Part 1:
From our past reading we have clearly understood that Jacob is a deceiver and a manipulator. When he met Laban, he finally met his match. So Jacob works diligently for Laban and Laban continues to change his wages and accuse him of treachery, although the Bible indicates that Jacob, in this endeavor, was completely honest and blameless.
Have you ever been in a situation where you truly did nothing wrong but were accused of wrong doing? I have had this happen with personal relationships and also at work. It is a completely helpless feeling because, in general, I live my life believing that if I do my best and try my hardest and live righteously then I will be honored or rewarded. But what if that is not what happens? When I have encountered this situation I felt completely helpless. I felt as if I could not even defend myself because there was nothing to defend. If there is no infraction then what is there to defend, right? What we learn from this story, though, is that even though injustice was being done upon Jacob, God did not fail. Every time Laban changed Jacob's wages, God yielded the flocks to favor Jacob. Laban's every attempt to cheat Jacob led to him losing more and more of his property. Jacob didn't have to do a thing. Neither do we.
All we have to do is obey God and work with excellence as if we are working directly for Him, because after all, aren't we?
Part 2:
Jacob realizes that the only way he is going to get out of this corrupt environment is to sneak away in the middle of the night, so he rounds up his huge family and all his hard-earned property and they flee.
Laban chases after them because Rachel had stolen his household idols, unbeknownst to Jacob. This is what I find incredibly interesting and worth reflection: Laban confronts Jacob about the theft and Jacob doesn't even ask if anyone took the idols! He makes this rash oath that if the idols are found in his company than the person with whom they are found will be put to death.
Don't you find that interesting? This man who lived his life by lies and deceit doesn't even search himself before pronouncing his own innocence. He got so comfortable with God blessing him that he began to feel superior to Laban and above all reproach. Don't we sometimes do the same thing? When we are wronged there is a temptation to take on an attitude of superiority such that we cease even asking ourselves if any fault lies within ourselves.
Unfortunately, Jacob was wrong. Even though Laban did not find the stolen idols that day, Rachel had stolen them, and God heard Jacob's vow. Rachel later died in childbirth and was buried alone in the middle of the wilderness, while the rest of her family moved on. (Jacob would later be buried beside his first wife, Leah).
What if Jacob had asked his company if anyone had taken the idols, instead of making such a brazen vow? What if he had considered that there might be some fault on his side? Might his wife have survived Benjamin's birth? Might she, too, have lived long enough to see her son, Joseph, ruling as Prime Minister of Egypt. In addition, if Jacob had asked if the idols were there and Rachel had come forth, Jacob would have surrendered them to Laban and idolatry could have been cast out of his family once and for all.
We condemn ourselves when we do not take responsibility for our actions. We prevent God from doing the work He longs to do within us. Even when we have been blameless in the past, even if we believe we are blameless now, we should always search our hearts and see if there is any fault within. There almost always will be until we are finally perfected in God's glorious presence.
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