Jacob and his Family Flee (Gen. 31:17-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01-15-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Jacob and Family Flee

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                 Reference:  Genesis 31:17—21

 

            Message of the verses:  “17 Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels; 18 and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.  19 When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.  20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing.  21 So he fled with all that he had; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates River, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.”

           

            As stated in and earlier SD, Jacob was doing the will of God by leaving, but he was not doing the will of God in how he was leaving, and there is a difference between the two.  There are some key verses in this section that should be spoken about here, and one of them is verse nineteen that tells me that Jacob was leaving Paddan-aram at the time when Laban was shearing his sheep, which meant he would have been busy, for this was a festive time when the sheep were being sheared.  Rachel took this opportunity to steal her father’s idols while he was shearing the sheep, which was certainly the wrong thing to do and it showed that there were problems between her and her father, and also problems between her and the Lord.  Verse twenty shows that Jacob was deceiving Laban by not telling him that he and his family were leaving, after all Jacob was not only taking his wives, which were Laban’s daughters, but was also taking his children, which were Laban’s grandchildren. Jacob was wrong in doing this and he was probably doing this out of fear.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I truly believe that the Lord has been working in my own life by teaching me contentment and I also believe that one of the enemies of contentment is fear, and not the kind of fear that is the fear of the Lord, but the kind of fear that is the fear of man, which Jesus has told me in His Word not to have.  Jacob was a deceiver and because of this he had reasons to fear people and that is why he not only feared Laban, but also his brother Esau.  Jacob would get over some of this fear in a short while, when he would wrestle with the Lord, but would still hold on to some of it for a while longer.  When a person fears the Lord then they don’t have to fear men.

 

The Word of God has been refreshing, convicting, and challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to be taught contentment by the Lord, and to continue to have the Lord direct my path each day.