Title: Jacob’s Return to Canaan

Scripture reading: Genesis 31:1-2
“Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.” And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”

Main idea: God leads us in the paths of righteousness if we’re willing to follow Him.

The LORD told Jacob that the time had come to return to Canaan. He discovered that Laban and his sons were growing jealous and resentful. Jacob had lived in Haran long enough. Mesopotamian legal code stipulated that he could not take his wives away without their consent so he called Rachel and Leah and discussed the matter, telling them how Laban had cheated him and changed his wages ten times, how God had overruled so that the flocks always bred in his favor, how God had reminded him of the vow he had made twenty years earlier (Genesis 28:20-22), and how the Lord had told him to return to Canaan.

His wives agreed that their father had not dealt honestly and that they should leave. There are several principles in this call that will be in every call of God to His people when He wants them to move or do something different.

“The Lord said unto Jacob.”
Jacob’s life, you will discover that God spoke to him at every important crisis in his life: leaving home to Haran (Gen 28:12-15), returning home from Haran (Genesis 31:3), meeting Esau (Gen 32:24), visiting Bethel (Gen 35:1), and moving to Egypt (Gen 46:1-4). God leads us if we’re willing to follow (Ps. 23:3).

Griffith Thomas points out several interesting principles for discerning God’s guidance here. First, Jacob had a desire (Gen 30:25). Secondly, circumstances necessitated a change of some sort (Genesis 31:1-2). Thirdly, God’s word came strongly to him (Gen 31:3). And finally, there was confirming support from his wives, despite their natural ties to Laban. (W. H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis: A Devotional Commentary, p. 288).

When God wants to move us, He occasionally makes us uncomfortable and “stirs up its nest” (Deut. 32:11). Here the call and command to Jacob was given by the Lord. Therefore, this made the call to return to Canaan of utmost importance. To ignore the call would be disobedience. When God tells us to do something, we need to drop whatever we are doing and do what God tells us to do. We need to heed His commands, and do His will if we expect to live a successful life.

“Return to the land of your fathers.”
Notice the place in the call. “Land of your fathers.” This was the land of Canaan which God had promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It is the land which God gave to the Jews and is still the land for the Jews though neighboring nations oppose it.

Jacob would have to journey about five hundred miles to get to the place where God wanted him. With all the animals and family that he had accumulated in Haran, this would take much labor and much patience. God’s calls often require much labor. If you are looking for an easy task, ministry may not be your first choice.

“To your family.”
This did not sound real good, for Esau was his brother and threatened Jacob’s life (Genesis 27:41). God’s calls may involve danger. The place where God sends us may cause fear, but we must still obey the call.

The Promise in the Call “I will be with you.”
It was time for him to go home, and it was time for his wives to leave their father and go with Jacob. God’s will for Jacob was clear and encouraging. “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you” (Gen. 31:3). This was a most encouraging promise. God’s presence encourages our obedience.

God knew that Jacob needed to return to the promised land. Thus, God spoke to Jacob and told him to return. God would be with him. The idea is that God would take care of him, protecting and providing for him all throughout the journey. Jacob’s responsibility was to obey, to just follow God and strike out for the promised land. If he did not obey and follow God, then he would lose everything and be held in bondage to the world of Laban for the rest of his life.

There are always threatening situations, obstacles that can keep us from following God. But the call of God to us is the same as it was to Jacob: to strike out for the promised land of heaven. If we obey, if we will follow Him, then He will be with us and lead us into the promised land of heaven.

Prophetic outline
Jacob’s exodus from the land of Mesopotamia provides a prophetic outline of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Here Jacob’s family flees from Laban; there a multitude of his descendants will flee Pharaoh. Here his family plunders Laban; there they will plunder Pharaoh and his people. Here Laban is forced to let Jacob’s family go; there Pharaoh will be forced to let Jacob’s descendants go. And all of this is prophetic of the glorious exodus that believers would find in Christ who plundered the power of evil and led them out of bondage to Satan.

Jacob’s escape here in Genesis 31 is that God did it all. God would later do exactly the same in Moses’ escape from Egypt. And so it now is in the ultimate exodus in Christ. Jacob’s departure with his wives prefigures the departure of Christ with his brides, the churches. All glory goes to God. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Application
Daniel B. Towner was singing in Brockton, Massachusetts, at a Moody crusade. During a testimony time he heard a young man say, “I’m not quite sure—but I’m going to trust, and I’m going to obey.” Towner jotted down the words and sent them to his friend John Sammis, who wrote the chorus first and then added the five verses. Towner wrote the tune, and the hymn “Trust and Obey” was published in 1887.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil he doth richly repay;
Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

God does not ask us to be calm and victorious in all the problems of life; he only asks us to trust him. And, like Jacob, many of us are slow to learn this important lesson. For Jacob, his twenty-year conflict with Laban had driven him into the arms of God. Trusting God sometimes comes through the difficulty of circumstances, illness or relationships with other people. When God calls you to go somewhere, go, and go quickly for he said “I will be with you.”

Let’s pray together
Heavenly Father, thank you for Your promise that You are with us. It is blessed if we trust and obey in you. Help us Lord to follow You. In Jesus Name, Amen.