Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #7 of Genesis 31, and we will read Genesis 31:15-24:

Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do. Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

I will stop reading there.  We were looking at Rachel and Leah’s response to Jacob when he called them to the field and told them the situation about how God came to him in a dream and revealed the particular type of cattle, and so forth.  Jacob was basically saying to them, “It is time for us to leave because God has commanded it.”  That is what we read in Genesis 31:13:

I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

Then, surprisingly, the two sisters agreed.  We had seen Rachel and Leah at odds with each other for years, as they were in competition for Jacob’s attention and love, and in the bearing of children.  But they put aside all differences, and we read in Genesis 31:14-16:

And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

They are unified, and their decision is that if God did say that to him, then return to the land of his kindred, and do it.  And they would be with him.  So I am sure this was very encouraging and comforting to Jacob that he did not have to convince them.  They were convinced it was time, and they were ready to go.

We saw in our last study that Rachel and Leah no longer having any portion or inheritance in their father’s house identified with the world, as Laban is a type of Satan, and in the Bible, Satan’s house or kingdom is completely identified with him.  We saw that in Mark 3:24-26.  So to have no inheritance in their father’s house would refer to the kingdom of Satan that is made up of the nations of the world.  It is revealing a spiritual truth regarding what happens when God saves His people.  He takes them out of the kingdom of Satan (this world) in a spiritual way, and delivers them into the kingdom of Christ, so they are “not of the world” any longer, and the world is no longer hospitable toward them.  They have no portion or inheritance in their father’s house.

We can see this in our own Christian lives where our minds and the promises we look to have everything to do with the kingdom of God.  They have everything to do with the Word of God.  We do not look to this world, as we may have done in time past when we were “children of wrath even as others.”  We were deceived into planning long term for this world.  If there was ever a contradiction in terms, that is it.  Planning for the future in this world is foolish.  Making long range plans for living in this world is foolish because it is like a “moment in time” compared to eternity.  So we learn to focus and concentrate on the things of God and to leave the world behind us.  We are no longer fooled by the world’s empty promises of “living happily ever after.”  Yes – maybe for a season or for a few short years things may go well, but if you had entered into marriage, one of you will get a disease and die, and the other one has to live on without their spouse until they die.  There is no “happily ever after” in this life in this world. 

The only “happily ever after” is not found in this world, but it is found in God’s magnificent salvation program as He bestowed His grace and mercy upon certain ones, giving them the wondrous gift of eternal life.  Then you can talk about “living happily ever after.”  But let us just talk about “living.”  People of the world are not actually “living,” since Christ is the essence of life, and they do not have Him.  They are “existing” and indulging their sinful pleasures while they exist, but it is not life.  Life is in Christ, and God’s elect not only receive life, but eternal life wherein they will live for ever and ever and ever, happily. 

In the King James Bible, when we read the word “happy,” it could also be translated as “blessed.”  So to live happily ever after is to be blessed for evermore.  This is a little off subject, but it will not hurt to go to Psalm 133:3:

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there JEHOVAH commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

God commanded the blessing, and happiness for His people is the glorious truth that they will receive the gift of eternal life.  And that becomes the inheritance and portion of those the Lord has ransomed and taken out of the kingdom of Satan.  This “taking” is what is in view with the language of binding the strong man, as we see in Matthew 12:29:

Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

The spoiling of Satan’s house of its “gold, silver, precious stones” happened when God saved all to be saved out of this world.  So that also relates to our inheritance in Christ, as He is the seed, singular, and all those in Him are counted for the seed with Him.

So Rachel and Leah are recognizing that they are not treated as they were treated previously while in their father’s house.  Their father has a different attitude toward them, and that is how it is with God’s people in this world.

Then they go on to say in Genesis 31:15:

Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.

We talked about verse 15 in our last study, where we looked at the fact that the Bible speaks of the elect people of God as being “bought with a price.”  And that price was the death of Christ, the atoning death where He made payment for the sins of His people and satisfied the Law’s demand that the wages of sin is death.  The Lord Jesus made that payment, purchasing or buying His people.  As we have discussed several times, on one hand Rachel and Leah can point to the elect, as well as to those that are called, but not elect.  And yet, they are both saying in agreement that they are counted as strangers, and Laban has sold them.  Remember that God does speak of purchasing the church, or we could say, “professed Christians.”  It says in 2Peter 2:1:

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

There is biblical evidence that Christ purchased the professed Christians as well, as the Gospel was sent out into the world.  Of course it is a different kind of purchase, but the Bible does say that the church was established as a result of Christ’s atoning death, so in that way they were bought.

We go on to read in Genesis 31:16:

For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

These riches were the cattle and whatever else he had, like servants, that were counted as “wealth” in those days.  Historically, they were just physical things that have nothing to do with salvation, but, spiritually, these things were part of Laban’s house.  They were the riches of Laban’s house, so Rachel and Leah were saying that these riches belong to them and their children.  And it had to do with the goods that were “spoiled,” as we read in Matthew 12 where the strong man was bound, and his house was spoiled.  This was the spoiling of Laban’s house, as Jacob is going to take this multitude of cattle, Laban’s own daughters and children, and flee to the land of Canaan.  It is “leaving the world,” in a sense, and going to the kingdom of God.

Then it goes on to say in Genesis 31:17-18:

Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

We are helped in the spiritual understanding of this passage by the word the translators translated as “carried away.”  It is Strong’s #5090, and it is used 31 times in the Old Testament, and we find it used in Psalm 78:51-52:

And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

We know exactly what the Lord is talking about.  It is a plague that He brought upon Egypt.  The Hebrew word #5090 that was translated as “carried away” in our verse is translated here as “guided.”  He guided or carried them as a flock, so it has everything to do with cattle, does it not?  But it is not referring to cattle, but to God’s people who were previously in Egypt under the rule of Pharaoh.  That pictures being in the world under the power of Satan in the kingdom of darkness.  But the Lord came and smote the Egyptians with plagues and delivered His people.  He made Pharaoh powerless and, in that sense, he “bound” him, and then He spoiled his house.  And all Israel was brought out of Egypt.

That is very significant, and it helps us to understand what Jacob is doing.  We will go to just one other place where this word is used in Isaiah 49:8-10:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Here, it is the word “lead” that is the same word.  Once again, the context has everything to do with salvation and being delivered as a prisoner, as verse 9 declares: “That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.”  Come out of the world.  Come out of the kingdom of Satan.  We could add, “Come out of Laban’s house,” as far as the spiritual understanding of our verse in Genesis 31:17:

Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;

By the way, the word “set” is #5375, and it is translated as “lift up” in verse 12 in this chapter: “Lift up now thine eyes…”  So he lifted up his sons and his wives upon camels.  I would think that the “lifting up” could be identified with salvation, but then they are placed upon camels, and I do not understand how that would fit with that idea.  Then it says in Genesis 31:18:

And he carried away all his cattle…

He guided them.  He led them like the Israelites were guided out of Egypt, and like the prisoners in darkness came forth and were led to springs of water.  This is what the Lord is spiritually illustrating for us in this historical parable.

Let us keep reading in Genesis 31:19:

And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.

So Laban was busy and occupied shearing his sheep.  What could that mean?  We have to ask these questions every step of the way.  What is the spiritual meaning of this, or of that?  I am going to just suggest something because I am not certain of it.  Laban, a type of Satan, has sheep.  And as we saw earlier with the arrangement of this deal between Jacob and Laban wherein Jacob would work six years for cattle having specific characteristics, and the other sheep were taken by his sons and set apart.  Remember when we went over that, and it was pointed out that Laban’s sons were like emissaries of Satan, so their father was the Devil, and they were tasked with overseeing certain sheep.  It was just as when the Lord loosed Satan, and Satan entered into the churches and congregations.  The professed Christians in the churches and congregations are known as “sheep.”  And during the time of the Great Tribulation, the “shepherds” that were supposed to feed the sheep were feeding themselves of the sheep.  I just mention that because it helps us to think when Laban is “shearing his sheep,” we should not think of this just naturally as his going to “shear” his sheep.  The word “shear” is also translated as “cut off,” and we find it translated that way in Jeremiah 7.  But before we get to that, we can see the Lord’s rebuke of His people Judah, in Jeremiah 7:22:

For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

By the way, there are a few verses where God likens His people coming out of Egypt to “sheep,” and we saw a verse that was similar to that a little earlier in this study.  Then it says in Jeremiah 7:23-28:

But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day. I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of JEHOVAH their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

The Hebrew word translated as “shear” is used at the start of the verse in Jeremiah 7:29-30:

Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for JEHOVAH hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.

He said, “Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem,” and God uses a word that is used of “shearing” sheep.  So I think we can certainly see a picture of the flock or sheep within the corporate church when Satan entered in and took his seat as the man of sin as judgment began at the house of God.  It was due to their unfaithfulness and their stubborn rebelliousness against God and His Word.  God uses this figure of “cutting off” the hair, as He pictures Jerusalem as a woman, and her hair would be her covering.  But in this case, it is the sheep’s hair that is being cut off.  That is just an idea, but we certainly know that Laban is at a distance (from Jacob), and he is occupied in shearing his sheep.  And then it goes on to say in Genesis 31:19-20:

… and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.

So we have a lot of things happening.  Before departing, Rachel stole the images, and notice it is a plural word.  She stole the images that were her father’s, and when we look at this word “images,” we find it is the word “t^erâphı̂ym,” pronounced “ter-aw-feme'.”  When we see a word with that “m” ending, it is plural.  And Rachel stole these images or teraphim, and then she gathered her other belongings and left with her family, as Jacob guided them out of Haran.

Well, we have run out of time in this study, and we will have to look at this interesting historical parable again when we return with our next study in the book of Genesis.