Genesis 31:43 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?
Laban seems fairly reasonable here–until we remember the fact that he tricked Jacob into marrying Leah after seven years of working for Rachel. Then he got another seven years of work out of Jacob as he worked for Rachel (again). He became a rich man (richer man?) as Jacob tended his flocks. I think he’s afraid he’s losing his meal ticket here.
Genesis 31:44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
Jacob, at last, seems to be seeking God, seeking God’s will. God told him in a dream to go back to his father’s land, that He, God, would protect him. That’s positive progress for a man who tricked his father and brother for a blessing he was promised at birth. When seeking the point of this section, one source suggests: “This passage teaches us the cost of bad family relationships, and also the importance of obeying God.” I could see that.
Genesis 31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
Precious Savior, Jacob’s story has been and continues to be a long, winding, deceit-filled tale. But, finally, he seems to be hearing Your voice, listening to You. Help me not to be so stubborn and hard-headed when it comes to seeking You, seeing You, listening to You. And when I inevitably am just as intractable, please love me just as fiercely as I fumble towards You. Amen.
Genesis 31:46 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.
Have a blessed day.