Misuse of the Blessing
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him! Genesis 24:60, ESV
The passage above is a blessing that Laban and his mother prayed over his sister Rebekah. She was leaving her family to become the wife of Isaac. When Rebekah left, she knew that her husband was very wealthy. Her brother Laban also knew that Isaac was extremely wealthy because the servant of Abraham (Isaac’s father) who came to seek out Rebekah told them about Abraham’s wealth and that all of it would be going to Isaac. The servant also had brought expensive gifts to give to Rebekah and her family before they left.
Years passed and Rebekah had twin sons Esau and Jacob. Laban, her brother had two daughters Rachel and Leah and some sons. Because of the discord that had occurred with Rebekah’s twin sons, one had planed to kill his brother as soon as his father died. So Rebekah requested that her husband Isaac send their son Jacob back to Paddan-aram to her brother Laban to get a wife.
Jacob left and God directed him to his uncle Laban’s home. When Jacob arrived, Laban was happy to see him. Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. Genesis 29:15-20, ESV
But Laban tricked Jacob and gave him his daughter Leah. Jacob was angry and confronted Laban about the deception. Laban told Jacob that in their country they do not marry off the younger daughter before the older one. Laban told Jacob that he could work another seven years for his daughter Rachel. Because Jacob loved Rachel he agreed to another seven years. While Jacob was working for Laban, he amassed a great amount of wealth. But he did not give any of this wealth to Jacob. Jacob had worked for Laban for 14 years and had not amassed any wealth. When Jacob decided to leave, Laban offered him the opportunity to gain wealth and they agreed on the wages. But Laban changed the wage ten times! God eventually removed the wealth from Laban and gave it all to Jacob because of the way Laban had treated Jacob.
Laban prayed and blessed his daughter before she left to marry Isaac. God sent the blessing back to Laban through her son for a season and Laban abused the blessing and did not recognize the gift God had sent to him.
I think that because Jacob did not show up with a large amount of wealth, Laban did not recognize the gift before him. He took advantage of Jacob and misused him. We must be very careful about how we treat what God brings before us. He always has a purpose of goodness for those who love the Lord; even when we cannot see the blessing at the moment! Amen!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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