Mistreated & Deceived

Mistreated & Deceived

Have you ever had an employer mistreat you?

Ever had a relative take advantage of you?

The God of Jacob knows and He is watching over you;

And can prosper you despite their wrong doing! 

Jacob sees Laban’s attitude towards him has changed

when Jacob’s sheep were increasing over Laban’s.

God tells Jacob to go back to his father’s land.

Jacob deceives Laban by not telling him

 he is leaving with his daughters and grandchildren.

Needless to say,

Laban is ticked off

and goes after Jacob.

Even though Laban has idols

and learns things through divination;

he recognizes God

when He warns him in a dream

not to say anything to Jacob

good or bad.

Laban accuses Jacob of stealing

and Jacob with a clear conscience

allows Laban to search his belongings.

After the search and nothing is found,

Jacob takes his stand and says:

I worked for you twenty years and in that time I put you first;

you have deceived me and changed my wages ten times and…

42 “If the God of my father,

the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac,

had not been with me,

you would surely have sent me away empty-handed.

But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands,

and last night he rebuked you." NIV

Twenty years his employer

Twenty years his relative

Deceived him

All trust had broken down,

agreements did not mean a thing.

Most of us would have quit with a bad attitude.

But Jacob believed God could bless him in a bad environment.

Jacob worked hard and had a clear conscience.

Has someone been deceiving you?

Is someone trying to keep you as a servant

when you know God has called you to be a master?

Remember God told Jacob when to leave

and when he left,

he left with a clear conscience.

In the end, Laban and Jacob made an altar at Mizpah,

a look out point for God to guard them from harming each other.

God stands on your Mizpah to watch over you.

Scripture Reading

Genesis 30:25 to 31:55 NIV

Genesis 31:38-53 NIV

38 "I have been with you for twenty years now.

Your sheep and goats have not miscarried,

nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.

39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself.

And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.

40 This was my situation:

The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household.

I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks,

and you changed my wages ten times.

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac,

had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed.

But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you."

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?

44 Come now, let's make a covenant,

you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us."

45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.

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.

47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.  

48 Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today."

That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah, because he said,

"May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.

50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters,

even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me."

51 Laban also said to Jacob,

"Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me.

52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,

that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you

and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.

53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor,

the God of their father, judge between us."