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Genesis Chapter
Thirty-one
Genesis 31
Chapter Contents
Jacob departs secretly. (1-21) Laban pursues Jacob.
(23-35) Jacob's complaint of Laban's conduct. (36-42) Their covenant at Galeed.
(43-55)
Commentary on Genesis 31:1-21
The affairs of these families are related very minutely,
while (what are called) the great events of states and kingdoms at that period,
are not mentioned. The Bible teaches people the common duties of life, how to
serve God, how to enjoy the blessings he bestows, and to do good in the various
stations and duties of life. Selfish men consider themselves robbed of all that
goes past them, and covetousness will even swallow up natural affection. Men's
overvaluing worldly wealth is that error which is the root of covetousness,
envy, and all evil. The men of the world stand in each other's way, and every
one seems to be taking away from the rest; hence discontent, envy, and discord.
But there are possessions that will suffice for all; happy they who seek them
in the first place. In all our removals we should have respect to the command
and promise of God. If He be with us, we need not fear. The perils which
surround us are so many, that nothing else can really encourage our hearts. To
remember favoured seasons of communion with God, is very refreshing when in
difficulties; and we should often recollect our vows, that we fail not to
fulfil them.
Commentary on Genesis 31:22-35
God can put a bridle in the mouth of wicked men, to
restrain their malice, though he do not change their hearts. Though they have
no love to God's people, they will pretend to it, and try to make a merit of
necessity. Foolish Laban! to call those things his gods which could be stolen!
Enemies may steal our goods, but not our God. Here Laban lays to Jacob's charge
things that he knew not. Those who commit their cause to God, are not forbidden
to plead it themselves with meekness and fear. When we read of Rachel's stealing
her father's images, what a scene of iniquity opens! The family of Nahor, who
left the idolatrous Chaldees; is this family itself become idolatrous? It is
even so. The truth seems to be, that they were like some in after-times, who
sware by the Lord and by Malcham, Zephaniah 1:5; and like others in our times, who
wish to serve both God and mammon. Great numbers will acknowledge the true God
in words, but their hearts and houses are the abodes of spiritual idolatry.
When a man gives himself up to covetousness, like Laban, the world is his god;
and he has only to reside among gross idolaters in order to become one, or at
least a favourer of their abominations.
Commentary on Genesis 31:36-42
If Jacob were willingly consumed with heat in the day,
and frost by night, to become the son-in-law of Laban, what should we refuse to
endure, to become the sons of God? Jacob speaks of God as the God of his
father; he thought himself unworthy to be regarded, but was beloved for his
father's sake. He calls him the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac; for
Abraham was dead, and gone to that world where perfect love casts out fear; but
Isaac was yet alive, sanctifying the Lord in his heart, as his fear and his
dread.
Commentary on Genesis 31:43-55
Laban could neither justify himself nor condemn Jacob,
therefore desires to hear no more of that matter. He is not willing to own
himself in fault, as he ought to have done. But he proposes a covenant of
friendship between them, to which Jacob readily agrees. A heap of stones was
raised, to keep up the memory of the event, writing being then not known or
little used. A sacrifice of peace offerings was offered. Peace with God puts
true comfort into our peace with our friends. They did eat bread together,
partaking of the feast upon the sacrifice. In ancient times covenants of
friendship were ratified by the parties eating and drinking together. God is
judge between contending parties, and he will judge righteously; whoever do
wrong, it is at their peril. They gave a new name to the place, The heap of
witness. After this angry parley, they part friends. God is often better to us
than our fears, and overrules the spirits of men in our favour, beyond what we
could have expected; for it is not in vain to trust in him.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Genesis》
Genesis 31
Verse 1
[1] And
he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was
our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.
It should seem they said it in Jacob's
hearing. The last chapter began with Rachel's envying Leah; this begins with
Laban's sons envying Jacob.
He has gotten all his glory — And what was this glory? It was a parcel of brown sheep and speckled
goats, and some camels and asses.
Jacob has taken away all that was our fathers — Not all, sure; what was become of those cattle which were committed to
the custody of Laban's sons, and sent three days journey off?
Verse 3
[3] And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to
thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
The Lord said unto Jacob, Return and I will
be with thee — though Jacob had met with very hard usage,
yet he would not quit his place 'till God bid him. He came thither by orders
from heaven, and there he would slay 'till he was ordered back. The direction
he had from heaven is more fully related in the account he gives of it to his
wives, where he tells them of the dream he had about the cattle, and the
wonderful increase of those of his colour; and how the angel of God in that
dream instructed him that it was not by chance, nor by his own policy, that he
obtained that great advantage but by the providence of God, who had taken
notice of the hardships Laban had put upon him, and in performance of his promise.
Verse 4
[4] And
Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
And Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to the
field — That he might discourse with them more
privately.
Verse 9
[9] Thus
God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
God hath taken away the cattle of your father
and given them to me — Thus the righteous God paid Jacob for his
hard service out of Laban's estate; as afterwards he paid the seed of Jacob for
their service of the Egyptians with their spoils.
Verse 16
[16] For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and
our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
Whereas Jacob looked upon the wealth which
God had passed over from Laban to him as his wages, they look upon it as their
portions; so that both ways God forced Laban to pay his debts, both to his
servant and to his daughters.
Verse 19
[19] And
Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her
father's.
Laban went to shear his sheep — That part of his flock which was in the hands of his sons, three days
journey off. Now, (1.) It is certain it was lawful for Jacob to leave his
service suddenly: it was not only justified by the particular instructions God
gave him, but warranted by the fundamental law of self-preservation which
directs us, when we are in danger, to shift for our own safety, as far as we
can do it without wronging our consciences. (2.) It was his prudence to steal
away unawares to Laban, lest if Laban had known, he should have hindered him,
or plundered him. (3.) It was honestly done to take no more than his own with
him, the cattle of his getting. He took what providence gave him, and would not
take the repair of his damages into his own hands. Yet Rachel was not so honest
as her husband; she stole her father's images, and carried them away. The
Hebrew calls them Teraphim. Some think they were only little representations of
the ancestors of the family in statue or picture, which Rachel had a particular
fondness for, and was desirous to have with her now she was going into another
country. It should rather seem they were images for a religious use, penates,
household gods, either worshipped, or consulted as oracles; and we are willing
to hope, that she took them away, not out of covetousness much less for her own
use, or out of any superstitious fear lest Laban, by consulting his teraphim,
might know which way they were gone; (Jacob no doubt dwelt with his wives as a
man of knowledge, and they were better taught than so) but with a design to
convince her father of the folly of his regard to those as gods which could not
secure themselves.
Verse 23
[23] And
he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and
they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
He took his brethren — That is, his relations, and pursues Jacob to bring him back into
bondage, or, to strip him of what he had.
Verse 24
[24] And
God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed
that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
Speak not, either good or bad — That is, say nothing against his going on with his journey, for the
thing proceedeth from the Lord. The same Hebraism we have, Genesis 24:50. The safety of good men is very
much owing to the hold God has of the consciences of bad men, and the access he
has to them.
Verse 27
[27]
Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not
tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with
tabret, and with harp?
I might have sent thee away with mirth and
with songs, with tabret and with harp - Not as Rebekah was sent away out of the
same family above one hundred and twenty years before, with prayers and
blessings, but with sport and merriment; which was a sign that religion was
much decayed in the family.
Verse 29
[29] It
is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake
unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either
good or bad.
It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt — He supposeth that he had both right on his side, and strength on his
side, either to revenge the wrong, or recover the right. Yet he owns himself
under the restraint of God's power; he durst not injure one of whom he saw to
be the particular care of heaven.
Verse 30
[30] And
now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy
father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
Wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? — Foolish man! to call those his gods that could be stolen! Could he
expect protection from them that could neither resist nor discover their
invaders? Happy are they who have the Lord for their God. Enemies may steal our
goods, but not our God.
Verse 31
[31] And
Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said,
Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
Jacob clears himself by giving the true
reason why he went away unknown to Laban; he feared lest Laban would by force
take away his daughters and so oblige him to continue in his service. As to the
charge of stealing Laban's gods, he pleads not guilty. He not only did not take
them himself, but he did not know that they were taken.
Verse 42
[42]
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had
been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine
affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
Jacob speaks of God as the God of his father,
intimating that he thought himself unworthy to be thus regarded, but was
beloved for his father's sake. He calls him the God of Abraham and the fear of
Isaac: for Abraham was dead, and gone to that world where there is no fear; but
Isaac was yet alive, sanctifying the Lord in his heart as his fear and his
dread.
Verse 43
[43] And
Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these
children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou
seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto
their children which they have born?
All his mine —
That is, came by me.
Verse 44
[44] Now
therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a
witness between me and thee.
Let us make a covenant — It was made and ratified with great solemnity, according to the usages
of those times. 1. A pillar was erected, and a heap of stones raised, to
perpetuate the memory of the thing, writing being then not known. 2. A
sacrifice was offered, a sacrifice of peace-offerings. 3. They did eat bread
together, jointly partaking of the feast upon the sacrifice. This was in token
of a hearty reconciliation. Covenants of friendship were anciently ratified by
the parties eating and drinking together. 4. They solemnity appealed to God
concerning their sincerity herein; (1.) As a witness, Genesis 31:49.
The Lord watch between me and thee — That is, the Lord take cognizance of every thing that shall be done on
either side in violation of this league. (2.) As a judge, The God of Abraham,
from whom Jacob was descended, and The God of Nahor, from whom Laban was
descended, the God of their father, the common ancestor from whom they were
both descended, judge betwixt us. God's relation to them is thus expressed, to
intimate that they worshipped one and the same God, upon which consideration
there ought to be no enmity betwixt them. Those that have one God should have
one heart: God is judge between contending parties, and he will judge
righteously, whoever doth wrong it is at their peril. 5. They gave a new name
to the place, Genesis 31:47,48. Laban called it in Syriac, and
Jacob in Hebrew, The heap of witness. And Genesis 31:49, it was called Mizpah, a
watch-tower. Posterity being included in the league, care was taken that thus
the memory of it should be preserved. The name Jacob gave this heap stuck by
it, Galeed, not the name Laban gave it.
Verse 54
[54] Then
Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread:
and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
And Jacob sware by the fear of his father
Isaac — The God whom his father Isaac feared, who
had never served other gods, as Abraham and Nahor had done.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Genesis》
31
Chapter 31
Verses 1-12
And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers
Jacob’s departure for Canaan
I.
IT
WAS HASTENED BY PERSECUTION.
II. IT WAS
PROMPTED BY A SENSE OF OFFENDED JUSTICE.
III. IT WAS AT THE
COMMAND OF GOD.
IV. IT ILLUSTRATES
THE IMPERFECTIONS AS WELL AS THE VIRTUES OF JACOB’S CHARACTER. (T. H. Leale.)
The stirring-up of the nest
Jacob was becoming too contented in that strange land. Like
Ulysses and his crews, he was in danger of forgetting the land of his birth;
the tents of his father; and the promises of which he was the heir. He was fast
losing the pilgrim-spirit, and settled into a citizen of that far country. His
mean and crafty arts to increase his wealth were honeycombing his spirit, and
eating out his nobler nature, prostituting it to the meanest ends. His wives,
infected with the idolatry of their father’s house, were in danger of
corrupting the minds of his children; and how then would fare the holy seed,
destined to give the world the messages of God? It was evident that his nest
must be broken up in Haran; that he must be driven back into the
pilgrim-life--to become a stranger and a sojourner, as his fathers were. And
this was another step nearer the moment when he became an Israel, a prince with
God.
I. THE SUMMONS TO
DEPART. Whether there was voice audible to the outward ear I cannot tell; but
there was certainly the uprising of a strong impulse within his heart.
Sometimes on a sultry summer day we suddenly feel the breeze fanning our faces,
and we say that the wind is rising; but we know not whence it comes, or whither
it goes: so does the Spirit of God frequently visit us with strong and holy
impulses. There is a Divine restlessness; a noble discontent; a hunger created
in the heart, which will not be satisfied with the husks on which the swine
feed. We cannot always understand ourselves; but it is the Lord saying to us,
Arise and depart; for this is not your rest.
II. THE TENACITY
OF CIRCUMSTANCES. When the pilgrim-spirit essays to obey the voice of God, the
house is always filled with neighbours to dissuade from the rash resolve. “As
Christian ran, some mocked; others threatened; and some cried after him to
return.” There was something of this in Jacob’s case. The bird-lime clung
closely to him, as he began to plume his wings for his homeward flight. He was
evidently afraid that his wives would hinder his return. It would have been
natural if they had. Was it likely that they would at once consent to his
proposal to tear them from their kindred and land? This fear may have greatly
hindered Jacob. He at least thought it necessary to fortify himself with a
quiverful of arguments, in order to carry his point. In those arguments we
catch another glimpse of his cowardly and crafty nature. They are a strange
medley of lies and cant and truth. He might have saved himself from all this,
if he had only trusted God to roll away the stones from the path of obedience.
For God had been at work before him; and had prepared their hearts, so that
they at once assented to his plan, saying: “We have no further ties to home;
now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do?” If we would only go forward
in simple obedience, we should find that there would be no need for our
diplomacy; He would go before us, making the crooked straight, and the rough
smooth. In the endeavours of Laban to retain Jacob, we have a vivid picture of
the eager energy with which the world would retain us, when we are about to
turn away from it for ever. It pursues us, with all its allies, for seven days
and more (Genesis 31:23). It asks us why we are not
content to abide with it (Genesis 31:27). It professes its
willingness to make our religion palatable, by mingling with it its own tabret
and dance (Genesis 31:27). It appeals to our
feelings, and asks us not to be too cruel (Genesis 31:28). It threatens us (Genesis 31:29). It jeers us with our
sudden compunction, after so many years of contentment with its company (Genesis 31:30). It reproaches us with our
inconsistency in making so much of our God, and yet harbouring some cunning
sin. “Wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?” (Genesis 31:30). All, friends, how sad it
is, when we, who profess so much, give occasion to our foes to sneer, because
of the secret idols which they know we carry with us!
III. THE DIVINE
CARE. Well might Jacob have thrilled with joy, as he said to his wives, “The
God of my father has been with me.” When God is for us, and with us, who can be
against us? Blessed is he who is environed by God, and for whom God fights. He
must be more than a conqueror. So Jacob found it; and, at the end of his
encounter with Laban, he was able to repeat his assurance, that the God of his
father had been with him (Genesis 31:42). (F. B.Meyer, B. A.)
Jacob and Laban
I. JACOB’S
ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT HARAN.
1. God’s revelations of Himself, of His love and purposes, are
incentives to action and encouragements to duty.
2. Notice the similarity and difference between Eliezer’s arrival at
Haran and reception by Laban, and Jacob’s.
II. THE LESSONS OF
JACOB’S SERVITUDE AND PROSPERITY AT HARAN
1. Even a wise custom is no justification of untruth or deceit (Genesis 29:26).
2. There is a law of retribution and of compensation in life.
Jacob’s love for Rachel sweetened his servitude.
3. The danger of taking narrow views of life.
4. Faith is proved by patience rather than by retaliation (Genesis 30:37-43).
5. The faithfulness of God is irrespective of man’s desert.
III. JACOB’S FLIGHT
FROM HARAN, LABAN’S PURSUIT OF HIM, AND THE COVENANT WITH WHICH THEY SEPARATED.
1. Mutual distrust produces estrangement.
2. Suspicion leads to angry accusation and recrimination.
3. The use and misuse of solemn words (Genesis 31:47-48). (A. F.Joscelyne, B.
A.)
Lessons
1. Prosperity usually draweth on envy to the best of men.
2. It is no rare thing that the saints of God should hear ill of
evil men for their best doings.
3. Slanderous tongues are usually to be found in the houses of the
wicked.
4. Children are the natural heirs of parents’ corruptions; Laban’s
sons have Laban’s heart.
5. Covetousness is discontented at any good that passeth unto
others.
6. Heat of wicked youth is apt to break forth into railing upon the
most upright.
7. Covetous, envious spirits transfer the blessing of God on His to
base reproaches (Genesis 31:1)
8. Old subtle sinners keep their tongues and vent their hatred in
their looks.
9. As God changeth His providences from one to another, so the
wicked change their carriages.
10. It is Christian prudence to observe the discontented and angry
faces of wicked rulers.
11. Carnal respects from the wicked to the righteous are but
momentary (Genesis 31:2).
12. God sometimes useth the unjust carriages of wicked men to move
His saints unto respect of Him.
13. God calleth His saints at last in His set time out of bondage to
the wicked.
14. God’s call alone warrants souls as to leaving of their stations.
15. God’s gracious presence is ever with them, who are obedient to
His call (Genesis 31:3). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. God’s call will put men upon honest endeavours to accomplish it.
2. It beseems godly husbands to communicate God’s will to their
wives about household affairs.
3. Prudence imparts counsel in fittest places.
4. Sedulity in men’s calling will not suffer them to lose time (Genesis 31:4). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Just occasions of moving place may be urged by husbands to wives
for their concurrence to and comfort in it.
2. Real and undeserved disrespects from men are justly to be
complained of, though fathers.
3. The gracious presence of God with His innocent ones is enough to
counterpoise the frowns of men.
4. It is rational to leave fathers with their unjust frowns, and
follow God with His smiles (Genesis 31:5). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. No fraud, lying, or deceit, come amiss to covetous worldly
spirits for their own ends.
2. Multiplied falsehoods and oppressions are usual with wicked men,
to oppress the innocent and to help themselves.
3. The greatest service is of no account with wicked worldly men.
4. Safe are those faithful ones who are taken into God’s charge.
5. Men may invent many ways to hurt the righteous, but God giveth
them not up to their hand (Genesis 31:7).
6. God’s power and justice turneth the very purposes of the wicked
to His saints’ good and their evil.
7. The subtlety of man can never prevent the power and wisdom of God
(Genesis 31:8). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Providence orders the best seasons of comforting His servants
against their fears.
2. Saints must take their comforts in the way wherein God will
impart them. In dreams, if God will.
3. The saints have real proof of God’s care of them, and goodness in
suiting to them their consolations (Genesis 31:10).
4. God alone is the comforter of His people.
5. God calls by name to poor souls, in application of comfort, to
prepare them thereunto.
6. God’s servants answer at His call to receive His consolations (Genesis 31:11).
7. God showeth His afflicted ones the way of His consolations for
their support.
8. God’s observation of the oppressions of men cannot but stir Him
up to work His saints’ relief (Genesis 31:12). (G. Hughes, B. D. )
Verse 13
I am the God of Bethel
The God of Bethel
I.
THE
GOD OF BETHED IS A GOD OF PROVIDENCE, of a special gracious Providence towards
His people; and of this as exercised through a Mediator, by the ministry of
angels.
1. He is the God of Providence, extending to all the creatures He
has made. God did not make the world, and then leave it, confining Himself to
heaven, as some would have Him. Though His throne be above, His kingdom ruleth
over all. He is no unconcerned spectator of what is done; but like a skilful
pilot sits at the helm, and steers the world to what course it shall move. His
providence is often mysterious, but nevertheless real and universal.
2. God exercises a special gracious providence about His servants.
God has a regard to all the works of His hands; but it is spoken with an
emphasis, “Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them
that hope in His mercy.” Upon every one of this number His eye is fixed with
satisfaction and delight.
3. God employs His angels as the ministers of His providence in the
world, particularly as to His people. Not that God needs the agency of any of
His creatures, but for the honour of His majesty He is pleased to use them.
II. THE GOD OF
BETHEL IS THE GOD OF PROMISE. And as it is here declared by Himself, I am the
God of Bethel, it plainly denotes--
1. That He takes delight in the promises He hath made to His people,
and the covenant engagements in which He stands to them.
2. These words, “I am the God of Bethel,” being spoken twenty years
after the promises and appearances there, were first made, God intimated by
them, that He was the same now as heretofore; as able to guide and guard, as
formerly.
3. God proclaims this to tell His servant that all the mercies he
enjoyed came from His hand and love, as his God in covenant; and that under
this notion, he was still to look to Him for all he should further need.
III. At Bethel
Jacob vowed a vow, which was in confirmation of his covenant with God: and so
God’s styling Himself the God of Bethel denotes in general that HE TAKES
SPECIAL NOTICE OF THE SOLEMN TRANSACTIONS OF HIS SERVANTS, what promises and
vows they make to Him and where. Particularly He is the God of Bethel, i.e.,
of His house, of every place appointed for His worship, as observing who there
vow and dedicate themselves to Him, and who do not; in what manner any vow unto
Him, whether in truth and with the heart, or deceitfully and with guile. God
cannot be ignorant of what is done, and where; but He would be considered as
particularly observing what passes at Bethel, i.e., in His hoarse, and
at His table there, now under these New Testament ages.
1. God takes notice who tarries away from His house that ought to be
there; and He takes notice too, in what dress every individual comes thither.
2. God is the God of Bethel, as approving His people’s dedicating
themselves by vow, in confirmation of their covenant to Him. This is their
reasonable service, and what His promises and grace should readily lead them
to.
3. God is the God of Bethel, as He is ready to reward His servants
who make conscience of keeping their engagements, and walk in a sense of the
vows of God upon their souls.
IV. And now as THE
USE of all.
1. How desirable is a special relation to the God of Bethel, as the
God of Providence, and of this as in a peculiar manner exercised about His
people.
2. As the God of Bethel is ever mindful of His promises, His people
can never want encouragement to come to His throne of grace.
3. Does God style Himself the God of Bethel, as denoting His strict
observance of what passes in His house? What seriousness becomes us in all
religious duties and services, or when, in a way of worship, we have to do with
God?
4. Is the God of Bethel to be conceived of, as a witness to all our
solemn transactions and engagements? how great must be the sin and folly of
being formal and insincere in vowing to the Lord, or in pretending, either to
enter into or confirm our covenant with Him, when leaving our hearts behind?
5. Does God as the God of Bethel remember the vows there made, with
what confusion will they appear before Him who have omitted to perform their
promises? (D. Wilson.)
The God of Bethel
I am the God of Bethel! When at Bethel, the Lord said, “I am
Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac.” He might have said
the same now; but it was His pleasure to direct the attention of His servant to
the last, and to Him the most interesting of His manifestations. By giving him
hold of the last link in the chain, he would be in possession of the whole. The
God of Bethel was the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac; the God who had
entered into covenant with the former, had renewed it with the latter, and
again renewed it with him. What satisfaction must it afford, to be directed by
such a God! (A. Fuller.)
God’s reminders
“I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and
vowedst a vow unto Me.” It is not only necessary that we be reminded of God’s
promises for our support in troubles, but of our own solemn engagements, that
the same affections which distinguished the best seasons of our life may be
renewed, and that in all our movements we may keep in view the end for which we
live. The object of the vow was, that Jehovah should be his God: and whenever
he should return, that that stone should be God’s house. And now that the Lord
commands him to return, He reminds him of his vow. He must not go to Canaan
with a view to promote his own temporal interest, but to introduce the
knowledge and worship of the true God. This was the great end which Jehovah had
in view in all that He did for Abraham’s posterity, and they must never lose
sight of it. (A. Fuller.)
Lessons
1. God sets Himself out to
His saints distinctly and eminently from the misconceits of Him by nations.
2. God is the God of Bethel to His Jacobs, of sweet providences and
precious promises to His saints.
3. God’s providence and promise may justly cause souls to dedicate
and vow themselves to Him.
4. Souls devoting of themselves to God, engageth them to follow Him
at this call.
5. God is forced to put His saints in mind of their engagement
sometimes before they think of 2:6. God’s call alone is the just ground of the
egress and regress of His servants, for blessing, and with 2:7. God will surely
call in His set time to His saints for their returning to the place of rest.
8. Preparation and execution to go where God calleth, is due from
saints to the call of God (Genesis 2:13). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
The God of Bethel
I. Does not that
mean, first, that our God is the God of our early mercies 2 Bethel was to Jacob
the place of early mercy. Let us look back upon our early mercies. Did they not
come to us, as they did to him, unsought and unexpected, and when, perhaps, we
were unprepared for them?
II. Does it not
mean, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ? What is “Beth-el” but “the house of
God.” And the house of God, the true Bethel, is the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, for “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
III. Still further
let us remember that this God of Bethel is the God of angels. We do not often
say much about those mysterious beings, for it is but little that we know of
them. This, however, we know--that angels are set by God to be the watchers
over His people. We shall not come to harm if we put our trust in God. “I will
lay me down to sleep, for Thou makest me to dwell in safety.” These angels were
also messengers. “Are they not all ministering spirits? “ and are they not sent
with messages from God? Moreover, they are our protectors. God employs them to
bear us up in their hands, lest at any time we dash our foot against a stone.
We do not see them, but unseen agencies are probably the strongest agencies in
the world.
IV. Notice, once
more, that the God of Bethel is the God of our vows. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Verse 14
Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s
house
Inheritance for us
So asked Rachel and Leah of Jacob.
And we see how suggestive these historical touches in Old Testament story are,
when vitalized by the spirit of the gospel. We think at once of the Saviour,
who is the open door to the great Father’s house. There are multitudes who have
lost their portions, and some are very sad and weary. Prodigal meets prodigal,
and recounts the story of the painful way. Ruins always touch us with sadness;
and “human hearts get ruinous in so much less time than stone walls do!”
I. THE CRY IS
PERSONAL. Men do not ask, “Is there hope for the lost--the profligate, the
vile?” but, “Is there hope for me?” The soldier lying wounded in the
battle-field thinks of the home harvest-fields far away, and the soul amid its
wounds and woes whispers, “I will arise and go to my Father. There is a
home-returning way for me!”
II. THE CRY IS
ANXIOUS. “Is there yet?” Once the soul was ready to surmise there might be! But
is there now? when sin has consolidated into habit, when the door has been shut
so often in the marred face of the Man of Sorrows! “My sin is ever before me,”
is the great cry of conscience. We sympathize with human anxiety. We watch with
moistened eyes the widow who asks, “Is there yet a table in the wilderness for
me and my little ones?” In reply to the “yet,” let us answer, “Though thy sins
be as scarlet, He shall make them white as wool”; “He shall blot out thy
transgressions as a cloud, and thine iniquities as a thick cloud”; “He is able
to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.”
III. THE CRY IS
CHILDLIKE. “My Father’s house!” For we are, in one sense, all of us God’s
offspring. True, we have lost likeness to Him and peace with Him; and only by
faith can we become the spiritual sons of God. But there is memory of the lost
estate in every heart. Man was made for God, and He is the only home of the
soul. God gave us our earthly homes and relationships, to be parables of that
great central truth. No word thrills us like “home”; no picture on Academy
walls touches us like Provis’s interiors. And this is natural. For let home be
dark or deserted, let the dove of peace leave that, let those sweet sanctities
be desecrated, and no outside joys, no travels, no pursuits can make
compensation! And to know the value of a home, you must lose one.
IV. THE CRY IS
ANSWERED. Yes! in many parables, in many promises, in deeds of love and
sacrifice. Faith leads all along the way, from justification to glory. But it
were wrong to conceive of the inheritance as all future. Heaven does begin on
earth, because the heavenly principles, purposes, and pleasures may be ours
now. CONCLUSION. We close with the remembrance that there is welcome for us,
room for us, reward for us. Have you ever stood outside a flower-show in the
summer-time, and seen carriage after carriage drive up, with rustling silks and
dazzling liveries and crested panels, pride and pomp entering in; and then
caught the wistful face of a poor child at the gate, with another child in her
arms, shut out from seeing God’s beautiful flowers? The poor, the blind, the
maim, the halt, the prodigals of every type are welcome. What, does He want me?
does He wait for me? has He asked for me? (W. M. Statham, M. A.)
A worldly-spirited reply
We have seen some things in the history of these women which have
induced us to hope well of them, notwithstanding their many failings; but
though in this case it was their duty to comply with the desire of their
husband, and to own the hand of God in what had taken place between their
father and him; yet there is something in their manner of expressing themselves
that looks more like the spirit of the world, than the spirit which is of God.
A right spirit would have taught them to remember that Laban, whatever was his
conduct, was still their father. They might have felt it impossible to
vindicate him; but they should not have expatiated on his faults in such a
manner as to take pleasure in exposing them. Such conduct was but too much like
that of Ham towards his father. And as to their acknowledging the hand of God
in giving their father’s riches to their husband, this is no more than is often
seen in the most selfish characters, who can easily admire the Divine
providence when it goes in their favour. The ease, however, with which all men
can discern what is just and equitable towards themselves, renders the love of
ourselves a proper standard for the love of others, and will sooner or later
stop the mouth of every sinner. Even those who have no written revelation have
this Divine law engraven on their consciences: they can judge with the nicest
accuracy what is justice to them, and therefore cannot plead ignorance of what
is justice from them to others. (A. Fuller.)
Lessons
1. It becometh wives, especially in good families, to listen unto
advice of husbands from God.
2. God can make them that disagree in a family sweetly to concur to
do His work.
3. It is unnatural for children to find no portions in their
father’s house, when they abound.
4. Such brands of cruelty are left upon unnatural fathers by the
Spirit (Genesis 31:14).
5. It is cruel for fathers to use their children as slaves and make
merchandize of them.
6. It is savage for parents to consume the substance of children for
whom they should provide.
7. Such unnatural dealings, in God’s justice, alienate hearts of
children from parents (Genesis 31:15).
8. It is fit to consider how God recompenseth cruelties of unnatural
parents in depriving them of their children.
9. What God giveth to parents and children may be justly owned by
them.
10. Good women will be free and helpful to their husbands to go and
do whatever is the will of God unto them (Genesis 31:16). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Verses 17-21
Then Jacob rose up.
Lessons
1. Concurrence of all things with the call of God points out the
time of man’s obedience to him.
2. He that hath God’s call for himself and others to any undertaking
should prepare first for it.
3. It concerns husbands and fathers to provide for convenient
motions of wives and children upon God’s call (Genesis 31:17).
4. Prudence teacheth men to order all their substance as motions
rightly upon God’s call.
5. Justice will suffer no man to take anything but that which is his
own.
6. Courage becometh God’s servants to break through all difficulties
to follow God (Genesis 31:18) and go where He calleth
them. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Providence finds work to call off such as would hinder obedience
to His work from His servants.
2. Hard it is for souls bred up in superstition to be wholly taken
off from it.
3. There may be a temptation upon children to rob parents, but it is
grievous wickedness.
4. Hearts not purged will have their superstitions and means of
will-worship, though they steal them.
5. God suffers such irregular practices in good families sometimes
for the trial of His own (Genesis 31:19). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Providence directs God’s servants to prudence for escaping the
hands of wicked men at His call.
2. It is no iniquity, not to declare God’s call and way to such as
would oppose them (Genesis 31:20).
3. Flight is not unbeseeming saints from under the hands of
oppressors when God calleth to 2:4. Difficult passages God’s servants find
sometimes in following God’s call.
5. No difficulties should discourage where God appears to warrant
man’s motions.
6. Man’s face should be set to that mark which God points him out in
his pilgrimage (Genesis 2:21). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Providence ordereth tidings of His delivering His servants, to
come to their enemies when they are not to be hindered by them (Job 5:12; Job 5:10).
2. Tidings of mercy to saints may come to the wicked soon enough to
try them (Genesis 31:22). (G. Hughes, B. D. )
The Teraphim
Rachel stole the Teraphim, either, as has been advanced, because
she wished to prevent Laban’s consulting them on the direction of their flight,
or to secure their guardianship for a journey apparently fraught with
difficulties and dangers. The value of the precious metal of which the idol
might have been made was certainly a temptation subordinate to the
superstitious motive. The example given by Jacob with regard to the worship of
God, had manifestly exercised a greater influence upon Leah than upon Rachel;
though both, therefore, acknowledged, in Jacob’s blessing, the will and favour
of God, and urged him to follow the Divine directions (Genesis 31:16), Rachel continued to
attach a high value to dumb images, and regarded herself safe only under the
guardianship of her own gods. Our knowledge concerning the shape of the
Teraphim is very limited. They resembled the form of man (1 Samuel 19:13), either consisting
of the entire human body, or only of head and breast. They were made of various
materials, and not unfrequently of silver, two hundred shekels of which were
employed for one statue (Judges 17:4). Our information is more
accurate respecting the use and nature of the Teraphim. But we must distinguish
between the earlier and later history of the Hebrews. The origin of the Teraphim
seems to have been in Mesopotamia or Chaldea, a supposition probable from our
passage, and from a later allusion in which the Babylonian king is related to
have consulted them (Ezekiel 21:26). Although no doubt
comprised amongst the idols which Jacob is recorded to have removed in Shechem
(Genesis 35:4), they long remained in
favour among his descendants; and while the Hebrews were always conscious of
their crime whenever they worshipped other gods, they do not seem to have
regarded the adoration of the Teraphim as equally reproachful. On this point,
the history of Micah is highly instructive (Judges 18:1-31.). It shows clearly, that
the Teraphim were considered as tutelar deities, fully compatible with the
homage solely due to the Lord; that they were used, by many, as oracles, like
the Urim and Thummim, or like the Ark of the Covenant; and that they were
deemed sacred and lawful, if but a descendant of Aaron performed the
ministerial functions: they implied a transgression of the second, not of the
first commandment. Thus we account for the fact, otherwise most strange, that
the prophet Hosed enumerates the Teraphim among the boons of which the
disobedient Israelites would be deprived (3:4); he threatens them with the
dissolution of national and of family life; he predicts, that princes and
sacrifices will disappear, and together with them their own domestic gods, the
Teraphim, who, therefore, have there a political and social rather than a
religious import. The prophet does not hesitate to mention them, because they
were evidently in his time still considered as the mildest and most harmless
form of idolatry. But gradually, when the pure doctrines of Mosaism began to be
enforced with greater rigour, the Teraphim were naturally included among the
objects of religious aversion; even the author of the Book of Judges, who wrote
in the latest times of the monarchy (Judges 18:30), inserted in his truthful
narrative a remark of disapproval: “in those days there was no king in Israel,
every one did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6); when king Josiah
established the strict worship of monotheism, he destroyed among the other
idols, the Teraphim also (2 Kings 8:24); and, perhaps, exactly
because they were considered as almost innocent images, the later writers were
extremely severe in denouncing them: the crime of obstinacy against the Divine
will is compared to the idolatry of the Teraphim (1 Samuel 15:23); they are classed
among the “detestations and abominations” (2 Kings 13:24); their oracles are
described not only as falsehood, but as wickedness; they lead astray those who
consult them like sheep which have no shepherd (Zechariah 10:2); and they are attributed
to the Babylonian monarch together with his other absurd modes of divination,
as the auguries taken from “looking in the liver” (Ezekiel 21:26; Ezekiel 21:28). (M. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.)
Verses 22-42
Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen
away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters,
. . . ?
--
Laban’s expostulation with Jacob, and Jacob’s defence
I. LABAN’S
EXPOSTULATION WITH JACOB.
1. There was, apparently, cause for just complaint.
2. But this complaint was, really, the disguise of Laban’s own evil
nature.
II. JACOB’S
DEFENCE.
1. He challenges proof of his dishonesty.
2. He appeals to many years of faithful and honest service. (T.
H. Leale.)
Lessons
1. Laban, upon tidings of Jacob’s deliverance, haste in fury to
avenge themselves on them.
2. Wicked men of might join to themselves their allies, to help on
their furious revenges.
3. Injustice and cruelty will spur souls on to the persecution of
the innocent many days.
4. Envy and revenge will not give over pursuing the innocent until
they overtake their prey (Genesis 31:23). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
I. THE FLIGHT of
Jacob from Laban.
1. Cause.
2. Time. Sheepshearing. So important a duty that Laban must himself
superintend it. He goes some distance from home. While Laban is absent, Jacob
steals away. Collects his flocks and herds, servants and substance, and sets
out over the desert which he had traversed some twenty-one years before with
only his staff in his hand.
II. THE PURSUIT.
Of Laban after Jacob. Laban did not hear of Jacob’s flight till three days had
passed. This part of the journey Jacob would naturally travel with all speed.
So large a caravan could not march without leaving the plain track behind.
Laban in pursuit for seven days, i.e., until ten days after Jacob had
started. Reaching the mountains of Gilead and their defiles, and not overtaken;
Jacob might think the pursuit had not been undertaken, or if so, then
abandoned. Evening of tenth day Laban and his band approach. Too exhausted by
the march to bring matters to an issue at once. The two camps retired to rest.
Night settles down on the hills of Gilead, and watch fires, &c. Probably it
was this night that Laban had a wonderful vision, in which he was warned
respecting his treatment of Jacob. From the nature of the vision it is plain
how murderous his intentions were.
III. THE PARTING.
Of Jacob and Laban.
1. The controversy between Laban and Jacob. Laban’s charge against
Jacob. Going by stealth. Leading his daughters as captives (comp. Verses 14, 15
with 26). Pretence of great affection (Genesis 31:27-28). Assertion of power.
Acknowledgment of Divine interference. Charge of stealing the idols.
2. Jacob’s reply. Tells the truth (Genesis 31:31), but not all the truth
(comp. Verses 1-16). Repudiates, sternly and prompt]y, the charge of carrying
off the images.
3. The search for the idols, which are not found.
4. They set up a memorial pillar, and so part at Mizpah. The two
camps remaining there another night, and travelling, east and west, early in
the morning, to meet no more. Learn:
I. Be thankful
for the domestic relations of life, and that ours do not demand our flight from
home and kindred.
II. Jacob bore
cruel usage for twenty years, and even then did not prepare for flight till God
had given him the command.
III. The vision
sent to Laban shows that God would have family meetings peaceably conducted,
and those who have had unkind thoughts, He would have them lay them aside.
IV. Christ Jesus,
the Prince of Peace, is the Great Reconciler. (J. C. Gray.)
Lessons
1. The Almighty God appears seasonably to stop the rage of cruel
oppressors against His saints.
2. Night apparitions in dreams God can make to terrify wicked
enemies from their purposes.
3. God warns envious spirits, that they look to themselves, if they
oppress His saints.
4. God curbs the spirits of wicked men sometimes, and charges them
not to speak an evil word to His people (Genesis 31:24). (G Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. It is no harm for the wicked to overtake the righteous, while
they are curbed by God.
2. Providence may bring enemies near to His saints, and yet keep
mischief far off from them.
3. God can cause the righteous to pitch near their oppressors, and
yet secure them (Genesis 31:25). (G. Hughes, B. D. )
Lessons
1. The worst dealers are most apt to question others for their
doings though good.
2. Violence questions innocency for escaping from its heart, though
God call it.
3. The interrogatories of oppression pretend captivity of daughters,
when they go freely (Genesis 31:26).
4. Unreasonable oppressors require a reason of the innocent’s
escape, where there needs none to be rendered; it being apparent.
5. Injurious men are displeased when the righteous escape without
their knowledge.
6. Hypocritical violence may pretend a free dismission of the
righteous, which it never meant. Laban’s music (Genesis 31:27).
7. Unnatural fathers are apt to question others as causes of their
unnaturalness to children.
8. Wicked and foolish men are very forward to charge the innocent
with doing wickedly (Genesis 31:28). (G. Hughes, B. D. )
Lessons
1. It is the property of wicked oppressors to boast of their
strength, which is more than they have.
2. Wicked injurious men boast that they can do mischief against the
righteous (Psalms 52:1).
3. The hand of the wicked is ready to oppress the innocent, if God
hinder not.
4. Wicked oppressors complain that God hinders them in their cruel
designs.
5. The ungodly will not learn to own God, though they find Him too
mighty for them.
6. Fear of self-destruction keeps oppressors from destroying saints.
7. God worshipped in truth by His, is stronger than God falsified by
the wicked.
8. God maketh the wicked enemy confess His sovereignty sometimes
against their will (Deuteronomy 31:1-30; Deuteronomy 32:29). (G. Hughes, B. D. )
Lessons
1. Plain and ready answers become the saints against the charges of
the wicked.
2. Just fear of violence is a just ground of the saints escaping it,
under God’s call.
3. God’s call and saints’ fear of dangers from men may well consist
together.
4. Violent rapture of wives and children by cruel men may make the
saints afraid of, and fly from it (Genesis 31:31).
5. Holy souls abhor idols, and much more the covering of them.
6. Innocency is not afraid to put itself upon trial of life.
7. Plain honest hearts dare put themselves upon the search and
judgment of their enemies.
8. Good fathers of families would have all with them innocent its
themselves.
9. Good men may be too confident of the goodness of such as are
under them.
10. Ignorance of other’s hearts and actions makes men so rash and
confident of them (Genesis 31:32). (G. Hughes, B. D. )
Lessons
1. False accusers of the saints are willing to turn every stone, to
make good their charge upon them (Genesis 31:33).
2. God in His wisdom useth the sins of one creature to frustrate the
sin of others (Genesis 31:31).
3. Sin once committed putteth souls upon more sin to conceal it.
4. Hypocrisy and lying is the way that sinners use to cover
stealing.
5. God may bear with the iniquity of some to clear the innocency of
others.
6. Such as seek occasion against the saints, God so orders, that
they find it not (Genesis 31:35). (G. Hughes, B. D. )
Jacob at Haran; or, The disciplinary retributions of life
I. THE
RETRIBUTIONS THAT MARKED THE LIFE OF JACOB.
1. Jacob had sought by fraud, position and possession in his
father’s house. He is now an exile from his father’s house--an outcast and a
wanderer.
2. He who had defrauded Esau, is now himself defrauded by Laban.
3. He who had deceived his father was afterwards himself deceived by
his sons.
4. Another form of retribution that awaited Jacob, was the having to
encounter and deal with the brother whom he had so cruelly and foully wronged.
II. THE
DISCIPLINARY CHARACTER OF THE RETRIBUTIONS THAT MARKED THE LIFE OF JACOB. We
are slow to learn the lessons of a godly life by precept. God therefore teaches
us them by experience. Jacob’s character did certainly advance under the
discipline.
1. At Haran he applied himself at once to honest industry, instead
of having recourse to artifice and cunning.
2. A spirit of magnanimity marked many of his dealings with his
uncle, contrasting favourably with his earlier indications of self-seeking. (W.
Roberts.)
The years of servitude
I. THE RELIGIOUS
CONSISTENCY OF JACOB.
1. His trials. And among these we should rank, as of the first
importance, that he had been compelled by circumstances to dwell beyond the
range of true piety, and to sojourn in an idolatrous land, and with an
idolatrous family. Another of the trials to which Jacob was exposed, was the
footing on which he stood in the family of Laban. The whole period had been to
him a time of affliction; and, but for the favour of his God, this lengthened
service, hard as it was, would have terminated in poverty. “Except the God of
my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely
thou hadst sent me away now empty.” Jacob had no reason to expect such
treatment as this from a cousin and a father-in-law. A third trial which Jacob
had to endure was, to a feeling mind, peculiarly severe. His attachment to
Rachel appears to have been sincere and ardent. He could not, then, but feel
deeply the deception that was practised upon him. Among Jacob’s trials we must
enumerate also many of the scenes of domestic life.
2. We come to notice Jacob’s errors.
3. But we turn now to a more gratifying subject of consideration,
when we notice, the personal piety of Jacob--the influence which, during twenty
years of trial, his principles had upon his personal character.
II. But before we
draw a practical conclusion from these things, there is another point on which
we shall do well for a moment to delay. IT IS THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO HIS
SERVANT. God had made a covenant with Jacob by promise; and when Jacob
journeyed onward from Bethel, the promise of Divine favour rested upon him.
Jacob was pious, because God was gracious. Jacob persevered, because God was
faithful. His God had promised “to be with him, and to keep him in all places
whither he should go”; and not one word failed of all that the Lord had spoken
to him of. The secret agency of God’s providence availed for his protection,
and for his correction in righteousness. From this period, then, of the
Patriarch’s life, let us learn the wisdom of confiding ourselves to the care of
the Almighty God. “He careth for us.” You, then, who are only entering upon the
world, or are now struggling with its cares and its temptations--who feel how
difficult it is to walk humbly, circumspectly, and without offence--let the
twenty years of Jacob’s hard service teach you a useful lesson. The path of
probity and rectitude is the path of honour, happiness, and success. It is not
man, but God that you serve, and He will not forget you. At the same time this
history will administer to you a salutary caution. You must not expect
deliverance precisely when you wish it, nor in the way most satisfactory to
yourself. Clouds may gather when you look for sunshine. Look to the covenant of
His grace, and lean upon it, for “it shall not be moved”; and determine, that
by His grace you will faithfully fulfil all the relative duties of life,
however painful and distressing. (E. Craig.)
Lessons
1. Faithfulness in good servants makes them undergo day and night
labours for the good of their rulers.
2. Heat and cold consumptions with restless nights will grace
incline to endure to honour God in service.
3. Such faithful service is a testimony against the wrongs and
injustice of cruel masters (Genesis 31:40).
4. Unwearied doth grace make souls to be in the service to which
they are called by God.
5. Faithfulness will not let a soul to take wages or receive good
gratis.
6. The best service may be repaid with hardest measure from griping
masters.
7. Good service will rise in judgment against the hard dealings of
evil rulers (Genesis 31:41).
8. Where man is injurious God Himself will plead for righteous
servants.
9. The true God is known to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
10. Propriety in God and fear of Him is the best way of knowing God.
11. It is the design of wicked men to undo those in this world whom
God doth own and will prosper in it.
12. God takes special notice of the sufferings and faithful doings of
His servants towards wicked men.
13. God rebukes the envious and malicious spirit of cruel men against
His righteous servants.
14. God’s approbation of His own and reprehension of the wicked is a
full defence against false charges or criminations (Genesis 31:42). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Laban
Laban seeks to get God’s blessing, as it were, at second-hand. If
men could be related to God indirectly, as if in law and not by blood, that
would suit Laban. If God would admit men to His inheritance on any other terms
than being sons in the direct line, if there were some relationship once
removed, a kind of sons-in-law, so that mere connection with the godly, though
not with God, would win His blessing, this would suit Laban. Laban is the man
who appreciates the social value of virtue, truthfulness, fidelity, temperance,
godliness, but wishes to enjoy their fruits without the pain of cultivating the
qualities themselves. He is scrupulous as to the character of those he takes
into his employment, and seeks to connect himself in business with good men. In
his domestic life he acts on the idea which his experience has suggested to
him, that persons really godly will make his home more peaceful, better
regulated, safer than otherwise it might be. If he holds a position of
authority, he knows how to make use, for the preservation of order and for the
promotion of his own ends, of the voluntary efforts of Christian societies, of
the trustworthiness of Christian officials, and of the support of the Christian
community. But with all this recognition of the reality and influence of
godliness, he never for one moment entertains the idea of himself becoming a
godly man. In all ages there are Labans who clearly recognize the utility and
worth of a connection with God, who have been much mixed up with persons in
whom that worth was very conspicuous, and who yet, at the last, “depart and
return unto their place,” like Jacob’s father-in-law, without having themselves
entered into any affectionate relations with God. (M. Dods, D. D.)
Verses 43-48
Let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness
between me and thee
Laban’s covenant with Jacob
I.
IT
WAS FORCED UPON HIM BY CIRCUMSTANCES.
1. His long journey in pursuit of Jacob.
2. The Divine warning.
3. His failure to criminate Jacob.
4. The overwhelming force of Jacob’s self-defence.
II. IT SHOWED AN
IMPERFECT SENSE OF RELIGIOUS DUTY AND OBLIGATION.
1. The natural love of kindred may exist apart from piety. The
social affections are beautiful in themselves, but they may be exercised by
those who have very imperfect notions of religion, or who even set it aside
altogether.
2. The forms of religion may be used with but an imperfect
recognition of their real significance. The setting up of this pillar, and the
pious motto attached to it, seemed to indicate a most sacred friendship and a
solemn regard to the realities of religion. The all-pervading presence and the power
of God were recognized. God is regarded as One to whom men are ultimately
accountable. But this transaction, though employing the sanctions of religion,
shows but a very low apprehension of its nature. This heap was set up by
enemies who called upon God to protect them, each from the encroachments of the
other. (T. H. Leale.)
Bethel to Mizpah; or, Service in a strange land
I. JACOB’S
REMONSTRANCE WITH LABAN.
1. He had served a long time.
2. He had served Laban honestly.
3. He had undergone much toil.
II. JACOB’S
CONFIDENCE IN GOD.
III. JACOB’S
COVENANT WITH LABAN. Learn:
1. God’s providence.
2. God’s faithfulness. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Lessons
1. False accusers, though silent at a just defence, yet are not
ready to clear the innocent.
2. Guilt makes wicked men dumb to answer the plea of the righteous.
Laban knew his guilt, but owns it not.
3. Proud oppressors, when they cannot hurt, yet they brag all is
theirs.
4. Unnatural parents, when found out, pretend nearness and interest
in their offspring.
5. Cruelty is sometimes crafty to pretend to spare for relation’s
sake (Genesis 31:43).
6. Bloody men overawed by God are forced to seek peace with the
righteous whom they hate.
7. Oppressors are wily to secure their peace by covenant with the
innocent when forced to it.
8. Crafty persecutors overcome desire engagement from the persecuted
for their safety (Genesis 31:44). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. The righteous and wicked in covenants of peace may agree in the
same terms, but not in the same heart.
2. Good and bad have inclination to use terms consonant to their
country and religion.
3. Imposition of names upon dead things may tend to the information
of the living (Genesis 31:47).
4. Visible tokens may lawfully bear the titles of things signified
by them.
5. The worst souls may be ready in word to appeal to witness, but
such as they conceive cannot hurt them.
6. Pillars and places may bear the name of memorable actions to
teach posterity (Genesis 31:48).
7. Titles and words enough the falsest hearts may use for their own
ends.
8. Jehovah may be appealed unto by false hearts as to selfseeking
and their own security.
9. Fair pretences and guilty fears may move wicked souls to lay
bends from God upon the innocent for their own safety.
10. God doth oversee and watch all parties covenanted what they do
when they are separated (Genesis 31:49). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
The pillar a witness
The following story is told of a rich old citizen of Bermago. He
had lent to one of his countrymen at Florence four hundred crowns, which he
advanced without any witness, and without requiring a written acknowledgment.
When the stipulated time had elapsed, the creditor required his money; but the
borrower, well apprised that no proof could be brought against him, positively
denied that he had ever received it. After many fruitless attempts to recover
it, the lender was advised to resort to the duke, who would find some method of
doing him justice. Alessandro accordingly ordered both the parties before him;
and after hearing the assertions of the one, and the positive denial of the
other, he turned to the creditor, saying, “Is it possible, then, friend, that
you can have lent your money when no one was present?” “There was no one,
indeed,” replied the creditor. “I counted out the money to him on a post.” “Go,
bring the post then, this instant,” said the duke, “and I will make it confess
the truth.” The creditor, though astonished at receiving such an order,
hastened to obey, having first received a secret caution from the duke not to
be very speedy in his return. Meantime the duke employed himself in transacting
the affairs of his other suitors, till at length, turning to the borrower, he
said, “This man stays & long time with this post.” “It is so heavy, sir,”
replied the other, “that he could not yet have brought it.” Again Alessandro
left him, and, returning some time afterward, carelessly exclaimed, “What kind
of men are they that lend their money without evidence? Was there no one
present but the post. No, indeed, sir! replied the knave. “The post is a good
witness then,” said the duke, “and shall make thee pay the man his money.”
The Lord watch between me and thee.
--
Lessons
1. Injurious persons are most apt to suspect the innocent for doing
wrong.
2. Wicked men would not have others wrong their children though they
do it themselves.
3. Nature denieth polygamy though men’s lusts design and plead for
it.
4. Want of human witness to require fealty is no ground of breaking
covenant security.
5. God Himself is witness to the covenants of men, and will see right
to be done by them or judge for it.
6. The most fraudulent men may be strict upon others to press on
them the testimony of God (Genesis 31:50). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Treacherous, deceitful men are most fearful of hurt pursuing
them. So Laban.
2. Guilty fear makes men solicitous and intent to save themselves.
3. Sinful solicitousness for safety is full of words to little
purpose (Genesis 31:51).
4. Jealousy groundless contents not itself with God’s witness, but
will have visible assurance.
5. Wickedness may sometimes be content not to do harm to others when
it is afraid itself.
6. The most injurious are most solicitous to secure themselves from
the innocent, who think no harm unto them (Genesis 31:52). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. An oath of God is a just means of confirmation to a lawful
covenant for setting things out of doubt.
2. Superstitious men, though convinced of the true way of God, yet
worship and swear in old corrupt ways.
3. Oaths taken by false gods, or the true in false ways, are yet
binding.
4. in making peace with idolaters it is lawful to take their corrupt
swearing, but net to follow it.
5. True saints, when called to swear, must do it in the true fear of
the true God.
6. It is just for saints to glorify God by swearing in just cases
and making Him Judge (Genesis 31:53). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. It is suitable unto a day of peacemaking for God’s servants to
make a feast.
2. The spirits of good men are free and ingenious even to such as
have been adversaries to them.
3. Friendly invitations and communion are the best issue of hot
debates.
4. The power of God so overrules as to make persecutors sleep under
the shelter of such whom they have oppressed (Genesis 31:54). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. The purposes of wicked men
are not in their own hands to effect them. Laban goeth changed home.
2. Furious pursuits of the innocent God turneth to early departures of
their enemies.
3. Overruling Providence can make unnatural men show natural
affection.
4. Wicked men are convinced there cometh good to men only from the
blessing of God.
5. Ungodly ones may use forms of blessing when yet they can procure
none from God.
6. God turns oppressors to their own with rebukes who thirsted after
the possessions of the innocent (Genesis 31:55). So God delivereth His out
of temptations. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Mizpah
I. The ordinary
use of this word is not quite the same as its original use. It is generally
used as a kind of bond or link between parted friends; whereas it was first
used as a SAFEGUARD AND WARNING between two men who were in some sort enemies,
or, at least, but doubtful friends, and one of them very suspicious of the
other.
1. When two men part, as Laban and Jacob parted, and their
circumstances are such that, while absent from one another, one of them, or
perhaps each of them, will have it in his power to injure the other in any way,
in such a case let this word act as a wholesome warning: “Mizpah,” a beacon or
watch-tower. The Lord Himself is such. He overlooks all.
2. A servant must often be free from the ken of master or mistress.
But there is an eye on that servant always--the all-seeing eye of God. He
stands as a watch-tower between servant and master or mistress, marking and
judging how each fulfils his part. Is the master or mistress kind, just,
considerate? Is the servant faithful and true, honest, upright, diligent?
3. Men have many dealings with one another in business. The Lord
stands and overlooks each bargain.
II. But though the
original application of the word was such, yet it may very well be applied also
in that other way in which it is so often used. When those who love one another
are called to part--when friends, for instance, go from each other, when
brothers and sisters separate, when children leave home, when even a husband is
called to a distance, perhaps to a foreign land, and that for a long time--it
is A GREAT COMFORT to remember that the Lord is as a watch-tower between those
thus parted. The closest and dearest of all bonds is that of having one Father,
one Saviour, one Spirit, one hope now, one eternal home hereafter. Those thus
united are hardly absent, even when parted in the body. (F. Bourdillon, M.
A.)
“Mizpah” tokens
Tokens and memorials are not without use. The “Mizpah” on seal or
ring, on locket or in book, may well bring to mind those absent, and even serve
to draw the thoughts to God. The daughter, whose home is among strangers, will
think of the fond mother who made that parting gift, and whose wish and prayer
seems to be contained in that little word. The son, far off in a foreign land,
carries with him a memorial of the same kind; and when he reads that word his
thoughts go back to the home of his childhood, a father and mother’s loving
words and earnest prayers come back to his mind, his heart is softened, and he
remembers Him who is above all, whose eye is in every place, and now watches
over both him and those at home. (F. Bourdillon, M. A.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》