Genesis 31:24

Jacob had served Laban for twenty years, and through those years Laban had deceived him and changed his wages again and again (Genesis 31:41). Laban’s sons had turned against him as well, and Laban’s own face toward him had changed (Genesis 31:1–2). Then the LORD told Jacob to return to the land of his fathers (Genesis 31:3). Leah and Rachel agreed to go, since they felt their father had treated them as strangers (Genesis 31:14–16). Jacob left while Laban was away shearing his sheep, a yearly task that kept the master of a household busy for several days, and Rachel took her father’s household idols, the teraphim, as they went (Genesis 31:19).

Jacob left in secret because he knew Laban well. An open farewell would have given Laban the chance to hold back his daughters, his grandchildren, and the flocks and servants God had given Jacob, all of which Laban might have claimed as his own. The rest of Genesis 31 tells how the two men meet and part.

“It was told Laban” uses the verb nâgad, which means to make something known or to announce it. The verse leaves the messenger unnamed, and it was most likely one of Laban’s servants who noticed that Jacob’s camp was gone. Whoever it was, the secret was out, and Laban now knew.

“On the third day” uses the ordinary word for a day, yôwm, and it tells us how much of a start Jacob had. A company of wives, children, servants and large herds moves slowly, so three days were precious to him. Jacob had chosen his moment with care.

The word for “fled”, bârach, means to flee, moving in haste to escape danger. Genesis could have said that Jacob departed, and it says that he fled. That one word shows how far things had gone between the two men after twenty years of mistrust.

Laban takes “his brethren”, his kinsmen, with him. He comes in strength, as a man ready for a fight, and he treats Jacob’s leaving as an offence against the whole family. The verb for “pursued”, râdaph, means to run after or chase, usually with hostile intent, and that is its sense here.

Before Laban can say a word to Jacob, God speaks to Laban. The name for God here is ʼĕlôhîym, plural in form and joined to a singular verb, a plural of majesty for the one true God. He comes in a dream, chălôwm, by night. Scripture often records God speaking through dreams, and the message here is plain speech: God “said unto him”, and Laban is left in no doubt about what he heard.

Years earlier, at Bethel, God had told Jacob, “I am with thee, and will keep thee” and had promised to bring him back to the land (Genesis 28:15). These three verses show that promise at work. We who read know something Laban’s kinsmen and Jacob’s frightened household could not see: the pursuit that looked so fierce was already bounded by God.

Jacob planned well, and it was still God who kept him. “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). The LORD orders the steps of a good man and holds him up with his hand when he falls (Psalm 37:23–24), and he preserves the going out and coming in of his people (Psalm 121:7–8). Jacob carried the covenant given to Abraham and Isaac, so in guarding him God was guarding his whole plan. Here is one clear instance of what Paul says, that all things work together for good to those who love God (Romans 8:28).

By keeping Jacob from Laban’s anger, God kept alive the family through whom the Messiah would come. Jacob’s journey out of long service in Paddan-Aram toward the promised land also has the shape of later deliverances. The LORD brought Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:51), and Christ calls his people out of bondage to sin toward the rest that remains for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9–11). Jacob set out on the strength of God’s word, and we rest on Christ, the Word made flesh (John 1:14).

The quarrel in Gilead ends in a covenant of peace, and Christ has made a greater peace by the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:19–20), for he himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:13–16). The God who restrained Laban has, in Christ, overcome sin, death and the devil. Jesus says of his sheep that no man shall pluck them out of his hand (John 10:28–29), and Paul is confident that God will finish the good work he has begun (Philippians 1:6). To the weary Jesus gives the invitation, “Come unto me” and promises rest (Matthew 11:28–30).

Jacob did what he could. He chose his time, moved quickly and gained three days, and Laban still caught him. His safety in the end came from God, who spoke to his enemy in the night while Jacob knew nothing of it. That is a comfort for anyone facing a hard person or a path they cannot see the end of, because the Lord who guarded Jacob still watches over his own, often where we are unable to see him working.

This passage also shows who God is toward those who oppose his people. He rules their hearts and their mouths as surely as he rules ours, and a single word from him sets the limit of what they can do. And it shows that obedience can call for a hard leaving. Jacob left a place he had lived in for twenty years because God told him to go home, and God went with him every step of the way.