Genesis 31:1-16 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 31:1-16. Let’s go!
Genesis 31:1-5 (NIV)
1 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.
On verses 1-5: Jacob hears God’s Word telling him to go back to the land of his fathers and to his relatives. In response to God’s Word, Jacob speaks to his wives Rachel and Leah about going back.
As part of his pitch to go back, Jacob tells of how his father-in-law Laban had acted deceitfully toward Jacob. His attitude toward Jacob changed from one of welcoming and warmth to one of coldness. But Jacob also had a Heavenly Father who acted faithfully toward him. As Jacob says in verse 5, “your father’s attitude toward is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.”
Regardless of what your relationship is like with the earthly father figures in your life, the fact is that you have a heavenly Father who is always faithful to you and whose disposition toward you is always one of love.
Genesis 31:6-9 (NIV)
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.
On verses 6-9: If Laban told Jacob, “The speckled ones will be your wages”, thinking that speckled sheep would be rare to come by, God would find a way for speckled sheep to be born so as to give Jacob wages. The same goes for the streaked ones (v8). In other words, whatever Laban did to try to harm Jacob, God would subvert and find a way nonetheless to bless Jacob. That was the favour of God on Jacob’s life. Jacob’s son Joseph would say something very similar about his brothers after they sold him off as a slave: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20).
You too have the favour of God on your life. As Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”. Others may try to cheat you, but God is your protector and your shield. He will take even the things that others try to do to harm you and use it for good in your life.
Genesis 31:10-13 (NIV)
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.'”
On verses 10-13: Here we learn why Jacob decided in chapter 30 to claim the streaked, speckled and spotted lambs as his wages. It’s because Jacob had a dream in which God told him to notice that the streaked, speckled and spotted lambs were the productive ones, and notes that He has seen all that Laban has been doing to Jacob. (By the way, Laban’s name means “white” and so it is interesting that the wages that Laban and Jacob agreed that Jacob would get were all the streaked, speckled and spotted lambs, while the pure white sheep went to Laban.)
What can we learn from this?
First, God can show you wonderful things, but the question is: will you act in faith based on what God shows you? After hearing from God in a dream, Jacob acted in faith, going in the direction that he sensed God was leading him in. In faith he went to Laban and asked for all the streaked, speckled and spotted lambs. In faith he then spoke to Rachel and Leah about returning to his homeland as per God’s command. As a result of acting in faith, Jacob was blessed. Blessed are those who act in faith on what God shows them. What is one way that God wants you to move in faith based on what He has already shown you?
Second, just as God did for Jacob, God sees the harm and injustice that others try to do to you (v12). He is committed to protecting you. The way God watched out for Jacob reminds me of Psalm 121:
Psalm 121:1-8 (NIV)
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip– he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you– the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm– he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Genesis 31:14-16 (NIV)
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.”
On verses 14-16: Rachel and Leah are supportive of Jacob’s decision for them all to move to Jacob’s homeland. Rachel and Leah themselves are disillusioned by the way their father Laban has treated them. These verses for me show how valuable it is for a husband to have a wife who is supportive, who believes in him, who trusts that God is working through her husband and who is willing to follow his lead. Together they are so much stronger as a team than they could be apart.
Rachel and Leah were now committed to following their husband Jacob and left their father Laban. This also reminds me that you and I once lived under the rule of a deceitful master Laban called sin. But then Jesus came, worked for our ransom, paid the price for us, and took us as His bride. Now our allegiance is to Jesus. Just as God gave substantial amounts of Laban’s wealth to Jacob, just as the Israelites plundered the Egyptians who once enslaved them, God has plundered our old master and given that old master’s wealth to His Son Jesus and His bride the church. May we follow Jesus wherever He leads.
Heavenly Father, thank You for being my consistently faithful, unchanging and always loving Abba Father. Thank You for being my protector and shield, the God who watches over me and who keeps me from harm. Thank You that even when others try to harm me, You will use what they try to do to bring good instead. When You speak to me, may I respond to You faith. May I follow Your Son wherever He leads me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
