Jacob's Return Home

Judging Our Wealth and Happiness by That of Other People 

Bible Study Lessons, Read Genesis 31:1-21

In this lesson for study from Genesis, we see that Jacob returns home in secret after Labon's attitude changes toward him, and the sons of Labon become hostile with jealousy. This is envy to the extreme.

31:1 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth."

2 Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly.

3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field,

5 and said to them, "I see your father's attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me.

6 "You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

7 "Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me.

8 "If he spoke thus, 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, 'The striped shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought forth striped.

9 "Thus God has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me.

10 "And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled.

11 "Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.'

12 "He said, 'Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.

13 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'"

14 Rachel and Leah said to him, "Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house?

15 "Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price.

16 "Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

17 Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels;

18 and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.

19 When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's.

20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing.

21 So he fled with all that he had; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates River, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

Jacob Returns to Canaan in Secret - Jealousy

Jacob is wealthy - Labon's sons are jealous and full of envy. Sound familiar?

Labon treated Jacob in an unfair manner, beginning with the promise of a wife - the woman he loved. Jacob fulfilled all the requirements, became very wealthy and now Labon's sons were extremely jealous of him.

This prompted Jacob to return to Canaan secretly along with the wealth he had accumulated.

Life is Unfair

Have you ever had someone treat you in a way you felt was biased or unfair? Most likely, yes. We have all been in that situation at one time or another; or at least we felt that way.

Reaction Method Makes All the Difference

What was your reaction to being treated in such a manner? Did you react or respond? Did you lash out or forgive? I've heard it said that success is the best revenge (if we are going the vengeful route) and this is what happened between Jacob and Labon. Jacob "took his medicine" so to speak and God blessed him.

Labon's Sons are Furious

This blessing was more than the sons of Labon could tolerate so they let themselves be dragged into the destructive habit of comparing themselves to Jacob in way of wealth and success. We can emphasize with the sons to an extent. After all, they didn't see God working in this - only the fact that their father's fortune (and their inheritence) was dissappearing in front of their eyes.

Envy

Clay Sherman, a well-known management consultant, once said; "Don't blame other people for what you are.". Although this does not exactly apply here, the outcome is similar. When we compare our means to that of others in way of money, belongings, talent or accomplishments, we are headed for failure no matter how successful we become in a physical sense.

Be True to Yourself

You see, we are never going to be that other person no matter how hard we try. It's best to just use what we have - use it best that we can and allow God to bless us in His own way.

The outcome might be totally different from what we expected; maybe not money or accumulation of physical things at all. But, nevertheless, when God is behind it, the blessing will be wonderful and will glorify Him!

Love in Christ

- Bob

Genesis 28:10-22 - Jacob Makes His Covenant with God