Genesis 31:33-44 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 31:33-44. Let’s go!
Genesis 31:33-34 (NIV)
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
On verses 33-34: Laban painstakingly searches in the tents of his daughters and their maidservants for his household gods but is unable to find them. Little did Laban know that his daughter Rachel, who had stolen the household gods, was hiding them inside her camel’s saddle and sitting on them.
What can we learn from this? Here we find Laban frantically searching for his household gods and unable to find them. But earlier the one true God was searching for Laban and found him, speaking to Laban in a dream (see v24). That’s a major difference between the God of the Bible and the gods of many other faiths. With many other faiths, philosophies and religions in the world, it’s about human beings searching for God. But in the Bible, God searching for human beings. Long before you ever searched for God, God was searching for you. That’s why Jesus came. He was on a search and rescue mission to find you, the one God loves. Like a woman searching her house for a precious lost coin (see Luke 15:8-10), God is relentless about finding the ones who belong to Him.
Genesis 31:35 (NIV)
35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.
On verse 35: Rachel deceives Laban her father, telling him that because of her period she cannot stand, thus preventing Laban from searching inside her camel’s saddle for his idols. Both Jacob, Jacob’s mom Rebekah, Rachel and Rachel’s dad Laban were all clever at deceiving others. Birds of a feather tend to flock together.
Genesis 31:36-41 (NIV)
36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “What sin have I committed that you hunt me down?
37 Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.
38 “I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.
40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
On verses 36-41: Frustrated and angry, Jacob recounts the ways that Laban mistreated him as an employee. Perhaps you find yourself working for a difficult boss like Laban. Know that God is a much better boss than Laban. God does not cheat or mistreat those who serve Him. So remember who your ultimate boss is: not the human boss over you who is causing you difficulties, but your heavenly boss who takes care of you and who at the same time who involves you in His business. As Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Genesis 31:42 (NIV)
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
On verse 42: In his hardships with Laban, Jacob could see the hand of God protecting him from harm. That is the blessing that can come with hardship. When hardships come, it’s an opportunity to see, appreciate and remember the ways that God has still been good to us.
Genesis 31:43 (NIV)
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?
On verse 43: Greedy Laban saw Rachel and Leah, their children and the flocks as all belonging to him, even though Jacob had already paid the dowry for both Rachel and Leah, Jacob had a stronger claim to the children because they were his children, and Jacob legitimately earned the flocks that were in his care.
What can we learn from this? Greed has this way of messing with our sense of ownership and making us very entitled. Instead of seeing ourselves as stewards of what God owns and has entrusted to us, when we are controlled by greed we start to think that we are the ultimate owner of everything and everyone around us. We even start to see people and things that don’t belong to us as belonging to us and existing for our selfish purposes. Jesus warned against this kind of attitude in Luke 12:13-21 in his parable about the rich fool. For more on greed and how to fight it, check out Episode 3 of our Take Me Hiya series HERE.
Genesis 31:44 (NIV)
44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
On verse 44: Seeing that he cannot win this time, Laban calls for a truce with Jacob. Laban’s actions reminds me of Jesus’ words in Luke 14:31-32: “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.” When you’re overpowered and outnumbered and God is not on your side more than He is on the other side, the best thing to do is to call a truce. We can’t win against God. When it’s me against God, my plans against God’s plans, God wins every time, so I might as well accept the truce that God offers and surrender to Him.
Heavenly Father, thank You for all the lessons I can learn from Your Word today. Thank You for being the God who searches for me even before I search for You. Thank You for being the best boss I can work for and the finest king I can serve. Thank You for being my protector and my defender. I surrender everything to You today. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
