IN Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills
Where blossom’d many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

After serving his father-in-law for 14 years in order to earn his two wives, Jacob asks to be paid in order to gain some wealth of his own. Through God’s blessing and despite the trickery of both Laban (and his son-in-law) Jacob is blessed. However, Jacob then fears his father-in-laws retribution, and leaves with his wife a children. Laban believing that his idols have been stolen chases after his relatives. Upon finding Jacob, Rachel, and Leah he goes through all of their belongings to find the idols. Rachel deceives her father by hiding the idols. In the end Jacob and Laban agree to a treaty and go their separate ways.

This series of events has always bothered me. Throughout this story it appears that deception is being constantly rewarded. Laban is rewarded with 7 extra years of Jacob’s labor by secretly giving him Leah in marriage instead of Rachel. Laban attempts to maintain his wealth by agreeing to give Jacob the spotted goats but then secreting these goats away to a different flock. Jacob uses trickery to build up a flock of spotted goats. Then Rachel deceives her own father and hides the stolen idols.

What is the point of all this deception? I do not think that this is behavior which we are called to emulate. Rather, I see this as a story of God keeping his promises in spite of the actions of Jacob. God had promised that he would bless Abraham’s descendents and it appears that nothing Jacob could do was going to get in the way of that blessing.

The lesson I think that we can take from this passage is that God is more faithful than we are. Once we have invited God into our lives God will stay with us even through the times when we act in ungodly ways. Over the course of our lives we all have times when we deceive, we all have times of doubt, we all have seasons of sin, we all have times when we feel far from God. Throughout these times God will not abandon us, rather he is waiting patiently for us to return to Him. Once God has blessed us, he will not revoke that blessing.

Entolh (a commandment) is commonly used to denote a mandate or ordinance.  To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.