Jacob Runs from Laban and Meets God

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Jacob Runs from Laban and Meets God

• Genesis 2931-3232

Presented by Bob DeWaay October 9, 2005
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Leah was Hated

• Genesis 2931 (KJV)
• And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he
  opened her womb but Rachel was barren.

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The Birth of the 12 Sons of Jacob (Gen. 2931
3024)

• Born to Leah Reuben Simeon Levi Judah
• Born to Rachels maid Bilhah Dan Naphtali
• Born to Leahs maid Zilphah Gad Asher
• Born to Leah Issachar Zebulun Dinah
• Born to Rachel Joseph
• Born to Rachel later in Bethel as she died in
  child birth Benjamin (Gen. 3518)

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The Meaning of the Names

• Reuben The Lord see affliction
• Simeon The Lord hears
• Levi Hope for attachment
• Judah Praise for the Lord
• Dan and Naphtali Success in strife
• Gad and Asher Prosperity and Happiness
• Issachar Reward
• Zebulun Endowment
• Joseph May he add or may he increase
• Benjamin Ben-oni son of sorrow son of the right

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Genesis 3025-43

• Jacob wishes to leave and return to his home
  country
• Laban wants him to stay and work longer because
  God prospered Laban
• Jacob asks for the speckled of the flock for
  wages
• Laban moves the speckled ones away hoping to keep
  Jacob from owning any.

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Genesis 3025-43

• Jacob uses questionable and superstitious
  breeding techniques to increase his wealth
• Jacob selectively breeds the stronger animals
• God blesses Jacob in spite of his practice and
  Jacob becomes very wealthy

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Deceiving and Being Deceived

• Genesis 27 Jacob is a Deceiver
• Genesis 29 Laban is a Deceiver of a Deceiver
• Genesis 30 Jacob is a Deceiver of a Deceiver of a
  Deceiver

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Genesis 31 Jacob Runs from Laban

• Genesis 312, 3
• Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold, it
  was not friendly toward him as formerly. Then the
  Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of your
  fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with
  you.

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Narrative Parallels

• With Abraham in Genesis 12 (leave his relatives
  and Go to Canaan)
• With the Exodus (Gods people are sojourners in a
  foreign land, leave with wealth, and are pursued
  by their enemy, under Gods call to go to Canaan)
  

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Jacob Attributes His Wealth To Gods Intervention

• Genesis 319
• Thus God has taken away your father's livestock
  and given them to me.

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Jacob Convinces His Wives that it is Gods Will
to Leave

• By describing the hostility of Laban but how God
  protected (Gen. 314-9)
• By describing Gods call and reminder of Bethel
  (Gen. 3110-13)
• His wives agree to leave (Gen 3114-16)

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Jacob Flees With Wives and Possessions (Gen.
3117-21)

• Laban is shearing sheep
• Rachel steals Labans idols
• Jacob deceives Laban by fleeing secretly

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Laban Pursues JacobGenesis 3122-42

• God warns Laban like He warned Abimelech (with
  the same words Laban said to Abrahams servant)
• Laban catches Jacob and accuses him of deceiving
  him and stealing away his daughters
• Laban accuses Jacob of stealing his household
  idols

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Laban Pursues JacobGenesis 3122-42

• Jacob unwittingly announces a death penalty for
  Rachel
• Rachel deceives Laban so that he does not find
  his idols
• Jacob sternly rebukes Laban, recounting the
  twenty years of service and the fact that God was
  with him or else Laban would have sent him away
  with nothing

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Laban and Jacob make a Covenant (Gen. 3143-55)

• Laban still claims he has been defrauded, but is
  willing to make peace
• Jacob sets up a stone and a heap as a witness
  to watch between them (Galeed and Mizpah)
• Laban calls on God as a witness if Jacob
  mistreats his daughters or takes other wives.

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Laban and Jacob make a Covenant (Gen. 3143-55)

• They promise not to pass by the heap and pillar
  to do harm to one another
• They swear an oath and have a covenant meal

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God Met Jacob Leaving Canaan Now on His Way Back

• Genesis 321, 2
• Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God
  met him. And Jacob said when he saw them, This
  is God's camp. So he named that place Mahanaim.

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Jacob Tries to Appease Esau From Whom He Fled
(Gen. 323-8)

• Jacob sends messengers to Esau, instructing them
  to call Jacob Esaus servant
• Jacob is asking for favor (grace as in Genesis
  68 and other places)
• Esau is coming with 400 men but Jacob does not
  know if they are hostile or friendly
• He divides into two camps

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Jacob Prays

• Genesis 329, 10
• Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God
  of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me,
  Return to your country and to your relatives,
  and I will prosper you, I am unworthy of all the
  lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which
  You have shown to Your servant for with my staff
  only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become
  two companies.

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Jacob Repeats Covenant Promises in Prayer

• Genesis 3211, 12
• Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my
  brother, from the hand of Esau for I fear him,
  that he will come and attack me and the mothers
  with the children. For You said, I will surely
  prosper you and make your descendants as the sand
  of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.

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Jacob Tries to Appease Esau With Extravagant
GiftsGenesis 3213-21

• He sends bounty in droves to impress Esau
• He instructs them to call Jacob Esaus Servant
• He sends the gifts ahead and stays behind

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Jacob Stays Alone

• Genesis 3222, 23
• Now he arose that same night and took his two
  wives and his two maids and his eleven children,
  and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them
  and sent them across the stream. And he sent
  across whatever he had.

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Jacob Wrestles with a Man

• Genesis 3224, 25
• Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled
  with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had
  not prevailed against him, he touched the socket
  of his thigh so the socket of Jacob's thigh was
  dislocated while he wrestled with him.

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Jacob Wants Further Blessing

• Genesis 3226, 27
• Then he said, Let me go, for the dawn is
  breaking. But he said, I will not let you go
  unless you bless me. So he said to him, What is
  your name? And he said, Jacob.

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Jacob Becomes Israel

• Genesis 3228, 29
• He said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob,
  but Israel for you have striven with God and
  with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked
  him and said, Please tell me your name. But he
  said, Why is it that you ask my name? And he
  blessed him there.

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Jacob Knows theIdentity of the Man and is
Changed

• Genesis 3230, 31
• So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, I
  have seen God face to face, yet my life has been
  preserved. Now the sun rose upon him just as he
  crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his
  thigh.

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Applications

• We Cannot Receive Gods Blessings or Promises
  through Self-sufficiency
• In order for us to Prevail With God, God Must
  Prevail Over Us

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We Cannot Receive Gods Blessings or Promises
through Self-sufficiency

• Jeremiah 175
• Thus says the Lord, Cursed is the man who
  trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength,
  And whose heart turns away from the Lord.

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We Cannot Receive Gods Blessings or Promises
through Self-sufficiency

• Jeremiah 177, 8
• Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And
  whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a
  tree planted by the water, That extends its roots
  by a stream And will not fear when the heat
  comes But its leaves will be green, And it will
  not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to
  yield fruit.

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In order For us to Prevail With God, God Must
Prevail Over Us

• Acts 91, 2
• Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder
  against the disciples of the Lord, went to the
  high priest, and asked for letters from him to
  the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found
  any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he
  might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

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In order For us to Prevail With God, God Must
Prevail Over Us

• Acts 93, 4
• As he was traveling, it happened that he was
  approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from
  heaven flashed around him and he fell to the
  ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul,
  Saul, why are you persecuting Me?

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In order For us to Prevail With God, God Must
Prevail Over Us

• Acts 95, 8
• And he said, Who are You, Lord? And He said,
  I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, . . .
  Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes
  were open, he could see nothing and leading him
  by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

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