PUSH AND PULL
Opening Prayer
Dear God, I stand in awe of Your grace and goodness. Give me insight into Your path for my life, and endurance to walk in it.
Read GENESIS 32:1–21
Jacob Flees From Laban
31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. 5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”
14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram,[a] to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21 So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
Footnotes
- Genesis 31:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Exile and Exodus form major themes in the lives of God’s people. Do you feel in one of these at present? Lay your situation before the Lord, seeking His perspective.
Think Further
Knowing when to leave is important in life. There comes a point at which you have overstayed your welcome. Clearly, Jacob’s continued presence in Haran is beginning to raise some hackles (1,2), suggesting that it is time to move on. Jealousy and false accusation have polluted the atmosphere – and that’s not all. More importantly, there is the pull factor of God’s call to return home and the repeated promise, ‘I will be with you’ (3).1 Other patriarchs had similar sojourns on foreign soil before the call to return – Abraham and Joseph in Egypt (although admittedly it was only Joseph’s bones that returned); Isaac in Gerar, Moses in Midian. Their times of exile were not vacations. They were tough, but they produced wiser, humbler, and richer people. Like Jacob, they all returned having become success stories in kingdoms where their God went un-recognized. Jacob describes his success as a plundering of the rich man (9), against all the odds. Like his descendants,2 he takes his spoils with him. That’s life for the child of God; suffering and blessing, reverses and victory intermingling. Walking in line with God’s purpose will involve suffering, but it carries the possibility of triumph over suffering and opposition. God’s people are ‘more than conquerors’,3 sustained by the Father’s love, secure in their hope. We are people living out the promise. That means that, ultimately, nothing can harm us (7).
So, Jacob leaves. He does so surreptitiously, under cover but under God’s command. He has the consolation that his wives now identify with him rather than their father and brothers. They have seen through their father’s disparaging attitude and now hook their future to Jacob and the call of God on his life.
Apply
There are times and seasons in all our lives. How does your season feel at this moment? Is God calling you to persevere or to move on?
Closing prayer
Sovereign One, letting go can be a struggle. As I seek to move forward in my relationship with You, grant me insight to know what to leave behind.
1 See also Gen 28:15 2 Exod 12:36 3 Rom 8:37
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