Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Genesis 30:1-31:16


This passage could also be called "All in the Family."  It is a very complex story of what we would today call a dysfunctional family.  The major complicating factor is MULTIPLE WIVES along with their MAIDS.  It is another study of how the Bible shows a progression away from the polygamy that is prevalent in the Old Testament to the monogamy that characterizes the New Testament.  But that study must await another day.

Chapter 30 tells of the births of eleven sons to Jacob by his two wives and their maids.  It is a story of competition, scheming, jealousy, and mistreatment.  In the midst of this mess, God was working to produce a nation!  Amazing.  I would have probably washed my hands of it and walked away.  But God was steadily, faithfully working even through the serious flaws of Jacob and his wives. 

In Chapter 31, Jacob's nature begins to assert itself again.  Remember, he is a liar, a cheat, and a usurper.  He stole his brother's birthright and blessing.  Jacob is a standard business man we would find in our economic culture today.  He strikes a deal with Laban, his father-in-law, then manipulates the results to produce an advantage for himself.  Jacob is smart.  He knows something about how goats breed and how they inherit certain traits.  He uses this knowledge to swindle his father-in-law and thus to gain great wealth for himself.  Jacob is up to his old tricks again.  He is a cunning and shrewd businessman, but doesn't have a high ethical profile.  Laban can't figure it out, but just knows something is out of whack in the goat business.  Laban's countenance changes toward his son-in-law.  The pot is beginning to boil.

As a result, Jacob must once again flee.  First, he had to run from his brother Esau.  Now he must run from his father-in-law Laban. 

This is more than just a story of how people treat or mistreat each other.  It is a story of how God changed a man.  We are moving toward a climax in which God, in the form of an angel, comes down and has a one-on-one with his problem child, Jacob. 

Final thought:  have you had a one-on-one with the creator of the universe lately?