Jacob's Prosperity
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Genesis 31:1-30
Genesis 31:1-30
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Summarize chapter 29
Jacob was sent away by his parents because they feared Esau would kill him.
Jacob is sent to work with a man named Laban.
Laban is a shepherd.
As Jacob works for Laban, the flocks grow.
Laban grows in wealth due to Jacob’s efforts.
During this time, Jacob falls in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel.
Jacob asks to marry Rachel.
They both agree that after 7 years Jacob will be relieved of his service to Laban and be free to marry Rachel.
Jacob diligently serves Laban
The end of the 7 years is drawing to a close and Laban deceives Jacob into marrying the elder daughter Leah instead of Rachel.
Laban did this to trick Jacob into working for him fro a longer period of time.
Another agreement was made, Jacob would work for Laban another 7 years.
Then Jacob would be free to marry Rachel.
Jacob continues to diligently work.
Laban grew in wealth.
In Chapter 30,
Eventually Jacob is able to marry Rachel.
Rachel is unable to bear children at this time.
She devises a plan fro Jacob to have a son with Leah.
Which he does.
Rachel also is able to give birth to a son.
She names him Joseph.
So over the course of a few chapters, Jacob ends up with 12 sons.
These 12 sons become the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Obviously, these events happened over the course of a long period of time, but they are condensed within a few verses.
I very briefly summarized the events just to build up a little context.
Second half of chapter 30
Jacob is prosperous.
He determines that it is time for him to take his family and leave.
Jacob makes a plan to divide the flock some staying with Laban and other going with Jacob.
Jacob says that he will only take the sheep and the goats by using the markings on their coats.
Look at Genesis 30:27
But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”
Laban recognizes that the Lord has blessed Jacob with prosperity.
Laban tries to entice Jacob to stay with him so that he will continue to benefit from Jacob’s efforts.
I want to point out the method Laban used to come to this conclusion.
Click #1
1. The Scripture says that Laban used divination to come to this understanding.
Provide definition in notes
Divination:
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Divination is “the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.”
As defined by Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Divination is the communication with a deity for the purpose of determining the deity's knowledge, resulting in a clarification of a decision or discernment of the future. Two forms of divination developed in the ancient Near East, one using inductive manipulation of natural or human phenomena and the other taking intuitive forms of inner revelation.
Origin of Divination
Origin of Divination
The term “divination” originates from Latin divinare "to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy" related to divinus, divine, or "to be inspired by a god." Divination is the effort to obtain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process, or ritual. To engage in divination is to reveal mysterious knowledge by supernatural practices. It is correlated with the occult and involves fortune-telling or soothsaying, as it used to be called.
Examples: palm reading, taroh cards, tea leaves, crystals, zodiac signs and astrology.
Click #2
2. Divination is forbidden throughout the Bible.
It is forbidden because it opens the door for evil influences.
The word divination in the Hebrew is :
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (5727 נָחַשׁ)
5727 נָחַשׁ (nā·ḥǎš): v.; ≡ Str 5172; TWOT 1348—1. LN 53.96–53.101 (piel) practice divination, i.e., interpret omens and signs, as a way to learn the will of God, or the gods, known for future contingencies (Ge 30:27; 44:5,15; Lev 19:26; Dt 18:10; 2Ki 17:17; 21:6; 2Ch 33:6+), see also domain LN 27.34–27.47; 2. LN 53.96–53.101 (piel) take something as an omen or sign (1Ki 20:33+)5728 נַחַשׁ (nǎ·ḥǎš): n.[masc.]; ≡ Str 5173; TWOT 1348a—LN 53.96–53.101 sorcery, magic curse, i.e., a spell to invoke supernatural knowledge or power (Nu 23:23; 24:1+)5729 I. נָחָשׁ (nā·ḥāš): n.masc.; ≡
The word for serpent is:
5729 I. נָחָשׁ (nā·ḥāš): n.masc.; ≡ Str 5175; TWOT 1347a—1. LN 4.51–4.57 serpent, snake, viper, i.e., a poisonous reptile which may represent several species (Ex 4:3); 2. LN 4.51–4.57 sea serpent, sea monster, i.e., creature at home in the water (Am 9:3), note: this may refer to a mythological “dragon” or a normal “crocodile”; 3. LN 4.51–4.57 dragon, serpent, i.e., the talking, tempting creature of the garden (Ge 3:1–14 passim); 4. LN 6.96–6.101 unit: נָחָשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת (nā·ḥāš neḥō·šěṯ)1 bronze serpent, i.e., a representation of a serpent made of bronze, later to become an idol among the sons of Israel (Nu 21:9ac; 2Ki 18:4+)
In Genesis 3, the serpent appears in the Garden.
This serpent claims to have hidden knowledge.
The serpent entices Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree and this hidden knowledge will be granted to them as well.
The serpent in the Garden is the Nachash.
Click #3
3. The origin of divination and these occult practices comes from the serpent, the devil himself.
The warning is to use caution and not get involved with anything that could be associated with divination.
Summarize chapter 31:1-21
Laban’s sons begin to accuse Jacob of stealing things from Laban.
Jacob and Laban both agreed to the division of the flocks. This was a very specific plan so that no one could accuse Jacob of stealing what was not given to him.
God allowed Jacob’s flock to flourish.
This abundance is what cause Laban and his sons to accuse Jacob of thievery.
Jacob flees.
He intends to return to Canaan.
Laban did not want Jacob to leave.
Laban pursues Jacob.
When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.
As Jacob and his family fled, the text tells us that Rachel his wife stole the household gods of Laban.
We are going to talk about her motivation in a minute, but first I want to define the term household gods.
Click #4
4. This term translated as household goods in the Hebrew is the word:
Include the term and the definition in notes
TERAPHIM (תְּרָפִים, teraphim). A Hebrew word generally used for small, portable sacred objects, especially idols or items used for divination.
Terminology and Use
English Bibles typically translate the Hebrew word teraphim (תְּרָפִים, teraphim) as “household gods,” “idols,” or “images,” though some English versions retain the Hebrew term and use the transliteration “teraphim” (e.g., Judg 17:5 in LEB, KJV, ASV, and NRSV). The teraphim appear to be connected to worship in the family setting rather than to a more organized religious context such as a shrine or temple.
Teraphim in Scripture
In Genesis 31:19, Rachel steals Laban’s teraphim when Jacob decides they will leave Haran. When Laban catches up with them, the main thing he seems upset about is losing his teraphim (Gen 31:30–35). In Judges 17–18, Micah’s personal household shrine includes teraphim (Judg 17:5; 18:14, 17, 18, 20). Elsewhere, teraphim appear in connection with sorcery, idolatry, and divination (1 Sam 15:23; 2 Kgs 23:24; Ezek 21:21; Zech 10:2).
King Josiah in the book of 2 Kings goes through the land and destroys the teraphim or the household gods in an attempt to cause the people to turn back to the One True God.
Click #5
5. Teraphim are personal gods that a particular family has claimed.
The household goods are not appliances or utensils.
They are idols used to worship false gods.
This practice is overtly seen in Hinduism.
Buddhism, usually those who practice this false religion have a small statue of Buddah to which they pray.
This would be considered a teraphim in the Biblical language.
But it can be more subtle even in our culture.
Zodiac, astrology,
In verses 22-25, Laban pursues Jacob.
Laban catches up to Jacob and he inquiers as to why they fled.
Verse 26, why have you carried my daughters away like captives.
Jacob responds in verse 31
Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.
Jacobs response is that of fear that Laban would not allow them to leave or that Laban would not allow Jacob to leave
I want to back up a bit to address a question that is asked by Laban.
Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”
Before Jacob fled, he attempted to take only that which belonged to him.
Jacob intentionally divided the flock of sheep so that there could be no confusion as to which sheep belong to Jacob.
He took extra care to do this so that he would not be discredited.
He was a man of integrity.
Click #6
6. As they fled, Rachel took the household gods or the teraphim from Laban.
Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the household gods.
The question she, why did she take them?
There are a number of various responses, if you look at commentaries.
Some commentaries suggest she took them because they were familiar to her.
The teraphim were most likely made of silver or gold, so some people suggest she took them because of their value.
Other suggest that Rachel took them in an attempt to prevent her father from worshipping them.
We do not know the exact intent of Rachels actions because the text does not tell us.
But I do think one thing that we can draw from this account is the fact that the devil was working to discredit Jacob.
And I think this is the point to this account.
We know from the measures taken by Jacob that he intentionally made sure that he took only things that he earned.
Jacob separated the flock so that it could easily be divided.
He acted with integrity even though Laban was dishonest with him.
We can see that the enemy was attempting to bring shame to Jacob.
The enemy was trying to discredit the character of Jacob by bringing this disgrace.
The devil was trying to cause doubt, dishonor and chaos in this situation.
Click #7 and #8
7. The devil caused Rachel to hide the gods.
8. The enemy tried to have Jacob be discredited.
We can discern that Jacob was a man of integroty.
He was doing everything in his power to leave without taking things that did not belong to him.
The devil was trying to bring shame.
The devil does the same to us
Click #9
9. The enemy will do everything to prevent us from stepping into faith and leaving behind the gods of this world.
Now, I do not want to get too far into this subject.
We are going to dig into this thought more next time.
Close with this:
Genesis 31:30 (NIV)
Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household.
The reason that Jacob decided to flee from Laban is because he longed to return to his fathers house.
Remember, Jacob fled because of the anger of Esau.
He has been gone for 20 years.
He was not sure what he was going back to.
Yet he longed to return.
Turn to John 14
Longing for your fathers house
connect with John 14: 1-6
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Click # 10
10. Are you longing for your Father’s house?
In these verses, Jesus tells us that He has prepared a place for us in His Kingdom.
Unlike Jacob, we can be assured of the promises in our Fathers house.
Click # 11
11. We can have confidence in God because He is immutable (unchanging).