The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/genesis/31.htm

Here’s the lesson of the day.

Yesterday, I talked about Jacob putting stripped rods of poplar, and almond, and chestnut in front of the sheet and they bore speckled or spotted lambs? And I said that I didn’t understand how this worked?

Today I understand.

Today’s chapter plainly states that it was the Will of God, that God did those things to give Jacob wealth.

And now Jacob starts hearing grumblings from Laban’s sons that Labon is not happy with Jacob because his wealth has started to exceed that of Laban. So the Lord spoke to Jacob, (and yes, we need to keep our ears open more so we can hear the Word of God if He calls us, and told Jacob to go back to Canaan.

Leah and Rachel were concerned about leaving the inheritance of their father, so Rachel took all of the household idols with her, and while Laban was out shearing sheep, Jacob took his livestock and his possessions and his family and they left and began their return to Canaan.

It was three days later when Laban learned that Jacob had fled, and Laban pursued him and caught up to him. But the Lord came to Laban in a dream, warning him of how he should treat Jacob. So Laban confronted Jacob, mentioning the stolen articles, and Jacob denied knowing about them, because Rachel had stolen them without anyone’s knowledge. So Laban began searching the tents, but found nothing. Rachel had them all hidden under a saddle and she was sitting on the saddle. When her father entered her tent, she lied to Laban, telling him she was menstrating and could not stand up, so Laban did not search under the saddle.

So Laban and Jacob made a pact, a covenant, and they et up Memorial stons, and called that place Gileed which is Hebrew for “Heap of Stones”, and Laban and his company turned and went back home.

Here are some thoughts about today’s chapter. Was Laban a true man of God if he had idols? Abraham talked with God, he saw Jesus. I have no doubt that his beliefs were instilled into Isaac, but what about Rebekah? At first she is described as a very nice person when she comes to the well and offers Abraham’s servant water to drink and also waters his animals. But later on, Rebekah lies to Issac because she loves Jacob more than she did Esau, and she helped to deceive Isaac for Jacob’s sake.

So why would Laban, Rebekahs brother, be much different? He was not dealing fairly with Jacob, tricking him into marrying Leah instead of Rachel. And now, faced with leaving her father, Rachel steals her father’s idols so she has some type of inheritance. First of all, we all know stealing is wrong, but why would you steal idols? Then she deceived her father by telling him she was menstrating which she likely was not.

And the envy and pride was saw yesterday between Leah and Rachel.

What does this mean to me? We are all born into sin. We are all sinners, we will always be sinners because no one can compete with Jesus who was perfect. Despite our sins, God still loves us. We are His children and he loves us and only wants the best for us. He knows we are not perfect, but if we confess and acknowledge our sins to Him, he will forgive us.

And while these chapters of the Bible are historic in nature and great reads to learn the history of our creation, they are also and example of “how not to” be a Christian.