Whom Do You Fear? - Genesis 31:22-55
INTRODUCTION:
Two Sundays ago we left Jacob as he fled from Haran with his family and with all that God had blessed him. He had left secretly without telling Laban and while Laban was away shearing sheep. Jacob was afraid of Laban, was afraid that if Laban knew he would prevent Jacob from leaving or would take away everything that God had given him and send him away empty-handed. Jacob must learn that whom he is fearing is not to be feared, because what God has provided, He will also protect. Jacob must learn the object of his fear must be God and God alone.
What does it mean to fear God? To fear God means that we have begun to understand who God is, that He is the Creator of the universe; that He is the Almighty One and there is none that oppose Him. He alone is Sovereign overall and is the One who holds all things together. When we begin to understand about how holy, awesome and powerful God is, that He is perfectly righteous, knows all and is all powerful then our proper response is fear. When we understand that He is the final authority and because of His holiness He cannot tolerate sin and due to His holiness sin must be judged. When we understand this our proper response is fear. What do I mean when I say fear, the Hebrew word means “to be afraid, to tremble, to revere, to dread, to be in awe of something or someone, or to dread something or someone.” When I begin to understand who God is in relation to me I fear Him in all these ways. I am afraid when I think of how great He is, I tremble at His great power and His judgments. I revere Him because He alone is worthy of my worship. I stand in dread of His holiness, that it might consume me. I stand in awe of God because He is God; that alone should cause me to fear Him. This is one side of God that we do not hear about very often, and we do not talk about fearing Him very often, we want only to talk about God’s love and His grace and His mercy, but we cannot enjoy those until we understand who God is and why we so desperately need His love, mercy, and grace so that we are not consumed by His judgment demanded by His holiness. No wonder the Psalmist wrote, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10a, NASB95)[1]
--LET’S PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Genesis 31:22-55, we are going to learn this morning that fearing God removes all other fear. Please stand as I read God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Genesis 31:22-55,
“When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, ‘Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.’ Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre; and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, “Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.” Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?’ Then Jacob replied to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself.’ For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. She said to her father, ‘Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me.’ So he searched but did not find the household idols. Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, ‘What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.’ Then Laban replied to Jacob, ‘The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.’ Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. Jacob said to his kinsmen, ‘Gather stones.’ So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, ‘This heap is a witness between you and me this day.’ Therefore it was named Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, ‘May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other. If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.’ Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.’ So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain. Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.” (Genesis 31:22–55, NASB95)[2]
THE FEAR OF LABAN (Genesis 31:22-30)
Three days after Jacob has fled from the presence of Laban and has begun to return to his father, it is discovered and reported to Laban. But not only have they left, but also Laban’s household idols are missing and the assumption is made that Jacob must have stolen them when he left. No doubt Laban is upset with the disrespect that Jacob showed him by leaving without giving him a chance to say good-bye to his daughters and his grandchildren, but more serious than that, of more concern is the missing household gods. Donald Sunukjian writes, “These household gods were small images that were passed down from generation to generation. They were the center of the family worship.” Laban was not a follower of the God of Abraham, he did not deny the God of Abraham, but He was just one god among many in Laban’s eyes. Sunukjian continues, “These household gods were viewed as the spiritual force responsible for the family’s prosperity. In each generation, these household images would be passed on to the eldest in the family, and would continue to be honored and worshipped as the source of the family’s ongoing fortunes.”[3]
Rachel by taking these gods is showing her family that their reliance on them is useless, that these gods are worthless, they have no power. These gods could not protect Laban’s prosperity, they brought no fortune to Laban’s family. The family she was leaving was no longer rich, their prosperity had dwindled over the past 6 years, all of the family’s wealth had gone over to Jacob. Jacob’s God was stronger, Rachel had stolen Laban’s gods, I believe to show him that they were useless, that they possess no power.
Laban is going to set out after Jacob, when he overtakes him he will accuse him of disrespect and maybe even take back what he believes is his, but most important to him, the thing he fears the most is the loss of his gods and he wants to get them back. Laban and his kinsman pursue Jacob for seven days and finally overtake him in the hill country of Gilead. Remember Jacob is moving all his flocks, his family, his household goods so his progress is slow. Laban is not encumbered by these things so he is able to move faster and overtake them. Upon overtaking them, God comes to Laban in a dream and warns him that he is not to harm Jacob in any way, do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.
Laban wastes no time in confronting Jacob, he spews out his anger and accusations against him. “Why did you sneak off?” I could have thrown a big going away party for you and sent you off properly.” Why didn’t you let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren goodbye?” “You have acted foolishly! You have acted wrongly—and you have stolen my gods, and I want them back. The God of your father spoke to me last night, otherwise I might have done you harm, because I have the power to harm you, but I will leave that to the gods. You have stolen my gods and I want them back.” You see as Laban accuses Jacob of having stolen his gods, the confrontation now becomes a battle of the gods; Laban’s gods against Jacob’s God. Can Laban’s gods assert themselves? Can they reveal themselves among Jacob’s belongings? Can Laban’s gods bring his daughters and grandchildren back home with him? Can his gods punish Jacob and deprive him of what he has? Can his gods restore Laban’s fortune back to him and his sons? Can Laban’s gods and their blessing be passed on again, from generation to generation in Laban’s family? As this confrontation becomes a battle of the gods, the question of God protecting what He has provided moves into a larger dimension. The question no longer is can God protect Jacob from an angry father-in-law, or from a greedy, manipulative employer who continually tries to cheat him. The question is now raised, can God protect Jacob from these gods, these hostile spiritual forces? Can God protect him from the evil powers behind these gods, the demonic forces they represent? God has provided for Jacob abundantly against all odds, can He protect what He has provided against these gods.
That is a question each of us must answer, can God protect us from Satan’s desire to harm us? Ultimately, he is our enemy. Behind any human opposition, behind any economic tragedy, behind any threat or attack, behind any attempt to take God’s blessing from us, behind it all is our enemy Satan. The question is: Can God protect what He has provided? So Laban has changed the human confrontation to a spiritual one, and he is saying whose god is stronger, more powerful? Now understand, Laban’s gods have gotten off to a bad start, they could not prevent themselves from being stolen and carted off.
THE FEAR OF JACOB (Genesis 31:31-42)
Jacob is stung by Laban’s two accusations and to the first that he was disrespectful for the way he left he admits that he feared Laban, he was afraid if he told Laban he was leaving and returning home that Laban would take his daughters from Jacob by force. But as to the accusation that he has stolen Laban’s gods Jacob denies it because he did not know that Rachel had stolen them. Still a bit fearful of Laban and not knowing what is going to happen he tells Laban to search through their belongings and if he finds anything that is his to take it and put it before them and if the gods are found, the person who has them will be put to death.
Laban begins a search for his household gods, believing that with their power and help, he will restore his fortune and secure the future for himself and his sons. Searching through each tent yields no success, he cannot find his gods, they are not revealing themselves, they are not asserting themselves. On the contrary, they are insulted, they are shown to be impotent, they are humiliated. The purpose of this is to show us how powerless Satan is when God is committed to bless us. The humiliation of the gods, the insult is that a woman is supposedly menstruating on them. This time in a woman’s monthly cycle made her unclean and made anything she sat on unclean. Rachel sits on her father’s gods, deliberately contaminating them, to hide them from her father and daring them to have any power to do anything about the humiliation she is causing them. She is showing as much contempt for them as possible; they are impotent, useless, nothing. Her husband’s God is the only real God, the only God with power and He will protect what He has provided for them.
Laban’s search turns up nothing, the gods are still missing, they did not reveal themselves. Jacob sees that Laban is defeated, empty, his worst fear has come true, he does not know what to do next. Jacob now knows that God is protecting him from Laban and we see Jacob attack. Laban came at him with accusations, Jacob has some accusations of his own and he launches into Laban. Where are your gods? You come accusing me and have no evidence to back it up. I worked for you for twenty years, and what appreciation did I get? None. I worked hard for you, but you took advantage of me at every opportunity. Every time it looked like I might be getting ahead you changed my wages. Ten times you did this! Then Jacob gives the glory to God, but listen to what he says about God, how he refers to Him. “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.” (Genesis 31:42, NASB95)[4] The fear of Isaac, I believe this is very significant because this whole passage is about fear and Jacob is beginning to understand that there is only one thing that needs to be feared and that is God. He is saying to Laban, fear God because he has rendered judgment when He spoke to you in that dream last night. You cannot touch me and your gods are powerless against me. Jacob is beginning to understand who God is, and that this God is the only God and we must fear Him, we must understand that He is holy, He is sovereign, He is all powerful and He alone is to be feared and worshipped. Jacob realizes that God has provided and protected him, and he acknowledges that this is the God who is to be feared, so much so that He calls Him the Fear of Isaac.
THE FEAR OF ISAAC (Genesis 31:43-55)
Laban is defeated, he is the one who will return home empty-handed. He acknowledges that God has taken from him everything and given it to Jacob and there is nothing he can do about it, he is powerless against him.
Laban realizes that the tables have turned and he is the one in need of protection. Protection from Jacob and Jacob’s God, the Fear of Isaac. He understands that God’s blessing is going to remain on Jacob and he is going to grow stronger and more powerful as the years go by. Laban is worried that Jacob might return someday and take revenge for what Laban did to him, and so he asks Jacob to make a covenant with him. This covenant is the severing of the ties with Abraham’s family in Haran. Laban wants a peace treaty, a covenant that Jacob will treat his daughters well and that Jacob will not return some day to harm him. The pillar and the heap that is set up becomes a boundary marker that neither is to cross. Laban gives it an Aramaic name which means “witness heap” and Jacob gives it a Hebrew name which means the same thing. Laban specifies all the language of the treaty and Jacob allows him to because he never plans to pass that way again, he is returning to his own country and He knows that he does not need this covenant to protect him, because he knows the God whom he fears will protect him. The heap and stone pillar also became known by the Hebrew name “Mizpah” which was very popular some years ago. A coin was made that had verse 49 on it, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.” (Genesis 31:49, NASB95)[5] The coin was sold broken in half and you were to give half to someone you loved and keep the other half when you were apart. The problem with this is that this is not a blessing for two people who love each other, these stones that were a witness and a watchtower (the meaning of the word Mizpah) where not a witness to their friendship, nor a watching over them until they were together again, these stones were witnesses to their mutual distrust of one another and watching over them that they did not pass the stones to harm the other. Laban calls upon a number of gods to judge between Jacob and himself to keep this covenant. He names the God of Abraham, the god of Nahor who apparently were the household gods that were passed down to him and the god of their father Terah who we know was not a worshipper of the true God.
Jacob only swore by one God, the true God, the only One worthy of our worship, our awe, our dread and terror at His judgments, Jacob swore upon the Fear of Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice to the only true God and broke bread and ate with Laban and his kinsmen by the pillar and heap to ratify the covenant. They slept there that night and Laban rose early the next morning and has the opportunity to say goodbye to his daughters and grandchildren and then he leaves for his home empty-handed. The wealth, the blessing, the provision, and the power of God stays with Jacob. Jacob is introduced to the Fear of Isaac, he learns that he no longer needs to fear man, but that is a hard lesson to learn as we will see in the next chapter.
CONCLUSION:
I do not think it is by accident that we are introduced to this name of God, the Fear of Isaac. God wants us to learn, just as Jacob needed to learn that He and only He is to be feared. Our God is a holy God and He judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart and His judgment is just and based upon His perfect holiness. We have every reason to fear God, but we also have every reason to praise Him for His great love for us and His willingness to offer us His mercy and His grace through the perfect sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Whom do you fear? Laban feared His worthless idols. Jacob struggles with fearing man and what man can do to him, but he is learning that the only one truly worthy of his fear is the God that is committed to provide for him and protect him. Whom will you fear today? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of an understanding of Who it is that has us in the hollow of His hand and calls us His children by our faith in the finished work of His Son, Jesus Christ.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]Sunukjian, Donald R., Invitation to the Life of Jacob: Winning Through Losing. Wooster, OH : Weaver Book Co., 2014
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995