Genesis 31:1-16 – Take heart, God is in control!

A quick scan of Genesis 31 will tell us that Jacob had indeed progressed and become more astute. He was more apt at reading character and had become wiser in his dealing. Laban’s sons were spreading rumors that Jacob became wealthy because he took advantage of what he had stolen from their father, Laban. And from the loot he had made progress. Jacob could also sense that Laban’s attitude and dealing with him had changed. He had entirely forgotten that Jacob was the reason that he had what he had. He forgot that it was he who had begged Jacob to stay. He knew then that God’s hand was with Jacob and he took advantage of that. Now instead of being glad that his nephew was blessed, he was jealous and had become angry, cold and abrasive in his treatment of Jacob. But no longer was Jacob tentative in his dealing with the uncle. He was forthright and open.  

We can see that Jacob’s relationship with God had grown in depth. He had become more spiritual and had no qualm responding to God immediately. When God told him to, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” He jumped into action. He knew that he had to have his wives’ consent before he acted on what he wanted to do. Summoning his two wives to the field where his flocks were being shepherded, he explained the situation to them. He wanted to be in a place where what he would tell them could not be overheard. In that short conversation, Jacob made reference to God seven times. He was no longer acting out of self-interest. God was the main reason he was making such a decision. He gave his wives a history of how Laban, their father, had unfairly cheated him. Jacob knew that God had blessed him. And from Laban’s plain coloured sheep and goat, God helped to see to it that they produce multi-coloured young. He concluded that it was God who had taken away the livestock of Laban and given them to him. Literally God had transferred the wealth of Laban and given it to Jacob. What he told his wives brings us back to how God had helped him in the multiplication of the mottled and blotchy flocks. Jacob then concluded with the divine instruction in verse 13. He said to him, “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.” He recalled his vow to God and was now responding to God’s faithfulness. What an amazing moment!

Jacob managed to convince his wives and they were in agreement with him. They saw the ugly fact of how their father had sold them. The gain from the fourteen years of Jacob’s hard labor for them was to be kept for their sustenance, should they become widows. But Laban retained them and in that sense he pilfered what were rightly his daughters. So they, in unison, told Jacob to go for it, and that they were with him in his plan. They were indirectly telling him to do what God had instructed. We see in this account, Jacob attributing to God for all that had happened. He saw the hand of God progressively leading him, allowing him to go through all that he had experienced. Here we see an outline of God’s redemptive plan. It has all along been God who had brought him through everything. Jacob now set his eyes toward the promise land and to bring forth a nation of people to bless the world. We all benefit from Jacob’s response to God. What a privilege!