CALVARY. > Determine which discussion points and questions will work best with your group.

Transcription

1 BIBLE FELLOWSHIP TEACHING PLANS MAY 8, 2016

2 CALVARY GENESIS 31:1-55 MAY 8, 2016 TEACHING PLAN PREPARATION > Spend the week reading through and studying Genesis 31:1-55. Consult the commentary provided and any additional study tools (such as a concordance or Bible dictionary) to enhance your preparation. > Determine which discussion points and questions will work best with your group. > Pray for our pastor and our church, the upcoming group meeting, your teaching, your group members, and their receptivity to the study. HIGHLIGHTS BIBLICAL EMPHASIS: Jacob had spent his life searching for significance by trying to outwit and trick other people. In Genesis 31, Jacob finally decided to obey the call of God and return to his land, much to Laban s chagrin. TEACHING AIM: The significance we so desperately seek is found in our obedience to the voice of God. MEMORIZE: If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now 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. Genesis 30:42 2 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

3 TEACHING PLAN MAY 8, 2016 INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to help get the conversation going. 1 What is your favorite memory of a time with your father? What is your favorite memory of a time with your father-in-law? 2 If you are married, how would you describe your father-in-law? 3 How does our relationship with father figures shape our view of God and of ourselves? Father/child relationships can be wonderful, but also painful. Family relationships in general can lead to the greatest joys and the most frustrating fights. Jacob had a complicated relationship with his father, Isaac, and his father-in-law, Laban. Because of these relationships Jacob searched for meaning and significance by seeking to outwit these men instead of trusting God. Genesis 31 is the culmination of Jacob s tumultuous relationship with Laban and shows us the reward that is found in finding your identity and meaning in God instead of in the eyes and estimation of sinful men and women. UNDERSTANDING Unpack the biblical text to discover what Scripture says or means about a particular topic. > Have a volunteer read Genesis 31:1-21. What gave rise to the tension in Jacob and Laban s relationship that we read in the first two verses of this chapter? 3 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

4 TEACHING PLAN MAY 8, 2016 How does the Lord use the attitudes of others to point us in the right direction? Laban was Jacob s match and bested him trick after trick, until Jacob finally got the upper hand with the sheep. Though Jacob had a tenuous relationship with his trust in God, God caused Jacob to succeed. When Laban saw the success God had given Jacob, he (along with his sons) were jealous, so God called Jacob to leave. God is the Author of all the circumstances of our lives, and He uses them to guide us back to Him, which is what he prepared Jacob to do. Though Jacob had prospered in his uncle s home, he had not found the significance he would ultimately find in God alone. What did Jacob acknowledge in verses 10-13? Why is this a major moment for Jacob? What reasons did Jacob present to Rachel and Leah for why they needed to leave their father s house? Household Gods (31:19) According to the Nuzi tablets, possession of household gods could strengthen one s claim to an inheritance, so Rachel may have had a material motive as well as a religious motive in snatching the idols and hiding them in her saddlebags. The word for gods here is teraphim, occurring fifteen times in the Old Testament. These idols were thought to provide protection for the family. They may have also been designed in the images of ancestors. What does it mean to be a leader in the home? How do we see Jacob taking his first steps in that direction? How did Jacob and Rachel both deceive Laban? What does this tell us about their character? Jacob attributed his success to the Lord instead of his own schemes. He recognized that God s hand was the hand that caused him to prosper and saw his need to obey God s voice and leave. Jacob told Rachel and Leah they needed to leave because 1) their father Laban had an unfavorable attitude 4 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

5 TEACHING PLAN MAY 8, 2016 toward Jacob; 2) Laban was unethical in business, having cheated Jacob and changed his wages 10 time; and 3) most important of all, the God who had taken their father s herds and given them to Jacob had now ordered him to return to his native land. Rachel and Leah were agreeable to the idea, since their father had treated them like foreigners, or outsiders. Here we see Jacob take responsibility for his family, but we also see he had much to learn. He deceived Laban in order to leave, and Rachel did not leave her idolatry behind because she left with several of Laban s household idols, likely under the false assumption they would protect her along the way. > Have a volunteer read Genesis 31: At least to some extent, Rachel was trusting God. Why, then, do you think she took her father s household idols? From verses 27-30, what was Laban s primary reason for being upset with Jacob, Leah, and Rachel leaving the way that they did? Rachel s idolatry, now revealing itself in the literal idols she took from her father s house, made a bad situation far worse. How have you seen your own idolatry affect your family? For the sake of their families, Laban and Jacob made peace. Though Rachel s desire was to follow God and her husband, she continued to struggle with idolatry like her father. None of us are immune to the temptation of idolatry. Even the most well-meaning believers can take their eyes off full trust in the Lord and place trust in other things. Apart from the one true God, we will have no lasting, fulfilling success. 5 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

6 TEACHING PLAN MAY 8, 2016 How do we continually point our families back to God in order to avoid the same hardship that Jacob and Rachel introduced into their own family? We must train our families, particularly our children, to trust God and follow Him. Error and wrong belief creep in without our realizing. We try and search for significance in places that it cannot be found. We bring along our false idols, clinging to false hope. What children and families need above all else it to have parents who instruct their children to recognize the One true God, to love Him, and to place their full confidence in Him. > Have a volunteer read Genesis 31: How did God use Laban s underhanded dealings to show Jacob His true worth? How did Laban respond to Jacob s complaint? Exhausted from the years of underhanded dealing, Jacob lashed out at Laban. But in the middle of this complaint, we see an emerging confidence in the God of Abraham. Jacob attributed all of his success to God once again. God saw Jacob s affliction, protected him from financial ruin, and issued a verdict on his behalf. In response, Laban expressed his disgust by insisting that everything Jacob had was rightfully his. What led Jacob and Laban to make a peace deal? Where did the two men place their faith? What false gods do families place their faith in today? For the sake of their families, Laban and Jacob made peace. They kept their pact based on their faith and trust in their gods. Jacob trusted in the Lord, the God of his forefathers, while Laban trusted in idols and the gods of his household. It was through faith in a just God that Jacob escaped the injustice of his family. Providence The word providence does not occur in the Bible, but it represents a genuine biblical doctrine. The doctrine of providence becomes the stage on which the drama of Genesis is played out. It deals with God s gracious outworking of His plan in the lives of His people, and ultimately in the salvation story of Christ and the cross. If we had only Genesis 30 without 31, we would imagine Jacob construing some kind of magic formula to enhance his flocks. But chapter 31 shows us that all the success of Jacob s experiments depended upon God. God s providence even orchestrates negative human emotions and actions to achieve his purposes. As the jealousy of Jacob s wives led to the birth of the tribes of Israel, so the jealousy of Laban and his sons led to Jacob s return to the land of his fathers. The folly of Rachel in stealing the household gods enabled Jacob to win his lawsuit. 6 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

7 TEACHING PLAN MAY 8, 2016 APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. 1 What does spiritual leadership look like in your home? What can you learn from Leah and Rachel s negative examples? 2 Leading your home can be a difficult task, particularly if you have never tried to be a spiritual leader. How can we encourage one another to keep up this important task and press through the awkwardness and the challenges? 3 How have your parents encouraged and discouraged your faith? How can you intentionally pass your own faith on to the next generation, whether a parent or not? P R A Y Praise God for being the source of all success and fulfillment. Pray that you would put your faith and trust in His provision and grace. Look to Him this week for all that you lack. Lean not on your own understanding. 7 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

8 COMMENTARY MAY 8, 2016 GENESIS 31: :1-3. By this time Laban was an old man, and his sons had begun to worry about their inheritance. This vagrant brother-in-law who had shown up unannounced and uninvited many years ago had prospered in flocks, herds, and people to a greater extent than their father, draining off some of their own assets. Jacob knew what they thought and also noticed Laban s attitude toward him was not what it had been. This is probably a reference back to 30:31 where Laban offered the ranch if Jacob would only stay in town. Nevertheless, both Laban and Jacob had contracts. It appears that neither wanted to be the first to break his word so God intervened. The Lord often uses the negative attitudes of other people (in this case Laban and his sons) to make us wonder whether it is time to move on. Pastors experience this with congregations; men and women in business and industry; and many who just think about relocating. Jacob was also encouraged by his wives (vv ), so he got ready to head southwest across the Euphrates River, out of Paddan Aram and back to Canaan. 31:4-9. Verse 4 is the first time in the Jacob narrative that we see Rachel named first, so we assume she had claimed the head wife role. This may also indicate that Jacob had now taken over the reins of his family, since Rachel was always his first choice. In addition, rather than being bantered about from wife to wife and from tent to tent as he was in chapter 30, Jacob had finally reached the decision point. He described the reason for leaving by attributing all of his success to God. What did Jacob mean by saying that Laban changed his wages ten times? Any attempt to spiritualize this number falls flat. This specific number is unimportant; Jacob simply pointed out to his wives that Laban had cheated him at every opportunity and he would not take it any more. Verse 9 offers what we call today a bottom line in what appears to be technical terminology for transfer of property. In short, Jacob acknowledged that in spite of 8 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

9 COMMENTARY MAY 8, 2016 his own wits (rather than because of them) God had made him a wealthy man. In the next section he explained to his wives that he knew all this because of a dream. 31: The chronology here seems fuzzy. Did the dream occur some time earlier when this business of selective breeding began? Jacob merely said, In breeding season I once had a dream. This leaves us to wonder whether he meant a few months or a few years earlier. If all that Jacob announced in these verses took place earlier, then it would appear that God s command of 31:3 is a repeat of something Jacob had heard some time before. God had said at Bethel, I will bring you back to this land (28:15), but perhaps Jacob needed some prodding, some repetition of God s plan for his life. 31: One could hardly argue that the wifely response from Rachel and Leah put the focus on Jacob. They showed concern for what they had lost and how their father had treated them badly. So the caravan headed out with one minor glitch: Rachel stole her father s household gods. These were probably small portable idols that Rachel stole because she thought they would bring her protection and blessing. Or perhaps she wanted to have something tangible to worship on the long journey ahead. In any case, Rachel was not yet free of her pagan background (see Gen. 35:2; Josh. 24:2). So Laban s genes that passed through Rebekah to Jacob had also passed directly to Rachel, and we have another deceiver on our hands. Apparently she was married to the right man. The very next verse tells us that Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. The word deceived in verse 20 can be literally translated stole the heart which might be stronger than deception since elsewhere it involves taking away a person s ability to discern and act appropriately (2 Sam. 15:6; 1 Kgs. 12:27). The translations deceived and outwitted (NASB, NIV, RSV) lose the parallelism between Rachel s theft and Jacob s. Both steal from Laban: Rachel as means of divination, Jacob his ability to act rationally. 9 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

10 COMMENTARY MAY 8, 2016 The geography of verse 21 rises from the text to refocus our attention on the promised land. The Euphrates River was shallow enough at certain points during certain seasons to allow a tribe like this to ford. Jacob set his compass for a mountainous region close to the Jordan River just southeast of the Sea of Galilee known as Gilead. 31: It took Laban three days to learn of Jacob s departure. He rushed southwest and arrived in Gilead in seven days rather than ten, obviously unencumbered by traveling herds and women on camels. Notice that the text refers to Laban no longer as the father of Rachel or Leah but simply as Laban the Aramean (Syrian). God s message in Laban s dream seems strange unless we remember 24:50 where Laban and his father answered Eliezer s request for Rebekah by saying, We can say nothing to you one way or the other. The dream warning also reminds us of God s protection of Sarah in his night message to Abimelech (20:3-7). Who were these relatives whom Laban took with him for a military adventure? Probably as many family males as he could muster, perhaps even the whole clan. We should never doubt that in any physical contest Laban would have had the advantage. Possibly the Lord s words either good or bad could have legal ramifications as well. When Laban said in 31:29, I have the power to harm you, that threat could be taken by Jacob in a variety of ways, all true and terrifying. 31: The uncle-nephew relationship had disappeared. Now we read military language like captives, war, and harm. Laban overstated the case, of course, but the contest between these two had been going on for a long time. In Laban s terms, he wanted to be the good father and grandfather, sending the family away with a great celebration. Likely Laban did not know that his daughters had already switched loyalties. He may have expected them and perhaps even his grandchildren to bolt back to his side immediately. 10 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

11 COMMENTARY MAY 8, 2016 The question What have you done? in verse 26 is identical to what Jacob said to Laban on that fateful wedding night (29:25). Laban was clearly restrained in hand but not in the heart. He couldn t touch Jacob because of God s dream warning, but he could certainly bad-mouth his behavior and impugn his motives: Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father s house. At this point Laban almost appeared to forgive Jacob s behavior, but there was still this business of the stolen gods. 31: Jacob spoke the truth when he replied I was afraid. But since he had no knowledge of the alleged theft, he invited Laban to search the camp and actually put to death anyone who might have stolen the gods. In fact, Jacob felt he had acted so honorably that he said, In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it. If this were a novel, we would reach the climax as we watch Laban s tough guys tear through Jacob s camp searching everywhere for the missing idols. We would be led by the script to expect them to find the gods with Rachel, much in the way Joseph found his golden goblet in Benjamin s bag many years later. But the family s third greatest deceiver had put them inside her camel s saddle and was sitting on them. To ensure their safety she told her father I am having my period as an excuse for why she could not get off her camel. Laban s frantic search for the idols, as well as Rachel s taking them in the first place, forces us to consider again the spiritual condition of the family into which Jacob had married. 31: When Laban s search for the stolen gods turned up no evidence, Jacob finally lost it. All those years of pent-up humiliation and subjugation to his uncle burst out, and he demanded a showdown. If Laban could find anything in the entire Jacobite camp that belonged to him, let him put it on the ground in front of both groups and render a judgment. The phrase took Laban to task offers a Hebrew word which speaks of quarrels and even legal disputes (13:7-8; 26:20-22). It can refer to pastures, wells, or, as here, possession of flocks. 11 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

12 COMMENTARY MAY 8, : When Laban s search for the stolen gods turned up no evidence, Jacob finally lost it. All those years of pent-up humiliation and subjugation to his uncle burst out, and he demanded a showdown. If Laban could find anything in the entire Jacobite camp that belonged to him, let him put it on the ground in front of both groups and render a judgment. The phrase took Laban to task offers a Hebrew word which speaks of quarrels and even legal disputes (13:7-8; 26:20-22). It can refer to pastures, wells, or, as here, possession of flocks. 31: Having begun the release of his emotions, Jacob could not restrain himself from reviewing the agonies of the past twenty years. From all we know about Laban, he would not sit quietly and listen to this condemnation if he could prove its inaccuracy. Jacob concluded with his own interpretation of God s dream message to Laban the previous night: He rebuked you. So with this new interpretation, it had not been Laban against Jacob for the past twenty years but Laban against Jacob s God. The phrase seen my hardship in verse 42 appears only two other places in the Old Testament. Both describe the oppression of the Jews by the Egyptians (Exod. 3:7; Deut. 26:7). 31: Laban didn t yield an inch. Five times he used the words my or mine in his brief retort. He admitted nothing, answered nothing, and accepted no blame for Jacob s condemnation. Nevertheless, he conceded he had lost the battle and pleaded no contest by calling for a covenant, a peace treaty or a nonaggression pact similar to Abraham s treaty with the Philistines (15:8-21). 31: Jacob, fond of using stones for a variety of purposes, put up a pillar and asked his people to pile up additional stones. Laban named it in Aramaic Jegar Sahadutha but Jacob called it Galeed, using the language of the Hebrews. This symbolism reminds us that these men came from two different ethnic groups, two different religions, and two different cultures. 12 Journey On Part 3 Calvary

13 COMMENTARY MAY 8, : Following the building of the Galeed and ceremonial meal, Laban invoked the now famous Mizpah ( watchtower) warning, giving the witness heap yet another name. The witness heap became a boundary line between the two families, and Laban warned Jacob not to mistreat my daughters because God is watching even though no one is with us. This was actually a denunciation and a negative curse. Laban s hypocrisy surfaced in his demand that Jacob not take any wives beside his daughters, a guideline already broken with Zilpah and Bilhah. Let s not miss the fact that Laban called on Jacob s God on the assumption that Jacob was more likely to break this covenant. 31:51-53a. The boundaries were drawn. Laban would stay northeast of the line in Paddan Aram, and Jacob would stay in Canaan. Laban assumed they would harm each other if they didn t have this physical reminder to separate them, so he repeated his invocation to Jacob s God, this time in words that could not be misunderstood: May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us. However, Laban s polytheism creeps out in his use of the plural for gods. He actually said, or implied, The gods of Abraham and the gods of Nahor because the word judge appears in the plural, indicating that Abraham, Nahor, and their father worshiped different gods. 31:53b-55. Jacob ignored Laban s reference to multiple gods and took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac, the name he had used back in verse 42. Does this not seem a strange name for God? It appears only in these two verses (vv. 42, 53) and has caused many scholars to wonder whether the Hebrew word actually means fear. With the treaty established and the witness heap built, the combatants became relatives once more so they ate and slept in the same campground. In the morning Laban kissed his grandchildren (v. 28), and then he left and returned home. 13 Journey On Part 3 Calvary