Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #13 of Genesis 31, and we are still reading Genesis 31:22-26:

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. Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

We will stop reading here.  As we have been going through this passage, we have learned some things regarding Jacob as a type of Christ, and Laban as a type of Satan, and the great multitude of cattle typifying the great multitude of the people that God has saved.

And now Jacob has fled the land of Haran, and he is returning to the land of Canaan.  He has left with his wives, his children, and his flocks.  On the third day this was told to Laban, as it says in Genesis 31:22:

And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

Why did it take that long?  It was because Laban had set that distance between him and his son-in-law.  Let us go back to Genesis 30 when they made the deal for Jacob to work for Laban another six years.  We read in Genesis 30:34-36:

And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

So Laban was three days away, so anything that Jacob did would have taken three days to reach him, so this was the reason it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, historically.

But we know this is the Bible, and everything God tells us in this Holy Book has to do with the Gospel and His redemptive program.  When we look at the phrase, “on the third day,” God’s redemptive program stands out, as the Lord Jesus Christ was “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” as we are told.  We also know that when we work out the particulars of that three days and three nights in demonstration of what He had done at the foundation of the world, we know that it began on that Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane.  That was the first night, and then came Friday night, and then Saturday night in the tomb, and those were the three nights.  The three days would be Friday when He went to the cross, and Saturday when He was in the tomb, and then early Sunday morning when Christ rose from the dead.  And that act of Him rising early Sunday morning on the third day illustrates what took place when He rose from the dead at the foundation of the world, and at that point it could be said, “this is the day which the LORD hath made,” the day of salvation.  So early the third day ties in with the salvation of God’s people.  God’s elect are saved by the finished work of Christ, and His rising from the dead proved that and made it manifest. 

So here we have a historical parable where Jacob is fleeing with this great multitude of cattle, as well as His wives and children, and He has taken them from the house of Laban.  The spiritual picture is that Christ is taking the spoil from the house or kingdom of Satan, and He is going to the Promised Land of the kingdom of God as typified by the land of Canaan.  So it has everything to do with the “third day,” does it not, regarding God’s redemptive program?

There is another reference to “the third day” in Hosea 6:1-3:

Come, and let us return unto JEHOVAH: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know JEHOVAH: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

The statement is made in verse 2, “After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up…”  Now this may have something to do with God’s time program for the end of the world and the raising up of His elect people.  That is likely, but it also has to do with the fact that the elect people of God were in Christ when He paid for our sins and satisfied the Law’s demand for our sins by as He suffered and died as the Lamb slain at the foundation of the world.  The wrath of God was as a fire that purged away all those sins, cleansing that great number of elect.  Then He raised up from the dead, and those whose sins He bore raised up, as it were, in Him on the third day.  That is the figure God used in time and history in the demonstration of the Lord Jesus.  So the “third day” time reference would apply to what took place at the foundation of the world, indicating the purpose of God in saving a people for Himself.  So, again, the redemptive program of God has everything to do with the “third day.”

By the way, in Genesis 31:22, it says that it was told Laban “on the third day,” but that is the identical reference that is in Hosea 6:3 that says, “in the third day,” is the same preposition attached to the Hebrew word for “day,” so it is saying the same thing.  In the third day or on the third day, Jacob has fled.

Jacob has taken these riches.  Historically, Jacob has taken away the treasure from the house of Laban, a type of Satan, and Jacob is a type of Christ.  But the spiritual picture is clear.  The elect are delivered and have received the salvation of God.  They are coming out of the darkness of Satan’s kingdom and entering into the light of Christ’s kingdom, the kingdom of God.

It goes on to say in Genesis 31:23:

And he took his brethren with him…

That is, Laban took his brethren with him, and these would have been the “family,” spiritually, of Satan.  Does Satan have a family?  Jesus said to the Jews that were not true Jews (not of the spiritual seed of Christ), but merely physical descendants of Abraham…so, yes, they were physical Jews that were not of spiritual Israel, and they were not circumcised in heart, but only in the flesh…and Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil.”   If their father is the devil, then that would make them brethren, and that is the picture here.  Laban and his brethren typify Satan and his emissaries that are in churches and congregations, as well as in the world.  Again, it says in Genesis 31:23:

And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

Laban took his brethren and went after his son-in-law Jacob, and his daughters and grandchildren.  He went after them, and we do not know what his original intent and desire was because God interceded and warned him, “Do not say anything good or bad to Jacob.”  God came to Laban in a dream.  But, perhaps, Laban initially wanted to go after Jacob and harm him, if not kill him.  I do not think he would have killed him, due to the family relationship, but we really do not know.  He was very angry, that is for sure.  He was full of wrath, and he pursued a seven-day journey.  Given that it had taken Laban three days to find out, he immediately started his pursuit, and seven days later he overtook him, which would have been the tenth day.  So we can see that as God uses the number “7,” it has to do with perfection.  The number “10” has to do with completeness.  I do not know exactly what would be in view with the meaning of “perfection,” but we do know that the historical parables we are reading about have everything to do with the end of the world and our time, regarding the Great Tribulation and Judgment Day.  So that does bring God’s programs to “perfection,” and, certainly, to “completion,” as we know that God has completed His salvation program.  And these things could be in view with the numbers the Lord is giving us.

So they pursued after him seven-days journey.  We want to look at the word “pursued.”  This particular Hebrew word is Strong’s #7291, and is the same word that we find used several times in Exodus 14 after Israel had fled Egypt.  They had gone out of Egypt.  God delivered them.  They had fled from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and they were out in the wilderness.  But that was not the end of the story.  We read in Exodus 14:1-4:

And JEHOVAH spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them…

This word translated as “follow after” is the same word, Strong’s #7291, the word also translated as “pursued.” 

Then it goes on to say in Exodus 14:4-9:

…and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am JEHOVAH. And they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And JEHOVAH hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

Do you see the similarity?  Pharaoh, a type of Satan, is pursuing after a great multitude of Israelites that had previously been under his control and authority.  They had performed service to him.  They were slaves that did his bidding and worked as he commanded, but now they were gone, just as Laban had Jacob as a servant and Jacob’s family as servants.  Jacob was performing work for Laban, just as the Israelites were really of great worth to Pharaoh and the Egyptian economy.  Just think of all the businesses in Egypt, including the government, that could operate without paying these workers.  Everything they made would be mostly profit, and it would have made them incredibly wealthy.  But now they were gone, and it was the spoiling of Pharaoh’s house.  It is just as we read of Satan in the New Testament regarding how you must first bind the “strong man” and then you can spoil his house.  And this is another parable teaching the same thing as Pharaoh is ruling over the Israelites in Egypt.  Egypt is a picture of the world and the people of Israel represent God’s people in the world, and God had a timeline in which He had determined to deliver them, and He fulfilled it and brought them out.

Then afterwards, Pharaoh pursued them.  Pharaoh got together his brethren, just as Laban and his brethren pursued after Jacob.  Pharaoh pursued them to the point of the Red Sea, and we know what happened there.  They pursued after Israel into the sea after the Lord had parted the sea.  Israel crossed over as on dry ground, and then when Pharaoh and the Egyptians attempted to do the same, they were drowned.  They were drowned with the walls of water, which is what we read in Exodus 15:1-5:

Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto JEHOVAH, and spake, saying, I will sing unto JEHOVAH for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. JEHOVAH is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. JEHOVAH is a man of war: JEHOVAH is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

Then it says in Exodus 15:8-10:

And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

Four times we find that God uses this same word as Pharaoh pursued the people of Israel, and Pharaoh pursued to his death.  And that is really the nature of Satan as he pursues the people of God to his destruction.  Actually, this word “pursue” is the same Hebrew word that is translated as “persecute” numerous times.  For example, we read in Psalm 31:15:

My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Also, we read in Psalm 35:1-3:

Plead my cause, O JEHOVAH, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

This particular word indicates that an enemy of God pursues the people of God.  There is no doubt about that.  And Satan is the adversary and enemy, as Esther said of Haman, a type of Satan.  Satan is the chief enemy of God.

And in our passage, here is Laban pursuing Jacob and the family of Jacob, just as Pharaoh pursued Israel when they were yet in their “embryonic form,” we could say.  The sons of Jacob are the tribes of Israel, and he is pursuing after them, just as Saul pursued David.  And that is the same word used in regard to King Saul going after David relentlessly, trying to kill him.  And God uses this word to describe Laban’s pursuit of Jacob.

There are some differences, of course, regarding Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursuing Israel versus Laban and his brethren pursing Jacob and his family,  First, Pharaoh was forced to let the people go.  It was not his desire to do so.  He was literally forced as God brought plague after plague upon him.  And we do not read of Laban’s house being plagued, and then Laban reluctantly letting Jacob go.  Also, when Laban finally caught up with Jacob, we do not read that God killed Laban and his brethren as He killed Pharaoh and the Egyptians.  This is a historical parable that is teaching certain aspects of the Gospel, just as the exodus teaches certain aspects in greater detail because it is a greater account that God gives more space and information, but that does not mean that there are not similarities, and we must not overlook or ignore them.  And, finally, we read in Exodus 15 that God raised up a heap of water that covered Pharaoh and the Egyptians.  And Lord willing, as we continue in our study in Genesis 31, we will see that Gilead (where Laban overtook Jacob) has to do with a “heap of stones.”  The word “Gilead” is a word related to the word “galyêd,” which means “heap of witness,” and they will place some stones there and make a covenant at Gilead.  Literally, a “heap of witness” takes place.  And yet, when we look up that word “heap,” we will be very interested, I think, because it is not what you would expect.  It has everything to do with judgment and the wrath of God.  And this is the “heap of stones” that is made between Jacob, a type of Christ, and Laban, a type and figure of Satan.