†. Gen 31:33-35 . . So Laban went into Jacob's tent and Leah's tent
and the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them.
Leaving Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Rachel, meanwhile,
had taken the idols and placed them in the camel cushion and sat on
them; and Laban rummaged through the tent without finding them.
For she said to her father: Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot
rise before you, for the period of women is upon me. Thus he
searched, but could not find the household idols.
Camel cushions were a saddle and basket assembly upon which passengers
rode the beasts. Rachel feigned menstrual difficulties to throw her dad off
track. (She may indeed have actually been in her period at the time. If not,
then Jacob himself would have suspected she was concealing something.)
You've got to hand it to Rachel. Considering the stakes, she was one cool
lady under fire. Well; that was indeed one time that what some women
deem "the curse" came in very handy.
†. Gen 31:36-37 . . Now Jacob became incensed and took up his
grievance with Laban. Jacob spoke up and said to Laban: What is my
crime, what is my guilt that you should pursue me? You rummaged
through all my things; what have you found of all your household
objects? Set it here, before my kin and yours, and let them decide
between us two.
It's a pity Jacob didn't have a force of armed men at his disposal like
grandpa Abraham did at one time. Jacob and his ranch hands were pastoral
men, totally untrained for war, and certainly not prepared to deal with a
bully like Laban. When people are unarmed, and unskilled in warfare, they
are easy prey, and might just as well kiss their human rights good-bye.
There are those who yearn for peace at any price. But freedom is not free.
In this evil world; freedom is a priceless treasure earned by those who are
ready to fight for it.
Jacob endured countless indignities at the hands of his father-in-law, which
he suffered in silence for many years. All the pent up emotion which he
restrained for so long finally poured out in an unfettered tirade. Jacob
demanded, in the witness of the kin they both had in common, to justify
such a hot pursuit to catch him before he reached home with what was, in
every way, rightfully his own private property. Laban could only maintain an
embarrassed silence as Jacob spoke.
†. Gen 31:38a . .These twenty years I have spent in your service,
your ewes and she-goats never miscarried,
That is an incredible record. A certain number of still births are to be
expected in any herd. But they never occurred because Jacob was gentle: he
never whipped the animals, nor drove and fatigued Laban's herds like some
overly zealous, insensitive shepherds might do; especially with flocks that
belong to someone else and are not their own. And plus, Laban knew very
well himself from divination, that Jacob's god ever watched over the
pregnant animals so Laban could prosper under Jacob's care.
†. Gen 31:38b . . nor did I feast on rams from your flock.
It was a shepherd's right to feed himself with meat from a flock he was hired
to tend. But Jacob never exercised that right.
†. Gen 31:39 . .That which was torn by beasts I never brought to
you; I myself made good the loss; you exacted it of me, whether
snatched by day or snatched by night.
If Jacob had but brought the remains in to show Laban, it would have would
cleared him of any suspicion of negligence in guarding the herds from
predators. But by not bringing them in, he automatically took the blame for
their loss and paid for them out of his own pocket rather than make Laban
absorb the loss. Why Jacob did that I don't know because he sure didn't
have to. All he had to do to prove to Laban that he was there on the job
guarding the herd from predators, was to demonstrate that he drove them
away before they could finish eating their prey. Only a man truly looking out
for the best interests of his master would ever do what Jacob did. (cf. John
10:11-13)
†. Gen 31:40 . . Often, scorching heat ravaged me by day and frost
by night; and sleep fled from my eyes.
Pastoral life takes its toll on men. Just look at some who have been ranching
and farming for a number of years. They are old way before their time. The
sun and the elements give them shoe leather faces lined with deep creases.
Jacob, by the way, was at least 95 at this time and probably looked 150
after all those years out on the range with his father Isaac's herds, and
later; his uncle Laban's.
†. Gen 31:41 . . Of the twenty years that I spent in your household, I
served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for
your flocks; and you changed my wages time and again.
Jacob reminded Laban of his service of twenty years, fourteen of which had
been simply for the privilege of marrying his daughters. He didn't mention
Laban's deception (probably for Leah's sake), which had doubled the length
of his service in return for a wife he didn't want in the first place.
In spite of all the good, of all his conscientious service, and of all the charity
that Jacob had lavished undeserving upon Laban, the man revised his
agreement with Jacob ten times in an evil-minded attempt to garner all the
gains for himself and to prevent his own nephew from prospering. The man
sure knew how to repay loyalty. Yeah-- right in the teeth. And in the end, he
fully intended to send his nephew away totally empty handed-- if indeed he
would even spare Jacob's life.
It would require a college degree in criminal psychology to understand what
makes a man like Laban tick. He was really too messed up to comprehend.
But it's obvious that Laban so hated Jacob that he couldn't stand letting him
keep a single thing that once belonged to himself. You know, even if there
were no Hell, one would have to be created for warehousing people like
Laban because there is nowhere else for them to go. The kingdom of God is
a place of peace. People like Laban just wouldn't fit in there.
Cont.
/
and the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them.
Leaving Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Rachel, meanwhile,
had taken the idols and placed them in the camel cushion and sat on
them; and Laban rummaged through the tent without finding them.
For she said to her father: Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot
rise before you, for the period of women is upon me. Thus he
searched, but could not find the household idols.
Camel cushions were a saddle and basket assembly upon which passengers
rode the beasts. Rachel feigned menstrual difficulties to throw her dad off
track. (She may indeed have actually been in her period at the time. If not,
then Jacob himself would have suspected she was concealing something.)
You've got to hand it to Rachel. Considering the stakes, she was one cool
lady under fire. Well; that was indeed one time that what some women
deem "the curse" came in very handy.
†. Gen 31:36-37 . . Now Jacob became incensed and took up his
grievance with Laban. Jacob spoke up and said to Laban: What is my
crime, what is my guilt that you should pursue me? You rummaged
through all my things; what have you found of all your household
objects? Set it here, before my kin and yours, and let them decide
between us two.
It's a pity Jacob didn't have a force of armed men at his disposal like
grandpa Abraham did at one time. Jacob and his ranch hands were pastoral
men, totally untrained for war, and certainly not prepared to deal with a
bully like Laban. When people are unarmed, and unskilled in warfare, they
are easy prey, and might just as well kiss their human rights good-bye.
There are those who yearn for peace at any price. But freedom is not free.
In this evil world; freedom is a priceless treasure earned by those who are
ready to fight for it.
Jacob endured countless indignities at the hands of his father-in-law, which
he suffered in silence for many years. All the pent up emotion which he
restrained for so long finally poured out in an unfettered tirade. Jacob
demanded, in the witness of the kin they both had in common, to justify
such a hot pursuit to catch him before he reached home with what was, in
every way, rightfully his own private property. Laban could only maintain an
embarrassed silence as Jacob spoke.
†. Gen 31:38a . .These twenty years I have spent in your service,
your ewes and she-goats never miscarried,
That is an incredible record. A certain number of still births are to be
expected in any herd. But they never occurred because Jacob was gentle: he
never whipped the animals, nor drove and fatigued Laban's herds like some
overly zealous, insensitive shepherds might do; especially with flocks that
belong to someone else and are not their own. And plus, Laban knew very
well himself from divination, that Jacob's god ever watched over the
pregnant animals so Laban could prosper under Jacob's care.
†. Gen 31:38b . . nor did I feast on rams from your flock.
It was a shepherd's right to feed himself with meat from a flock he was hired
to tend. But Jacob never exercised that right.
†. Gen 31:39 . .That which was torn by beasts I never brought to
you; I myself made good the loss; you exacted it of me, whether
snatched by day or snatched by night.
If Jacob had but brought the remains in to show Laban, it would have would
cleared him of any suspicion of negligence in guarding the herds from
predators. But by not bringing them in, he automatically took the blame for
their loss and paid for them out of his own pocket rather than make Laban
absorb the loss. Why Jacob did that I don't know because he sure didn't
have to. All he had to do to prove to Laban that he was there on the job
guarding the herd from predators, was to demonstrate that he drove them
away before they could finish eating their prey. Only a man truly looking out
for the best interests of his master would ever do what Jacob did. (cf. John
10:11-13)
†. Gen 31:40 . . Often, scorching heat ravaged me by day and frost
by night; and sleep fled from my eyes.
Pastoral life takes its toll on men. Just look at some who have been ranching
and farming for a number of years. They are old way before their time. The
sun and the elements give them shoe leather faces lined with deep creases.
Jacob, by the way, was at least 95 at this time and probably looked 150
after all those years out on the range with his father Isaac's herds, and
later; his uncle Laban's.
†. Gen 31:41 . . Of the twenty years that I spent in your household, I
served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for
your flocks; and you changed my wages time and again.
Jacob reminded Laban of his service of twenty years, fourteen of which had
been simply for the privilege of marrying his daughters. He didn't mention
Laban's deception (probably for Leah's sake), which had doubled the length
of his service in return for a wife he didn't want in the first place.
In spite of all the good, of all his conscientious service, and of all the charity
that Jacob had lavished undeserving upon Laban, the man revised his
agreement with Jacob ten times in an evil-minded attempt to garner all the
gains for himself and to prevent his own nephew from prospering. The man
sure knew how to repay loyalty. Yeah-- right in the teeth. And in the end, he
fully intended to send his nephew away totally empty handed-- if indeed he
would even spare Jacob's life.
It would require a college degree in criminal psychology to understand what
makes a man like Laban tick. He was really too messed up to comprehend.
But it's obvious that Laban so hated Jacob that he couldn't stand letting him
keep a single thing that once belonged to himself. You know, even if there
were no Hell, one would have to be created for warehousing people like
Laban because there is nowhere else for them to go. The kingdom of God is
a place of peace. People like Laban just wouldn't fit in there.
Cont.
/
