What Agreement?

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

WHAT AGREEMENT?

Gen 31:43-55

43 Laban answered Jacob, "The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44 Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us." 45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 He said to his relatives, "Gather some stones." So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. 48 Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah, because he said, "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me." 51 Laban also said to Jacob, "Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. 54 He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.  55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.

NIV

This is the rest of the story; a covenant was made between Laban and Jacob. Interestingly, Laban invokes the God of Abraham, Nabor, and their father, Terah to be the judge between Laban and Jacob. We know that God spoke to Abraham but we have never been told that his father ever heard or believed God. We are also surprised, although we know this, that Laban may not be a pagan, or he still is, and once again, he is just using the God of Jacob as a way to establish a firm separation between himself and Jacob. Laban is Rebekah’s brother and a grandson of Abraham’s brother Nahor, but his father, Bethal was Syrian. We can still be certain Laban did not believe in the God of Abraham. We do not know for certain if Abraham’s brother, Nahor believed in God. Laban still had those household gods, so to use the God of Jacob may have been just another ruse. Laban still insisted Rachel and Leah were his and their children were his and all the sheep and goats in Jacob’s flock were still his. We see he told Jacob, “All you see in mine”, so he has not really come to grips with Jacob owning anything, but what he took from Laban, yet he wants Jacob’s God to keep watch between them. We do wonder why Jacob agreed to this, other than to finally be free of Laban and all his deceit. Paul made it clear there could be no agreement between the righteous and the wicked, or light and darkness, or the temple of God and idols. We should not be yoked, working together for the same cause, with unbelievers. Yet Jacob made an agreement with Laban the man with other gods, and we think it was just to be clear of Laban forever. We do notice Jacob did not take an oath in the name of God, but only in the fear of his father Isaac. Could this have been on purpose as he did not want to make a covenant with Laban in the eyes of God because he knew Laban was not honest in his dealing with Jacob over the past twenty years? This could be our lesson.  First, not to be yoked with unbelievers, not to be engaged with them for the same cause, no matter what that may be. Secondly, we should be wise as serpents, but gentle or humble as doves in our dealings with the ways of the world. However, we should not enter into any agreement with an unbeliever using the name of our Lord as the judge or overseer of our agreement. We and those of the world live under completely different sets of standards. We and those of the world have nothing in common, for we, who are in Christ, are the righteous and they not being in Christ are the wicked. We see this between Jacob and Laban, for God is always referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while Laban had other gods, hench wicked. Let us be wise and humble seeing the truth in this story, and live for God keeping ourselves out of agreements with the wicked.