and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.
Jacob calls his two wives out to the field where he is with the flock. He tells them what he has seen: Laban's face has turned against him, yet God has stayed with him. Two facts stand side by side: a man's favour withdrawn, God's favour unchanged. But is Jacob telling his wives the whole story?
A face that no longer welcomes him
The change Jacob reads in Laban's expression is not an isolated moment. It comes with the muttering of Laban's sons, and it arrives at the same time as a word from God telling him to go home. One writer puts the two side by side, and notes that God had already settled the money side:
William KellyThe LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and full of steadfast love. Laban's sons complained, and Laban's own face showed his discontent — and no wonder. So the LORD told Jacob to return to the land of his fathers, to his own relatives. God's providence paid Jacob in five or six years the wages Laban had cheated him out of for twenty. They wanted to get rid of Jacob, but would not say so. After all, what did Laban own before Jacob came?
With him, but not approving him
Jacob's claim is true. But God being with him is not the same as God approving what he had been doing in those years:
Leslie M. GrantHow grand a word this is. Even though Jacob was not living as he should (and he knew it), the Lord said, "I am with you." Can the Lord go with a believer on a wrong course? Well, He did not say He approved of the way Jacob was living. Yet He still said, "I am with you" — and He was with Jacob. Later, Jacob treated Laban badly far too many times, but the Lord blessed him anyway.
The part of the story Jacob leaves out
Jacob's speech to Rachel and Leah is a case for the defence. Everything he says about Laban is accurate; the gap is in what he does not mention:
Leslie M. GrantSo Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to come out to him where he was with the flock. He told them the facts about Laban's changed attitude. He does defend himself in the whole matter: it would have been better if he had not done so. However, it was true that he had served Laban with great diligence... He does not tell them about his own trickery. He had managed to hide that from everyone except the Lord.
Deceit handed back
Jacob had left home after deceiving his father. One writer reads his years with Laban as the same coin handed back to him:
William KellyNo doubt he often had to suffer from Laban's deceit. But was this not a reminder of his own deceit? He is deceived about his wife, about his wages, about everything. But how had he treated his father — not to mention his brother? Deceit must meet deceit under the hand of God, who repays. Do not wonder too much at the story of Jacob. Bless with all your heart the God who cares for His servant. After Jacob had suffered a while, God made him prosper — slowly, but surely.
Why he schemed when he did not need to
If God had been with him all along, as he tells his wives, the years of clever bargaining were not needed. One writer traces that scheming back to its root:
C. H. MackintoshAll his hard work and scheming, like his miserable bargain before, comes from not knowing God's grace. He could not put full confidence in God's promise... You would have thought that Jacob's vision had told him a story of grace. But what God showed him at Bethel and what Jacob did at Haran are two very different things. What he did at Haran shows what he had made of what God said. How a person lives is the real measure of what he has experienced and believes, whatever he may claim.
A pattern larger than one man
One writer sees Jacob's twenty years abroad as a picture of his descendants living among the nations. He was resented and mistreated, and yet he grew rich:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinWhen the crisis came, the LORD spoke. "Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred; and I will be with you." This is the first time the LORD spoke since the vision at Bethel... What comfort it must have been to hear "I have seen all that Laban is doing to you." The Lord watched over Jacob. Laban hated him, and still Jacob prospered. So Israel, scattered among the nations and hated by them, increases and prospers.
Back to where it started
The God who tells him to leave names Himself by the place where Jacob first met Him:
F. B. HoleGod called him back to the land of promise. In doing so He revealed Himself as "the God of Bethel," reminding Jacob of the pillar he anointed and the vow he made. God brought him back to the beginning of his direct dealings with Him. This is always God's way with His people. We may wander away, but we have to come back to the original spot we departed from. The point of departure proves to be the place of recovery.
Summary
- The face. Laban's changed expression and his sons' complaints mark the end of Jacob's time in that house. God's word to leave arrives at that very moment.
- The presence. "The God of my father has been with me" is true, yet God saying I am with you was never the same as God approving Jacob's methods.
- The silence. Jacob tells his wives everything Laban did to him, but nothing of his own trickery. He hid that from everyone except the Lord.
- The discipline. The man who deceived his father was then deceived about his wife, his wages, and everything else. Deceit met deceit — and God still cared for him and made him prosper.
- The return. God calls him back as "the God of Bethel." The place where we first met God is the place where He restores us.