Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? (Genesis 31:43).

This is Laban's response to his nephew Jacob's accusations. Jacob has accused his uncle of deception, greed and injustice, even while he himself has only been good to Laban. Without judging the merits of Jacob's claim to innocence, Laban's response is interesting.

Laban does not acknowledge any of Jacob's accusations. Instead, he insists that Jacob's wives and Jacob's children are really his daughters and his children. He insists that Jacob's flocks are his flocks. His point seems to be that he can do whatever he pleases with what he claims to be his own.

Laban seems to discount the fact that he had given his daughters to Jacob for fourteen years of work and that Jacob had birthed the children himself. He also seems to discount his agreement to give Jacob the particular selection of flocks Jacob had taken and for which Jacob had labored six years.

In other words, Laban has taken the facts and filtered them through his own reality distortion field, so that he is innocent of any wrongdoing. The only reason he will not harm Jacob is because he fears God's warning in his dream (cf. Genesis 31:29), and he does not want to harm his own daughters and children (i.e. grandchildren). 

Friends, I realize that even today we risk the danger of applying a reality distortion field to our circumstances, so that we see ourselves as completely innocent and the offending party as completely guilty. We marshal our selective "facts" and Bible verses to "prove" our case. Certain facts in our perspective appear irrefutable, yet we may fail to realize that these very facts are being distorted by our fanatical interpretaton of them. We pretend to want counsel, but we show ourselves in an "attack-dog" stance toward any counsel that differs from our own. 

I do not doubt Laban's sincerity. Yet, he is sincerely blind to the error of his thinking. Yet, in his mind he is completely justified in feeling the way he does and doing what he did. 

Likewise, people today, even Christians, I believe, can be sincere in the error of their thinking. Pride, bitterness, and self-righteousness are all elements of a kind of narcissism that can blind us to the truth. Even if we seek truth, if we do not address this narcissistic demon within, we will not be able to recognize the truth as truth. 

Daily I praise God for His mercy and grace. I pray for His wisdom and discernment. I acknowledge my inadequacy and trust in His providence to exalt Christ through both my right steps and missteps. I pray that I may always love, that I may have longsuffering patience, that I may pursue mercy and reconciliation more than judgment and justice, and that I may never seek vengeance or gain through another's hurt but humbly accept my lot, whether good or bad, knowing my eternal hope in Christ makes everything else pale in comparison. To God be all the glory!

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth (Genesis 31:13).

There was a lot of drama and rivalry in Jacob's life. There was rivalry between Jacob and Esau over the birthright and blessing, between Rebekah and Isaac with repect to their favorite sons, between Jacob and Laban over tradition, labor, and wealth, and between Rachel and Leah over the number of sons and their husband's affection. Yet, as we read the biblical account, all these things seem simply incidental to the fuflillment of God's promises to Abraham. 

Could it be that God gives such detailed and dramatic accounts to demonstrate this principle?:

In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps (Proverbs 16:9).

In other words, how ever people plan, pursue, strategize, collude, and execute, God is the final determinant of the outcome. Jacob could do nothing and God would fulfill His promises through him. Jacob could do everything, but God would fulfill His proimises through him.

Friends, we ought not to read these accounts and become fatalistic, thinking that nothing that we plan or do matters because God's will and not our own will be done. The latter is true but not the former. God's purposes will always be accomplished; however, this does not mean that our plans and actions do not matter. Will not God judge our motivations and our actions? Also, since we know that God's purposes for us and in us will never fail, shouldn't this give us greater confidence against anxiety and motivate us all the more to discern His will for us and in us, so that we might align ourselves the best that we can to that sovereign will? 

As for me, this reminds me again not to overcomplicate my life with elaborate desires and pursuits. It focuses my ambition to a singular ambition, namely, to exalt God and Christ in my life. Everything else is a detail. I will enjoy work, but life is not about work. I will enjoy time with my wife and child and my relatives, but life is not about family. On the other hand, I will devote myself, using every resource, skill, platform, and opportunity that God gives me to exalt God and Christ in my life. I believe this is the primary mission and life purpose of every believer. 

Genesis 30-31

Genesis 30: 32 has Jacob removing all the speckled and spotted sheep as well as the black lambs, and goats, and says that those that he leaves with and are not speckled and spotted should be considered stolen.

So, Jacob will start with solid unspotted animals and when he leaves he is able to leave with all the non-solid color animals.

Then in verse 37-39, Jacob takes sticks and places them before the flock ‘so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled and spotted,’ animals.  I read elsewhere that this kind of thing is called Sympathetic Magic.  Essentially trying to evoke something by correspondence or as if trying to ‘rub off’ one thing’s traits to another.   Jacob continued this process until his flock grew greatly.

While there is nothing that I have found that scientifically supports this, I find it interesting that the Lord blessed Jacob through this or in spite of this. God has blessed through such things such as lots, leading the wise men to Jesus’s birth with astrology; or even the continued favor in spite of divorce, murder, and having multiple wives.

The Bible’s plan for revelation is opposite of what I would have guessed.  We place so much on doing good, the good works, that even from the beginning we see God moved even though people acted in ways contrary to his desires.

We learn he abhors, infidelity (being married then being with anther – having multiple wives) we learn he abhors sorcery (forcing or manipulating events for our chosen out come – peeling sticks, or summoning the dead as Saul did),  we are told we should not look to the stars for guidance (even though it lead the wise men to Jesus); even though we later hear how much goodness God requires of us, we are reminded that God is Sovereign and our goodness does not affect him or his decision, he chooses whom he will bless and whom he will hate.

Looking back to the first books we can see this.  Even though we have people lying, stealing, cheating, and all sorts of other immorality, God is slowly building his case against us all.  “I am faithful…” He has kept his word from Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Isaac, and now to Jacob, “I am powerful…” He showed power over Adam by removing him from the Garden, over Noah by removing him from the deadly waters, over Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob by putting them in proper places and keeping them from nullifying God’s promise (God alone makes his promise happen).  He has not yet given commands to be moral, or how to worship him, his Word so far has been to make a promise (whether blessing or curse) and to manifest that promise (showing he is faithful and powerful).  His commands are very different when compared to David’s blessing, “You will be blessed IF you…” so far all the benefits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stem from one event that Abraham committed.

While the Lord does not change, his character is infused in all the stories with no change to his nature, what he prioritizes shifts according to his purpose. (Food for thought if you consider the Gen 12-15 question by Yujin)

I've always considered the whole affair between Jacob, Leah and Rachel very humorous. Through it all Jacob seems very accomodating to his wives, who are playing a game of making babies and "winning" Jacob's affection. While this is going on, there is apparently another game being played between Jacob and Laban, with each trying to gain an upper hand with respect to their flocks. 

Yet, over all of this, the One really in control is God, who has already determined the future of Jacob, the sons he would have, as well as which of his sons would become great. He had made this determination even before Jacob was born (Romans 9:10-13). Now, this may not mean that God controls every detail of every event of Jacob's life; however, every event will lend itself to the fulfillment of God's plan for Jacob's life. 

What is also interesting is that there is deception, polygamy, incest, jealousy, fornication (Jacob's sexual relations with his wives' maids), greed, divination and even idolatry (worship of "household gods") in the mix. Yet, there is not a single word of judgment at this point for any of it. It is not that there was no moral code. For God says of Abraham, that he kept God's commandments, statutes and laws (Genesis 26:5). But this moral code did not encompass everything encompassed in the Law of Moses, nor later the greater Law of Christ.

Therefore, we must be careful in making moral judgments on the actions of these early partriarchs, for we may be guilty of applying standards to them that God did not have for them at the time. We must allow for the giving, changing and expansion of the laws of God over time. Yes, God does not change; however, His laws for people do change. For example, Adam only had one commandment that he was expected to follow: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now, after Adam's sin, there was no one else that committed that sin, nor could they, because God kicked them out of the Garden and blocked the way into it. But the punishment of Adam's sin extended not only to Adam but to every generation that proceeded from him because, in a sense, all sinned in Adam. This is the meaning of Romans 5:12-19

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come... So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

Thus, we speak of original sin and original guilt. This is why David would write in Psalm 51:5,

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, 
And in sin my mother conceived me. 

In other words, we are not born innocent and become sinners. We are born sinners and every day of life would only confirm that reality. And the universality of death proves this. 

But with respect to the commands of God, since they are different for different eras of history, let us understand what is applicable for each era and what is not, so that we might not make misjudgments or misapplications.