He Overshadows

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

HE OVERSHADOWS

Gen 31:17-24

17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. 19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods. 20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21 So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead. 22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad."

NIV

This is only the beginning of a long narrative regarding what happened between Laban and Jacob. However, we find a point of interest within these verses. After years of Laban deceiving Jacob, changing his wages time after time, we are told Laban is upset that Jacob deceived him by leaving without telling him. We do wonder if the reason was that Laban would have found another reason to deceive Jacob and take his flocks from him. Looking forward we do know that Jacob made a comment to Laban about him taking his daughters back by force. Nevertheless, what we find interesting here is that God spoke to Laban in a dream. We remember that Laban is Rebekah’s brother, a son of Bethuel, who was a nephew of Abraham. Although we know from later in this narrative, Laban had his family gods, which would have meant he left behind the God of Abraham and made gods of his own. This would mean both Leah and Rachel grew up in a pagan household and Laban did not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob. Yet, Elohiym, the one true God spoke to this man who had other gods, but the power of the one true God overshadows all other gods and spoke into the life of what we would consider an unbeliever. We also know that Almighty God whom we serve overshadows anything else we might consider of value or worth in this world. Of course, we use Jesus as our point of contact with the Father, yet He has sent the Spirit to dwell within us so that we would be revealed all truth. Jesus made it very clear that we cannot serve two masters. He used God and money, but money can represent all that this of value in this world. We can only serve God. Still, there is one more point and it is what God told Laban. “Be careful not to say anything the Jacob, either good or bad”. Could that apply to how we deal with other people? Certainly, we would think we need to be encouragers, meaning saying something. Yet, we know from later in this narrative, that Laban did not follow the command of God, and accused Jacob of stealing, his household gods. Laban was more concerned about what he had created than what God had created. We can never allow ourselves to get distracted from the one true God by any of the gods of this world. Let us always be attentive to the voice of God, however He speaks into our hearts and minds, and follow His directions, His plans, and His Light that overshadows our lives.