Camp of God

Genesis 32. Jacob fled from one enemy on his way to meet another potential enemy—brother, Esau, whom he had cheated twenty years before. On his way, Jacob was met by the angels of God and exclaimed, “This is the camp of God”. There are no details to reveal what actually happened, but I wonder whether Jacob was met by a cohort of angels, rather than just one or two heavenly messengers? In any case, Jacob had certainly experienced a visible reminder of God’s promised protection.

Jacob prepared the way for his meeting with Esau by sending a messenger to inform him of the approach of Jacob’s family and that things had gone well with Jacob. Rather than a case of bragging about how well he had done, Jacob was most likely letting Esau know that he was comfortable, and had no intention of cheating Esau to gain more wealth.

The messenger returned more quickly than expected with the unwelcome news that Esau was on his way with 400 men. Such an approach from the brother who had been eager to kill him twenty years ago was not comforting to Jacob! “In great fear and distress” he divided his company in such a way that all would not be lost if Esau attacked him. In the stress of the moment, perhaps Jacob had forgotten that God’s angels were present with him. But he hadn’t forgotten God’s promise and he prayed:

(1) He reminded God of their relationship.
(2) He indicated that he had been obedient.
(3) He told God that he knew he did not deserve God’s kindness.
(4) He asked for God’s help.
(5) He reminded God of His promises.

While this prayer is not generally cited as one of the “great prayers” of the Bible, it is a good prayer and model for us in times of trouble. Jacob simply reminded God of who God was, who he was in relationship to God, and he asked God for his help.

Not only praying, Jacob then acted, preparing fine gifts to present Esau. “A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.” (Prov. 18:16) Jacob sent his gifts on ahead, hoping to pacify Esau before they actually met face to face.

The story again illustrates God’s presence with Jacob, but it also shows that we need not be completely passive in the Christian life. God will protect and care for us, but we do well to plan, think and act within the parameters of godly living. Jacob prayed and asked for God’s help and he also did what he could to help repair his relationship with Esau.

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Mizpah

Genesis 31:22-55. No sooner did Laban learn of Jacob’s flight than he pursued him, but God confronted him in a dream, warning him to be careful what he said to Jacob. Laban took the supposed high ground in the heated discussion, telling Jacob he would have given him a good send-off if he had only known when he was leaving. He also accused Jacob of stealing the household gods. Jacob was incensed at the charge, but Rachel continued the family pattern of deception by hiding them from her father, and getting away with it.

Jacob presented the reality of his integrity to Laban, bringing up the following points about his character and treatment of Laban: (1) He had taken good care of Laban’s flocks. (2) He had born the loss when wild animals killed any animals in the flock. (3) Laban had also demanded payment from Jacob for anything that had been stolen by thieves. (4) Jacob had worked tirelessly under difficult circumstances for 20 years. (5) Laban had constantly changed the amount he had paid Jacob. (6) Jacob realized that everything he possessed was actually from God and that he had received nothing of any value from Laban.

In spite of this litany of Jacob’s integrity (amazing to think how Jacob had changed, by God’s grace from a man of deceit to a man of integrity!), Laban refused to acknowledge the truth of anything Jacob said. Instead, he proposed a covenant to protect himself from Jacob! This covenant marked the end of the dealings between these two family groups.

It’s a bit amusing to think of how Christian people have liked the idea of “Mizpah: may the Lord keep watch between you and me while we are absent one from the other” presumably without knowing the story behind this saying! Essentially, this was a promise that the two families would not go beyond the borders of the heap of stones at Mizpah to harm each other—it indicated nothing of warm family feeling! Fortunately, the story does end with the two families sitting down for a meal together and a restful night, but that was the end of their story together.

Jacob had learned some important things about the sovereignty of God during his twenty years with Uncle Laban. He had learned that God is our Protector and the determiner of our life span: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall the the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Mt. 10:29-30) He learned that threats of enemies are under God’s control: The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (Ps. 33:10-11) He learned that people cannot harm ultimately harm us: The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Ps. 118: 6)

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Speckled, spotted and streaked

Gen. 30:15-43. Jacob had worked years for father-in-law, Laban, and after the birth of his son, Joseph, thought it was high time that he headed back home to his parents. He certainly didn’t owe Laban a thing, having worked steadfastly during all his time in Padan Aram.

Laban knew a good thing when he saw it though, and admitted that the Lord had blessed him because of Jacob’s wise management of his possessions. He told Jacob that he could “name his wages” if he’d stay and work for him.

Jacob too knew that “the Lord has blessed [Laban] wherever [Jacob] had been” and he came up with a suggestion for building his own flocks, based on whether they were speckled, streaked or spotted. Laban agreed to the wage suggestion, but removed all the spotted, streaked and speckled males from his flocks and removed himself from Jacob by a three-day journey.

I know nothing about animal husbandry, but Jacob managed to induce the flocks to produce spotted, streaked and speckled lambs and he became increasingly prosperous, coming “to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.” So trickster Laban was outwitted by his son-in-law, who this time, did not use treachery as he had in his youth, but the knowledge he had gained by years of working with the flocks and by God’s blessing and provision (see Genesis 31:10-12).

Genesis 31:1-21. Such prosperity did not go unnoticed by Laban’s sons, who essentially accused Jacob of stealing from their father. At this point, the Lord Himself intervened and told Jacob to do what Jacob had wanted to do all along: “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” God had been with Jacob all along, as was obvious by the way Jacob had prospered, but there must have been times when Jacob wondered whether God was actually present as he suffered under Laban’s self-centered control.

Jacob distrusted Laban and his family enough to call Leah and Rachel to come out to the fields for a family conference. He presented his case to them of the need to leave the area, saying that their father had continually cheated him, but he affirmed the fact that God had protected him and prospered him in spite of Laban’s efforts to undermine him. Apparently Rachel and Leah felt that their father had misused them as well, since they indicated their own dissatisfaction with the current living arrangements and agreed eagerly to leave and “do whatever God has told you.” So Jacob and his family fled with all they had, heading for the hill country of Gilead. What Jacob did not know was that Rachel had stolen her father’s household gods on her way out of town.

Jacob could have become a bitter man by this point. Although he was a man of wealth, it had not come to him easily, and he had been mistreated by his father-in-law for years. His situation was somewhat similar to that which his descendants would later endure when they spent forty years in the desert waiting to enter the promised land. Jacob might have resonated with what Moses said to the Israelites hundreds of years later: “The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through the vast desert. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you and you have not lacked anything.” (Deut. 2:7) Hopefully, in the waiting pattern of life with Laban, Jacob had been aware of God’s presence and had felt His hand protecting and guiding him. Blessing had come to him even in the midst of difficulty.

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