God's Everywhere Authority

Photo by Gvantsa Javakhishvili on Unsplash

Do you love transitions in life? We look forward to at least a few of them. Starting life at college, a first baby, a first grandbaby, a new job that fits your passions better or moving from single to married. We look forward to those because we expect them. It is a normal part of the growing up process, and since they are such well-worn paths we know what to expect more or less. 
It is the unexpected transitions in life we fear. Those are the ones we don’t see coming and are not a part of everyone’s experience. Suddenly changing a job, losing a pregnancy, getting that dreaded phone call from the doctor, watching a spouse mentally or physically fade away. It feels scary because this new experience doesn’t have the same sort of “well-worn path” feel that the ones I described earlier. It feels like uncharted waters. Familiar comforts are stripped away as you are forced to realize what you are really holding on to. 
In this section of Genesis, it is a major transition for the rest of the book. For the final time, a member of Abraham’s clan is going to leave the homeland, never to return. Jacob is about to embark on his solo journey as the sole holder of the promise. He is about to go home, truly home. 
Jacob is only going to be able to make this transition by holding onto God’s promises that He will be with Him. It is my hope this morning that by the time we get to the end of our time today, you will realize that God has no borders. There is nowhere where God does not rule, and that applies to whatever country you find yourself in, and whatever stage and area of life. 
God will move you when He’s ready and He will be with all the way. 

God Will Move You When He’s Ready
We pick up our story here twenty years after Jacob arrived. He has spent 14 years working to obtain his wives, and now he has just completed the last six years to provide for himself a flock. It is looking like things are finally getting set right. 
Others are starting to notice, however, just how much Jacob is getting here. Laban’s sons, the ones who are supposed to inherit his wealth, are starting to think that Jacob is making too much. Importantly, they see him as getting this wealth at their father’s expense. Never mind the fact that Jacob is just doing what Laban agreed to, Jacob is just too successful. What’s worse, Laban has started to sour on relationships with Jacob. This is a big change from just a chapter ago when Laban was trying to make a deal for Jacob to stay. Everything that Jacob did to prosper the family’s homestead seems to be fading in the background as Jacob obviously gets richer. 
What’s more, God has now instructed Jacob that it is time to leave. He is to go back to the land of Canaan, where his fathers and kindred are. There is an ominous note to the word “kindred” as we remember that Jacob has a brother, and he didn’t exactly leave on the best terms. 
It is clear to Jacob that it is time to go, but can he convince his wives? In verses 4-16, we get a deeper dive into the details behind Jacob’s decision to leave and the provision that God has provided thus far. 
We find that it has been a tough working environment, and there has been a lot of pushing and pulling it would seem between Laban and God. It starts by stating generally that Laban doesn’t favor Jacob anymore, but God does. Despite Laban trying to cheat Jacob out of the animals he owes him, God has just kept changing which animals produce well. Everything that Laban does to try to get at Laban ultimately backfires. 
At the end of the speech, it is made undeniably clear that God has been behind everything, and now it is time for Jacob to return to Bethel (where he met God) and make good on that promise he made to God. God has done nothing but care for him, so now it is time for Jacob to hold up his end of the vow with his tithe. 
In an even clearer sign that it is time to go, Rachel and Leah agree! These two have been at odds for a while, but they are now in agreement that it is time to leave their home. They have their own bones to pick with their father, specifically, it seems that Laban has held out on giving them their dowry. Jacob worked to provide the bride price, but Laban had a responsibility to provide a dowry, an inheritance for his daughters (Matthews). He seems to have spent that. But once again, God has moved and provided all the necessary start to life they need. 
The takeaway from this section is that just because things weren’t pleasant doesn’t mean that God wasn’t ruling over it. Yes, it was hard to have wages adjusted to try to make Jacob’s cut as bad a deal for him as possible. Yes, it was insulting to have one’s marriage be a bargaining chip. But it was directly because of those things that God was building up this family to begin their journey. I’m sure all of you have similar stories. Looking back, it is clear that God was working through it all. 

God Will Be With You All the Way

Returning to Jacob, he begins the flight away from Laban. He waits until Laban is busy with the sheep shearing, so he and his crew can slip out without being noticed. He gets a bit of a head start (the three days and seven days may actually just be a turn of phrase meaning short time and long time according to Matthews’ commentary), and makes it all the way to Gilead (about four hundred miles) before Laban catches up with him. 
Laban is chasing him because two things have been stolen. The first is that his household gods have been stolen and Jacob has stolen away. The Hebrew actually reads “stole the heart of” Laban, which is a way of saying that Jacob tricked Laban (Ross). There is a bit of controversy about what exactly these household gods were or why Rachel stole them. It could be as complicated as these idols were tokens of inheritance such that the person who owned them was like the person owning a deed (this is unlikely in my opinion, as women couldn’t obtain property like this (Matthews)), or it could be that these are the idols that Laban uses in his divination practices, or it could be simply that these things were made of valuable metals like gold and Rachel wanted some spending money. 
Whatever these things were, they obviously represented some sort of security for Laban. If they were his gods that they worshiped, then they are some pretty laughable gods. He’s gotta rescue them! Or if they were money, then Laban really is desperate to get an amount of gold that can hide under a camel saddle (more on that later). 
These things were not more powerful than God. Laban was ready to rumble and chased Jacob 400 miles to do it, but he was stopped in his tracks by God in a dream. You’ll notice how Laban is referred to now, “the Aramean.” He is now the foreigner. People are now judged in relationship to Jacob. Jacob is the man of promise. The tables have turned one final time. 
Whether in Laban’s home, or the hill country of Gilead, God has controlled every aspect of the game and ensured that his purposes were brought about. 
Now, the takeaway that you might expect me to say here is that God is everywhere, so you don’t have to fear those who might threaten you. And that is a true lesson, but we covered that before. I want to make our takeaway a bit more personal. Are there any boundaries that you assume that God doesn’t have rulership over in your life? That can manifest as anxiety or avoidance. Anxiety would say that God is everywhere but the classroom test. God is everywhere and providing for everything except the doctor’s waiting room. Or your job prospects. Or your marriage. God is there. Especially if it is difficult. 
It can also manifest as avoidance. You live like God doesn’t have anything to say about the way your marriage is being conducted, or the way your time or money is being spent. What you do with your body. God owns every bit of you and guides every bit. You can rebel against that, but that will only result in your pain (see Laban). If you are experiencing this, then I would call you to repent. If you are experiencing this as anxiety, I would call you to comfort. 
I would lead you both to the same place, the table. There is no better visual reminder of the presence and working of God than the Lord’s Supper. Here, we are reminded that Jesus once walked the world in flesh and now, even today, wishes to commune with us in Spirit. This was accomplished through the very death of Jesus. It wasn’t something that made sense at the time. How does one beat death by dying? But the cross and resurrection prove to us in the deepest possible way that God rules over all things and does so with His personal presence.