Dr Paul Allen

As Genesis 31 opens, Jacob has been living in a foreign and hostile land for twenty years, outside the land that he was promised by God. He was driven out of this land in Genesis 28 after he had stolen the blessing meant for Esau, his elder brother. He fled to Paddan-Aram, where his uncle Laban lived. There he stayed and worked for Laban and married his daughters, Leah and Rachel. Yet throughout these years, Laban took advantage of Jacob and dealt with him dishonourably. Here in Genesis 31 Jacob finally decides to leave Laban after the Lord instructs him to return home to the promised land (Gen. 31:3). So Jacob and his family leave, in obedience to the Lord, taking with them all the livestock and property that he received as payment for all the years he worked for Laban, as Genesis 30 explains. But in Genesis 31:19 there is a seemingly throwaway line that reads, “And Rachel stole her father’s household gods.” Looking closer, this line is indeed a shocking revelation. Rachel, the God-fe

Genesis 29 relates the story of Jacob’s love for Rachel. And yet, on his wedding night, the deceiver was himself deceived. Though he had worked for Laban seven years in order to marry his youngest daughter, Jacob woke up the next morning lying next to Leah, Rachael’s older sister.  And so in verse 25 of Genesis 29, Jacob says to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”  Laban then responds, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”  What we have here in this scene is a kind of echo of earlier events. Just as Isaac had been deceived by Jacob at the advice of his mother, Jacob has now been deceived by Leah and her father Laban. After he had deceived his father, Jacob was blessed in the place of his brother and became the inheritor of the fertile land of Canaan, whereas Esa

“God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad’ ” (Gen. 31:24). Laban may have been away when Jacob and his daughters set out for Gilead (Gen. 31:17–21), but their journey does not escape his notice for long. After he becomes aware of his son-in-law’s absence, Laban sets out in hot pursuit and is soon able to get within striking distance of Jacob (vv. 22–23). Given what we know about Jacob’s loss of favor in Laban’s eyes (v. 2), it is obvious Laban wants to execute ungodly wrath on his son-in-law. Our Creator’s visit to him in a dream just before he overtakes Jacob makes this even more plain. At the beginning of the passage, Laban is warned not to say anything to Jacob, that is, he is told to contradict nothing Isaac’s son says to him (v. 24). Without a doubt, this dream provokes Laban to keep his hands off Jacob in the following verses. Once again, God has intervened in history, keeping His promise

“Rachel and Leah answered … ‘All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do’ ” (Gen. 31:14–16). We saw yesterday that Jacob was a better man after his years spent with Laban, and today’s passage shows us just how much he has grown. The patriarch has learned from God’s discipline (Deut. 8:5), made evident in the speech he gives in Genesis 31:4–13. Notice how Jacob credits the Lord with his success. In three parallel statements he describes what Laban did and then affirms how God turned his father-in-law’s efforts to harm him into a blessing. Laban’s attitude toward his son-in-law has soured, but the Lord remains with Jacob (v. 5). God preserved Jacob from harm even as Laban deceived him (vv. 6–7). Laban tried to withhold wages from Jacob, but the Creator gave Laban’s wealth to his servant (vv. 8–9). After years relying on his own wits, Jacob is beginning to recognize that everything he has comes o

Auschwitz concentration camp (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) English: The main gate at the former Nazi death camp of Birkenau. Note that this is inside the camp looking back from the loading ramp to the "Gate of Death". (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Mark Galli Author.  A voice was heard in Ramah,weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more." (Matt. 2:18, ESV) We live in a world where Rachel weeps for her children. Where mothers wail and fathers curse because their children are no more. Where friends go mute, and bloodied children stand shocked, and a nation mourns, and a President weeps—for 20 innocent children in Connecticut . One wants to say, "It will be okay. Order will be restored. We'll do something about this, so that it will never happen again." One wants to say this, but we know that it is not okay, that the restored order will be broken again; sadly, it will happen again.

The First Mourning (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Cain and Abel (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Ancient writers and theologians talked about it a lot, even suggesting that it was the second most serious and second most prevalent of all the sins, and yet today it has almost disappeared from our vocabulary or it has been confused with related sins like jealousy or covetousness. That sin is Envy. Proverbs says that whoever walks with the wise will be wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm (13:20). What I found out is that Envy has been a friend of mine for a long, long time. I just didn’t realize it until recently. He has infected me with his foolishness. Let me tell you how he’s worked in my life. Nine years ago I slapped together a little web site so I could share a couple of articles with my parents. The Lord took that site and has done something amazing so that today tens of thousands of people read it every day. Not only that, but I have been able to write books and I have been able