Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to Genesis 31. Genesis 31. I'd like to look
at the last verses of this 31st chapter, verses 43 through 55. Conflict between Laban and Jacob. uncle and nephew, father-in-law,
son-in-law. They were family. And this conflict
now has come to a head. Jacob, following the Lord's direction,
is going back home. He's leaving Haran. He's been
there now 20 years. Laban has followed after Jacob,
he's overtaken him, and a heated discussion takes place. Jacob
is honest with his father-in-law. He told him, he said, you hadn't
treated me right. Changed my wages 10 times, you
changed the rules, and all and on and on, and he said, I, you
know, I just, I'm leaving. Well, I've read the next two
verses many times. Lord willing, trying to get the
tenor, the attitude of Laban's speech to Jacob. Here's what he said. Here's what
Laban said. It seems as though to me, after reading, when I
first read it, it appeared that Laban was trying to lay claim
to ownership of his daughters and his grandchildren and his
livestock. But I don't think that's what
he was saying. Let's look at these verses. Genesis
31, verses 43 and 44. And what I want to do is, you
know the words that are italicized were added by those that were
writing, interpreting these scriptures. And I wanna read what he said
without reading the italicized words. I just wanna read the
words that were there by the Spirit of God. Verse 43, and
Laban answered and said unto Jacob, daughters, my daughters, and
children, my children, and cattle, my cattle, and all that thou
seest, is mine, and what can I do this day? Unto these, my
daughters, unto their children, which they have borne. Now therefore
come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for
a witness between me and thee." After reading what he said and
what he wants to do, concerning having a covenant. I truly believe
that he realizes something. Now, Laban is an unbeliever.
He's an idol worshiper. You know that. But he's saying
something that probably he realizes this is the way it's going to
be. And he's looking, he's heard, he just heard what Jacob said.
You cheated me. All these things you've done
to me. God blessed it in spite of you. The Lord blessed me. All these hard things you said
against me. God was with me. And now Laban,
what he's saying is, these are my daughters. his grandchildren, all this cattle
that you have. He said, I realize these are,
this is my blood. This is my blood. He wasn't laying
claim to him. You're going to deny. But he
realizes that things are going to go the way the Lord has ordained
them. And he sees that to continue
in that spirit, all it's going to do is just going to add injury
to his daughters and his grandchildren. I thought about this scripture,
we looked at it. When a man's ways please the
Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Laban, he wanted there to be
peace. Beloved, when problems come,
and they will, we should be willing to do all
that we can to reestablish peace and harmony for the glory of
God and for the sake of the witness of the gospel. and for the harmony
and love among the assembly. Peace and love. These are valuable jewels and
jewels that we should be willing to suffer loss that we might
have them suffer according to the dictates
of God's word. We will. but do all that you can to have
peace. Romans 12, 18 said, if it be
possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men. Psalm 34, 14, depart from evil
and do good, seek peace, and pursue it. There's nothing like
being at peace squabbling and it just, it's horrible. It's horrible. I told you about
my friend that told me the other day, he's going through some
tough trials in his family. And he said, it's hard to just
keep up animosity. You got to work at it to keep
it up. He said, it's just so hard. I said, I know, buddy.
Well, Jacob knew. He's listening to what Laban
has said. And he knew, Jacob knew that
the Lord was with him. The Lord told him he was gonna
be with him. And according to the providential leadership of
the Lord, again, he's doing what he's doing for the glory of God,
the good and safety of his family and the peace. And he establishes
a memorial, Jacob does. Well, from the wording, you're
gonna see Jacob and Laban They did this obviously together,
because it says here that Jacob did it, and then Laban said he
was in on it too. But verses 45 and 46, after Laban
had said in 44, therefore come thou and let us make a covenant,
I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
And Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob
said unto his brethren, gather stones, and they took stones
and made an heap and they did eat there upon the heap. You know, I read that, and it
just, when I looked at verse 45, and Jacob took a stone and
set it up for a pillar, I thought, that's not the first time that
Jacob was said to have done that, set up a stone for a witness,
for a memorial. When he, back in, turn back to
chapter 28, remember? Beersheba, his mom and daddy
both told him to go, and he lighted upon a certain place, 2816. And he lighted on a certain place,
and he dreamed that dream. Remember about the ladder that
went from the earth up to heaven? The angels were ascending, descending. And he said, 28, 16 to 18, Jacob awaked out of his
sleep, and he said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I
knew it not. He was afraid and said, how dreadful
is this place. This is none other but the house
of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up
early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for
his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon
the top of it. Here, he's doing the same thing.
God has brought him out of Haman, He's given him Leah and Rachel. He's given him, as of this point,
11 of his sons, that one more will be born. And here comes
Laban, and he wants to have some peace. He said, let's just make
a covenant, me and you. And so Jacob, 45, took a stone. God had met him there in that
place when he left Beersheba, and now he realizes that God
had promised to not leave him. He's kept him up to this point.
Here he is, and he's going to acknowledge the mercy and presence
of the Lord who was leading him. But the part that was so beautiful
concerning that, Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar. And
immediately when I read that, this is what went through my
mind. And so I thought, I'm going to write this down. I'm going
to put this in my note. This is what went through my mind.
I said, how fitting that the Spirit would record that he took
a stone. Jacob's hope was in one. He put up a stone. His confidence
and hope was in the Lord Jesus Christ. The smitten stone of
God's mercy and provision stone that was in the wilderness, the
stone that followed them. I've thought about that passage
so many times. Neil, I actually believe that
stone followed them. You say, you mean to tell me
you think that stone was actually following the nation of Israel? Yes, I do. I think the God that
can come through and deliver the nation of Israel out of Egypt
part the Red Sea, send manna every day, every morning, send
quail, can make a stone move. He who spoke this world into
existence, Jacob raised up a stone, that tried stone himself, that
precious chief cornerstone of his church. A stone set up God was going
to be honored. Laban wanted to make a covenant
of peace. Let's make a covenant, me and
you. Let's settle, let's bury the hatchet. Jacob's gonna worship
God first. He's gonna honor the Lord first.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and
all these things shall be added unto you. Then Jacob instructed
the brethren there to gather the stones. They made a heap.
upon which they were going to eat, the scripture says, that
a place not only that would be raised up to confirm the agreement,
but also for a memorial of a witness to those that would follow, that
this is where this agreement was made. And then the scripture
says in verse 47, And Laban called it Jigar Sehaduthah. Jacob called it Galed. Now, an amazing thing about this, the two men called this heap
of stones. They took a heap of stones, and
here's what Laban called it. Jegarse Hadutha. And Jacob called
it Gali. Now Laban was speaking in Chaldean. He was a Syrian. He was speaking
Chaldean. And Jacob was a Hebrew. And He was speaking Hebrew, but
when you look up, if you've got the definitions of those two
words, in my marginal reading here now, what Laban called it,
jagar sehaduthah, what that means is the heap of witness. That's
what that means, the heap of witness. Now, Jacob called it
galid, and what Jacob's means is the heap of witness. You look at those definitions,
and actually it's defined in the same ways. It's actually,
it's like, it appears as though outwardly that they were calling
the name of that memorial the same thing. They were calling
it, just using a different language, but though the names of that,
what they were calling that heap of stones, that place there,
Though the names were interpreted the same in their respective
language, here's the difference. Laban was an idolater. Jacob
was a believer. And they were using basically,
they were saying it in their language, but basically they
were using the same word, but It didn't mean the same thing
to both of them. The way Laban saw it, and I'm
gonna show you what Laban was thinking in just a minute, but
just suffice it to say, we'll stop here for a moment, just
camp here for just a second. Laban was using a word, and it
was, the interpretation is the heap of witness. This is what
it is right here, heap of witness. Jacob was saying the heap of
witness. Same word, but when I read that,
it made me think of this. Is it not the case while we deal
with men and women who are religious, and they claim to know God, and
they use the very same words, many of the same words that we
use. They use the same words. They're
reading it out of the same Bible. This is a King James Version
Bible. That's what it is. And you can
buy them. Everybody can buy them. And you
can read these words. And when you look at these words
in this Bible, they're going to say the same thing. But there's
a big difference between somebody that knows God and somebody that
doesn't know God. When they read it, Somebody that doesn't know God
may speak and use the word grace. And their use of the word grace
is not the way we use the word grace. They make the word grace
to be something that God graciously offers. Here's the grace of God. He's offering you something for
your acceptance. And when we say grace, We mean
that it's by the grace of God that we're saved and not of works
lest any man should boast. When they speak of the salvation
of God, what they call salvation is by something that they did.
And we say it's concerning what the Lord's done, what the Lord
has purposed. When they talk about the crucifixion,
They're talking about something that the Lord Jesus Christ made
possible for everybody that would exercise their free will. And
we say that the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for the sheep.
So they're using the same words, but they don't mean the same
thing. Laban was using a word in the Chaldean language. It's
interpreted that, you know, a heap of witness. Jacob spoke in Hebrew,
and it was interpreted a heap of witness, but it didn't mean
the same thing. We speak of man's depravity,
and when we say man's depravity, we're talking about that there's
nothing, there's nothing in man that is able or willing to seek
after God. Those that speak of depravity,
it's just a minor hindrance until you can hear just as I am enough,
and it'll work on your emotions, and then it'll kick in your faith.
No, no, no, no. We speak that which we know.
Laban declared he wanted peace with Jacob, but he thought that
peace, now here was the, I'm gonna get in now to the difference
in what they were thinking. They both called it the same
thing. But Laban, he declared that he
wanted peace with Jacob. But he thought, and I'm gonna
prove this, I'm gonna read verses 48 to 50 in a second. He thought
that peace would be, or must be, established and maintained
only by rules and regulations. Any infraction that would incur
be seen by God while, you know, they, they weren't in that place
and therefore subject to God's justice. He was, he was saying
that men are kept in check by law and rules and fear and stuff. Now listen to what he said. And
this is what he called that heap of witness. Laban said, this,
this heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore
was the name of it called Galed and Mizpah, that is a watchtower. For he said, the Lord watch between
me and thee. When we are absent one from another,
if thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives
beside my daughters, no man is with us. See, God is witness
between me and thee. He was saying, I want there to
be peace between us. I want peace to be established.
But here's the rules. Here's the rules. You're gonna
have to make sure that you keep them, too, because God's watching.
That's what he told him. God's watching. What bondage,
what bondage to think that peace is established that you can keep
peace by ruling over with law. You know what, if I were to say
here, now listen, I like where everybody's sitting right now.
And I don't want anybody moving. I don't want anybody moving from
where you are right now. Everybody's sitting right there,
and that's where I want you to sit for the rest of your life.
You know what the first thing you want to do is? Well, first
of all, you think in your head, who do you think you are? I sit
where I want to sit, you know? Law. The carnal man just is adamant
against law. Law. He's adamant against the
carnal man. The believer loves it, loves
it. He admits he can't keep it, but he loves God's law, but not
the carnal man. Hates it. bondage, but people,
God's people, here was the difference. He made this heap, heap of witness,
and here's what I want. We're gonna establish peace.
I want there to be peace between me and you. I'm gonna get to the
heart of it. It's just about one more verse,
and I'll get to the heart of it. But he said, I won't dare
to be peace between me and you, but I'm telling you that here's
the rules. You know, God's people are not
motivated by fear or judgment. They know that the eyes of the
Lord are everywhere. They know that. They know that.
But they're not motivated by fear. I mean fear. They respect the Lord. I'm talking
about they're not motivated by, well, if I mess up, God's gonna
get me. He's gonna get me. I know this. If I don't do so
and so and so and so, I know God's gonna be watching. I guess
I gotta do it. Well, if that's the attitude,
I mean, go ahead and do it. You've already done it in your
heart anyway. Go ahead and do it anyway. I don't mean that, don't take
me at that one right there. But God's people are not motivated
by guilt and fear. The Lord Jesus Christ, listen,
has borne our guilt and he's carried our sorrows. Now, here's
a question. What urges, prompts, excites
a believer to faithfulness, faithfulness to the Lord. Laban says, I want
there to be peace between me and you, but to keep the peace,
this is what I'm telling you, you gotta do. You know, I thought
it was very strange, Mike, he didn't give himself any rules.
He did Jacob. But what motivates a believer? Listen to this, 2 Corinthians
5.14, the love of Christ constraineth us. The love of Christ. Our love for Him is based on
His love for us first. What constrains us to want to
be faithful? And we all admit, to will is
present with us, I want to be faithful. How to perform, which
I would, I find not, and it grieves me. But I want to be, I want
to be faithful. I want to be prepared when I
get up here and stand. I don't want to wing it. Man,
can you imagine getting up here and somebody says, get up here
and wing it. Wing it. I want to seek the Lord. Why?
Because of my love for him, based on his love for me first, my
love for you, love of this gospel, the good that we all benefit
from, the love of Christ constrains us. Oh, the bondage of that natural
heart. He spoke to Jacob, concerning
Jacob maintaining the honor of marriage. Now listen to what
he said. Verse 50. If thou shalt afflict my daughters,
or thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is
with us. See, God is witness betwixt me
and thee. I thought he was speaking to
Jacob concerning the maintaining of the honor of marriage. Don't take any other wives except
my daughter's, which is so ironic since it was Laban who actually
substituted Leah in the place of Rachel. Falsely drawing Jacob
into a state of polygamy. Romans 2.1. Romans 2. Romans chapter 2. Therefore, thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest
another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the
same things. He was telling Jacob, this is
how you need to maintain your marriage. Laban was saying that? But Laban's thought concerning,
now I'm going to get right down to the heart of it as we begin
to wrap this up. Laban's thought concerning the establishing of
peace was not for the glory of God. He was an idolater. It was
not for the glory of God. It wasn't for Jacob's good. It wasn't for the peace for his
family. Rather, he was afraid of Jacob
taking vengeance on him. Verses 51 and 52, Laban said
to Jacob, behold this heap, behold this pillar, which I have cast
betwixt me and thee. This heap be witness, this pillar
be witness, that I will not pass over the heap to thee and that
thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me
for harm. He knew, he knew how he had acted. He knew somewhat of it for sure.
He saw that the Lord had given Jacob all. He saw that the Lord
was with Jacob. I'm not saying he understood
the depth of it, I know he didn't. But he saw, he saw. Jacob was
prospering and he wasn't. And in his mind, he's thinking,
because this is how he thinks. You get me, I'm gonna get you.
That's how he thinks. But he saw that God was with
Jacob. And he said, now I want this
to be a heap of witness between me and you. I'm going to establish
a covenant of peace. I want everything to be at peace.
I don't want, you know, you know, I want to raise up. Now, here's
what I want you to do. You act like this, this, and
this, and you remember that God's watching you. God's got his eye on you. He's going to watch you. You
better, you better know if you pass over this steep right here,
God's, God's going to see you. This is the rules. I'm not going
to go over on your side. You don't come on my side to
harm me. That was the issue. Fear, fear,
not God's glory. Laban thought then that truly
to please Jacob. Now he's going to seal the deal
now. Now I'm going to get down to the sealing. To seal the agreement. He's going to proclaim that all
is going to be established in the name of the Lord God. We're
going to establish this thing now. He don't want him to come
over and hurt him. But now this is going to be in
the name of the Lord. The God that he did not know.
or pretend to worship. Because in doing so, he ignorantly
and disrespectfully used God's precious name while all the time
mixing it with idols. Now listen to what he said. If
you ever notice it, whenever somebody finds out you go to
church, really if they find out that you're a preacher. This
is why I tell you, as a general rule, I'll not tell you that
I'm a preacher. unless I know you, the conversation
merits it or something like that. But as a general rule, you know
what happens as soon as you tell somebody you're a preacher? They
are the most religious person and they're just talking about,
they talk about God, they talk about, and they don't know him. They're talking about somebody
they don't know. Listen to what Laban said. He said, verse 53, the God of
Abraham and the God of Nahar God of their father, their father's
name was Terah, judged betwixt us. This is what Laban said. Now listen, we're gonna settle
this thing and we're gonna settle this in the name of the Lord. God of Abraham, God of Nahar,
God of their father judged betwixt us and Jacob swear by the fear
of his father Isaac. The carnal man flippantly speaks of God Almighty. Laban had already exposed himself
as being an idle worshiper, ranting and raving about his gods that
he couldn't find after he searched everybody's tent, but now he
attempts to speak as if he truly and sincerely wants to seal this
covenant with the honor of God's name behind it. The God of Abraham, the God of
Nahar, the God of their father. The Lord said in Matthew 7, 21,
Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father
which is in heaven. And what is the will of the father
which is in heaven? Well, John 640 says this, and
this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise him up at the last day. Laban, I encourage
you to check this out. Laban was using a word, when
he said, 53, the God of Abraham and the God of Nahar, the God
of their father, judge betwixt us. He was using a word that
truly means, it does mean God, but also it means little g, God's. It's a word, and the meaning
is understood only when you see the context in which it's used. I mean, it's the same word. It
can be God, that's like me, a non-believer speaking of God and a believer
speaking of God. It's the same word, it's just
the context. Who's saying it? What you mean?
Do you know Him or do you not know Him? You're using His name.
But do you know him? I'll tell you something. It's
amazing because that meaning there, when Laban spoke of the
God of Abraham and the God of Nahar, who was Abraham's brother,
and their daddy was named Terah. Now, I want you to turn, hold
up, I'll wrap this up. Turn to Joshua. Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. Joshua 24. Joshua 24. Joshua 24, verses
1 and 2. Joshua 24, verses 1 and 2. And Joshua gathered all the tribes
of Israel, Shechem, and called for the elders
of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for
their officers, and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua
said unto the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your
fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even
Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nechar, and
they served other gods. You see that word, gods? Look
it up. It's the same word that Laban
used when he was speaking to Jacob. When he started speaking
of the God of Abraham, the God of Nahar, the God of their father. What it is, Laban, he spoke foolishly. trying to blend. I'm going to
make this sound, I mean, really, really holy. He's trying to blend the honor
of the true and living God. And as he was speaking, he was
just mixing up the Lord God of heaven, His name, with idols. He was speaking of, you know,
Abraham and Nacor and their father Terah who worshiped God. Joshua said, when those three
men were together back in Ur of Chaldea, they were idolaters. They were worshiping their gods,
is what he was saying. But here's Laban, he's going
to seal this, but still he's not speaking out of a true heart
knowledge of who God is. But look what Jacob did. He listened
to what Laban said. The God of Abraham, the God of
Nacor, the God of their father judged betwixt us. And Jacob's
swear by the fear of his father Isaac. Turn to Isaiah 8. Isaiah chapter 8. Listen to what
the Lord has to say. Whenever you're around somebody
and they're speaking, they're speaking like they know God and,
you know, they want to talk to you and impress you and tell
you, you know, I'm with you, brother. I'm with you. Me and
you, we worship in the same God. Listen to what Isaiah chapter
eight, verse 11 to 13. For the Lord spake thus to me
with a strong hand and instructed me. that I should not walk in
the way of this people, saying, Say ye not a confederacy to all
them to whom this people shall say a confederacy? Neither fear
ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself,
and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. Brethren,
we don't worship the same God that those that know not our
God worship. They worship their little G gods.
We don't worship the same God. I was on my way. Linda and I
was on our way. We were going somewhere recently. We stopped to get us something
to eat. Walked in this place, got us something, and I'm walking
out. Here comes a fellow running out
of the restaurant. He said, hey, hey, hey, hey,
hey. Yeah. He said, listen, can I pray for
you? And I said, no. No, you can't. Okay, okay. I just wondered.
I told Glenda, I said, I don't know who his God is. And I'm
not gonna, I'm not gonna sit here and try to enter in fellowship.
Somebody said, that's hard. That's hard. No. The Lord said,
don't enter into confederacy with them. I don't know who you
are. We may or may not worship the same God. Now, I may have
reacted quickly, probably did, but that's what went through
my brain at the moment. I said, no, I'll seek the Lord
that I know. I'll seek him with those that
I know know him. The Lord said, don't enter into
confederacy with him. Here's what Laban was doing. Scripture says he swear by the
fear of his father Isaac. Jacob would speak respectfully
only of the God that he knew by grace. 5455, then Jacob offered sacrifice
upon the mount and called his brethren to eat bread They did
eat bread and tarried all night in the mount. And early in the
morning, Laban rose up, kissed his sons and his daughters and
blessed them. And Jacob, I mean, Laban departed
and returned unto his place. The scripture spoke of everything
that Laban had to say and who he claimed to know. But in verse
54, when there was a sacrifice to be made, offered, who did
it? Jacob, he offered sacrifice on
the mount. Laban probably felt some sense
of peace with Jacob. He laid down the rules and regulations
for peace. But Jacob, he knew that peace
with God was only established through the shed blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Shed blood on behalf of his people.
Therefore, he honored the Lord in the only way that God was
pleased to be honored, through the person of his son. This is
my beloved son, whom I'm well pleased you hear him. And he
offered up a sacrifice unto the Lord. And then says early in
the morning, Laban rose up, kissed his sons, his daughters, blessed
them. Laban departed, returned unto his place. Jacob didn't
argue with him. Rather, he continued to honor
the Lord that he knew. He maintained his integrity before
God Almighty and before Laban. The next morning Laban got up
and kissed his daughters and he went back to his place. The
Lord had given peace unto Jacob. I pray that the Lord teach us
through these scriptures concerning our walk in this life for his
glory and our good.