Genesis 31: 17-21: “Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s. And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead”
It is good to plan to set out and to communicate with others that we plan to set out but nothing really happens until we actually leave. Jacob finally took his family and all his possessions and left. This was the second time in his life that he had to run away from people he had dealt with. In the first case he ran away from his brother whom he had cheated but in this case he was running away from his father in law who had cheated him. God had sent Abraham to Canaan and promised him that the Land would eventually belong to his family and now Jacob knew that he had to return to the Land that God had chosen for his family or he would never really have rest from his labours. Jacob had made a contract with Laban so he was only taking what was his by right of contract, never the less, he was afraid of Laban because we can see that Laban was a frightening man. Laban would certainly have destroyed Jacob but the Lord stopped him from doing that. We can see that this is a very ancient episode because it refers to an ancient practice. Rachel took her father’s household gods because she knew that the person who possessed the household gods would inherit the estate. They set out for Gilead which was the border of the Land that the Lord had promised to Abraham.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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