Jacob had told his wives—Leah and Rachel—of his desire to journey back to the land of promise because of how his father-in-law has been treating him and especially because of the Lord’s directive to return home. His wives mention that their father hasn’t been treating them well either, and they state: “Whatever God has said to you, do.” With that it’s settled—the family of seventeen members, plus the animals and workers will journey back to Canaan.

The question is how. The last time Jacob stated his desire to leave, Laban talked him into staying and was deceitful in the wages paid to Jacob. At the back of his mind is the thought—and I don’t think it’s a delusional thought—that Laban just might try to force Jacob to stay. This is a tricky one—and Christians have friendly debates as to whether Jacob’s very quick and secret departure was done because he doubted God or because that’s how God intended for it to happen.

I suppose it’s kind of like that story of someone trapped on a roof during a flood. Each time a moment of rescue arrives, the person says, “No, thank you, I trust God to save me,” not realizing that those moments of rescue were God’s means of salvation.

The secret and quick departure of Jacob and his family may have been a moment of doubt, but it also may have been the necessary way of leaving, like Joseph and Mary secretly and quickly bringing baby Jesus down to Egypt to avoid the murderous intentions of Herod.

By the time word got to Laban, Jacob was already three days into the journey. This is when we learn that Jacob’s suspicions were probably correct. Laban took some relatives and chased down Jacob’s much slower moving caravan during the next seven days. By his later admission, Laban would have intended harm had God not intervened to stop him.

For in a dream, God told Laban, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” This maybe isn’t the best translation of a Hebrew idiom. Certainly, the Lord is saying “don’t say anything bad to Jacob.” But God isn’t necessarily forbidding him from saying anything good. Scripture says that we should speak of our neighbors in the best possible way. A better way to understand what God tells Laban is: “don’t try to convince him to go back to Haran and don’t speak ill of him.” He is to speak with kind, neutral words.

Laban doesn’t entirely listen to the Lord’s rebuke. Once he catches Jacob, he accuses Jacob of trickery and deceit, he accuses Jacob of kidnapping his daughters like they’re prisoners of war, he accuses Jacob of robbing him the opportunity of throwing a going away party, and he accuses Jacob of stealing his idols.

Everyone standing around the two men knows that most of the accusations are just silly and untrue—not even worth being addressed. Jacob didn’t kidnap his own wives and children—far from it. They all knew Laban would never throw a going away party. And Jacob wasn’t a worshiper of manmade idols.

Jacob addresses Laban’s most pressing concerns. Speaking in a direct manner, not holding back, Jacob says, “I was afraid.” He was afraid that had Laban found out Jacob was really leaving with his family, he would have forced a separation so that Jacob would go back to the promised land with nothing. And, judging by the way Laban has treated Jacob from the beginning and how Laban hunted Jacob down like a criminal, his fear wasn’t just paranoia.

As to the stolen idols—Jacob had no idea what Laban was talking about. His beloved wife had taken her father’s idols without Jacob’s knowledge. Several theories have been proposed for why she would have done this. Some think it was maybe to spite her father so that the “power” of the idols wouldn’t work for him. Others think it might have been as a rebuke of her father’s idolatry. But a lot of people think she wanted to “use” them, either thinking they would bring an extra layer of protection or economic prosperity to their family as they moved to a brand-new place. Rachel’s allegiance may have been torn so that she sinfully worshiped the one true God and her father’s false idols.

It seems the last answer could be the right one, given that she hides the fact that she took them from her husband. Unless we’re talking about a gift or not breaking someone’s trust, if you’re hiding something from your spouse it probably means you’re doing something wrong. One can feel pity for Jacob who trusts his household to the point that he would deny that anyone in his household took Laban’s idols. He feels this so strongly that he hastily and foolishly vows death to whoever took them, having no idea it was his favorite wife who betrayed his trust.

Laban searches from tent to tent, not finding a single trace of anything belonging to him. Keep in mind, Rachel did steal from Laban. But Jacob didn’t, and he has no idea that she did. So, it’s not hard to imagine Jacob’s blood beginning to boil. He finally calls Laban out, and says, “Name one thing I actually did wrong—one crime—for which you are hounding me like a criminal.” Jacob recounts the number of years he served Laban, how hard he worked for Laban, the way he allowed himself to be burdened more so as to unburden Laban when things went bad with the flock. Jacob experiences flashbacks to the freezing winter nights, the scorching summer days, and the lack of sleep while he relentlessly cared for Laban’s flock. But Laban merely paid him back with deceitful wages and accusations. Laban had shown himself to be a man who probably would have sent Jacob home with nothing.

Yet, through all the suffering and affliction, Jacob has had one on his side—the Lord his God. He says, “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.” In opposition to the idolatry surrounding Laban, Jacob confesses faith in the God of his father: the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac. This distinguishes Jacob’s God from any fake idol that Laban worshiped.

Jacob’s God is the God that his father worships and the God that his grandfather Abraham worshiped. He identifies himself with the God who promised to make Abraham into a great nation of people. Ancient Israel and everyone who believes in Christ Jesus is a spiritual descendant of Abraham. God promised to give Abraham’s descendants the land—the land of Canaan and the heavenly promised land that we all await. God promised to bless all the families of the earth through one of Abraham’s future offspring—Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by His death and resurrection that justifies the ungodly. Jacob identifies himself with a specific God, who we know to be the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jacob likewise identifies God with an interesting description. I’ve read today’s Old Testament readings several times during my life, and each time I must have glossed over the title “the Fear of Isaac.” In Jacob’s mind the description of God equals “fear” with a capital “F”.

The word used for fear in the Bible’s original languages has multiple nuances to it. It can mean to be afraid. It can mean to express awe. It can mean to have reverence toward God. Often times in the Old Testament the word “fear” is related to faith—trust. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom because it is the beginning of faith. “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” It would be equally valid for the passage to say, “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be trusted.” A proper fear, awe, and reverence of God and who He is and what He does is important. It is the heart of faith. The Lutheran Study Bible says, “Fear… awe and reverence of God… is closely related to trust because we can truly respect and reverence God only when we believe that He is truly everything that His Word says He is.” I can’t remember where I saw it, but I read somewhere this week that when we properly fear God, we have nothing else to fear.

After Jacob gave Laban a verbal tongue lashing, Laban backs down by trying to save face. He declares that everything Jacob has from his wives to his children to his animals belong to Laban, but he’s not going to argue further. While it’s true that Jacob came to Laban with nothing and that Jacob did technically receive these things from Laban, it’s also a very full-of himself response by Laban. While a grandfather will have a special place in his heart for his daughters and grand-children, it can also be recognized that Laban did give his daughters away in marriage. They belonged to Jacob and Jacob belonged to them. Jacob also worked to be given the hand of his wives in marriage—despite Laban’s trickery in setting Jacob up to marry both sisters. Jacob then worked hard for the animals he received from Laban as wages. It’s not as though Jacob stole Laban’s daughters and animals.

Again, trying to boost his ego, Laban wants to make a covenant—a peace agreement—with Jacob. This wasn’t a good faith peace agreement. Throughout the terms of the agreement, Laban insulted Jacob and insinuated that he was an evil man who couldn’t be trusted. But Jacob let all these things roll off his shoulder. He didn’t seek to get even with Laban. He didn’t attempt to trade insults and accusations back and forth. Jacob wanted to make peace and be done with it.

For Jacob trusted the Lord to go with him as He promised. He trusted the Lord to fulfill the promises that had been made to his grandfather Abraham, his father Isaac, and himself. He trusted the big picture—that God had chosen his family in spite of their dysfunctions, weaknesses, sins, and doubts and all—so that salvation may come to the whole world through the eventual descendant Jesus.

When we have Jesus on our side, the things we face in our daily lives, though they matter, they don’t have to cripple us. We can endure all things through Him who endured everything for us. That was a lesson the Lord was teaching Jacob—a lesson that would continue to be taught through the rest of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God has chosen you in Jesus in spite of your dysfunction, weaknesses, sins, and doubts and all. He knows your desires and thoughts. He knows your sin. And yet, He gifts you the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation from death and hell through Jesus’ cleansing, precious blood. In pure grace and mercy, God said, “I’m going to save that sinner, and I’m going to do it through the Spirit’s power in Word and Sacrament that connects that sinner to Jesus, so that that sinner may be my cleansed and forgiven child.”

You can endure all suffering through Christ, because the Lord is with you. The God of Abraham is your God. The Fear of Isaac is your Fear. The God who led Jacob along the way is the God who has promised to be with you always and to never leave you nor forsake you. Amen.