come to Genesis 31, the theme I'd like to suggest is God protects his fallen saints in a fallen world. Now, I gave, as a title when I was doing the vision, a snippet of a verse from verse 42, where I think it's a very important verse for this chapter, wherein Jacob says to Laban, God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands. Really, that's an expression of God has protected me. God was not indifferent to my afflictions. He has seen my labors. And he has protected me. And he had protected him especially from Laban. And so this brings forward to us a great biblical theme. It's another one like the one last week, the blessings of God, that could be mistaken. And it could be misconstrued, but also as Christians, we shouldn't ignore it. And it's simply, we're taught in Genesis 31 that God protects his people. God protects his people. God has a special care concern for his people, and he protects. What would you think of a mother or father who did not protect the children under his or her care? Well, you'd think there would be something wrong. If a, I don't know, a thief breaks into the house and threatens the children, does the parent say, well, you know, go ahead, take them. Take them, not me. No, right? The parents would protect the child. And if we expect such of mere sinful human beings, how much more does our father in heaven protect those who are his own. And again, this is a great theme in the scriptures. We see it. It's all over the place in the Psalms. I thought of Psalm 18, which begins, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock. and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from my enemies. That could have been Jacob's theme. God protected him, and he saved him from Laban. and allowed him to escape from Laban's control. Or think about Psalm 32, verse 7. Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. And so today, we want to meditate a bit in Genesis 31 on God's protection for fallen saints in a fallen world, and perhaps There is someone here today who needs to hear this, who feels beleaguered and wonders if God is not there protecting. And maybe we all need to hear it. Maybe we all need to understand God's protection for his people collectively and for his saints individually. Well, let's turn and let's look at the passage together. Again, it's a big chapter, and there's a lot of material. We're going to try to look at all of it, all 55 verses. And we've been kind of taking note of the authorized version translators, those old Protestant ministers of old who made not the first English translation. The first one was done by Tyndale in 1525. And there were many other English translations of the Bible preceding the King James Version. It was the Great Bible, the Geneva Bible, and the Bishop's Bible. But this one seemed to be the one that found a great or created a great hold on most English readers of the Bible. And when they did this translation, they tried to divide the passage up, I think, to help readers and to help preachers. And guess how many sections they divided Genesis 31 into? Five. Ah, shocking. Verses 1-16, verses 17-24, verses 25-35, verses 36-42, and verses 43-55. And so, as we've been doing, let's see if we can just walk through these five thoughts, this outline we have for this account of Jacob's flight from Laban. And so the first one, verses 1 through 16, the theme is the Lord directs Jacob to the land of his fathers. The Lord directs him to leave Laban and go back to the land of promise to which Abraham had gone and where Isaac had remained and where Isaac still was. And so we start reading in verse 1, and he heard the words of Laban's son saying, Jacob, I've taken away all that was our father's. And of that which was our father's hath he gotten all his glory. Remember, Jacob had been taking care of Laban's flock. But remember, they had come up with a deal that Jacob would get all the spotted and speckled ones. But those happened to be the ones that had flourished. And so Laban thought he was going to get a great deal. He got to keep all the solid color ones. But God and his providence and power increased the number of these speckled and spotted ones. And now the sons or the relatives of Laban were becoming angry and they were accusing Jacob of getting glory for himself and decreasing the glory of Laban. And then Jacob notices, he said, first of all, notice, by the way, in verse one, he heard, he heard this talk, this chatter, this chin music among Laban's workers. who are his relatives. And then he also saw something. It says in verse two, Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban and behold, it was not toward him as before. Laban didn't have a poker face. And he could see that Laban was no longer pleased with him, probably because, again, of the increase that Jacob was taking more of the flock under the agreement that they had. And then in verse 3, the Lord directly speaks to Jacob and tells him, return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee. Remember, I suggested several weeks ago, we start looking for the Immanuel promise. I will be with thee. And so God directly tells him, it's time to depart. It's time to leave. God speaks directly. Jacob then calls together his wives. Verse 4, he sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field under his flock. Perhaps this was a quiet place where they could speak and could also be watching, vigilant watching over the flock. Verse 5, he said to them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before, but the God of my father hath been with me. And even though at this point, Jacob is experiencing the frown of Laban. He knows that God is with him. And he would rather have God on his side than to have any man on his side. And so then Jacob begins to declare unto his wives, sort of gives them a justification for his actions, that he has acted faithfully. Verse 6, and ye know that with all my power I have served your father. That's his just actions, his righteousness. On the other hand, he has been mistreated. Verse 7, and your father hath deceived me and changed my wages ten times. But then notice the very last line of verse 7, but God suffered him not to hurt me, but God suffered him not to hurt me. That's one of the several verses I'm going to point to that backs up what I'm suggesting is the theme of this chapter. God protects his fallen saints in a fallen world, but God suffered him not to hurt me. It's actually an interesting concept, isn't it? Sometimes people go through life and they start complaining. Why did God let this happen to me? Why did God let that happen to me? But have you ever considered all the things that God has not allowed to happen to you? All the troubles you might have gotten into? All the accidents you might have had? All the evils that might have been worked against you? by sinful men? We don't know, can't do it. But here Jacob, inspired moment, but God suffered him not. Jacob recognized that the Lord had worked to hold back all the evil. He was badly treated, but it could have been worse. Worse things might have come upon him. had there not been the restraining hand of God outstretched. And then starting there in verse 8, Jacob recalls, remember how chapter 30 had ended with that scheme of the breeding of the animals? And again, it didn't make much sense on a naturalistic scale, but we said that God did it. God caused the animals that were going to be Jacob's to increase, the speckled and spotted ones. And here he reflects on that. Now this is to illustrate how he had changed his wages ten times. If he said thus, the speckled shall be thy wages, then all the cattle bear speckled. And if he said thus, the ring-streaked shall be thy hire, then bear all the cattle ring-streaked. Laban apparently had said, okay, I'll give you your wages, it'll be the speckled ones, but then God calls all the speckled ones to increase. He said, let's change this, let's change your wages. You'll get all the ring-strength ones. But then they started to increase. So Laban just couldn't win because he was fighting against the providential hand of God. And here in verse 9 is Jacob recognizing this again, thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father and given them to me. And then in verse 10, Jacob mentioned something that we hadn't known before. And that is the Lord in the midst of when he was raising these animals, the Lord had spoken to him, we're told in verse 10, He said, that I lifted up mine eyes, and I saw in a dream. And behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled. And then in verse 11, and the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob. And I said, here am I. This is sort of a classic biblical account of God making Himself known. That God had intervened through special revelation to address Jacob, and he had spoken by means of his angel, the angel of God, as he's called in verse 11. And what did the angel of God, which is really God's voice speaking to Jacob, what did God say? Verse 12. And he said, lift up now thine eyes and see all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled. For I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. That's an interesting word of comfort to Jacob. I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. This reminds us of what will be said in verse 42. God hath seen mine affliction. And that's an interesting spiritual point too, isn't it? Sometimes we labor under difficulties. We labor through trials. We labors, we suffer under our own sin, the sins of others against us. The righteous sometimes are trodden under, and they ask, where is God? Why doesn't He care? Where is His protection? But this is a reminder that He is there. He is looking on. I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. Take the word Laban and write in whoever may be oppressing you. And maybe it's your own name there. I have seen all that Laban hath done unto thee. The Lord is aware of this. And then, look, as he continues in verse 13, he declares himself. God is often doing this. I am. I am the God of Bethel. Remember back in Genesis 28, that's when Jacob had set out on this journey and God had appeared to him. And the place was called Bethel, the house of God, where he had seen the ladder between earth and heaven. And so God makes clear, I'm the same God who spoke to you and promised to be with you. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointest the pillar, and where thou vouchest a vow unto me. I'm the God to whom you committed yourself. You took an oath to know me and follow me and serve me. And then he gives him a direct command in verse 13. Now arise, get thee out of this land. and return unto the land of thy kindred." That's interesting because Paddan Aram was the land of the fathers. This is where Abraham had left to go to the land of promise, but it's no longer Jacob's place, his land. It's now the land of promise, the land of Israel, where this will be the land of his kindred. Now remember, this whole conversation, his recounting of God speaking to him, has all come in the context of this conference with his wives. Because God has told him to leave, and now he wants them to accompany him. And he's telling them, this is why we have to leave. God has told me. And now, starting in verse 14, we begin to get the answer of the wives. Verse 14, and Rachel and Leah answered. and said unto him, is there yet any portion of inheritance for us in our father's house? In other words, our father's not going to give us an inheritance. What is there to hold us here? Verse 15, are we not counted of him strangers? For he hath sold us. And so here they say, he treated us like slaves. And hath quite devoured also our money. This Laban was quite a He's not father of the year. He has abused us. He has stolen from us. And so they realize the wickedness of Laban. And they say in verse 16, for all the riches that God had taken from our father, that is ours and our children's. You haven't stolen from lay, but he took from us. And God has simply given to you these things, which are really ours. And then they say, we'll get into verse 16. Now, then whatsoever God had said unto thee do. This is sort of, again, it's out of whack because there are two wives here. The biblical ideal, Genesis 2.24, is one man, one woman, one flesh union for a lifetime. It's a fallen world, and Jacob's a fallen man. He's got two wives and the two servant wives as well. But nonetheless, what they say to Jacob here is sort of an ideal way in which a believing wife can encourage a believing husband. And what a believing wife ought to do is not say to a husband, you can do whatever you want, whatever you please. But when he wants to do what God commands, she's a cheerleader for that. Now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do. Again, it's important the way you read that. She didn't say, just do whatever you want, and I'll support you. It's do whatever God would have you do. I support you. Do whatever God would have you do. Listen to his voice. Obey him. And that's not just what every wife should say to a believing wife should say to a believing husband should say to a believing wife. It's what a believing brother should say to a believing sister. It's what a believing friend should say to a believing friend. Whatever God has told us to do, do it. Do it. Obey God's commands. The second of our five parts of our passage, verses 17 through 24, describes now the actual flight of Jacob to a place called Mount Gilead. Jacob rises, we're told, to leave with his family and with his goods. Verse 17, then Jacob rose up. and set his sons and his wives upon camels. And he carried away all his cattle and all his goods, which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Paddan Aram, for to go to Isaac, his father, in the land of Canaan." And so what we're seeing is an act of obedience here from Jacob. Although there was no worthiness in Jacob made God to choose him. Election is unconditional. He is the chosen of God. And there are the fruits showing in him of someone's life who's been changed by God's choosing of him. And that is acts of obedience. God tells him to leave, and so he obeys. And though he does so, as Jacob, remember he's the deceiver, he's born holding on to his brother's heel. And so he does so stealthily and cunningly. We're told in verse 19, and Laban went to shear his sheep. That was a busy time, shearing the sheep. And you're busy with that. And so he tries to take this opportune time when maybe Laban will not notice him. Laban is shearing his own sheep. And then we're told in verse 19, this is going to come up later, pretty significant. And Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. The Hebrew word is the teraphim. And these were probably something like household gods, little statues, perhaps representing animals or human beings. And here's the god of the harvest and the god of the hunt. the God of our ancestors. And so Laban, this tells us was, though he came from people who knew Jehovah, that Laban was a spiritually backslidden and fallen man. He had fallen into idolatry. Now, the commandments are not given until Exodus 20, but God's moral law was still there. And you should not worship any God but the one true God. You should make no graven images. And yet this was what Laban was doing. And Rachel steals these things. For what purpose? Maybe they had some value. They were precious. Maybe it was taking from her father, who had taken from her, as we saw earlier. And then at the point where Labe is sharing the sheep, look at verse 20. And Jacob stole away, unawares, to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. And so Jacob makes his move. He sees his opportunity. And we're told in verse 21, so he fled with all that he had and he rose up and passed over the river and set his face toward the Mount Gilead. And so he has escaped, stealthily escaped without reporting what he's doing. And in fact, we're told in verse 22, it wasn't until the third day that it was told Laban that Jacob was fled. And then in verse 23, what does he do? Does he just let him go? No, he's Laban. And he took his brethren, meaning his family members, the men of his household, and he pursued after him seven days journey. Jacob and his entourage had a three-day lead, but within seven days, he had caught up with him. And it says, and they overtook him in the Mount Gilead. And we can imagine that Laban's intent was not good. There is going to be a showdown between Laban and Jacob. And this is a threat to the covenant promise, because Laban could very well, at this moment, strike down Jacob and the promise that had been made to Abraham, to Isaac, and now to Jacob. All this could be threatened. The whole apple cart could be overturned. There would be no David. There would be no Messiah. Perhaps the household would be wiped out. All the children would be wiped out, possibly, in this battle, in this confrontation. And so, what's going to happen? Well, at that moment, the Lord graciously intervened on Jacob's behalf. Look at verse 24. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night. Again, in these days, God spoke in mysterious ways. Now he speaks to us through the scriptures. But in these days, he spoke to men, sometimes through dreams. And he said to him, take heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or bad. One of the commentators that I read noted that this statement here in verse 24, to speak neither good or bad was either good or bad was something of an idiom that meant something like, be careful what you say. Be careful what you say. Don't say anything untoward. Don't say anything threatening to my servant Jacob. And it's a reminder. It's a reminder to Laban. God is watching and listening. God is protecting. Just like God said to Jacob, I saw what Laban was doing. Now He says to Laban, I see what you're doing. I see what you're doing. And so this is the Lord extending His providential hand. This takes us to the third part of our passage, verses 25 through 35. And we can label this the confrontation here at Mount Gilead between Laban and Jacob. And so finally, in verse 25, we're told, then Laban overtook Jacob. Whereas Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount, We learn Laban and his brethren pitched in the Mount of Gilead. And so now it's high noon at Mount Gilead and there's going to be a confrontation. And it begins in verse 26 with Laban saying to Jacob, what has thou done that thou has stolen away unawares to me and carried away my daughters as captives taken with the sword? What Hast thou done? That's a bit of an ironic question because that may sound familiar to you, because back in Genesis 29, remember when Jacob thought he was marrying Rachel and on the wedding night instead, Leah was substituted for Rachel. And we're told in Genesis 29 and verse 25, when Jacob arose that morning, he said to Laban, what is this? Thou hast done unto me, Genesis 29, 25. Now the tables have been completely turned, and it's Laban saying to Jacob, what have you done to me? And so Jacob basically has a little meltdown, a little rant here about these things being done. Why has this been done? Secretly, verse 27, he says, wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, why didn't you inform me that you were planning to leave? And he even says, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, and the tabre, and with the harp. Oh, I would have had a party. I would have written a band. We could have had a wonderful occasion. Do you really think that would have happened? I don't think so. And then he says in verse 28, and has not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters. He calls Jacob's sons, my sons. Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. He says, you've acted foolishly. By the way, this could be used as a textbook for emotional manipulation. I mean, Laban was good at manipulating people. And here is all of his crying over how sad he's going to be to get a kiss. He's a father of the year. His household is like a Norman Rockwell scene. But of course, that's not what it was like at all. We've already heard the testimony of Rachel and Leah. And then listen to what Laban says next, verse 29. Now he's getting down to the using his force. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt. And now we learn what would likely have happened if God had not graciously intervened in that dream. It is in my power, it is in the power of my hand to do you hurt. That statement is also an emblematic one. It's one worthy of meditation, consideration. What Laban says here, it is in the power of my hand do you hurt, is true of every person who has a sphere of responsibility and authority in life, including every parent. It's a fearful thing to have children, isn't it? When you have children, it is in your power. It's in the power of your hand to do them hurt. When you're in a marriage, it's in the power of your hand to do hurt. Of course, it's also the power of your hand to do good. to heal. But it's also in the power of one's hand to do hurt. And Laban had been one who had done hurt. But God had intervened, right? He would have done more hurt had God not intervened. In verse 29, he acknowledges the appearance of God to him in that dream. Verse 29, But the God of your father spake unto me yesterday night, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or bad. God had intervened. Now, despite all that talk about how he just wanted to kiss the little grandson's goodbye, we learned perhaps he had another motive that had that had increased the speed of him chasing after Jacob. And that was the matter of the stolen teraphim. the idols, the images. Verse 30, And now, though thou wouldst needs be gone, because thou sawest longest after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? Remember, Jacob didn't know about this. Rachel had done this secretly back in verse 19. Jacob answered and said to Laban, verse 31, because I was afraid. He's answering why he had left secretly. For I said, peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me. But then relating to these stolen gods or images, Jacob says, making a sort of a foolish vow, with whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live. Before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me and take it to thee, for Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. And so Jacob launches into this foolish vow about let the person who took these missing gods be put to death. And what he's essentially doing is saying, let Rachel be killed. Rachel, his beloved. And Rachel, who had not yet at this point given birth to Benjamin, and the completion of the 12 tribes. And so this is a threat to all of that. And Laban sets out to search, to turn everything over, to find these false gods. It says in verse 33, And Laban went into Jacob's tent, his first suspect. First suspect. Jacob must have done it. He goes into his tent. And he says, aha, what about tender-eyed Leah? She might have done it. And into Leah's tent. And then he went maybe Bilhah and Zilpah, the maidservants, and into the two maidservants' tents, verse 33. But he found them not. And then finally, Verse 33, then went he out of Leah's tent and entered into Rachel's tent, maybe the one he least suspected. Aha, well, remember the vow Jacob's made. Will this be the end for Rachel? Verse 34 says, now Rachel had taken the images and put them in the camel's furniture, in the back camel baggage, and she sat upon them. So we get this kind of humorous scene Verse 34, and Laban searched all the tent but found them not because Rachel was sitting on them. And then she said to her father in verse 35, let it not displease my Lord that I cannot rise up before thee for the custom of women is upon me. And now we get the further intrigue that she says, I cannot rise up because the custom of women is upon me, meaning she was going through her cycle. And this means that Rachel was sitting on these false gods while she was menstruating, which would make them ritually unclean. And what it really tells us is that these gods are powerless. We sometimes sing Psalm 115 to talk about the false gods. They have mouths, but do not speak. They have ears, but do not hear. They have eyes, but do not see. These powerful gods that Laban would worship are mute. And a woman who is menstruating is sitting on them. And it's showing, I think, to some humor that they are powerless. This takes us to the fourth part of our passage, Jacob's rebuke of Laban. Verse 36 says, and Jacob was wrath. I love that phrase. He was wrath. He was angry. And it said, he chode with Laban. Chode here is the past tense for chide. He rebuked. He exhorted him. He upbraided him. And Jacob again justified himself. He asked in verse 36, what is my trespass? What is my sin that thou hast so hotly pursued me? Verse 37, whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both. He had not found anything. And then he reminds him, verse 38, that he had worked 20 years for him. He says, his ewes and she-goats, he did not allow Laban's ewes and she-goats to cast their young to miscarry. He had taken care of his animals. He had not pilched from the flock and eaten of the rams. Verse 39, When one of the beasts were torn, he had taken the loss upon himself. I bear the loss of it. He did not retire away from doing all that he was supposed to do. He watched over these animals night and day. Verse 40 says he did it during the drought. He did it during the frost of night. He did it through many sleepless hours. taking care of these animals. For 20 years, he says in verse 41. For 14 years, remember, he had served for the two daughters, and yet six more years, and in that time, Lot had changed his wages ten times. And this is when we get to verse 42, which I pointed out is, I think, one of the most important verses in the passage, hitting the theme where Jacob recognizes the protection of God over his life. Verse 42. He says, except the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac had been with me. Surely thou had sent me away now empty. This is the first time in the scriptures and there are only two other times. The next one is also in verse 53 of this chapter where there's a title given for God and it is the fear of Isaac. The awe. of Isaac. His father Isaac worshipped Jehovah, the one true God. If the fear of Isaac had not been with me, I would be going away empty. And this is when he says in verse 42, God had seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked thee yesternight. Referring to the time when God had appeared to him in that dream. The last part of our passage describes then It's almost like we could say, I don't want to say it's a happy ending, but there is a happy ending, basically. God protects Jacob. And what is more, there is a covenant made between Laban and Jacob. Verse 43, and Laban answered and said unto Jacob, these daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle. and all that thou seest is Mine. And what can I do this day unto these My daughters, or unto their children which they have borne? Verse 44, Now therefore, come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between Me and thee." God had broken down Laban's resistance. And there is a covenant, there's reconciliation. And to mark it, in verse 45, they take a stone, Jacob does, sets it up for a pillar. Verse 46, he calls for his brother and his family members to gather stones. They heap them up. And this was done in ancient times. They heaped up these stones to make a visual marker, a reminder of the covenant that was being made here to hold both parties to it. Laban called it by an Aramaic name, the language of the Syrians, Jegar, Sahar, Duthar. And Jacob called it in Hebrew, Galid. And it means a heap of witness. Verse 48, Laban said, this heap of witnesses between me and thee this day, therefore was the name of it called Galid. And it was also called Mitzpah. which means the Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another. And it's interesting, Laban, the one who had not been a very good father, urges Jacob not to abuse his daughters. And he says, God will be a witness between us. And verse 51, Laban says to Jacob, behold this heap and behold this pillar which I have cast between me and thee. Verse 52, this heap be a witness and this pillar be witness that I will not pass over this heap to thee and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar between me for harm. So it's not only a witness to this covenant, but it also becomes a boundary marker that they will keep their separate spaces. They will not be in competition with one another. They will establish their own areas of life. And then In verse 53, Laban says, the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor. Nahor had been the grandfather of Abraham, the God of their father. Judge betwixt us. And then Jacob's swear instead by the fear of his father Isaac. Again, the second time we have that term. Only two times in the whole Bible where God has called the fear of Isaac. The other is, of course, in verse 42. And then Jacob offers sacrifices upon the mount. It's often in the Bible when there's a covenant made, there's a covenant meal. In many ways, this prefigures what? What's the covenant meal of the New Testament? The New Covenant, the Lord's Supper. He called his brethren to eat bread, and they did eat bread and tarried all night in the mountain. And in the morning, this could have been a disaster, it could have been war, but instead Laban rose up, kissed his sons and his daughters, blessed them, and Laban departed and returned to his place. Well, friends, we've worked through the passage. And I hope the Spirit, there's some great statements in this chapter that could deserve lots of meditation. I tried to point to a couple of them. But let's go back and let's see if we can just look at this chapter and meditate on it for another moment or two. One commentator I read noted that this account in Genesis 31 of Jacob and Laban is what he called a disturbing vignette of human history. Adding, it reflects the human predicament in a sinful world. It declares the brokenness of creation and humanity. It'd be nice if every family was placid and peaceful, every church, every society. But we live in a fallen world, don't we? And sometimes there can be strife in families. and divisions and arguments and greed. And it can happen in churches. It can happen in societies. Genesis 31 is not some idealistic portrait of Christian family life, is it? Well, I'd love to see. Maybe there has been a Christian. We're going to have a Christian family life conference. And our model is going to be Genesis 31. Laban, how to be a Christian father, right? There are lots of things that are off about this, right? It's a fallen world. Jacob himself is a fallen saint. This is a family ready to go to war against one another, withholding and taking from one another, accusing and attacking one another. But all the while, the God of the Bible is there, And he is protecting Jacob, whom he loves, whom he has chosen, his fallen saint in a fallen world. And God intervenes through special revelation to direct the path of Jacob, telling him directly in verse 3, return unto the land of thy fathers into thy kindred, and I will be with thee. Telling him in that dream in verse 13, Now arise, get thee out of this land and return unto the land of thy kindred. And God was also intervening to restrain the hand of Laban. Again, not only positively was he speaking to Jacob, but he was speaking to Laban to restrain his hand. As in verse 24, when he told him, take heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or bad. We might look on In the end, with real encouragement to that final scene of reconciliation that is worked out through a covenant and a covenant meal. And we might be encouraged. To know that there can be. Broken relationships that are restored. As there was between Laban and Jacob. We might also ask what does God do today? What does God do today? Today, he speaks to us through special revelation from the scriptures. He speaks to us through his word read, preached and taught to direct our path. And he works in our ways, providentially, in ordinary ways and extraordinary ways. And he works to protect his people. Romans 8, 28. God works all things together for good to those who are called according to His purpose. His hand is out there working, restraining evil, directing us. We can say as Jacob did in verse 42, He has seen mine affliction and the labor of my hand. I recently read an account of John G. Patton. who was a Scottish missionary who went in the late 19th century to the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific. And one night, he awoke in his house to hear a mob of armed and hostile natives burning down the church that was next to his house. And he could hear them urging one another on. to go next door and strike a blow at him also. Just then, Patton said, there was a sudden storm that came up. I was prone to happen in that land. The storm came up quickly. There was rushing wind. There was thunder. And there was rain. And the mob suddenly became silent. They lowered their weapons and they withdrew terror-stricken with Patton hearing them say, that is Jehovah's reign. Wow. That's pretty awesome when the Lord intervenes to protect His church and His saints. Sometimes the Lord intervenes like that. But sometimes He is pleased not to so intervene. He allowed Stephen to be stoned to death. Most importantly, He allowed Christ to go to the cross. But even when He allows such things, He's protecting His saints and He's providing for them. And the most important thing is not to be protected and provided for merely temporally, but to be provided for spiritually and eternally. Romans 8 is one of the great passages in the New Testament about assurance of salvation and about God's protection, we could say. And maybe this is the passage, maybe Romans 8, The ending of it is the passage I would lay alongside of Genesis 31. I will this morning. As Paul writes, Romans 8, 31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? In other words, who will say to God's elect, what is this thou hast done? It is God that justifieth. At the end of that passage, Paul says, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. God will protect his fallen saints in a fallen world, and he will provide for them a life that can never be taken away from them, whatever their external circumstances, through Christ. Amen. Let me invite you to stand together. Let's join in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we give Thee thanks for the life of Thy servant Jacob, and for the ways in which Thou didst provide for him, bless him, and protect him, and the ways in which Thou didst work through him and many others to bring us finally to the one who was born in the fullness of time, born under the law, born of a woman, that he might remove the curse from us. We ask this in his name and for his sake, amen.