34

1  Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.       30:21                                                           

The temptations of the world are strong and hard to resist. this is Eve in the garden all over again. Dinah is tempted by the flesh to go out and see how the women of Shechem live, she has probably seen or heard from afar the ways of the women of Shechem, and this may have been pleasant in her sight and music to the ears of Dinah. So she goes out to see for herself  of their ways. She is young and very impressionable to the things and people around her, therefore she can very easily be distracted from that which she knows is good and that which is bad. Her father Jacob has probably told his family not to walk in the ways of the people of Shechem because of their wickedness, their Idolatry, and the worshiping of many gods. They don’t worship the one true God of Israel. This is mere speculation on my part about Jacob warning his family about the people of Shechem, but we see later on in the next chapter that when they leave the city of Shechem, Jacob tells his household to put away all their strange gods, to be clean, and change their garments (Gen 35:2), so we know, that in a sense, not only was Dinah defiled by Hamor (The prince of Shechem), but also so were Jacobs family and his tribe. 

2  And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her.      Deut. 22:25              3   His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.

 In verse three God tells us that Shechem spoke kindly to the young woman, as I said earlier, “Dinah is young and very impressionable,” she probably has never been spoken kindly to, in the manner in which Shechem did. Just as the serpent deceived eve with half truths, I believe so to Shechem is doing the same. We don’t know what was said between the two, but we do know that he was very attracted to her, and he loved her. As a man who has been in love in the past, or had strong feelings for a woman, I know we will do or say anything to be with them; telling them half truths to get what we want, in this case, to sleep with her. I’ve had many ministers in my church, tell us on more than one occasion, in order to understand the bible we must be mindful of certain things: who is the one telling us the story? Who is the audience in which the story is being told to? What is the subject matter? Is it poetry we are reading? Or is it to be taken literally? I say this because I want to make this point. We know that it is God Almighty, who is telling Moses what to write down. So when we read in verse three that Shechem’s soul is very attracted to Dinah, and that he loved her, we must take this literally, for God knows the hearts of men (Compare 1 Sam 16:7 1 Kings 8:39, 1 Chron 28:9,), So in his heart Shechem loved Dinah, but his ways and customs are not the ways of the Lord, or of Israel. This is why God tells us the Shechem defiled  Dinah by sleeping with her out of wedlock. Now we see that Deut 22:25 is being referenced in verse two. We will see this law of God being played out by the sons of Jacob (Chiefly Levi and Simeon), Dinah’s full brothers, for the sin Shechem commits against Dinah. Only they will use this law deceptively, and as a way to repay evil for evil.

4  So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”          Judge. 14:2                                                                                      5  And Jacob had heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with the livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came.        2 Sam 13:22                                                                                                                             6  Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with       him.                                                                                                                                                 7  And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were very grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.

 Shechem goes to his father for help in getting Dinah (Jacob’s daughter), to be his wife. Shechem truly does love Dinah, and his intentions, in his heart are honorable, God tells us this Himself about Shechem in verse nineteen of this chapter. Even though the law was not giving yet, from mount Sinai, (For the law defines sin), Jacob and his sons are aware of the laws of God, I say this because in verse seven God tells Moses (The one who wrote the book of Genesis), As God told him, we read that the sons of Jacob were very angry, and grieved, because this thing (Lying with Jacob’s daughter), was a disgraceful thing Shechem did. We read: “In Israel,” This is the first time we see God referring to Israel, not as the man but as a people (A nation if you will) ‘A thing which ought not to be done.” And what ought not to be done “In Israel,” According to the laws of God,(Which appear to be in effect here, but were not recorded until the exodus)?: It is the lying with a damsel who is still a virgin, not yet betrothed to any man, and humbling (Humbled H6031),  her in the process. Shechem must marry Dinah (Deut 22:28), and he must also pay a dowry to the Father (In this case Jacob), according to the dowry of virgins (Exo 22:16-17), not only that, but the man (Shechem), cannot divorce her, EVER!, because of what he had done to defile her (Deut 22:29). This is according to the laws of God, giving by Him, to Moses on Mount Sinai during the Exodus. The reason I bring up the laws of God here is because The Lord refers to Israel as a nation, and He says that these things Shechem did “Ought not to be done” in Israel. I believe these laws of God are already in affect with the people of Israel at this time period, which is why God says what He says in verse seven. We will see these laws  attempted to be carried out in the following verses. I say “attempted” because of the deception of the sons of Jacob.

 8  But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please giver her to him as a wife.                                                 9  “And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves.                                                                                                      10  “So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”                                      11  Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me i will give.                                                    12  “Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”  Exo 22:16-17           

  In verse eight, Shechem and his father are attempting to do the honorable thing by offering to marry Dinah, and make her his wife; which are according to the laws of God (Deut 22:28). In verse’s eleven and  twelve Shechem even offers to pay a dowry of whatever Jacob and his sons ask of him (Exo 22:16-17). We do not know if Shechem is familiar with the laws “In Israel” or if this is the customs of his own people: to do the right and just thing here. We can only go by what God tells us in verse nineteen, and that is, He considers Shechem to be the most honorable of all the people in the house of Hamor, his father. The devil is in the details here, and the details lay in verse’s nine and ten: Hamor tells Jacob and his sons, to give their daughters to his people and make marriages between the two people, and for his own people to do likewise. He goes on to say, “Dwell with us, trade in their lands, and take possessions for themselves.” As we read in the previous chapter, Jacob had bought some land from the people of Shechem and dwelt outside the city (Gen 33:18-19) and because Hamor tells Jacob to trade in the land and take possessions for themselves, I would venture to guess that Jacob had no dealings, or very little, with the people of Shechem up until now, but I digress, back to the devil in the details, in the chapters leading up to this, as far as the fathers of Jacob (Isaac, and Abraham), they did not marry outside of their family line. And as I have explained previously I believe that this is because God is making a Holy people unto Himself, and there can be no blemish in the bloodline that leads to the promised seed (In which all nations will be blessed), nor in any of their descendants. This is what God is doing with the nation of Israel, and it is His wish, but God also gave men the right to free will, and there are many places in the Scriptures where the people of Israel do not always do what God commands them to do. With this said, we can read throughout the history of the Israeli nation where God tells them not to take wives of other lands, and tribes, (Compare Exo 23:31-33, 34:11-16, 1 Kings 11:2, Ezra 10:2-3, 11, Neh 13:23-27). so for Jacob and his sons to agree with this part of the arrangement would go against the face of God. The Lord knows that if the sons and daughters would take wives and husbands of the people of Shechem, eventually they would stray from the one true God of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob, and go after false gods. As I commented in verse one of this chapter, Jacob’s people are already sliding down this slippery slope.

13  But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.                                14  And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.  17:26-27                15  “But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised.         Exo. 12:48                                           16  “Then we will give our daughter to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.                                                                                                                                                                                 17  “But if you do not heed to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughters and be gone.”

  According to the covenant God made with Abraham: Every male child, and the men slaves who was bought with money, had to be circumcised (Gen 17:13-14). This circumcision is a sign between Abraham and his descendants, an everlasting covenant. even those who were not of the seed of Abraham, but born in his house had to be circumcised, otherwise the men that were not, was to be cut off from their own people (Gen 17:26-27), In order for the people of Shechem, and the descendants of Jacob to marry, and by this, they would eventually become one people (Vs. 16) According to the Abrahamic covenant: circumcision of the people of Shechem had to be performed for this to be allowed, not only by Jacob and his sons, but by the God Almighty who created this covenant. This is the right and just thing to do, however, the sons of Jacob use this covenant in a deceitful manner and never intend to use it in the way in which God intended Himself. Notice in verse thirteen; God tells us that the sons of Jacob spoke deceitfully to Shechem and his father Hamor because Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah. The first thing I see in this deception is in verse sixteen: The sons of Jacob say to Shechem and Hamor that if they perform the circumcision on every male, (Vs. 15), then they will give their “Daughter” (Dinah) to them, and they (The sons of Jacob), will take the daughters of the city of Shechem to themselves as wives. The sons of Jacob only promise Dinah to Shechem and not all their daughters to the men of the city of Shechem. In verse seventeen the sons of Jacob tell Shechem and his father Hamor that if this is not done then they will take their daughters and be gone (Implying that they meant all the daughters from verse sixteen). Even if my assumption is wrong; as far as the sons of Jacob never intending to give all their daughters to the men of the city of Shechem, we will read later on in verse twenty five that the sons of Jacob never intended to keep their end of the arrangement anyway, for in their hearts they have devised a more wicked and evil plot in which to avenge their daughter Dinah. 

18  And their words please Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.                          19  So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father.

Shechem truly did love Dinah, and as God tells us: he is more honorable than any man in the household of his father. Shechem does do the right and just thing, according to the laws of God, even if he is not familiar with them. I can only think to myself that this had to please God in some way. Why else would God describe him as a man of honor? This brings to my mind what Jesus had said about the men of Sodom, and Tyre, and the like: That it would be more tolerable for these cities on the day of judgement than that of places like Corazin, and Bethsaida ( Matt 11: 20 -24), I would like to think that Shechem will have no problem obeying, believing, and following God, in his appointed time of the resurrection. Time will tell, and that you can count on! Amen.

20  And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying:       19:1;  Ruth 4:1, 11  

It appears that Hamor and Shechem did not enter their city but called the men out of the city to speak to them. We can see by the referenced verse of Ruth that this appears to be the customs of the day. There are other places in the scriptures that show this to be the case (Compare Gen 23:10, Deut 17:5, Job 29:7, Prov 31:23, Amos 5:15, Zech 8:16), The common denominator in all these referenced verses appear to be that the men,(the elders), of the city would make judgments at the gates pertaining to all kinds of circumstances.

21  “These men are at peace with us. therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters.                           22  “Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.                                                                                                                                                                     23  “Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”                      24  And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of the city.

Hamor and his son Shechem come to the gate of the city to speak/ plead their case to the men of the city. This (Circumcision), is a very big issue at hand, it is a very painful thing that Hamor and Shechem are asking the men to go thru. The Abrahamic covenant requires that all male children will be circumcised on the eighth day of their birth. At this age, yes it is painful still, but at this young of age it is an experience that won’t even be remembered. So Hamor starts off, not by telling them of the circumcision that is required to stay at peace with Jacob and his sons, but he entices them with the worldly things, mainly the lust of the eyes of the flesh, “Let us take their daughters as wives” Hamor says to them, then as any good salesman would do they slip in the devil of the details, Hamor say’s, kind of non nonchalantly, all we have to do is be circumcised just as they are, as if to say, hey these men go thru this circumcision and live, it is no big thing they ask of us. Then Hamor entices them again with worldly things This time it is material riches),by saying to them, ” Wont their livestock, their property, all their animals become ours,’ “Only let us consent:” all we have to do is consent, it is no big deal. as I am writing this I am thinking of the saying that is popular nowadays which would go something like this, the people get all caught up in these worldly promises if they would just consent, the people are like YEAH!!, “WAIT WHAT” what was that you said we had to do in the middle? Whether or not this is what happened is purely conjecture on my part, but I do find the humor in this sales pitch that Hamor uses to convince his people to agree to this. And the people buy into it, they all heed the voice of Hamor and go thru the circumcision, looking towards the big picture on the other end. It was Sir Walter Scott who famously said, “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

25  Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.                                         26  And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.  49:5-7                           27  The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.                                                                                              28  They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field,                                                                                           29  and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captives; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.                            30  Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the  Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”                                                                                                                      31 And they said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?”                     

  As we read in verse thirteen the sons of Jacob “Spoke deceitfully” to Shechem and his father Hamor, when they said they would consent to give Dinah to Shechem as his wife (if all the males were circumcised). The sons of Jacob never intended to consent to the marriage of Dinah and Shechem, they new very well that while the men of the city of Shechem were recovering from the circumcision, they would be weak and vulnerable to attack. the charge was lead by Simeon and Levi. Because of the  actions of Simeon and Levi, God will separate, and divide them among the nation of Israel when they enter the promised land during the Exodus. The levites, because of their zeal, will be the guardians, and servants of God and His temple. The descendants of Levi and Simeon will be scattered throughout the land of Israel. As I have stated in chapter thirty three, it appears that Joseph was still a very young man ( Maybe In his early teens) and probably did not partake of this treachery and wickedness of his brothers. Also as we know, Benjamin is the only son to not yet have been born during this time.  “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Deut 32:35, Rom 12:19), Yet the sons of Jacob decided to take vengeance upon the people of Shechem themselves. As I quoted the laws of God previously, in regards to defiling a virgin, but not forced upon, (Raped), as it appears this to be the case with Dinah, all that is required is that the man is to marry her, never able to divorce, and pay a dowry to the father of the virgin. As long as the father accepts this, then that is supposed to be the end of the judgement upon the man and woman. Jacob (The deceiver/supplanter), now Israel (Prevailer with God), never had any intention of deceiving Hamor and Shechem in this arrangement. This is yet another sign of the new Jacob (The new man). However his sons seem to have this old trait of his, and they try to justify their own sinful deeds to their father when he calls them out, “Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?”  they say to him. Many of men throughout the ages have justified their on sinful selfish ways, making war, the shedding of blood, claiming they had right on their side, because they didn’t strike the first blow. As it is said, we are not to repay evil for evil ( Compare Pro 20:22, Rom 12:17), For the Lord our God will save you and bless you in your righteousness, we must always turn aside from evil, and do good. Seek peace  pursue it, “for the lords face is against those evil” ( 1 Pet 3:9-12). Oh!! if the world would learn to do just these simple truths, think of all the senseless lives that have been taken, the broken hearted, families torn apart, generations lost, if only we would heed to the word of God, for His words are truth, and His love is endless.

33

1 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.         32:6                                                                  2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her  children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.                                                                3 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.      18:2, 42:6                                

Jacob, being the Patriarch of the family, rightfully so, goes ahead of his family to greet his brother. If anyone is to be slain for Jacobs actions against his brother years earlier, it is Jacob himself. And If Esau was to slay his brother upon greeting him, this would give Jacobs family a little time, and space between them to escape to safety. At least this is how I see this action of Jacobs;  going ahead of the others. The order in which Jacob has his family divided is one: the children are with their mother to who bore them, secondly, and more importantly (At least to me), they are divided up to who is most dearest to Jacobs heart, and of importance to him. Again, if Esau has hatred in his heart to kill Jacob, Rachel (Who is closest to Jacobs heart, and the one he truly loves), and their son Joseph would have the best chance of escaping safely because they are the furthest back. Notice, that it is the maidservants of both Leah and Rachel who are first in line, with their children, behind Jacob, then Leah (Whom Jacob was deceived into marrying), by Laban the Syrian, is next, followed by Rachel and Joseph. As we will read in the coming chapters, it is Joseph who Jacob cherishes the most among all his children. This is because he is the firstborn son of Rachel (Jacobs true love).  Here is another event in which the number seven appears in the bible. Just a reminder; the number seven, as it is referenced in the bible, always signifies perfection, and completeness (Both physical and spiritual), here we see Jacob bows seven times as he approaches his brother Esau. After the seventh time Esau embraces him and kisses him. Jacob has humbly come to his brother, and after bowing to Esau for the seventh time, his transition from Jacob “The deceiver” To Israel “Prevailer with God” who the Lord renamed and is now being perfected in his humbleness, towards his brother, by God Almighty. 

4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.                                                                                                     5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”        48:8,9                                                                                             6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down.                                                                                                                                                7  And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.                          8  Then Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” And he said, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.”

 I am reminded of the blessing, or as I also called it at the time, a curse on Esau, giving to him back in Genesis chapter twenty seven. At that time Isaac had blessed Jacob, thinking it was Esau who he was blessing. So Esau asked his father Isaac if he had but one blessing left for him? And asked Isaac to bless him also. As part of the blessing Isaac gave to Esau, was a statement in which Isaac told Esau that he would live by the sword, and serve his brother, but when he would have dominion over his brother Jacob, he would break the yoke that Jacob had around his neck (Gen 27:40). Personally I see this moment in time, in which Esau breaks Jacobs yoke around his neck. To me it is obvious, by Jacobs own actions; of bowing down to him seven times, his family bowing down to Esau, the presents Jacob gave to his brother, the fact that Jacob keeps calling himself his brothers servant, and referring to Esau as his lord, reflects Esau’s dominion over Jacob at that moment. Now, this blessing to me is also two fold. Even though Esau and Jacob have been reconciled to one another, the descendants of Esau, have never to this day, broken that yoke from their neck. To understand what I mean by this, I will refer the reader back to my commentaries on Genesis 27:30, 40. 

9  But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”                                                                                                                                      10  And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me.                    11  “Please take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” So he urged him, and he took it.                  Exo 33:19                                                                                                    

Even though Esau kissed his neck, and they embraced each other and wept, if Esau does not accept the presents Jacob offers to him, it would be a slap in the face, and a sign to Jacob, that Esau still has not forgiven his brother for stealing his birthright, and blessings. In accepting this present, Esau would be saying in essence, that he is pleased with his brothers presents and humbleness towards him, just as God is pleased with Jacob, for all he has endured over the past twenty years, and in his righteousness he has prevailed with Him (“As I have seen your face as though I have seen the face of God and you were pleased with me”).

 12  Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”                                                                                                                  

 Esau suggest to Jacob that they should take their journey together, back to the land of their fathers. In this offer of Esau; for them to journey together, is yet another sign of reconciliation between the two brothers. This is the first time in the bible where we see them interacting as true brothers, and not rivals, for any blessings, or acceptance from their parents. 

13  But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and the herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die.                                             14  “Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir.”        32:3; 36:8

Jacob is truly concerned for his family and livestock. They have come a long ways, and they need rest, or they could die. Jacob refers to his sons as children. In chapter thirty one Jacob tells his father in law (Laban the Syrian) that he has served him for twenty years (Gen 31:41), if Leah conceived within the first year of their marriage, that would put Reuben (The oldest son), at  nineteen to twenty years old, and Joseph, being the youngest son (At this time), around the age of maybe two to five years old. So Jacob suggest to Esau that he go ahead of him, and he will follow along, slowly, giving his family and livestock time to recuperate from their travels. Again We see Jacob refer to Esau as his lord, being subservient to his brother, not claiming any birthright blessings he may have been giving by their father Isaac, and God Himself. The Lord has already spoken to Jacob a couple times, and has confirmed the covenant He made with Abraham, and Isaac, to be passed along to him ( Gen 28:13-14), I say this to the reader so as to show again the change of character in Jacob. Even though Jacob has God’s blessing, he does not hold this over Esau’s head or even tell him of his encounter with the Lord, nor does Jacob even try to remind Esau of the blessing their father gave to him. We really see the new Jacob in this chapter, and the previous one. Jacob promises Esau that he will meet him again in Seir, which is in the south, in the land of Edom.

15  And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me,” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight  of my lord.”      Ruth 2:13                                                                                                               16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.        v.14                                    

  In the spirit of this reconciliation between the two brothers, Esau offers his brother assistance, and perhaps even protection, by leaving behind some of his own men to help Jacob. Jacob’s statement about finding favor in his brothers sight could be interpreted as Jacob’s way of asking Esau not to get offended for his refusal of Esau’s offer. So Esau returns to his home and they both separate from each other once again, but this time in peace, Esau has broken that yoke which Jacob had around his neck, and Jacob is no longer fearful of his brother. Their lives will lead them in two different directions: one by the way of the spirit of Canaan (Satan), and the other by the spirit of God. We never read again in the scriptures of anymore meetings between these two brothers, but as for their descendants, a lifetime of strife, bitterness, and war.

17  And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. Josh 13:27                                                                                                                                            

As I commented on in the last verses: Jacob and Esau don’t meet up again. Jacob doesn’t go to his brother in Seir, instead he builds a house not too far from where the two brothers departed from each other. Succoth is far north of Seir, Approximately two hundred miles (Give or take), from his brother. We aren’t told why Jacob decides to build a house in Succoth, but maybe this could explain why Jacob refused Esau’s offer of assistance, for he had no intention of ever going to Seir to begin with so as to keep the peace between them. The Hebrew word Succoth means booths, (H5523), and the Hebrew definition for booths (H5521), is regarded as temporary shelter. With this in mind, in my opinion Jacob wasn’t planning on spending the rest of his life in Succoth, it was merely a place in which he, his livestock, and his family could rest from their travels. Now Jacob only built temporary shelter for his livestock, but he built a house for himself and his family. Being the shepherd that he was, he knew that eventually he would have to move his livestock to greener pastures as they graze on this land until it was depleted, but his family could stay in Succoth while he, his sons, and even his servants would herd his cattle to other lands to graze on. I believe it is only fitting that Jacob named this place Succoth, because as we read in later chapters we see that Jacob didn’t live out his life here, but traveled the land Of Canaan throughout his life, (Gen 37:1)  and eventually he would end up in Egypt, where he would live out the remainder of his life.

18  Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city.                                                                                                                                                     19  And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money.        48:22; John 4:5                                                                                                        

this is the second time we read where Abraham and one of his descendants purchase a parcel of land, in the land of Canaan. The first time was back in Gen 23:19, where Abraham purchased the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre(also known as Hebron), and buried Sarah his wife in a cave, in that field. here we see that Jacob/Israel is now purchasing a parcel of land in the land of Shechem. Shechem lays in Canaan, and is just north of Jerusalem and Hebron, but further south of Damascus. Although not said, this tells me that Jacob intends on making a permanent residence in this area. Hamor is an Hivite prince of the city of Shechem.  

20  Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.  26:25

  El Elohe Israel (H415), The Mighty God of Israel, Jacob has wrestled with God his whole life, he has seen His power and His might, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, so in essence Jacob is keeping his promise he made to the Lord when he told him long ago that if God would do this, and that then the Lord God would be his God (Gen 28:20-21). To me this is also more proof that Jacob/ Israel intended in making a permanent residence in the city of Shechem. The other times we read of an altar being built before the time of Jacob always appear to be when one of the patriarchs pitched their tents and dwelt there for a period of time (Compare Gen 8:20, 12:8, 13:4,8 26:25) The only exception to this rule is when Abraham was to offer up Isaac to the lord as a sacrifice, and he built an altar (H4196),(H2076) for the sacrifice. Wherever the patriarchs dwelt, they built  an altar in which to worship the one true God and to offer up sacrifices to Him at the appointed times. Therefore, there were sacrifices being made to God before the laws of sacrifices were given by the Lord to the Israelites during the time of the exodus. This begs to ask: did the patriarchs know of the coming Messiah, in which all nations of the earth would be blessed? After all, many of the sacrifices were made to atone for ones sins. When Abraham was to offer up Isaac, and Isaac asked him where the sacrifice was, Abraham replied don’t worry my son, the Lord will provide for Himself a sacrifice (Gen 22:7-8), and we are also told that there were many righteous men of old, and prophets, who longed to see what the apostles saw, and hear what they heard ( Matt 13:17), it would seem only right that the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would understand the full meaning of the sacrifices they were offering up. just food for thought. 

32

1   So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.                                          2  When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.                                                                                                                  3  Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Sier, the country of Edom.                                                                                                                4  And he commanded them, saying, “Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now.                                                                                                                                                                                    5 “I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.”‘”   33:8                    

The journey from Galeed, where Jacob made his covenant with Laban the Syrian, to Mahanaim is approximately 450 miles taken into account all the livestock he had with him, and the terrain, it could have taken him a whole month maybe to get there. these verses do not tell us what was said between the angels and Jacob. All I know, is that after this meeting, Jacob sends messengers to Seir (Which is in Edom). If we look at the Hebrew definition of angels, and messengers in verses one and three, they are the same Strong’s concordance number (H4397), Which is used throughout the bible when speaking of angels of the lord, and or messengers. (Compare Gen 16: 7, 9 10, Judges 6:22, 13:3, 1 Sam 23:27, 29:9, 1 Ki 19:2,), the word angel is one way  we see the Strong’s number H4397      used in the bible, however it is not the only way we see it being used in the context of the scriptures. Sometimes it is used to describe messengers, and not necessarily as an angelic form of messenger.  In my opinion, it was the angelic form of messengers who Jacob sent in his stead to speak with his brother Esau, and not some of his servants. I draw this conclusion from the website Chabad.org. This is a Jewish website, that has the complete Jewish Bible with commentaries from Rabbi Rashis (A well known and respected Rabbi among the Jewish community). In Rabbi Rashi’s commentary on verse four (In the complete Jewish bible), is where we read that “Jacob sent angels ahead to his brother Esau”  Rashi says they are “literally angels” Jacob sends to his brother Esau. Another point to be made here is that in the complete Jewish Bible it says that “Jacob Sent” and not commanded as all other Bible translations read. This makes sense, because Only God can tell his angels what to do, and not do. Jacob has no authority to command God’s angels anything. Angels of God are also known as ministering spirits for man, and in the Hebrew definition listed above you will see that they are also defined as messengers. They are sent to certain men in the bible to help minister to God’s chosen people when they are in dire need (Compare Judges 13: 1-3,  Ps 91: 11-12, Matt 4:11). because Jacob sends these angels to his brother, I can only conclude that Esau, and his bitterness towards him, has been weighing heavily on Jacob’s mind. God promised him that He would be with him wherever he goes (Gen 28:15, 31:3), so the Lord has sent these angels to minister and strengthen him in his time of trouble. Now, when these angels come to Esau and give him the message of Jacob his brother, that he is coming back home, I must wonder to myself, “Does Esau know that these are angels of the Lord, ‘and not servants of Jacob?” Just food for thought. 

6  Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying,  “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.                       33:1                                                                                                                                             7  So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds, and camels, into two companies.                                                                                                                                                                                    8  And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”      35:3                                               

  As I explained in the prior verses, in my opinion, these messengers are angels of God, and not of the flesh (servants of Jacob). Again, we are not told of the conversation between Esau and these angels of the Lord, so we don’t know what was said or wasn’t said, other than what Jacob told these messengers to say to his brother Esau. The only thing these messengers (angels), told Jacob upon returning to him, is that Esau is coming to meet him and brings four hundred men with him. I myself can only come to the conclusion that The Lord is using this occasion to test Jacob and see where his heart is. We must remember; that the angels of the Lord can do nothing without permission from God. God test’s men all the time as a way of molding us and shaping us to become what He desires in us. (Compare Exo 16:4, Jer 18:4-6,). Again, I refer to Rabbi Rashis’s commentary to the Complete Jewish Bible which reads this way:  

We came to your brother, to Esau: Concerning whom you said, “He is my brother,” but he still behaves toward you like the wicked Esau. He still has hatred (Genesis Rabbah 75:7).

Since Rabbi Rashis, says that these messenger are “Literally angels,” Then Jacob can’t help but have fear for his life and that of his family. To him this is a message from God, The God that said He would be with him, when he returns to the land of his father. Jacob’s first inclination is to break up his tribe into two companies to ensure that if Esau attacks one of them, the other can escape to safety. Then immediately after Jacob does this, we see in the following verse’s, the change in Jacob’s heart as he humbly goes to God for protection. 

9  Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’                                                              

There are many gods people worshiped back in Jacob’s time, and even today. If there is any doubt as to who Jacob is praying to, it is made very plain: The God of Abraham and Isaac, The God who told him it was time to leave the land of Haran. This is the same God who also appeared to him when he was heading to Haran some twenty years earlier, and Jacob named that place Luz (Gen 28:13-15)

10  “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you have shown your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.      24:27                                  

Jacob Starts his prayer with a humbling attitude. This is the new Jacob, not Jacob the supplanter (Deceiver), He acknowledges that he does not deserve the blessing God has given him since he first left for Haran. The Lord has shown Jacob that He is true to His word in all that He told him. God told him twenty years ago of all the things He would do for him, but back then Jacob said “IF” if you will do this and that for me then you will be my God ( Gen 28:20-21). The Lord has been true to His Word, and God is worthy of his praise. Jacob also acknowledges to the Lord that he had nothing but his staff with him when he left the land of his fathers: no possessions, no treasures, just the clothes on his back, and the staff in his hands. But now Jacob returns having much more than when he left, and Jacob is basically saying,  “It is you oh Lord who has provided for me all of what I now have, just as you promised you would.’

11 “Deliver me, I pray, from the hands of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come attack me and the mother with the children.                Ps 59″1-2                                                                                                                                                      12 “For you said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'”  22:17  

“And now I come to you O Lord, asking for your protection from my brother, for me and my family.” Jacob will not try to do trickery, or deception in dealing with his brother, instead he will put his trust in the Lord for protection. In that trust, in verse twelve, Jacob is not calling out God on His promise to him, he has already acknowledged God’s truth, but instead he is thus saying, ” I know your word to be true, ‘You said you would treat me well and you have, “You said you would make my descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude, and I know that you will, ‘I am just coming to you to confirm, that in my heart I know it will be you who will carry the day for me. I can’t say for certainty that this is Jacobs thought in his prayer to the Lord here in verse twelve. What I would like to do, is share to the reader my own thoughts when I go into prayer myself, to show how I am drawing this conclusion. Whenever I go into prayer I know in my heart that the Lord will provide for me all my needs, with this said some would say, and I have thought this myself, “then why pray if you already know God will provide for you?” my answer is simple: When we pray We must acknowledge not only to ourselves, but to God as well, where our blessings truly come from. If we don’t do this then we risk boasting to ourselves and become as fools (Pro 10:21, 121:23, 14:8,24, Judges 7:2, 2 Cor 12:5, Gal 6:14, Eph 2:8-9). This is just one mans interpretation of verse twelve. It is up to each individual to study the scriptures daily, and rely on God’s Spirit to reveal to them His truths.

13  So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother:                                                                          

  Jacob stays the night in the place I believe to be, what he calls  Mahanaim (H4266), the place where the two angels met him upon arriving to the Jabbok river. “He took what came to his hand” speaks of the gifts of God. The present is all the flocks he acquired thru his righteousness, (That God bestowed to him), while serving Laban the Syrian.  

14  two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,                                                                                                                                       15  thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.                                                                                                                    16  Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.”                                                              

  Jacob had great wealth as we can see by these verse’s. Back in the time of the patriarchs, and beyond, a mans wealth can be measured in the flocks, and herds of animals they have, as well as any silver or gold. We see here that Jacob had what could be considered an abundance of livestock. The way I see it, Jacob has a total of four to five droves in all his livestock, depending on if the ewes and rams were separate): each drove consisting of one animal kind: The Goats, ewes, and rams, the milk camels with their colts, the forty cows and ten bulls, and the twenty females donkeys with the ten foals.

17  And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these  in front of you?’                                                                                              18 “then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.'”                                                                         19  So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;                                                                                                                    

Not only does Jacob try to appease his brother Esau by giving him all that he has, but also by humbly calling himself a servant of Esau. In the blessings giving to them by their father Isaac, it is Esau who was told that he would be the servant of Jacob. By considering himself Esau’s servant, Jacob is basically saying that he comes in peace and not claiming the birthright that has been giving to him by their father (Gen 27:29, 37, 40), again we see the change in Jacob’s heart. no more the deceiver but humbled in his heart. Jacob will give all the livestock he has in order to reconcile with his brother and live in peace. Although not scriptural, I believe Jacob, in recognizing God’s truth, trusts in Him enough now, to know that What God has giving him before, can once again find grace in the Lord for all his needs. By faith Jacob knows that his righteousness will be counted to him by God almighty (Rom 4:9 ESV).

20 “and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”      Prov 21:14                                                                      21  So the present went over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.                                                                                                      

The final part of this message that Jacob commands his servants to say to Esau, is one of reconciliation with his brother. Jacobs recognizes that he did his brother wrong in stealing his birthright, and admits such to him. verse twenty Jacobs says that he hopes Esau will accept him, I believe another way of putting this, is that Jacob is asking for forgiveness from his brother. Everything we see Jacob doing here is a reflection of his new character, his new man (if you will), it is a reflection of God’s spirit working inside him, changing him from the inside out, and creating in him this new person. “No more shall you be called Jacob”    ( H3290),  (Gen 32:28).

22  And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.                                                      23  He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.      

I believe Jacob wants to be alone so that he can pray to God earnestly, without distractions. (Ps 5:1-8), in prayer we find refuge from our fears and our enemies, in prayer, we find peace within ourselves, and in prayer we find God: when we seek him out we will find Him (Jer 29:11-13).

24  Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.                                                                                                                                                              25  Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.   vv. 31-32                                                                                                                          26  And He said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me!”                                                                                                              27  So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”  25:26                          28  And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”                

I have been thinking about these verses for some time now, not just since I first started this chapter but maybe a month before-hand. There was something I either heard, or read about, I don’t remember now, in regards to Jacob wrestling with God, and it hit a nerve with me. So I have been thinking of how to best express the way I feel these verses can be interpreted. I know it is not the only way to interpret this encounter Jacob has with the Lord. I don’t think I have some kind of special knowledge than anybody else when it comes to understanding God’s word, I just feel that this is the way God’s spirit is leading me, at this juncture in my spiritual growth to His truths. I know that I can come back a year from now and read these same verses and get a completely different meaning of these scriptures, but for now I feel I must go as the Spirit leads me.        Most commentary’s I have read believe this to be a physical wrestling match Jacob is having with God, and I believe that to be true, because in verse twenty five we read; “He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.” What I also see though has to do with Israel “The man,’ and Israel “The nation.” All men and women, at some point in their lives, wrestle with God over many different issues, be it with our family, our marriages, our finances, or our walk with God. This is how I see Jacob, “The man” wrestling with God. He has been through a lot these past twenty years, from having to leave the land of his fathers out of fear for his life, from his own brother Esau, to being deceived at every turn from his father in law (Laban the Syrian). Even his wives have treated him as property, and not a husband. Even Rachel (The love of his life), trading him to her sister like a sex slave for a mere handful of mandrakes, OUCH!! all the while, maybe thinking to himself, “You sent me here oh Lord?” The only positive thing he has to show during his stay in the land of Haran, that has any meaning to what God promised him is his children (Gen 28:13-15). Here he is, some twenty years later, fearing for his life and that of his family. So Jacob sends his family across the ford of Jabbok  without him, for the day of reckoning has come, between him and His God. We don’t know what was said in Jacob’s prayer, but I believe it could have gone something like this: “Oh Lord, God of my fathers, I have been through so much these past twenty years, how much more do you require of me? ‘in my righteousness I have been found worthy of your blessings while I was away from the land of my fathers. ‘You told me it was time to come back from which I was born, back to my kindred, and you would be with me. “Yet your messengers came back from my brother Esau saying, ‘he comes with four hundred men with wickedness and hatred in his heart. “I am fearful for my life and that of my family, where is your blessings oh Lord? how can I obtain these promises if I and my family are dead?” I need reassurance Father, and I will not leave this place until you bless me, so that I may have confidence in what lay ahead of me tomorrow. This is also part of the wrestling I see going on between Jacob and God. Of course there would have to be more to Jacob’s pleas with God, because we are told he wrestled with God all night. And God, just as he did with Job would give His response. I am not even going to pretend what God may have said in His replies to Jacob, for His ways are much higher than mine and his thoughts much deeper (Isa 55:8-9). In the end Jacob prevails but not without a price. God breaks the hip socket of Jacob’s and he will walk with a limp for the rest of his life. the hip socket, or as some translation say, his thigh (H3409) This can also be considered the loin of the man; the place where his sword would be worn. To me I see this as a symbolism of Jacob’s pride, in breaking his hip, He broke his pride, and with it the sword of his pride. Jacob will no more have to war with God, and therefore he has no more the need of the sword of armor. The last thing God does is give Jacob a new name. “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob (H3290) but Israel (H3478) “For you have struggled with God , and with men and have prevailed.” Just as Jacob wrestled with God so to has Israel “The nation” as a whole. For the most part, throughout their existence, the Nation of Israel has had this wrestling match going on with God (Compare Isa 49:14, Jer 2:20-35), but not just that, they have wrestled with many other nations, and still do to this day. Israel “The nation” Through the prophets Isiah and Jeremiah, God describe them as His bride, His wife, and He had to give them a decree of divorce because of their transgressions against Him (compare Isa 50:1, Jer 3:6-9). In the end however Israel “The nation” Like Israel “The man” will prevail with God (Compare Isa 62:2-4, 10-12, Jer 16: 14-15, 33:7-9).

29  Then Jacob asked saying, “Tell me your name, I pray.” And He said,
“Why is it that you ask about my name?” And He blessed him there.                         30 So Jacob called the name Penial: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”                                                                                                                               31  Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.                                                                                                                                                              32  Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.       v.25

   Peniel (H6439)  As we know, no one has seen God at any time (Compare Exo 33:20-23, John 1:18, John 6:46), with this in mind we can surmise that Who Jacob saw was God in the flesh, who we know as Jesus the Christ. Jacob named the place Penial, or Penuel as some render the name. The Strong’s concordance defines Peniel as “Facing God,” and the BDB definition is “Face of God.” Jesus Himself said that if you have seen, me then you have seen the Father (John 14:9). Jacob also says in his statement, That he has seen God face to face and his life is preserved. As I stated in my earlier comments on Jacob wrestling with God; Jacob goes to God in prayer asking for protection from Esau. Also as I said earlier, I was giving an example of how Jacob might have been wrestling with God and the type of prayer he might have gone to the Lord about. I just thought it necessary to re-emphasize that this is just my opinion on the matter and it is not based on scripture. After wrestling with God all night, the Lord blesses Jacob, and this is when Jacob states that his life has been preserved. Again, we don’t know what kind of blessing God gave to Jacob, we only know that afterwards Jacob says his life has been preserved. In my humble opinion the blessing could have to do with God re-assuring Jacob that He will protect him from his brother Esau, and for him not to be afraid, but to go humbly to his brother and ask for forgiveness. This is all conjecture, and is open to debate if anyone cares to comment on my interpretation of these verses.                                       Jacob ask The Lord His name, and God replies: “Why is it that you ask about my name?” He never gives Jacob an answer as to His name. Ever since I first started  my work I have always found it interesting in learning the meanings of the names of the bible. Anyone who has read my work will see that I always show the meanings of the names in scriptures. Names are very important in the bible; They reflect the character of the person, or in some instances the name of the person will reveal their significance in God’s story to us. When we read prophecies we can determine the location of the names God gives, when He cast His judgment on certain nations. There are many instances where we see that it is God Himself who gives the name to certain people. I myself, for some years now, in my prayers, sometimes call God “The Great I Am, as He told Moses to tell the people of Israel, when Moses asked God who he should tell the people what His name is who sent him (Exo 3:14),To me, in a sense by calling Him I Am, this sums up God as a whole, just as John said God is love. Love sums up God’s character, (Compare 1 John 4:8), for out of Love comes truth, kindness, compassion, mercy, grace, peace, and joy, fill in the rest yourself. For love has no part in hate, envy, covetousness, greed, wickedness, and evil. So when God told Moses I Am That I Am, just fill in the blank like we do with love: I am the Alpha and the Omega (Rev 1:8, 11, 21:6, 22:13), I am YHWH Yireh- the Lord will provide (compare Gen 22:13-14, and Matt 6:30-33), I am the Almighty God (Gen 17:1-5), I am the Most High God (Compare Gen 14:18-20, Ps 9:1-2), I am the Everlasting (Compare Gen 21:33, Ps 90:1-4). I could go on and on, like I said: fill in the blank; The Almighty who was, and is, and is to come (Rev 4:8). In the time of the patriarchs He is only known as God Almighty (Exo 6:3), So this is what Jacob would come to know Him as. The Lord God almighty goes by many names, and rightfully so, for He is all things to us. God’s name means so much to me, that I don’t feel I even touched the surface on His name and what it represents. I hope and pray that I did Him justice in what I wrote here, and shed a little light into who the Great I Am is, and His name.

 

                                                                                                                                      

31

1 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s son’s saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s and from what was our father’s he has acquired as wealth.”                                                                                           2  And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before.                                                                         3  Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father’s and to your family, and I will be with you.”  28:15, 20, 21; 32:9; 46:4                                

Six years have now passed since Jacob made an agreement with Laban, about the matter of his wages if he would stay on with him a while longer. Since then Jacob has prospered much. when Jacob first made this agreement with Laban, Jacob had no livestock. The sons of Laban, as well as Laban himself have become envious of the wealth that Jacob has acquired. The statement the sons make; that Jacob has taken away all that was their fathers is just shy of accusing him of theft. Laban has lost all trust in Jacob that he had in him over the past twenty years. in verse three, it is my humble opinion that Jacob, hearing the words of the sons of Laban, and seeing Laban’s distrust in him, goes to the Lord and prays to Him for help. I make this conclusion because of the first part of the verse: “Then the Lord said to Jacob” to me this implies that Jacob is in prayer, and why God has manifested Himself to Jacob at this time. If my opinion is correct, this reveals to the reader the change in Jacob’s character. everything we have read about Jacob up to now we have never seen, where he cries out to the Lord for help. With this opinion in mind I will continue. Jacob has been humbled. He has no one he can trust in except the Lord. Jacob may even be reflecting back when the Lord first appeared to him in a dream; where the Lord told him that He would be with him wherever he would go. it wouldn’t be unlike Jacob to say to the Lord in this prayer; “Lord you said you would be with me wherever I went, and you would keep me,’ I have followed you Lord and now I fear for my life.’ Please God, answer me,  ‘what am I to do? So the Lord, seeing the humility in Jacobs heart, Answers him in the same way that He spoke to him back in back in Bethel, so that there would be no doubt to Jacob who is speaking to him now (Compare Gen 28:15, 31:3), God is true to His word, He cannot lie or He would cease from being who He is. Jacob is reassured by the words of the Lord. He now knows what to do. It is time for him to go home. God now knows that He can begin to work with Jacob. He has humbled himself before the Lord and has submitted to His authority. Just like us who are baptized members of the Church; just because were are now baptized, it doesn’t mean that we are changed at the twinkling of an eye, it is a lifelong journey. a journey in which only God can lead us and create in us a new man. Now it is time to cleanse Jacob’s heart and create in him a new man, one of sincerity and truth, free from the old man that he once was, of wickedness and malice. 

4  So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock,           5  and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable towards me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.                                                                                                                       6  “And you know that with all my might I have served your father.             7  “Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.                                                                     8  “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.                                                                       9  “So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.              vv. 1, 16                                                                                                                    

As per the agreement with Laban back in Gen 30:33, Jacob claimed to Laban that his righteousness will answer for him in time to come. He now brings Rachel and Leah out to the field, among the flock, so that they can see all that He has done for their father. While he is pleading his case (so to speak), to his wives, he uses the flock as a witness, for them to see for themselves his righteousness. We find out here in these verses that Laban, being the master deceiver that he is, keeps changing the original agreement with Jacob many times, so as to benefit himself. As Jacob explains to his wives: The God of his father (Isaac), has been with him all this time, and that it is God who has rewarded him for his righteousness while serving Laban. In verse nine Jacob makes sure there is no doubt in his wives minds that it is God who took their father’s livestock from him, and gave them to Jacob (because of his righteousness). God promised Jacob that He would be with him, and he is always true to His word. 

10  “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.                                           11  “Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’        22:11                                                                                          12  “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.                                                                                 13  ‘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.'”        28:10-22;; 35:1, 6                                                                              

   Jacob goes on to explain to his wives that an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Notice that in verse eleven the word Angel is capitalized. if we consider that, along with verse thirteen, where this Angel of the Lord reveals Himself to Jacob as the “God of Bethel.” The word Angel is this context is defined as a messenger of God (H4397)  So how can this Angel of the Lord be a messenger of God and not God Himself, as He say’s, “He is the God of Bethel?” there is only one answer, this Angel is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The reader must remember that God and Jesus are one: one mind, one body, and one Spirit. we read in the book of John that  “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”  John goes on to explain that He (The Word), was in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2), then in verse fourteen of John he makes it clear who the word is (John 1:14), Jesus Christ once said Himself that if we see Him, we have seen the Father (John 14:7-11), the last thing to consider here is the fact that Jacob has learned to trust in the Lord, and have faith in him. Jacob is developing the faith of Abraham thru which the promised seed will come, in which all nations will be blessed. The Lord reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the Lord when he was in bethel; as if to say to Jacob, “Okay I have held up my end of the bargain now I expect you to hold up your end, so He tells him it is time to leave and go back to the land of his family (Gen 28:20-21), when God calls Jacob, Jacob replies as his fathers have, “Here I am” undoubtedly Jacob is still mindful of why he left his family in the first place; His brother Esau wanted to kill him. As far as Jacob knows, Esau still has bitterness towards him, but Jacob’s faith in God will now allow him to overcome his fear for what awaits him upon his arrival back home, and he now puts his trust in God.

14  Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?                                         15  “Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money.                                                                   16  “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.”

I see nothing but wickedness that comes out of the mouths of Jacob’s wives. It appears to me that the only reason they decide to go with Jacob back to his family is purely out of their love of money and riches, not because Jacob is their husband and the head of the household. The way they are talking, it is as if their dad still had money, and a portion of inheritance for them, then they would stay right where they are. Not just that but they have the gall to suggest that all the riches God gave to Jacob are actually theirs and their children for the taken. We have already seen before where Rachel sold Jacob’s bed for some mandrakes, and now it’s more for the riches that Jacob has, that they will follow him, not out of love, or loyalty as his wives. But Jacob doesn’t respond to this selfishness, he has come to trust in the Lord. The old Jacob might have tried to go ahead and play their little game as to who really is the rightful air to Laban’s riches, and promise them a portion of the inheritance just to get them to come along with him, never intending to give them anything that God has promised Jacob. This family, from Rebekah, to Jacob, and from Laban to Leah, and Rachel, are such devious people. They have no sense of loyalty to family, or even to God for that matter. Yet as evil and wicked as this family of Nahor (Abraham’s brother), is, God still Blesses this family, by including them in the Genealogy that leads to our Lord Jesus Christ, and also with the birth of a nation (Israel), that God will call His own and a holy people unto Him. As God promised Abraham long ago: thru his seed will all nations of the world be blessed. What I take from this, just as I have taken from other books of the bible is that God loves all of His creation (Children), and works with many nations,  even Pagan cultures to be a part of the bloodline that will lead to our Lord Jesus Christ. We see this in the story of Ruth, who is a Moabite, that sacrificed their children to their Pagan gods. She married Boaz, and is the Grandmother of king David of Israel. King David’s son Solomon, who bore Rehoboam (Whose mother was Naamah, and Ammonitess), The Ammonites also fought against the Israeli nation from time to time and were also a pagan culture, yet thru her the seed was planted by which all nations are blessed. In the previous chapters God makes it very plain, on more than one occasion that this family of Bethuel are Syrians. With this in mind we can ascertain that the Syrian people can be dated back to at least 1950 years after creation of man. I think one reason why God makes it very clear as to the identity of the family of Nahor as Syrians is for us to be aware of the family ties between modern day Syria and the Israeli nation. Understanding this family tie, also helps us to understand the prophecy  in Isaiah chapter nineteen, keep in mind that The Syrian people and the Assyrians are basically one in the same (Isa 19:23-25), in this prophecy we read that Assyria will have part in the blessings along with Israel, and Egypt, during Christ’s 1000 year reign here on earth. On a short note; the reason Egypt is part of this blessing in my opinion is because of Ishmael, who is the son of Abraham thru Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar (The Egyptian).

17  Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels.                      18  And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.  17:8; 33:18; 35:27                              

So Jacob packed up all his belongings. all the cattle that his righteousness answered for him, like he and Laban the Syrian agreed upon. Jacob only took that which he and Laban agreed on, as far as the cattle he labored for the past six years, nothing more, nothing less. Jacob took his family and all his children with him. He is going back to His father Isaac, as God had commanded. Even though in his mind his brother Esau is waiting there for him with vengeance, as far as he knows. Jacob doesn’t know what awaits him upon his return, but just as his father, and his father’s father, he obeys God and will trust in Him. 

19  Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s.

I would like to touch on different trains of thought regarding this verse. One train of thought is that of my own as I understood this passage, after careful consideration, and actually, completely deleting my first commentary. Upon reviewing this first thought of mine it didn’t feel right so I deleted it all together, went back, meditated some more on this verse, and wrote the following as I felt the Spirit was leading me in this juncture of my spiritual growth:                                                                              Rachel, Jacobs true love, the woman who has stolen his heart, is revealed to us here as an idol worshiper: one who worships graven images made by the hands of men, which is an abomination to The God of Jacob. All this time with Jacob Rachel has not turned to the one true God, Creator of the heavens and earth, Creator of all things. Rachel was brought up in this culture of pagan worship, and she intends on bringing this belief system back to the land of Canaan. Now scriptures doesn’t say that Rachel imposes this belief on her son Joseph so I wont go there. that is between Rachel and God, He will judge her not any of us. God’s revelation of her character in this verse, I think, shows how God works with His people (Believers) and even those who do not believe. Rachel is still blessed by God with two sons (One who hasn’t been born yet), and that is Benjamin. Joseph will go on to be a major character in God’s master plan for the world, and for his people (the Israeli nation), to me, this shows that God is not partial to any one person, He will work with the sinner as well as the righteous to carry out His purpose for mankind. Jacob loves Rachel, and God respects that in any marriage, so He did not hold her back from him, but Jacob had to work extra hard to get her. Rachel, the unbeliever, is blessed thru the believer (Jacob), otherwise their children will be unclean (1 Co 7:13-14), if this were not the case, then Joseph, and Benjamin, and their descendants could not be a holy people unto God (Deut 7:6-9), God made all the children of Jacob a holy people. therefore Rachel (the non believer), is sanctified thru Jacob (the believer), for the sake of their children, and their descendants.                                                                        The above commentary, after writing it, and reviewing it felt right in my heart, and it made sense to me. The next day I decided to read the commentary my own church has on this verse, and found that I was miles apart from my comments on this verse than their perspective. Of course the church and the Elders as a whole have so much more knowledge than I. I thought it would be worth mentioning their comments on this verse as well, so as to bring two different points of view  about Rachel’s action; one from a simple man who is not yet weaned from the milk and moved onto the solid meat of God’s word, and that of my own churches years of spiritual growth, to which I give leave to. The United Church of God:

 Before he left, though, Rachel stole Laban’s household idols. It is possible that she took the idols because it was commonly believed that the possessor of the idols would enjoy the blessing of the gods; Rachel, according to the paganism in which she was raised, may have attempted to “secure” her husband’s good fortune. Yet she and Leah had apparently both come to worship the true God, seeing Him as the one who had blessed them with children and wealth and the one from whom to seek direction (see Gen 29:32; 30:22-23; 31:16). Why, then, did Rachel take the idols? A number of commentators point out that the most likely explanation is that she stole them because they represented ownership of Laban’s possessions. The one who had the idols could thereby prove himself or herself to be the legitimate owner or heir to the property. For instance, the Broadman Bible Commentary states: “The possession of household gods was legal proof of the right to inheritance. Since Rachel believed that the property should be theirs, she ‘appropriated’ what she considered to be hers by right. This did not make the act any less wrong”   http://bible.ucg.org/bible-commentary/Genesis/Jacob-departs-from-Laban/                                                                                                                  As the Broadman Bible Commentary points out in the end of their commentary: “It doesn’t make the act any less wrong” no matter the intent of Rachel. Also I would like to Add, that even though Leah and Rachel had both come to worship the one true God, (As the United Church of God states), and I don’t dispute that, the fact of the matter is, is that throughout the history of the Israeli nation, the descendants of Jacob would worship the one true God openly, but then, behind closed doors  they also worshiped baal and other gods as well. Just look at the book of Ezekial when God revealed the iniquities of His people to him in chapter eight. Even in the temple of God, they worshiped other gods as well. My point is that our God is a jealous God and He does not share His glory with others nor should He. So what Rachel did was flat wrong and there is no justifying it (Exo 20:1-5).

 20  And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee.                                                                     21  So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed towards the mountains of Gilead.

 Jacob did not want Laban the Syrian to know that he was leaving for good, and that he was taking his family with him along with all the cattle that he had acquired (rightfully so), from Laban, and all the possessions he had gained while in Padan Aram. After searching out maps of the location of Padan Aram, and the Journey’s of both Abraham, and Isaac, we can clearly see that the river Jacob crossed is the river Euphrates. you can go to my map section on my home page and see these maps for yourself. Later on in verse thirty one Jacob tells us why he did not tell Laban the Syrian that he was leaving for good. Now I have mentioned before how, when God talks of Laban, he describes him as Laban the Syrian, and I explained, in my opinion why He does this. So therefore Since God keeps describing over and over Laban in this manner, then I feel it is only appropriate that I do the same. I did this with Abraham. While God was calling Abraham Abram, I did the same thing back then. It wasn’t until Genesis chapter seventeen, when God first called Abram, Abraham that I started doing the same out of respect for God and His word.  

22  And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled.                         23  Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead.                             24  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.”  20:3            

   Laban the Syrian was away from his home shearing the sheep. We must remember that Laban the Syrian took all his sheep that were blemished three days journey from the flock that Jacob would tend to (Gen 30:35-36), this is Why it took three days for someone to tell Laban that Jacob had fled. So Jacob has a good head start from Laban. It isn’t until Jacob reaches the mountains of Gilead that Laban catches up to him. So Jacob is well away from the country of the land of Haran. Laban is now the stranger in a land that is not his. The mountains of Gilead are probably about 200 miles from Laban’s home. Before Laban the Syrian does anything foolish God appears to him in a dream and warns him to be careful how he speaks to Jacob. Laban the Syrian is well aware of the God of Jacob, and he fears Him. 

25  So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.                                                                                                                

  Laban has many men with Him, and Jacob has few in number, He could have easily done harm to Jacob, but he has already been warned by God to treat Jacob with respect.

26  And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with a sword?                                                                                                     27  “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, with timbrel and harp?                                                                                                                   28  “And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing.                                                                

 At first glance of the Scriptures above it appears that Laban the Syrian is calling Jacob a thief because twice he tells Jacob that he has “stolen away unknown to me” in verse twenty six. Then is the next verse Laban the Syrian again tells Jacob that he has stolen away from him and did not tell him. But when I look closer at his statement, right after he accuses Jacob of Stealing from him, he says in verse twenty six “Unknown to me” and then in verse twenty seven “And not tell me” this tells me that Laban does mean to steal as a thief (Literally), but to go away secretly (figuratively), Laban is doing exactly as God told him, and is being very careful in the words he chooses to use against Jacob. Then Laban wants Jacob to think that he would not have hindered Jacob from leaving, he would sent Jacob away with music, and joy (Implying it would have been a joyous occasion), and Laban the Syrian would have been able to give his family a proper goodbye by given them hugs and kisses. “Why act foolishly by not letting me do this with my family?” I propose to the reader here to not be so swayed by the words of Laban the Syrian here. We have already seen may times over, the true character of this man, he is a deceiver, and speaks only half truths. If God had not appeared to him in a dream this encounter would be a whole different scenario. But Laban the Syrian knows that God is watching, so he has no choice but to bow to His power and do as He commands.  

29  “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.’              v. 24                                                                                             

 What an oxymoron statement Laban makes here in this verse. It is so laughable when you think about it. He tells Jacob that it is in his power to do him harm, BUT!! because the God of Isaac warns him not to speak good nor bad of him, then Laban will not do so. So who has the power here? it most definitely is not Laban, which he claims he does. Make no bones about it, God is wielding the power here.

30  “And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”                                          

  All Laban can do is admit that his free ride is over and  acknowledge that Jacob misses his family back home, and that there is no evil intent on jacobs part for leaving. Then Laban the Syrian wonders why he stole his pagan gods. He knows that Jacob has nothing to do with these gods so why would he take them? Laban thinks it is Jacob who stole the idols from his house, when in fact as we read earlier it was Rachel who did this. 

31  Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’              

 The original question that Laban the Syrian ask’s of Jacob was why he took his daughters from him without telling him. The only other question Laban poses to Jacob is to inquire about his gods, and why Jacob took them. So Jacob answers these questions in the order they were given. As much as Jacob has come to trust in the Lord he still has that human nature in him that we all have. we are not perfect by nature, we never will be as long as we are of the flesh. No matter how much we come to believe in the Lord, (His existence, His power, His truths), we still feel at times that we must do things on our own without the help of anyone. Jacob could have been thinking to himself, “God did not say to take my family with me He just said to go back to my fathers house, to the land of my family,’ “So if I tell anyone about me leaving, God will use the power that Laban the Syrian has over me, to keep me from disobeying Him.” This is just the way our mind works sometimes when we try to rationalize things in our mind. I am not saying that this is what played out in Jacob’s mind, I am just trying to give the reader an understanding, that no matter how much we trust in the Lord we sometimes have doubts. I myself pray to God many of times to strengthen my faith in Him, and to help me with my unbelief. So let us not Judge the heart of Jacob here or His faith in God. Let each of us look into the mirror and look at ourselves and ask; How strong is my faith? “Oh Lord please strengthen me, and teach me to believe”

32  “With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.   44:9                 

Jacob was unaware that Rachel (The woman he loved with all his heart), had stolen the idols that Laban the Syrian is talking about. This is the only place in the Bible that I know of that speaks of Rachel, and the idols she stole from her Father Laban the Syrian. We are never told that Rachel worshiped these Idols. or what she does with them. I will expand a little more on this subject in chapter thirty five, at the time of her death. I don’t believe there is any point in assuming what might have happened if the idols were discovered in her possessions.                                                          Jacob states to Laban, “What I have of yours take it with you.” when Laban the Syrian overcomes Jacob at the mountains of Gilead he is only concerned with Jacob taking his daughters and sons, not allowing him to give them a proper farewell, and of the Idols. Laban never accuses Jacob of stolen away all the livestock he brought with him. Jacob knows that his righteousness has accounted for him and the livestock he has acquired. As far as his daughters and grandsons, Jacob again has served Laban honorably for the right to marry them; deep down inside Laban does as well, which is why Jacob is comfortable in telling Laban the Syrian to take what he has of his. The only issue Laban has a right to have with Jacob is the Idols. Jacob wants no part of the idols, and the statement he makes about who has the idols: that they should die, might as well be the word of God Himself speaking here. There are many passages in the bible where God does indeed kill people who have taken Idols for themselves, or where God commands His people to not worship false idols or surely be put to death. The first and second commandment of God is not to have any other gods before Him, nor make any graven image (Compare Deut 5:7-8, 8:19-20, Eze 6:1-7), I have listed just a few passages about Idols, and the consequences of worshiping them.

33  And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into the two maids tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.                                                                                                                     34  Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them.                                                                                                           35  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.                                                              

 Laban the Syrian searches all over for the idols but comes up empty handed. When he enters into Rachel’s tent she tells him that “the manner of women are with me” meaning that it is her time of menstruation and she is unclean. Laban understands and respects this, therefore he doesn’t even bother to ask her to rise. So the idols end up staying with Rachel as they head towards the land of Canaan. 

36  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?                                                                                             37  “Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both!                                            

The household items (The idols), are the only thing Jacob was accused of stealing that weren’t rightfully his, Laban has searched Jacobs tents and has found none of the idols he accuses Jacob of stealing. This not a private conversation between just Jacob and Laban the Syrian, all of Jacob’s and Laban’s brethren are gathered around. Jacob wants it to be known among all the brethren that he has done no wrong against Laban, as a matter of fact, by him making the statement to let all the brethren judge between them, he is throwing it back in Laban’s face accuses him of the one who has committed the sin and done wrong. In verses thirty eight thru forty two we see Jacob pleading his case in front of everyone to let them decide who is right and who is wrong.  

38  “These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock.                                                                                                           39  “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. 40  “There I was! in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes.                                                   41  “Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.                                                                           42  “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.”  Is. 8:13                                                                                        

For the first time in twenty years Jacob has the upper hand over his father in law, and he will not hold back his feelings any longer as to how Laban has treated him ever since Jacob first came to the land of Haran. Jacob reminds Laban, and all the brethren around how loyal he has been with Laban over the course of the past twenty years. Again Jacob repeats to everyone that he has served Laban for twenty years, and he breaks it down to make it clear as to how many years he served for his daughters, and how many years he served for the livestock he now rightfully has in his possession. Jacob lets it be known that it was Laban who kept changing the agreement they made and not him. As we read earlier when Jacob was pleading his case with his own wives how their father was treating him, every time the goats were speckled and spotted Laban would change the agreement, then when they were unblemished he would change it back to the original agreement, over and over Laban kept changing the agreement so as to benefit him and leave Jacob high and dry (Gen 31:6-8), now to put the nail in the coffin (So to speak), Jacob reminds Laban (Lest he forget), and for all to know, that it is the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac who has been with Jacob and blessed him since he first arrived in Haran, knowing full well that the Lord has already visited Laban in a dream and warned him not to speak bad of Jacob: Genesis. 31:24. The last thing I want to touch on here is why Isaac uses the term, “The fear of Isaac” instead of the God of Isaac like he did when he mentioned Abraham. I went to my commentaries and Adam Clark I think has the best explanation for this so I will copy his commentary here for the reader:

Adam Clark: The fear of Isaac –                                                                      It is strange that Jacob should say, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, when both words are meant of the same Being. The reason perhaps was this; Abraham was long since dead, and God was his unalienable portion for ever. Isaac was yet alive in a state of probation, living in the fear of God, not exempt from the danger of falling; therefore God is said to be his fear, not only the object of his religious worship in a general way, but that holy and just God before whom he was still working out his salvation with fear and trembling, fear lest he should fall, and trembling lest he should offend.

 

43  And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “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 borne?                                                      

 Even though Laban thinks all that Jacob has is actually his, he knows there is nothing he can do to stop Jacob from taking all the possessions he has accumulated thru his righteousness, and his family, in which he served Laban for twenty years to acquire. God has already warned Laban the Syrian not to speak good nor evil of him. 

44  “Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”                                                                     45  So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar   28:18                                  46   Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap.                               47  Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.                     48  And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed,      Josh. 24:27                                                 49  Also Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another.    Josh. 10:17; Judges 11:29                               50  “if you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us-see, God is witness between you and me!                                                                                                            

All Laban the Syrian can do is make a covenant with Jacob, a contract, if you will. This covenant between Jacob and Laban is one sided. Laban is the one who stipulates what is in this covenant. Jacob has no part in details that are in this contract. This is telling of both the character of Jacob, and Laban the Syrian. In this covenant Laban has only two stipulations: one is in regards to his daughters, and the other part is basically a peace pact between the two as I see it. In this covenant we see for the first time another side of Laban that we have not seen, and that is the love of a father for his daughters. He tells Jacob not to marry any other women, and also not to hurt them in any way. Myself I don’t see any ulterior motive behind Laban’s stipulation here. In the past Laban “the Syrian” would have had deceitful thoughts behind his arrangements with Jacob, but Laban “The Father” cares only of the well being of his daughters. He knows this will probably be the last time he sees them, and his grandsons. I cant help but feel the pain in his heart to have to come to this realization. All he can do is hold Jacobs feet to the fire and trust in the God of Jacob, that He will protect them from any harm. I say the God of Jacob here because of the following verses that are to come at the end this chapter (Gen 31:53), notice to that in Gen 31:50 God is capitalized; meaning the one true God. All other gods in the bible are not capitalized. It is the God of Abraham, and Nahor, and the God of their father (Terah), in which Laban the Syrian acknowledges as the God to judge between them if one is to break the covenant.                                                                               On the surface it appears that Laban the Syrian and Jacob have two different names for the pillar: one is Jegar Sahadutha, and the other name given is Galeed. both names mean the same (Heap-witness) Jegar Sahadutha is Aramaic, which is the language of the Syrians, and Galeed is the Hebrew name given. In Adam Clarke’s commentary he describes the Heap of stones, the pillar, and why the name Mizpah was also used to describe the place in which this covenant was made:

                                               Genesis 31:46

Made a heap – גל gal, translated heap, signifies properly a round heap; and this heap was probably made for the double purpose of an altar and a table, and Jacob’s stone or pillar was set on it for the purpose of a memorial. 

      Genesis 31:48-49

I think these two verses are badly divided, and should be read thus:
Gen 31:48 – And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day.
Gen 31:49 – Therefore was the name of it called Galeed and Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.
Mizpah – מעפה mitspah signifies a watch-tower; and Laban supposes that in consequence of the consecration of the place, and the covenant now solemnly made and ratified, that God would take possession of this heap, and stand on it as on a watch-tower, to prevent either of them from trenching on the conditions of their covenant.

51  Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me.                                                       52  “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.                                                                                      

This is the second, and last part of the covenant made between Jacob and Laban. Again it is Laban the Syrian who is making the stipulations in this covenant. Jacob has not made any counter proposals in this covenant, as he did when the Lord first appeared to him on his journey to the land of Haran (Gen 28:20), granted in this verse it says that Jacob made a vow, not a covenant, they are similar in nature but still different by definition. The point being, is that Jacob is silent, which reflects the character change in him from when he was living in the land of his fathers, with his family. Jacob was once the deceiver, always wheeling and dealing to get what he wanted, trusting only in himself and not in The Lord. Jacob made a vow to the Lord, and now he must man up (so to speak), he’s been humbled. God has done all He said He would(Gen 28:15),  proving to Jacob that His words are true, and that he can count on the Lord to provide for him all his needs. I think back to the time when Lot’s clan was bickering with  Abraham’s clan over land and water for their livestock. Abraham, being the patriarch, could have demanded that he have the better land, but he didn’t. Abraham trusted in the lord to provide for him, so he gave Lot first choice of where he would dwell (Gen 13:7-12). The covenant being made here is partially a peace pact between Jacob and Laban the Syrian, just as it was, in certain ways, between Abraham and Lot. Both Jacob and Laban the Syrian kept their word during their lifetime, so there was peace between the Laban the Syrian and Jacob (Israel). It’s a shame that we don’t see this covenant being kept today between the Syrian people and the people of Israel. There has been strife between these two people since the time of the kings of Israel; after the time of king David and Solomon. The six sons which Leah bore to Jacob, and the two sons Rachel (Who Jacob loved dearly), are half Syrians and half Israeli’s. If we look up the BDB definition and Zilpah(Handmaid of Leah, and mother of Jacobs two sons, Gad and Asher), we will see that she is also described as being Syrian.This means that out of the twelve tribes of Israel, ten of them have 50 % Syrian blood running thru their veins, and 50% Israeli blood running thru their veins. That would mean that the nation of Israel, as a whole, are made up of Syrians and Israelites. to me this a WOW! factor when I first gave it thought, Or should I say more appropriately, when God revealed this truth to me thru His spirit. So then with this said, it is just more proof that all the conflict going on in the middle east between the Muslims and the Israelis, is a family feud that goes back thousands of years, beginning with Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn thru Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid. This is why God promises the bring these families back together in the latter days and worship Him, the one true God, as a reunited family (Isa 19:23-25). So let us keep praying: “Thy Kingdom Come”.

53  “The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.  v. 42     54  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         55  And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.

This chapter closes out with the affirmation of the one true God Almighty, creator of the heavens and the earth, and of all things. Laban States, “by the God of Abraham, Nahor, and the God of their father” (Terah), and their God is God, He will be the judge  between them. As we know Laban chased after Jacob because of the Idols/gods that were taken from his home (At least that’s what he claimed), I think he came after Jacob for other reasons, but God stopped him from harming Jacob before he could. that is beside the point, the point, is that Laban is an idol worshiper, and he worships many gods. That is what is revealing about him in Gen 31: 30-32. But here he acknowledges the one true God, and Jacob swears by the fear of his father Isaac. I have already gone over what it means: “By the fear of Isaac,” in verse forty two of this chapter. The other telling point here is in verse fifty four. Here we see Isaac offering up a sacrifice on the mountain, and that all they ate was bread. For the first time we see Jacob offering up a sacrifice to the Lord. Jacob undoubtedly knows all about the sacrificial laws of God because of his father and his grandfather, yet he never performed this ritual until now (At least this is the first time it is revealed to us, the reader), back in Gen 28:20-21, Jacob made a vow to God that if the Lord would return him back to his fathers house in peace, then the Lord God will be his God, and a part of this covenant is a peace covenant between the two men. Jacob also said  if God will give him bread to eat, which is a good segue leading into the other point I wanted to make. After Jacob offered up the sacrifice he invited all his brethren to eat bread, and they ate bread. In my opinion this is symbolic of the priesthood of the Levites. The sacrifice Jacob offered up to the Lord, every part of it, was for the Lord. They could not eat any portion of that sacrifice. In the book of Leviticus, When God is giving the laws of sacrificial offerings, only the priest’s were able to eat any portion of the offerings ( Compare Lev 2:3, 10, 5:13, 6:16-18, 7:9-10) This is because,the priest’s of the old testament were a foreshadowing of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. So the priest were representative of Him that is to come, and they were sanctified by God from the other tribes of Israel to be holy unto them, and God. Even though the nation of Israel was a holy nation unto the Lord (Compare Deut 7:6, 14:2), the Levites were even more so ( Compare Num 1:47-51, 3:9-13). So Jacob, nor any of his brethren could eat any portion of the sacrifice. This would be in keeping with the sacrificial laws of God, and it reveals to me that these laws were in place well before the time the law was given in Leviticus. As I have said before: in my opinion, the reason for the given of the law on mount Sinai, is because the Israeli’s had been in captivity so long, and had been corrupted by the Egyptians and their gods, that they forgot the law of God, and therefore they had to be reminded of these laws, and the different types: Sacrificial, civil, moral, clean and unclean meats, hygienic, and spiritual laws.                                              

 

 

 

My Will Be Done

With the world full of darkness, doom and despair,
there is still hope for those who really care.
I know there are days when all seems to be empty and lost,
and there is no meaning to life except, for what is here today, tomorrow it will be tossed.
Yet in all this madness that surrounds each and everyone of us,
there is still a message of hope that is everlasting,                                    And that is the promise of this world that soon will be passing.                 Onto a new and better earth full of love and joy,                                   Where there is room for every girl and boy.
For those who cry out “lord why oh why!”
He so much wants to gather us together,
and say to His children; please don’t cry.
for the former things have passed away,
and I give to you a new life without any sorrow or pain.
Come into My arms, let Me give you rest,
for I love you, and will show you my tenderness.
You cry out to Me, and I cry out to you,
enter into your Fathers kingdom where all things are made new.
let us come together and be as one,                                                              for in this unity My purpose… and My will be done.                                    Amen

 

Running The Race

A new day has dawn,
all the worldly things are gone.
Our Lord Jesus has come in the clouds                                                         for all the Saints, life has just begun.
For those still in the world  your race has just begun.                               There is No need to run a sprint,
can’t you see, that this life is heaven sent?
the Lord will give all things to every girl and boy,                               humble yourself call out His name, He will give you a life full of fun and joy!
Rejoice when you hear the birds singing in the trees,
feel the peace as you watch the eagle soaring with ease.
Remember your Creator when you see a great whale leaping out of the water,
how He made the hummingbird, and it’s wings that flutter.                Never forget the race has just begun,
fulfill your destiny, My child, My son.
I know You can endure to the end,
remember in your Father you will always have a friend.
Someone who thinks of you even when we are apart, someone who who holds you close to his heart.
You have been there crying out to Me, and I for you,
because this is the things that true friends do                                          Even though you think we may never meet,
there will come a time when your life is complete.                                    You will see me and I will see you,
then you will know everything I have said has come true.                     Again the race has just begun,
a Saint will be sent to show you how God s will be done.
Until then may you learn to love, give your heart to our Father above.
In this love the journey will be done,
and then the race will be won!
Amen!!

Can A Man Love Twice

Can a man love twice in a lifetime?                                                                 That is a question this man has yet to answer.
Can a man be loved twice in a lifetime?
Again a question this man has yet to realize.
One thing for sure about love is this:
God is love, and maybe the love this man has been longing for has always been there his whole life, but was too blind to see.
My eyes have been opened and now I know;
God is love, and He abides in me.
Therefore I abide in Him and in His Son,                                                       along with His Spirit we have all become one.
This is the ultimate love one can ask for. So again I ask:
Can a man Love and be Loved twice in a lifetime? Yes! with God nothing is impossible.

              A cry in the wilderness

A voice cries out in the wilderness: come out her my people come out!
For the time is near and the day is done,
it is time to come home, the race has been run,
and you my people will behold the glorified one,
the trumpet must sound for all to hear,
and the dead in Christ are about to appear,
come out of her my people,
for your redemption draws near.
A voice cries out!
Abraham! Isaac! Jacob!
David! Moses! Joseph!
Arise my people,
the promise fulfilled,
take your place in the land of plenty,
where all nations will come to be healed.
I came the first time sent by the great Creator,
to reconcile man to God the Father.
I now return as your King and brother.
rejoice! Be merry! For the harvest is ripe,
we will have a feast to you hearts delight.
Those that are left are broken and confused,
what happened to their world they ask,
they don’t know what to do.
Come out of her my people! Be My kings and priest’s
help your Brothers and sisters, to give comfort and to teach,
bring more sons and daughters to know the Lord,
show them the way, the truth, and the light,
and in the end everyone will win the fight.

Amen!

                   I am the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow

It was said in the days of old; “Draw near to me and I will draw near to you.” Even though these words were written long ago,
I remain the same then, yesterday, today, and forever more.
In times of trouble and distress, when all seems lost;
know that I am here, for I know your innermost thoughts.
If you will call out my name with all your heart,
I will answer you at your darkest hour, and we shall never part.
The Lord your God has been with you since the day you were conceived.
And I have been with you every time you grieved.
I watched you grow up all the days of your life,
waiting for you to call on Me whenever there was strife.
You have been far from me not knowing who I am,
if you would just call on Me, I will hear your voice, my little lamb.
I will comfort you, strengthen you, for there is nothing I cannot do,
just call on Me and I will answer you.
I am the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow,
know that your father above is with you whenever you sorrow.

Selah.

Father I know you have been with me all my life
I felt your presence when I was yet a child,
sitting in that pew all by myself, while all the other
children were outside running wild.
You called out my name sending an angel in the form of man,
Saying would you like to come to your fathers house and learn of his ways?
I answered yes, oh! how I remember those childhood days.
There were some dark days in those years,
I realize now that you were there as I shed those tears.
When I cried out to you back then you didn’t answer,or so I felt,
because I was only a child and it seemed all I knew was the belt.
Now that I look back on those days of my youth and the days beyond,
in my times of trouble you gave me the strength to carry on.
Throughout my life I only came to you in my time of need,
Then when things got better I would cast you away and go back, to my own selfish, sinful deeds.
Yet while I was in the world and all it’s wicked evil ways,
You never gave up on me and would put people in place,
to keep me mindful of you, your love, your mercy, your grace.
You have never left me, you are the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Selah

WE have been thru a lot You and I, thru this journey we call life.
Now I know and believe that you are the Lord God Almighty!
there is nothing impossible that you cannot do,
You have been with me from the womb,
and I owe everything to You.
While I was yet a sinner you never turned your back me,
because You saw something in me that even I didn’t see.
You saw a child that is near and dear to Your heart,
And You just want to be loved by me,
as I was made in your image, your likeness, just like You,
Is it no wonder that You have feelings to!?
Now that I have begun to draw near to you with all my heart and soul,
You have drawn near to me and it is an awesome! feeling to behold.
Even though those words were written long ago,
You are the same, back then, yesterday, tomorrow, and forever,
this I now know.