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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. And then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. Okay, Jacob had a three-day head start, but he had lots of flocks and lots of people that he was driving across the wilderness.
So at best, he was maybe going 20 miles a day, and that's a good pace. But Laban, without the flocks and without the huge entourage, he had some men, but he could drive it hard all day long. And one evening, he saw the encampment of Jacob, and he camped there that evening and was getting all ready to get in the next day and confront him. I believe that Laban wanted to kill him, and you'll see why in just a moment. Verse 23, he took his brethren with him, pursued him for seven days' journey, overtook him in the mountains of Gilead, but God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said to him, be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad, or literally from good to bad. Don't let this conversation be impassioned with your own desire.
Don't let it go from good to bad. I believe he had fully intended to kill Jacob, and you'll hear some of the language that he uses in the confrontation. Now, from verse 22 onward is the second part of the chapter. It's the earthly confrontation. After the heavenly confirmation, he goes. Now the earthly confrontation, he catches up with him. So Laban overtook Jacob, verse 25. Now Jacob pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, what have you done that you have stolen away unknown to me and carried away my daughters? Like captives taken with the sword.
Oh, he's so melodramatic. Why did you flee away secretly and steal away from me and not tell me, for I might have sent you away with joy and songs with timbrel and harp. Yeah, sure, you would have.
I'd have thrown a big party, man, cake and music and really cool stuff. You have deprived your own family of a party. And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing. It is in my power to do you harm. Bullies love to throw that out. But the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.
Of course, it doesn't sound like he's listening. And now you have surely gone because you greatly longed for your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?
What a great question. How would you like to have gods that could be stolen? What a worthless God. I can't find my gods. Did you steal my gods? My gods have been kidnapped. Not much of a God if you have to watch it, if it can't watch you, if it can't take care of you, keep you from getting lost, you have to keep it from getting stolen. Why did you steal my gods? I can't get over that verse. Jacob answered and said to Laban, because I was afraid.
That's an honest statement. For I said, perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force. Fear is an awful taskmaster. Fear will keep you from fulfilling all of the potential God has for you. It's a self imprisonment 63 times the Bible says fear not.
And that's worth the study by the way, go to your concordance or your computer and type that in fear not. And notice all the times the Lord commands his people not to be afraid. One of the most notable ones is the daughter of the synagogue in Capernaum. She fell sick. She was at the point of death. The ruler of the synagogue came to Jesus in Luke chapter eight and said, Oh Lord, please, you've got to come and heal my daughter. He had just a little bit of hope and the hope was in Christ alone, but he just had that thin thread. Daughters about to die. But then the hope vanished when somebody came to him and said, don't even bother the master.
Your daughter is already dead. Now at that moment, great fear filled that man. Jesus turned to him and said, Do not be afraid.
Only believe. Do not be afraid. Only believe the cure for fear is faith.
In fact, they're mutually exclusive. If you are a fearful person, you don't have faith. If you're filled with faith, you won't be filled with fear.
One cancels out the other. Don't be afraid. Only believe.
Jesus healed that young girl. He said, I was afraid. I said, perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force. Now listen to what he says.
And how bold he gets. With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. And Laban went into Jacob's tent into Leah's tent into the two maids tents, but did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.
It's getting warmer. Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the cattle's saddle. A camel's saddle was probably simply a blanket or a cloth folded up and placed on the camel back then. And that's what she was seated on. And she sat on them.
And Laban searched all about the tent, but did not find them. Now watch this. And she said to her father, let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you for the manner of women is with me. In other words, dad, I'd love to get up, but you know, it's that time of month.
I'm having the menstrual period and otherwise I'd love to give you the customary greeting. So where do you think she learned all of these lies? From dad and from hubby. I mean, this whole family is enmeshed in this nonsense. And he searched, but did not find the household idols. And then Jacob is angry. Now he's going to just light into Laban. Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban. The word in Hebrew for angry means to glow or to burn. He's just hot under the collar. And he rebuked Laban. That means to lash out or contend.
So both inwardly and outwardly, he just let it go. He answered and said to Laban, what is my trespass? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? Although you have searched all of my things, what part of your household things have you found? Said it here before my brethren and your brethren that they may judge between us.
These 20 years I have been with you, your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young. And I have not eaten the rams of your flocks, that which was torn by beasts. I did not bring it to you.
I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Now in those days, even up to this day, if a shepherd keeps the flocks of an owner, if one of the little lambs gets attacked by a predator, the shepherd has to prove that he didn't steal that missing lamb, that it was indeed attacked.
How did he do that? He would bring whatever body part was left, an ear, a head, a limb, the fur and prove I didn't steal it, this is what happened to him. Here's the blood and here's the carcass. What Jacob is saying, I didn't even bother you with that. I assumed the loss, replacing it from my own flock. I went above and beyond the call of duty.
There I was in the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night, but my sleep departed from my eyes. Thus I have been in your house 20 years. I served you 14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flock and you have changed my wages 10 times. He's brought that up a few times now, hasn't he? He hasn't let this go, has he?
This whole wage thing really bugs him. Unless the God of my father and the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.
Stop for just a moment before we finish the chapter and close. Jacob felt totally justified in getting angry inwardly and contending outwardly with Laban, did he not? He felt justified, he felt righteous, a righteous indignation. He felt this was right to rebuke him. But, was it right to rebuke him?
No it wasn't. He didn't have all the information, though he thought he did, he didn't have all the information. He is working on the premise that no one in his family has stolen anything from Laban, but did someone steal something?
Sure, Rachel did, he doesn't know it yet, but he's just hot under the collar, not having all the information, getting in his digs and lashing out at Laban. He was not right, he was not justified. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, it's more important than ever for Christians to stand for truth in our broken culture. And in the God Speaks biblical answers for today's issues collection of booklets from Skip Heitzig, you'll get equipped to speak God's timeless truth into the big issues of our time. God Speaks biblical answers for today's issues is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give $50 or more today to help reach people around the world with the good news of Jesus through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. Next time you are ready to lash out at a person and you think I have all the information I need, you think twice. In fact, you think back to this chapter. When you're thinking how could she, why did he, I've got the documentation, you may not have all the story.
And when you're ready to get in those digs, you're just being Jacob all over again. You see, the Bible says we see through a glass darkly. There's only one that I know of who knows everything about everything, everything about every situation, who knows about every person's motive and exactly what happened at what time and that would be God himself.
The writer of Hebrews says all things are naked and open before the eyes of the one with whom we have to give an account. You don't have all the facts and so if you or I mouth off in judgment against somebody, be very careful. You're pointing the finger, having three fingers point back at you.
He was not justified, he was wrong. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, he's being very spiritual and that's true of course, but he's feeling very righteously indignant. Had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night. You know what Laban was for Jacob? And Jacob didn't see it. You know what Laban was for him? A mirror. When he looked at Laban, he saw himself.
That's what angered him. Isn't it amazing, haven't you found it amazing that when we're so quick to spot a fault in somebody, it's typically, most often, usually because we have that fault in ourselves. We spot something. We sniff something.
Something's foul. I smelt it before. Sure, you live with it every day.
Laban was a mirror reflecting who Jacob really was. Have you ever met a nice person? I mean think really hard of a real, authentic, genuinely, no guile, nice person. I think of my mom. You know, my mother, I never remember speaking ill of people. In fact, when I would say something about someone, I remember she'd say, now, you may not have all the facts. You don't know. They're probably really meant well in their hearts. She would always correct it and never see the flaws and all of the bad stuff that we boys saw.
But typically, you see whatever you're guilty of or whatever flaw is present in your own life. Laban answered, verse 43, we'll make it on time. Laban answered and said to Jacob, listen to Laban. Now, here's the third part of the evening's message and this is a carnal cooperation.
They're going to make an agreement, but it's not on the highest level. Laban answered and said to Jacob, these daughters are my daughters. Well, last time I checked, they were his wives though. And these children are my children. And this flock is my flock.
He's leaving out a lot of details. All that you see is mine. Well, what can I do this day to these my daughters or their children whom they have born? Now, therefore come, let us make a covenant you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his brethren, gather stones. They took stones and made a heap.
And they ate there on the heap. That is they had a covenant meal. They cut the covenant. They sacrifice an animal. Blood was shed. They cut the covenant.
They ate a meal that night by the pile of stones. And Laban called it Yegar Shahadutah. And Jacob called it Galid.
I like Jacob's name better, easier. The first is an Aramaic term. The second is a Hebrew term.
The Aramaic and the Hebrew term mean exactly the same thing. A monument of witness, a monument of witness. By the way, Yegar Shahadutah, that little Aramaic construction is the only time the Aramaic language is used in the Torah, the first five books of Moses.
He's using the language from Iraq from where he is from. And he calls it the pile or the heap or the monument of witness. Jacob called it Galid, means the same thing. And Laban said this heap is a witness between you and me this day.
Therefore, its name was called Galid. Also Mizpah, which means to watch or to witness, Mizpah, because he said, may the Lord watch between you and me when we're absent from one another. Unfortunately, this little verse that we just read, which sounds so beautiful and so sweet and so spiritual and so romantic, has been sentimentalized and romanticized by the Christian church. In fact, there's something called the Mizpah blessing. It shows up in some of the ancient hymns. I've seen little pendants. It's called the Mizpah blessing. The Lord watch between you and me.
And it's seen as this romantic little pendant that you'd give somebody a blessing, a benediction saying, you know, we're not going to be together all the time, so we just trust that the Lord will watch over us. That couldn't be further from the intent of the passage. This is not a benediction. This is a malediction.
What he's saying is, you're a jerk. I don't trust you further than I can spit. And these stones are a witness. I can't keep my eye on you any longer, so God's going to keep his eye on you. That's the point.
That's the point. So it just shows the propensity that many times we have as Christians to sacrifice the meaning of the text to give a sweet, romantic little benedictive blessing when this was not meant to be a blessing at all. In fact, he says in verse 50, if you afflict my daughters or you take other wives beside my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me. Now you have the meaning of the text. Laban said to Jacob, here is the heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. This heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not pass beyond this heap to you and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me for harm.
You get it? Here's the line in the sand right here. You've come all the way to Gilead. Here's the line. You will not go over this little pillar, this line, and come on my side and I will stay out of your side. And if you dare cross this, God is watching you.
And this pile of stones is the witness. The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, the God of their father judged between us and Jacob swore by the fear of his father Jacob and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate and they stayed all night on the mountain. And early in the morning, Laban arose, kissed his sons and his daughters and did any mention of him giving a kiss on the cheek of Jacob? No, why would he?
He probably looked at them and glared at them or maybe nodded at them, hey. And then Laban departed and returned to his place. This is the very last time you will hear of Laban in the scripture. He passes away from the text. He passes away from the story and no love is lost. The story continues with Jacob in the very, very next chapter. Now chapter 32, which obviously we won't get to tonight, is a turning point in the life of Jacob. He has just left Iraq and he's coming toward from Gilead now over the Jordan and his brother is going to be there, his brother Esau whom he betrayed. So if I were to give chapter 32 a title, I would call it between Iraq and a hard place.
But we'll get to that next week. Now, question for you. Have your circumstances in life been moving?
They're unfavorable. It's not pleasant. Here you have been praying that God would do something different and great and move powerfully and yet this happened. Ever thought that this could be part of the answer to that prayer? That God is going to put something in your heart or perhaps already has? The circumstances are lining up with that desire and now let God speak through his word and confirm it with his people.
Even as Jacob brought his wives out and they confirmed what he heard from God and felt in his heart and circumstances around him, they agreed. So let God move and there's the fourth principle. After God putting something in your heart, after the circumstance is lining up, after hearing the voice of God through his word, the principle of Scripture, the fourth is the confirmation from the family, God's family. The Bible says in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. Get counsel. I don't mean a counselor you have to pay 50 bucks a session for, just the family of Christ, the body of Christ.
Just run it by somebody who has maturity and insight and weigh all that together. Further, as we close, could it be that God has been moving you to him? That up to this point you've been sort of meandering through life, not really walking with God. And God has been moving things in your life to get your attention, to bring you under the covenant of the God that you have not up to this point had a covenant with. You haven't committed your life to Christ yet.
You've heard about him. You're on the periphery. You're looking in. You're singing the songs. You're going to church. All good stuff. Something's missing. And God has been moving things around in your life to get your attention, to bring you to that place of surrender.
Then let tonight be that place. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you confidently speak God's timeless truth into our culture.
Pastor Skip's God Speaks biblical answers for today's issues collection of booklets is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's hand here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
