Old Testament - Genesis 31:1-55 (Jacob begins his Journey)
Channel: Calvary Chapel Windward
Date: 2016-01-25

Old Testament - Genesis 31:1-55 (Jacob begins his Journey) 

GENESIS 31:1-55  -  Jacob begins his Journey - CC Windward - Pastor Tim

GENESIS 31:1-55  -  Jacob begins his Journey - Calvary Chapel Windward - OAHU, HAWAII - Pastor Tim Newman - From Local Olelo / Oceanic / Time Warner Cable show "A View from Calvary" - Episode # - Original Air Date  A.D.

“Jacob Begins His Journey”
Genesis 31:1-55
1. Jacob makes the DECISION to return home.
Vs. 1-16
1a. The DECISION to return is based on the change in Laban and his sons.
1b. The DECISION to return is based on the direction of the LORD.
Does he think that this decision is going to go over well with Laban?
No, I think that he believes he will have to run for his life.
But he is going to obey and do it anyway.

Gen 28:20-21
1c. The DECISION to return is based on his conversations with Rachel and Leah
The Mesopotamian legal code stipulated that he could not take his wives away
without their consent.
God had prepared the heart of Jacob to obey
God had prepared the hearts of Leah and Rachel to obey
2. Jacob DEPARTS in haste.
Vs. 17-21
2a. Jacob DEPARTS at an opportune time.
Sheep-shearing in Mesopotamia was a springtime activity in which large flocks
necessitated large shearing crews that would labor for extended periods away
from their home.
2b. Jacob DEPARTS without a word to Laban.
The teraphim or “household gods” that Rachel stole were likely small, carved
human figures.
Why would Rachel do this;
One ancient (Nuzi) tablets suggest that the possession of the family gods
strengthened your claim to an inheritance.4
3. Laban is DETERMINED to regain all that was lost.
Vs. 22-35
3a. Laban is DETERMINED to pursue Jacob.
Laban’s posse thundered after Jacob with murderous intent.
The verbs in verses 22–25—“fled,” “pursued,” “overtook,” “pitched tents”—are
militaristic.8
3b. Laban is DETERMINED to question Jacob’s integrity.
The meeting between the camps at Mount Gilead was charged with uncertainty.

4 Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975), p. 165.
8 Ross, Creation & Blessing, p. 532. Also Sarna, JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis,
p. 217.
The reason Laban never suspected that Rachel was sitting on his household gods
is that he could not imagine such a sacrilege.
4. Jacob will DEFEND himself against Laban’s claims of his dishonesty.
Vs. 36-42
4a. Jacob will DEFEND himself against Laban by giving the history of his faithfulness.
4b. Jacob will DEFEND himself by mentioning God’s protection.
Jacob credited God for everything. It was all the grace of God.
Who is the cheat, the scoundrel, the schemer?
It is LABAN.
We see no rebuke for Jacob anywhere here.
5. Laban and Jacob DEVISE a covenant based on their mistrust.
Vs. 43-55
5a. Laban and Jacob DEVISE a covenant symbolized by a monument.
What does this covenant do?
The treaty would recognize Jacob as a separate, independent people by its dual
representations:
 two stone memorials
 two names for the memorials
 two names of deity
 two ethnic groups.10
What it meant to Jacob?
Jacob’s new stone pillar recalled for him the presence of God at Bethel.
5b. Laban and Jacob DEVISE a covenant and will remember it by different names.
Laban gave the pile a CHALDEAN or PAGAN name, Jegar-sahadutha.
Jacob a Hebrew name, Galeed, both of which mean “the heap of witness.”
Laban invoked two separate deities and then multiple deities:
Jacob ignored Laban’s formula and swore by the true God.
It becomes known as;
Mizpah means “watchpost or watchtower.”

Matt 5:11-12
What do we learn from Jacob about dealing with anger?
Mizpah- we commit to the LORD.

10 Ibid., p. 221.

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