Laban was a quick-witted man accustomed at
manipulating. Very quickly he thought of an explanation to calm the anger of
Jacob. At the back of his mind must also be the dream prior to this
confrontation, which God sent to warn him against being aggressive toward
Jacob. Like a person caught red-handed, Laban quickly tried to cover himself.
So here he portrayed himself as a very benevolent person, claiming that what
Jacob had before him were due to his generosity. He asserted that Jacob’s wives
were his daughters, their children were his grandchildren and the flocks Jacob had
were his in the first place. Laban was implying that it was he who had given
them to Jacob. The idea he painted of himself was that he was a generous man.
He failed to see the number of times he had cheated Jacob who had put in 2o
years of hard labour to gain them. What hollow words from an unscrupulous man.
Words are meant to clarify and not to manipulate. As people who love the Lord,
let our word be full of integrity. Never should we use words to trap others.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37, “But I tell
you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an
accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by
your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Laban needed to do something so
that he would not appear to be a hostile uncle. So he proposed a mutual, non-aggression
pact to protect each other. Jacob of course had no need of the pact, for God
had already promised to be his protector. However, it would be worth the effort
as the treaty would officially keep them apart. So Jacob took a stone and made
a pillar out of it. This recalls to mind his vision of the ladder with angels
ascending and descending at Bethel. It was a timely reminder of the God who
stood at the top of the ladder, the God who had promised him a people, possession
and place. So Jacob also had his men
gathered stones to make into a heap and there he and his uncle and his men had
a meal. So here they had two stone memorials, and two separate people. The heap
of stones had two separate names. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha
and Jacob called it Galeed meaning the heap of witness and Mizpah, meaning
watch-post. The declaration of Jacob was to show how two men, who did not trust
each other, needed God to watch over them. It was not a pact of trust,
fellowship or union. Here Laban called upon the God of Abraham and the God of
Nahor. Implicit in this was his calling upon the pagan deities of his
forefathers. Jacob, however called upon the true God, the God of his father
Isaac. And there he offered a sacrifice to Him, then called his man and had a
meal on the mountain. Early the next day, Laban kissed his grandchildren and
his daughters, and bade them farewell before he left for home.
Jacob was far from the finished product. He still had
some way to be the person God intended him to be. But slowly and surely, he was
becoming more and more the person and character God wanted him to be. He knew
he needed to respond in obedience to God’s word and progressively he did. It
was clear to him that the Lord was clearly behind all his successes. The pillar
he set up besides the heap of stones affirmed his conviction that it was God who
had provided and led him thus far. By God’s grace, Jacob was slowly growing in grace.
From his life, we can see that God does work amidst our seeming weaknesses in
life. He has the capacity to take all our human weaknesses and oppositions and turn
them into a great plan to fulfil His purpose for our life. Our difficult encounters
in life are not there to make us fold up and give up. There are there to help us
build up and grow up. Thanks be to God who also gives us the strength and
ability to do that!
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