Hot Pursuit Series

Genesis 31:42 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.” (NIV)

Jacob now knows that it was God who protected and provided for him all those years, and he begins to look to God to protect him in the future.

Genesis 31:43-47 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? Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.” So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. (NIV)

Both of those words mean “witness heap.” In other words, they are calling on God to witness the covenant they are about to make, and they are depending on Him to protect them from each other.

Genesis 31:48-49 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed. It was also called Mizpah (which means watchtower), because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. (NIV)

I’ve seen this on greeting cards, but this is no greeting you want to receive. In its context, Laban is saying, “I don’t trust you, so I’m going to ask God to keep an eye on you when I can’t.”

Genesis 31:50-54 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. (NIV)

Jacob is beginning to fear God more than people. He worships God, and then he eats with his relatives. This meal seals the covenant between Jacob and Laban, because those who eat together in this Middle Eastern culture are bound never to bring harm to one another.

Genesis 31:55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home. (NIV)

Laban went home with a kiss and a blessing, and Jacob learned that true security comes from God, not from deceptive schemes.

It’s a lesson we need to learn, as well. Our true security comes from God and God alone, so we must learn to trust Him. Don’t trust in a lie. Don’t trust in an idol. Trust in the Lord. Then and only then will you be truly secure.

Five-year-old Jessica became a bit frightened as lightning flashed and thunder cracked just as she was stepping out of the bath tub before going to bed. The lights began to flicker as she was getting into her pajamas. She remembered other times when they had to light candles after the electricity had gone out. This time, she asked if she could “please sleep in mommy’s room.”