Promises
Opening Prayer
Lord, as I study Your Word each day, may I grow strong in the truth, able to resist all falsehood.
Read GENESIS 31:43–55
43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”
So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. 54 He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“Does he (God) speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Num. 23:19). Recall a promise from God that personally means a lot to you and thank him afresh for it.
Laban recognized the impasse that he and Jacob had reached, so he suggested that they create a boundary between their territories and make a covenant to govern their relationship going forward. In this we see that Laban’s daughters were still important to him. The agreement indicated that reconciliation had been reached. There could be no mistake: the covenant was consciously entered into in God’s presence. Not only did it carry weight at the time of making it but it was also to govern future behavior. It was characterized by two common aspects of covenant making—sacrifice to God, marking his witnessing of their oaths, and
eating a meal together, indicating their mutual acceptance of the covenant terms in the company of a divine host (Exod. 24:5–8,11).
The solemnity of making promises to each other with God as our witness is underscored throughout the Old Testament (Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:1,2) and exemplified by the deep commitment with which God himself entered into covenant with fallen humanity (Gen. 9:9; Judg. 2:1; 1 Chr. 16:15–18; Heb. 8:8–12). Jesus also stressed the importance of integrity in what we promise others (Matt. 5:33–37). What we promise is to be undergirded by the strength of our commitment and faithful adherence to the spirit as well as the content of our words.
The problem is that in our world, words can be used very casually—in the immediacy and sometimes superficial nature of social media, for example—so it’s easy to forget that we have a divine audience. The rituals employed by Laban and Jacob ensured a conscious reminder of God being their witness. Jesus takes this
further, that our daily behavior may be so characterized by integrity, living in God’s presence, that we don’t need to swear on something in order for others to trust our words.
Apply
Reality check! Read again the last above paragraph: how do you use words (casually, superficially, thoughtlessly)? Is your word your bond? Are there any changes you need to make?
Closing prayer
Mighty God, I thank You for today’s reminder that I have a divine audience. Help me to live as before You, showing authentic integrity.
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