Genesis #36 - Unlikely Grace #8 - "Unlikely Grace on the Long Way Home" (Genesis 30:25-31:55)

Genesis chapter 30 and We're going to read from verses 25 through to 42

Genesis chapter 30 from verses 25 through to 42 if you've grabbed one of the red hardback

Bibles we give away and That's on page 25 if you need one You can put your hand up.

Are you happy like to give you one? Genesis chapter 30 beginning in verse 25 page 25 in the

Bibles that we give away It's our custom here that when we come to the text that we're going to preach from we stand as we read it

So if you are able to do so, can I invite you to stand as we read this portion of God's Word?

Genesis chapter 30 and reading from verse 25

God's Word says after Rachel gave birth to Joseph Jacob said to Laban send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland

Give me my wives and my children that I worked for and let me go You know how hard I have worked for you

But Laban said to him if I have found favor with you stay I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you

Then Laban said name your wages and I will pay them So Jacob said to him, you know how

I have served you and your how your herds have fared with me Well, you know, but you had very little excuse me before I came but now your wealth has increased

Yahweh has blessed you because of me and now when will I also do something for my own family?

Laban asked what should I give you and Jacob said You don't need to give me anything

If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock Let me go through all your sheep today and Remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted every dark colored sheep among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the female goats

Such will be my wages in the future when you come to check on my wages My honesty will testify for me if I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted or any lambs that are not black

They will be considered stolen Good said

Laban, let it be as you have said That day Laban removed the street and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats everyone that had any whites on it and Every dark colored one among the lambs and he placed this his sons in charge of them

He puts a three -day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob. Meanwhile was shepherding the rest of Laban's flock

Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar almond and plain wood and peeled the bark exposing white stripes on the branches he set the peel branches in the troughs in front of the sheep in the water channels where the sheep came to drink and The sheep bred when they came to drink

The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore street speckled and spotted young Jacob Separated the lambs and made the flocks face the street sheep and the completely dark sheep in Laban's flocks

Then he set his own stock apart and didn't want them and didn't put them. Excuse me with Laban sheep

Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding Jacob placed the branches in the troughs in full view of the flocks and they would breed in front of the branches

As for the weaklings of the flock he did not put out the branches

So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob and The man became very rich he had many flocks male and female and male slaves and camels and donkeys

Pray the Lord will bless that reading of his word and give us understanding as we come to it Allow me to pray ask for God's help and we will launch into God's Word.

Let's pray together But heavenly father we ask that as we come to your word even now

You would open our eyes that we would see wonderful things from your word Pray that your spirit would be at work

Teaching us the lessons that come from your word And ultimately turning our eyes not towards ourselves, but towards heaven fathers.

We come to this passage Help us on our pilgrimage on our journey home

That we would keep you front and center and all that we do We ask all these things in Jesus name and for his sake.

Amen Please be seated Through many dangers toils and snares.

I have already come Tis grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will lead me home

John Newton British pastor wrote those words reflecting on his conversion in the 1740s and those words reflect something of a reality that every

Christian both realizes and hopes for you see every

Christian I trust realizes that this world is not home We may choose to debate that we may choose not to like that reality

But the Bible is very clear. This world is not home So we realize that this world is not home

But at the same time also long for and hope for the day when we as God's people will indeed

Make it all the way home The reality is though the

God in his providence has not made our journey home a short one

That between now and then between our pilgrimage in this world and our safe arrival in glory that between now and then

God in his wisdom has made our journey home a long one

And like Newton said in his famous song there are quite a few dangers toils and snares along the way

And we're gonna learn something of that as we pick up the story of Jacob this morning for those of you who are visiting we've been working our way for quite some time through the book of Genesis It's our habit here at Redeemer to work our way through books of the

Bible section by section allowing the point of the text to form the point of the sermon and so we have been working our way through the book of Genesis and in particular the life of Jacob and As we come to the life of Jacob this morning

Jacob is about to encounter the reality that Regardless of our intentions on this journey home the journey home isn't always a smooth one

He's about to encounter that this journey home isn't always a smooth one and together with Jacob We're going to learn that while our journey home as God's people is indeed a long one

Well, we have the blessed hope and the blessed reality that we are not alone in that journey

In fact, we are never alone in that journey You can see from the screens that we have quite a large text to cover this morning

As I worked on this passage this week I just realized this the only way for this to make sense is to treat this whole episode as one event

Which means I'm going to do a lot of summarizing It will not be my typical summer when I'm going verse -by -verse

I will summarize and move over last sections so we can get through this material But as believers on the long journey home, what did this rather an interesting narrative?

What does this interesting episode in the life of Jacob have to teach us as God's people?

Well that kind of leads me to my big idea for this sermon this morning. I think that is a very simple one That on our pilgrimage as God's people

God makes his presence and power known to us in a variety of unusual ways on our pilgrimage as God's people

God makes his presence and power known in a variety of unusual ways

That's the thread I think that connects this long narrative that we're going to study together in God's Word That as Jacob begins this journey back to the land of promise

God makes his presence and his power known in a variety of unusual ways

That's my big idea for this morning and I hope to kind of demonstrate that big idea by showing you in our passage four responses

To the unusual providence of God that we should adopt as we face the long way home

Four responses to God's unusual way of working with us as we make this long journey home

So four responses. I'll do my best to be as brief as I can Beloved as we face the long way home will be well equipped for that journey when we first of all recognize

God's unusual provision when we recognize God's unusual provision

So jumping back into Genesis chapter 30 at least 20 years have passed since Jacob turned up on Laban's doorstep as he was running away from home when

Jacob came He was a single man, but at this point he is now a husband of four. Remember the last sermon and a father of 12 11 sons and one daughter and With 20 years having passed and remember if you've been with us in our series

Genesis chapter 27 This is only meant to be for a few days well a few days turned into yes

This is meant to be a short stay but after 20 years Jacob is ready to return home

And so in verses 25 and 26, he simply asked like I'm ready to go.

Send me on my way. Let me take my it's interesting. He doesn't ask for anything. He simply says Verse 26 give me my wives and my children that I worked for and let me go now

This doesn't seem like an unreasonable request. He's been here for 20 years. He's worked for a very minimal wage if any wage at all

But remember who we are deep in this we are dealing with a man called Laban and Laban is as we would say in East London where I grew up.

He is a wheeler and dealer This is somebody who does not exactly have

Well, basically any respect for anyone other than himself, and he's not really going to lose free labor by letting

Jacob go Oh, it's been 20 years not having to pay a wage for somebody to essentially enrich him and so versus 27 and 28

Laban says you can't leave essentially after all if I found favor with you if I've been good to you

Well stay if I live in says verse 28 name your wages and I will pay them

Now we've heard this offer from Laban before and if I were Jacob, I would be skeptical

Because you remember that the last time he made this offer Jacob went to bed one night and woke up a bigamist.

This didn't go well for Jacob last time But again Jacob is not really in a position to negotiate at this stage

Doesn't have anything and if he wants to leave he's going to need some independent wealth to be able to go

And so in verses 31 to 33 Jacob says okay.

Let's come to this arrangement He says verse 32. Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted

Every dark -colored sheep among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the female goats such will be my wages

Without boring you with a lesson of genetics this morning because I'm not an expert in genetics and beating comes it for a genetics lesson

Let me simply know This would be an incredibly small portion of laban's flock because all of these markers think back to six at school

These are all recessive These are not dominant Markers, this would actually be a very small part of laban's flock in comparison to what

Jacob could ask for If we can pause for a moment Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that Jacob?

the swindler The hustler is not resorting to any scheming tricking or just general chicanery here

Can you appreciate that fact for a moment? It's almost as though he has given up on trying to obtain a blessing by deception like he did with Esau No, this time he's going about this on the straight and narrow.

He asked for an honest wage and he leaves it at that. I Mean again, this is perfectly reasonable.

How could Laban possibly refuse after all? He wouldn't be out that much as a result of this.

I mean, this is no big deal. Why would he not do this? Surely he's going to pay

Jacob what Jacob is worth right wrong verse 35 That day so they haven't even finished having this conversation

The ink is still dry on the contract as it were that day Laban removed the streets and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats and every dark colored one along the among the lambs and he

Placed his sons in charge of them So he's like, yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and not do that And to make matters worse he does this puts his sons in charge and he doesn't even have the courage to Withstand the consequence because verse 36 he puts a three -day journey between him and Jacob takes off Of course

Laban was not going to let this happen If we've discovered anything about Laban Laban loves his wealth and he's not going to share with anyone especially not the likes of Jacob Beloved a temptation is now in the pathway of Jacob He has been conned by Laban once again, but I think about this the question that now faces

Jacob is How do I respond to this? Does Jacob give in to that natural tendency of his to try and make something happen?

even if he has to bend pretty much all the rules in the process or Does he trust in the providence and the provision of God in this moment that's the test that is facing

Jacob in this moment and Might I suggest as a point of application that that's a temptation that we are often faced with as well as God's people

So the world around us mocks the people of God relentlessly The choice that we face is do we respond with equal derision and scorn and mockery or do we choose as God's Word calls us?

To to rise above it Maybe you're here. You've got unbelieving family You're unbelieving family mocks your faith in Christ after who would be stupid enough to believe in Jesus in 2024

Do you cave? or do you stand firm as Believers we seek to fight against our sin with the power of the gospel and with the power of the

Spirit and at times that fight Against sin can get can get harder and harder. Do we sit there and say

I'm going to either grit my teeth apply willpower Try harder or do better or do we rest in the promises of God's Word that says that the one the

Spirit The one who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to our weak and mortal bodies

And by the way, that passage isn't just talking about resurrection. It's talking about even in the here -and -now The reality is all of us will face the temptation to either go

God's way or our own way and the question that we face Just like Jacob does in this passage is what will we do?

Again, I think Jacob is to be credited here because Jacob does not give in to the easy choice I think about this fighting fire with fire

Jacob is naturally a hustler if he wanted to get back at leave and he could do him He could probably do it better than Laban could

But he chooses not to in this moment He chooses not to and God provides in an unusual way in verses 35 to 42

There's a lot of debate about what's going on in these verses about what Jacob is doing here I'm personally not going to get into all of the debate as to whether there was some scientific reason

Was this just a folk thing that Jacob does superstitiously? I think there's an easy answer, but I'm gonna save that answer till later in our message.

So file that way We'll come back to it soon enough But for now

Allow me to point your attention to the end of that section verse 42 So it turned out that the weak sheep

Belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob and the man became very rich He had many flocks male and female slaves and camels and donkeys

Despite the scheming and the machinations of Laban Jacob ends up being more than provided for And can

I put it to you that this is less about Jacob's ingenuity as a shepherd He clearly is good at his job, but this isn't just a man who's good at his job and is able to make some good investments

No, this is more about the grace of God in caring for Jacob Laban might have schemed to cheat

Jacob, but God was more than Laban's match And again, let's be clear

Jacob is not perfect We've seen it those of you who are regulars who've been through this study in Genesis with us Jacob is a man who is marked by being feeble by being foolish and at times just a little bit fickle

But before we point our fingers that Jacob who of us can say that we've not been any of those at some point

Like Jacob we will have moments where we don't know how God will provide

But we are called to trust the fact that though we don't know how God will provide We can trust that he will indeed

Provide isn't that why Jesus could say I'm not gonna read the whole thing, but Matthew chapter 6 from verse 25 to 34

Don't Worry yourself with what you're gonna wear What you gonna eat and what you're gonna drink?

How many father knows these things after all doesn't he provide for all the birds in the sky? You ever seen a wildflower.

They look beautiful. God was able to dress those If you can do all of that He'll take care of you your job

Matthew 633 seek God's kingdom and all these things will be added will be provided For you.

And so how does Jesus in that section? He says therefore don't worry about tomorrow Because tomorrow will worry about itself.

We may not know how God will provide but we know that he will and As pilgrims on the long journey home, we will be well served on our journey to recognize those moments of God's unusual provision we'd also do well to Receive God's unusual

Direction to receive God's unusual Direction, so we come back to our narrative.

We're moving now in chapter 31 Jacob has amassed some serious wealth and Amassing this wealth has not gone unnoticed

So look at verses 1 & 2 now Jacob heard what Laban's sons were saying Jacob has taken all that was our father's and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father and Jacob saw from Laban's face that his attitude toward him was not the same as before I Mean if we can just pause for a moment, there are a few things.

I have an issue with with this right here First of all talk about the pots calling the kettle black. Are we really going to have

Laban and his family accused Jacob of stealing? Second of all no stealing actually took place because Laban agreed to this deal

Apparently there really isn't any order among thieves and of course

Jacob hadn't taken anything more than what was rightfully his It's bad enough that this is a ridiculous claim

But I have to imagine that Jacob hears this and he's concerned because again, he knows who

Laban is this is a man who is fundamentally untrustworthy and Being fundamentally untrustworthy all bets are off where he is concerned.

He could do anything at any point in time Jacob knows that this is a volatile situation

This is not going to end well, this is a volatile situation

But can I put it to you that God actually likes when things are a little bit volatile And I praise you that God doesn't always like when things are easy and So it's into that in verse 3

God speaks and says Jacob. It's time to go home Apparently Jacob had put his plans to go home and pause but God says no.

No, no It play it's time for you to go It's interesting the language that God uses here

In verse 3 of going back to the land of your ancestors and to your family and I'll be with you

It's kind of the reverse of what God told Abraham in Genesis 12 Remember Genesis 12.

He says he should leave His father's house and his family to the land that I will show you where Jacob is now being told to do the opposite Leave here go back to the land of your ancestors and your family

God wants Jacob to be aware of the fact that this is not home This was not the land of promise and God essentially is calling

Jacob back to that land In the midst of a tense situation

Yahweh has stepped in with incredibly clear direction for his servant

Jacob knows he can't he obviously can't do this alone And so in verses 4 through 16, he calls his wives

And he explains to them he narrates to them the story of Why he needs to go after bonuses.

I studied it this week I got the sense that Jacob almost feels like he needs to convince them a little bit They look

I know this might not be high on your to -do list right now. But listen, here's what's happening

This is why we need to do this. I don't know a couple of things about again

We won't read that whole section verses 4 through 16. I want to just know a couple of things about Jacob's narration of what's happened to him

First of all Jacob notices that God's presence is clearly the difference maker

So in verse 5, he says that the God of my father has been with me

Verse 7 he says but God has not let Laban harm me verse 9

God has taken away your father's hurts and given them to me There is a conscious understanding on his part that God has been at work

But only is Jacob conscious of Yahweh's direction Remember how I told you we should shout that question of why

Jacob does this weird thing with the branches? Well now we get our answer Verse 12 verse 10, excuse me

He says when the flocks were breeding I saw in a dream that the street Spotted and speckled males were mating with the females in that dream the angel of God said to me

Jacob and I said here I am and he said look up and see all the males that are mating with the flocks are streaked spotted and speckled for I Have seen all that Laban has been doing to you what looks like an act of craziness on the part of Jacob is actually following the word of the

Lord and Despite Jacob's sins and failings and very clear flaws

Jacob is conscious of the fact that God has been with him all the way

From the moment where God met him at Bethel Now in the land of Haran and he would be with him on the way back

That's why he feels this confidence that it's time for us to go But you know what

I find sad about this narrative Verses 14 through 16 the response of the daughters.

They put up zero resistance to this In fact, they're like no this needs to happen

After all, they knew exactly what their father was after all remember this. He basically sold them to Jacob and Then tried to cheat them out of the provision.

He needed to take care of them You get the sense that these young no, they're not so young now

But that these women are keenly aware of who their father is and They really weren't about to lose any sleep or cry any tears about leaving there for her

And there's a sense in which they at least paid lip service to Yahweh's direction in this if I can pause

God's direction of us might not be as Extraordinary and as direct as this you can debate whether he does that today or not.

That's for another time But though I would argue that God's the Direction of us might not be as direct and as extraordinary as this that doesn't mean that we as God's people are left without any direction

His beloved we are left with God's Word And in the

Word of God God makes his will and his way known to us and he makes it known to us perfectly

As the psalmist would say in Psalm 119 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path

God is good to us and that he gives us direction in his Word for life

But again, we are faced with the same conundrum that we talked about in the first point will we trust that direction or Will we trust?

ourselves Now you may think of you Kofi Kofi you're making this way more clear -cut than it actually is

Sometimes sometimes sometimes yes, we know we have the Bible, but sometimes you've got finesse this thing a little bit

Though sometimes it's not just following the Bible No, I agree that there might be some work in accurately applying

God's direction in his Word to our situation I'm not gonna deny that Some things are wisdom calls.

We have to weigh up. Okay, what's the best way for me to do this? Especially where there's no clear command definitely would not deny that But the reality is it's still going

God's way or your way even if we're not sure how to go God's way And so the question that we receive this morning is very simple.

Which way will you choose? On our long journey on our long journey home to glory there will be times where we need to recognize

God's unusual provision We need to receive his unusual direction and there will be times where we need to rest in his undeserved protection

There will be times where we need to rest in his undeserved protection So in verses 17 to 21 of our passage the fly is on Jacob Laban goes for what was a practice for sheep herders and sheep owners in this day the sheep shearing

It was kind of a could be up to two weeks long. It's not appear where all the sheep go to get shared

It's usually a time that was a company with partying and what -have -you because you're gone for a while and it's kind of a happy event

So this annual sheep shearing provides a perfect opportunity to leave Jacob is not even gonna try risk having a conversation because that didn't go well last time

Now it's pack my things and leave It's in the midst of this that Rachel does something that's completely inexplicable it doesn't make any sense

She decides to steal the text says the household gods that belonged to Laban household gods were basically miniature idols

They were not the full -scale ones that would be in a temple or shrine They're kind of like you're kind of like how some

Roman Catholics have their little statues of Mary They're not obviously the big huge thing in their churches. It's kind of like that The decision to steal it doesn't really make any sense, though But either she thinks that it will grant them some magical good luck on this journey or she's doing it to spite her father

Either way and I leave you to pick which one because the text doesn't explicitly say Either way, this is not good

Of course Jacob isn't privy to any of this. He doesn't know that Rachel took these things. He just sees an opportunity and Again, knowing the man he's dealing with he kicks his plan into gear

In fact Jacob is so cautious about this that which had time to go into all of this

But essentially he takes a slightly longer and more Scenic route shall we say to get to where he's going?

But he intentionally goes this way because it's easier for him to hide if he needs to He listens it

Jacob is somewhat terrified of this man And it seems to be with some good reason because verse 22 to 24

Says on the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled so he took his relatives with him Pursued Jacob for seven days and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead Jacob's or trepidation kind of pays itself off because what does

Laban do he essentially? rounds up a militia and he gives chase the irony of this is

Remember this those of you who've been here in our study of Genesis remember when Abraham had a nephew that was called lot and Lot decided to go live in a place.

He had no business living him and then found himself a prisoner of war and The Bible says that Jacob takes men of his own household 318 of them essentially his own private militia and He goes to war and he liberates his nephew

Laban is doing the reverse of this Abraham mounted an effort to liberate his nephew

Laban mounts an effort to essentially re -enslave his nephew Everything about this man and the way he operates is back to front from the way a righteous man should operate

But just as he gets close he overtakes this but I think about this you've got lots of animals You've got kids if you try going anywhere with kids you move significantly slower

Try 12 of them, so he gets overtaken and just as Laban as it were gets close

The good news is that so does God and so God says verse 24.

He comes to him in a dream at night I love how God starts this he says watch yourself Literally says make your next move your best move because what you're about to do is not smart.

He says watch yourself God warned him don't say anything to Jacob either good or Bad essentially leave that boy alone.

And of course didn't even listen to that. Of course, he didn't he's warned

Not to so much as breathe the word in Jacob's direction and he promptly ignores that warning

And so verse 26, he starts this what can only be described as a sob story They've been such

Jacob verse 26. What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughter's the way like prisoners of war. Why did you secretly flee from me me and me?

I would have sent you away with joy and singing and with tambourine and liars, but You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters

You have acted foolishly. I could do great home. Can I just pause for a moment? how do we go from let me greet you to I Can do you great harm?

But last night the God of your father said to me watch yourself. Don't say anything to Jacob either good or bad

Well, why are you talking now then I have to put it to you that just for a moment this little speech just reeks of Self -centeredness and self -importance.

Did you catch how many times he uses the personal pronoun you deceived me? You have taken my daughters like prisoners of war.

Why did you secretly flee from me? Why did you deceive me not tell me you didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters me me me

I I I The only semi legit thing he can say is and on top of that you stole my gods

I say semi legit cuz someone took him. They just he was just wrong. There was Jacob. You did it That's about it.

And of course the worst part of this is God told him not to say a word to Jacob And he proceeds to go and say a lot of words

Jacob I think you get the sense that Jacob is just kind of tired of this man at this point He just wants him gone.

He says, you know what? Go around look for your idols Now we know

Rachel's taking it as the text tells us a full search takes place and the actual thief has a pretty ingenious plan to deal with this

So verse 35 father comes into her tent. I was looking around. He says Texas She said to her father don't be angry my lord that I cannot stand up.

I am having my period Hebrew is much more euphemistic about this.

It says the manner of women or the way of women is on me It's that time of the month.

I hope you can understand Men in the room. Let's be honest. If a woman says that to you just like okay

I really don't want more details about that. He's like, I'm not gonna argue.

I'm not really gonna probe into that cool That's what she gets away with it. Also we think

But pay attention to verse 32 because in verse 32 Jacob says if anyone takes it, they will not live

I'm not gonna spoil the rest of my sermon series, but file that away Those words are going to come back and haunt everyone

But come back to our narrative for a moment. Jacob doesn't know any of this and so verse 36 through to 42

He gets rightly annoyed And his list of grievances if this were in court, it'd be a hard case to throw out

He says look I work for you for 20 years with little to show for it Oh, if anything happens to your animals, I took personal responsibility for it.

I enjoyed the extreme the harsh extremes excuse me of Shepherding in the desert if you've ever been the desert, you know this it's blisteringly hot in the day, it's

Unforgivingly cold at night. These are labor practices.

So bad if Jacob were part of the Union, they would have a field day with this Jacob has a lot to be grieved by But can

I just draw your attention just one verse verse 42 he says if the

God of my father the God of Abraham The fear of Isaac by the way

That phrase simply just means the dreaded one of Isaac the God of Isaac who strikes terror into the hearts of his enemies

He says the God of my father the God of Abraham the fear of Isaac had not been with me

Certainly you would have sent me off empty -handed But God has seen my affliction and my hard work and he issued his verdict last night

Abraham's God the one who struck terror in the hearts of Isaac's enemies. This was the God who had been

Jacob's protection Even with Jacob's many flaws God does not allow Laban to cheat

Jacob in this way Labor might have gone away with it if it wasn't for this meddling

God if this were indeed a court case

I imagine the judge would sit there with complete exasperation and say, you know, I'm throwing this out with prejudice We're not doing this again.

And in a sense in the divine courtroom, that was God's verdict Once again

God comes to the rescue of Jacob Providing protection from this man who wanted to simply do him harm

Believer you have a lot of enemies you have the world you have the flesh you have the devil

But the beautiful thing is if you are a believer You know that you have protection

From that and maybe you don't so allow me to inform you you have protection from all those enemies and you have protection from that In fact, you have protection from the biggest problem that you face.

See the biggest problem We often sometimes think that the biggest problem you face is the world the flesh and the devil No, they're the biggest problems you face if you're a

Christian If you want to believe it, you know the biggest problem you face The very wrath of God the wrath that you and I and all men deserve for our sin but here's the beautiful thing if you know the

Lord Jesus you're protected from that and Since you're protected from that the Bible says if he's willing to do all of that How will he not also give us

Romans chapter 8 all things? I would be remiss if I didn't say in a room with all these people who are here today great to see so many of you

I'll be remiss to simply say that if you are here today, and you don't know the Lord you are in danger

Sin leaves you in danger of God's wrath, but here's the good news of the Bible that Christ has come

He has taken on the father's judgment and he invites you to find Shelter from the wrath to come as you come to him

And so if you're here, you don't know the Lord Jesus. Can I put it to you run to Christ while you still can?

find protection in him Maybe I'm so far gone. There's nothing

I can possibly do. Can I put it to you that? No, but no madly, excuse me. No matter how badly you sinned

Like the old hymn says Christ stands ready and able to save you So I encourage you to find that undeserved protection that can only be found in the

Lord Jesus on our journey home

There'll be moments where we need to recognize God's unusual provision receive his unusual direction rest in his undeserved protection

And finally, there'll be moments where we simply get to realize God's undeserved kindness You get to realize

God's undeserved kindness As you come back to our text

It's not all that Jacob has had to say Laban isn't really someone who's going to let

Jacob have the last word so verse 43 Then Laban answered

Jacob the daughters are my daughters No, they aren't and this is 224 and the minute they got married they

Yes, they your daughters, but they're primarily Jacob's wives now So no, the doors are not your daughters.

The children are my children. No, sorry gramps. The children are the stewardship of their parents

And the flocks my flocks. No, these are the wages you agreed to Everything you see is mine.

No it ain't But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or the children they have born

No, Jacob. I'm gonna let you live. Is it so you might remember this in school? There was always that one guy in school. I went to an all -boys school for my high school education.

I don't recommend it That much testosterone should not be in one building, but anyway

There's always that one guy or in my case a few dozen in my school Who Got beaten up But still has so much to say after being beaten up.

Laban is kind of like that in this moment He's got nothing left to say, but he's still got plenty to say So he says verse 44 come now, let's make a covenant you and I Essentially says you know what?

Let's settle out of court if we're gonna keep pushing our legal analogy here again

I get the sense Jacob is just like Please will this man just go and so a covenant is made between the two

Laban would see a clear of Jacob. In fact, they put up a marker and see from this physical marker You don't cross it in this direction.

I won't cross it in this direction They call the mark a misper The watchtower is actually let

God be the one who watches from this point. I Somehow get the sense that Jacob has zero interest in coming back this direction

Laban's the one who needs this warning, but can I put it to you that with somebody with as evil in nature as Laban has

This is an unexpected kindness that it ends in such a relatively peaceful way They make an agreement they seal it with a meal

Laban greets his family and they go their separate ways Given Jacob's life up to this point.

You'd expect things to go difficult from here And yes, he's still got quite a ways to go before he finally gets home, but praise the

Lord he is still on the journey home This is an undeserved kindness from God kind of reminds you of all the undeserved kindnesses that you and I have enjoyed in our lives

Haven't we if I'm the I'm pretty much done If I'm either journey home to glory is long and it's fraught with so many dangers

But if I can bring it full circle back to where we started It is grace that has brought us safe thus far and grace that will lead us home and Father we thank you for your grace

We thank you for your grace that indeed makes the difference

As we look back upon our lives and we look at all the ways that you have protected us and kept us

Watched over us up to this point The only thing we can do is to turn back praises to you father help us that we would keep

You front and center in our minds as we made this long journey home and we encounter all kinds of dangers and challenges

The eyes would not be on the danger and the challenges ahead of us But our eyes will be fixed firmly on the hope that we have in you

And again father I pray for anybody who is here who doesn't know you Who is still under the greatest threat of all which is the threat of your wrath

I pray that they would find a shelter in Christ from the stormy blast

Father draw lost souls to yourself And father draw us closer to you too