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NOTES for Gen 31:3-16

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3 And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
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.
14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?
15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.
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.
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It appears that Jacob learned a great deal while living in Haran with his father-in-law Laban, and that he changed in many ways. Of course, these changes began earlier, after that encounter with God at Bethel during which God renewed with Jacob the covenant once made with his grandfather Abraham. Then, it seems, Jacob met the God of his fathers for the first time in his life. God became a reality in Jacob’s own life for the first time, even if he had heard something about Him before. Now, in Haran, God becomes Jacob’s principal support in life. This probably did not happen at once. The passage concerns the last days of Jacob’s stay in his father-in-law’s house, preceded by fourteen years of life there. Apparently, it was during those years that Jacob learned to rely on God. And God was educating Jacob, for He needed His own man at the head of His people. Now, after fourteen years with Laban, Jacob no longer doubts that if he is able to achieve anything in life, it will be only with God’s help. Of course, this is not yet the completion of his spiritual journey, but only its beginning. Jacob still has to understand that a human being is God’s helper in the accomplishment of His designs, not the other way around. Yet such an understanding, it appears, will become the goal of the next stage of his spiritual journey. That stage will no longer be connected with Haran or with Laban’s household.

Other notes

 
For Gen 31:1-21
1 And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.
2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
3 And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
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.
14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?
15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.
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.
17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
18 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 Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.
20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
21 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.
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To become the leader of God's people, one must learn to listen to God and hear Him. Jacob learned this, judging by the words he spoke to his wives. He mentions the God of Abraham, who appeared to him in a dream...  Read more

To become the leader of God's people, one must learn to listen to God and hear Him. Jacob learned this, judging by the words he spoke to his wives. He mentions the God of Abraham, who appeared to him in a dream. Jacob speaks of an angel, a messenger of God, but in those times people often made no distinction between the appearance of an angel and the appearance of God Himself. God made Jacob rich, and this was a lesson. A lesson that by following God one can become rich, and quite unexpectedly.

Now the next lesson lay ahead: he had to understand that such following is not free of problems or danger. Even when, it would appear, everything has succeeded and one can feel like a victor. Jacob has become rich; now he has almost more flocks than Laban himself, and he owes all of it only to God. It would seem to be a complete victory. But after victory, after success, he has to flee, to flee from otherwise unavoidable problems, and serious problems at that.

A successfully carried out plan of God, even with our direct participation, does not at all imply the possibility of relaxing and resting. Everything can turn out quite the opposite: after carrying out one of God's plans, one may have to begin immediately carrying out the next, and it may well be a matter of one's own salvation. Perhaps even of physical survival. God's pedagogy can seem severe, but it is needed to teach a person real spiritual collectedness. Real means not at certain times and places, but constantly.

God does not have a fixed workday or workweek for us; He does not provide a legal vacation. Sometimes He may give a person rest, and at times even quite a long rest, but not according to the schedule a person usually counts on. Besides, rest can end at any moment and turn without delay into active work to carry out another of God's designs.

Such unpredictability belongs to God's action - unpredictability, of course, only from our point of view, since He Himself knows His plans well. For a person, what matters is learning a quick, almost lightning-fast response to His words and actions. Otherwise one cannot become God's person. And God wants to see Jacob precisely as His own person, and trains him accordingly.

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For Gen 31:1-21
1 And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.
2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
3 And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.
7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
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.
14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?
15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.
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.
17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
18 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 Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.
20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
21 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.
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Jacob's departure from his father-in-law's land is connected with understandable human ideas of justice. To work for...  Read more

Jacob's departure from his father-in-law's land is connected with understandable human ideas of justice. To work for his father-in-law for so many years, to face petty deceit and substitution, to endure constant attempts to grab a piece and profit from Jacob: all this is hard. But his departure is not connected with an ordinary "I've had enough," but with God's call to obtain the land promised to his father and grandfather. Despite being in the right, Jacob fears for his life and for his family; he fears revenge from his brothers-in-law. He leaves secretly, having secured the support of Rachel and Leah. This secrecy gives Rachel the opportunity to bring idolatry into the people who worship the One God. She cannot part with what had long formed the foundation of her life, and the weed of paganism, without Jacob's knowledge, penetrates the field that the Lord planted.

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