Scripture: Genesis 31:22-55

I. God protects you by direct intervention.

A. How did God directly intervene in Jacob’s life? God sent a dream into Laban’s head when Laban was hunting Jacob down (vs. 29). This dream made Laban afraid to harm Jacob. Laban feared tiny household gods that Rachel had stolen from him (vs. 19). But Jacob calls God the Fear of Isaac. God is the Awesome One of Isaac; He is the One of Isaac who inspires dread.

B. If you have forgotten that God intervenes in our world look at the cross. We were all in danger of God’s judgment falling on us because of our sin. But God saved us Christians by His grace. He intervened in world history by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so that God’s judgment of death might fall on Jesus and not on those who trust that Jesus died for them.  

II. God protects you by mocking unclean gods.

A. What sort of gods are Laban’s if they can be so easily taken by Rachel? Couldn’t they fight back? These gods must have been real small because Rachel could stash them in her camel’s saddle (vs. 34). And Rachel defiled these gods by sitting on them while she was having her period (vs. 35). These idols were as unclean as they could possibly be (Leviticus 15:20). Laban’s gods were mocked as small and unclean in this story.

B. Jacob’s Awesome God was greater than Laban’s little tiny gods. Jacob concludes his speech saying in vs. 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.” Stay away from idols or else God will mock them one day in front of you for your worship of them.

III. God protects you by keeping boundaries.

A. In Genesis 31:43 Laban realizes that God has taken from him and given everything of his to Jacob. God has judged Laban for his deception, and God has vindicated and protected Jacob. The only thing Laban can do is set up a peace treaty (vs. 44). Jacob and Laban set up a boundary stone between them. How are your boundaries with the Labans in your life? God wants you to establish boundaries with unrepentant people to protect yourself.

Application:
Trust in God that He will protect you. Thank Him for that protection.

Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by Allen Ross, Dale Ralph Davis and Bruce Waltke.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1) What means did God use to protect Jacob from Laban? Can you think of a time when God protected you from harm?
2) How does God relate to fake gods, also known as idols? How does God relate to Laban’s household gods in this story?
3) When we forgive someone who sins against us, do we necessarily have restored trust with that person? What did Jacob do to protect himself from Laban at the end of the story?