King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 24 notes
1And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory.
2And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
3And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
4And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
5And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
Jacob counts his blessings and sees that the Lord had been with him. In subsequent verses he tells of how God had revealed to him in a vision the method by which he was to be rich.
6And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
7And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
8If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
What a blessed man he was. Nature was favouring him.
I now understand the blessing.
For nature to turn and favour him in this strange way 10 times, there was something upon him.
And Laban detested him for that.
Lord bless me
9Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
10And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
Do we see the source of this technology of producing? It was by revelation in a dream.
11And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
12And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
When we go through impossible situations in life, God knows. He may be quiet but knows every single thing we are going through. And in the background he is working things together for our good. Just that in the difficult time it is so hard to remember that God is with you. That’s where faith comes in.
…thou would have sent me away empty handed
You see, Laban was such a shrewd and wicked man. After 20 years of working, Jacob might have blessed Laban by at least close to 20,000 flock. And yet he would have sent Jacob away empty.
Interestingly Laban was no pagan nor atheist. Indeed, he showed faith when he swore by the God of Abraham; he indeed demonstrated such faith in him that he was willing to let his sister go with a stranger, because that stranger, Eliezer, came in the name of God and with presents of course.
Yet Laban could as well demonstrate such wickedness to a fellow brother and kinsman.
There are many things to be said about the Laban-Jacob relationship. Consider this, that for every increase in the flock of Laban, however wicked he was, it was an increase also into Jacob’s account, because later when Jacob was mating the flock, it was these same large flock that produced the speckled offspring. So the more they were, the more were Jacob’s flock.
Though at the time of Jacob’s faithfulness, he didn’t know he was working for himself. That’s one good lesson to bear in mind as we work for seemingly wicked and unfair bosses.
It is such an easy thing for God to bless. I am an eyewitness to this.
Just keep pace and keep in step with the Lord.
He will bless. And like in Jacob’s case, God watched on as if he did not care or have any plans, but at just the right time God released his wisdom and blessed Jacob supernaturally.
And the proof of the blessing, the proof that there was something supernatural on Jacob, was that 10 good times Laban changed the conditions of Jacob’s contract and ten good times supernaturally God blessed Jacob by causing the animals to birth for him.
13I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.
An interesting description. “I am the God of Bethel”. So Jacob, who lived among idolatrous men, knows exactly who it is that is speaking to him.
God takes vows seriously and he tells us not to be rash to vow in his presence, lest we be found fools.
This is what Esau did and lost his blessings.
He was to return to the place of promise.
Having now overdone His part of the vow, God asked Jacob to return, yes, return to the place of the vow.
It was time to move. 2 decades had passed and God had been faithful throughout.
14And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?
15Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.
Laban was such a crook, he even cheated his own daughters.
Laban was so profit-conscious and shrewd. He loved gain; he gave Rebecca out after having received some gifts.
Now he gave his two daughters out for service and he was rich by it.
16For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
If you treat your wife and family well, they will support you no matter what.
Though family 👪 can give headaches sometimes.
17Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
18And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
19And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.
The shadows and strongholds of the past.
This polytheist breed. She saw the God of Bethel obviously as one of the many god options.
She did not know he was the True God. After Noah, man had so strayed from the truth that now men worshipped all sorts of gods.
It is believed in the African traditional religion that these gods lead to the Supreme one.
Could it be that Rachael took the gods so her father could not divine 🔮 by these.
20And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
21So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.
22And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
23And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
24And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
Ah, now God was fighting for his interest.
The blessing on Jacob was speaking and speaking loud 🔊.
25Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.
26And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?
27Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
28And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
Of course this was a lie... He was never going to release Jacob.
29It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
God was just as one of the gods to Laban...
Polytheists do not seem to recognize there is only one God.
Well, that is why they are Polytheists.
So after this warning ⚠, this is Laban’s version of not speaking good or bad.
How did Laban know that this was the God of Isaac?
Except that God might have introduced himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
30And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
31And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
32With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.
33And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.
34Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.
35And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.
36And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
37Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.
Now Jacob had a justifiable reason to say all that was in his heart ♥ for once, in the presence of witnesses and brothers.
The brothers of whom the blessing said they would be under him. And indeed they had become so.
And by being under him, it was seen in his material dominance.
38This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
Twenty years of honest labour.
39That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
40Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
41Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Changed his wages 10 times in 6 years, hmm? Such a crook. It takes cattle nine months to deliver and they can give birth from age 2 every single year for about 14 to 20 years. Yep.
So here’s what I see. After Laban separated all the speckled cattle, he noticed in nine months’ time that the cattle still produced speckled, so he decided to change the deal, i.e. Jacob’s wages. So in a matter of 6 years, that is 72 months, 8 nine-months, he changed his wages 10 times. That is very possible.
Because right after the arrangement below.
42Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
43And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?
Laban, such a liar and so shameless. Let me now check sef what his name meant. Like seriously, LABAN means WHITE, such a contrary. Or maybe it’s in reference to whitewashed tombs.
And such are the people in this world. Liars and deceivers.
44Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
45And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
46And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.
47And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
48And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
49And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.
50If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.
51And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee;
52This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.
So 100 years down the line, when descendants of them both or any people passing by saw the heap in this desolate wasteland, though they may not understand what the covenant was, it would suffice them knowing a covenant was made here and the stones ought to be left untouched.
I wonder if our generation would have left such covenant stones in place. I’m sure we would just destroy it and belittle its significance.
53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
What was this fear of Isaac he kept saying?
He mentions the God of Abraham but says the fear of Isaac.
54Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
55And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.
Laban was a shrewd businessman 👨. He made sure to secure 🔐 what he had gotten through subtlety and to preserve his future 🔮.
Jacob also did his. Two shrewd men who understood the need to secure wealth and patents and generations from other shrewd men.