I ask you to turn your Bibles this morning to Genesis chapter 31. Genesis chapter 31, that's found on page 32 in your pew Bible. And we're reading together today verses 22 to the end of the chapter. As you're turning there, next week we have the privilege of celebrating the supper. The sermon itself will be a great preparation, but I want to remind you of a few things that the form says to us in how to rightly prepare ourself. And you can apply this as you see this, these very things play out in the sermon this morning, that we should examine our lives considering our sin and the wrath of God on it and be sure that we humble ourself in repentance. That we should examine our hearts to ensure that we're trusting in Jesus alone for our salvation and that our sins are wholly forgiven by his wonderful grace. And finally, we should examine our conscience to see and be sure that we resolve to live in faith and obedience. And notice this, and love and peace with neighbor. In fact, this goes on to say if any of us is living in disobedience to Christ and in enmity with his neighbor, you're called to repent. And you're going to see that in Jacob's life, how the Lord is bringing out repentance this morning. How he's training him in righteousness. And as we are confronted with certain sins, we should remember that the table next week is not about a checklist to see how good we've done. We've missed the whole intention of that. The table is for sinners. It's not designed to discourage those who are truly broken and contrite in heart. It is a warning to those who remain hardened in sin. And that's what the whole point of a preparation is to remind us of. But those who come to Jesus in true faith and desire to lead a godly life are always welcome to come to the table of the Lord. So, Genesis chapter 31 this morning, beginning at verse 22. Let's hear the word of the Lord. When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad. And Laban overtook Jacob. Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, what have you done that you've tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and trick me and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs and tambourine? and liar. And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad. And now you've gone away because you've longed greatly for your father's house. But why did you steal my gods? Jacob have answered and said to Laban, because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. Anyone with whom you find your God shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen, point out what I have that is yours and take it. And Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of two of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, let not my Lord be angry that I cannot rise before you for the way of a woman is upon me. So he searched, but did not find the household gods. Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, what is my offense? What is my sin that you have so hotly pursued me? For you have felt through all my goods. What have you found of all of your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between us two. These 20 years I have been with you, your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. What was torn by wild beasts i did not bring to you i bore the loss of it myself from my hand you required it whether stolen by day or stolen by night there i was by the day the heat consumed me and the cold by night and my sleep fled from my eyes these 20 years i have been in your house i have served you 14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flock and you have changed my wages 10 times If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the fear of Isaac had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night. Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, the daughters are my daughters. The children are my children. The flocks are my flocks. And all that you see is mine. but what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they've borne? Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I and let it be a witness between you and me. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, gather stones and they took stones and made a heap and they ate there by the heap. Jacob called it Yagar Zahadutha, but Jacob, Laban called it that, but Jacob called it Galib. Laban said, this heap is a witness between you and me today. Therefore, he named it Galib. And Mizpah, for he said, the Lord watched between you and me when we are out of one another's sight. If you oppress my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me. Then Laban said to Jacob, see this heap and the pillar which I have set between you and me? This heap is a witness and the pillar is a witness that I will not pass over this heap to you and you will not pass over this heap and pillar to me to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judged between us. So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country. Early in the morning, Laban arose, kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home. May the Lord bless this morning the hearing of his word. Well, sometimes I'm curious how passages are preached, so I will go on to sermoncentral.com. You can download sermons there and pay for those. Did you know that? They're not any good. I promise you I'll never do that. But this is what I came up with for titles for this text. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Here's another. Jacob gets Laban's goat. I listened to one sermon and the entire sermon on this passage was about how to discern God's will when he's leading you somewhere else in life. And I thought, you know, that's not bad. I could preach on something like that. That's creative. But is that what the text is about? We have a bunch of college kids home. I could work you guys a good one today if I did that, and I could say, it's time to leave dork, and it's time to come home, you know, and stay here. And the parents would be really happy with me, you know. One dear brother summarized that this text is how to relate to unbelieving relatives, especially when they curse in your home. Well, I could do something with that. I don't know if I've ever had people curse in my home, but I've had a lot of labans in my life, that's for sure. I've had a lot of difficult people, so have you. I could certainly preach on that today. I came across one particular title I thought was better, A Fleeing Family and a Protecting God. I thought that was beginning to capture it. I thought that was getting there. I was happy with that. This has to speak this morning here to us, doesn't it? It has to apply to us. There's no doubt. When you open a text and you look in the Bible about what the text is telling us, it has to apply to us. There's no doubt. And I summarily could say that the text is about God bringing Jacob home. But if I'm going to say that, I've got to go further with that. It has to speak to us. In other words, if it's just another place to go in life, you could make the application, well, if it gets too hot and there's too many fires, you should move out of Escondido. That's not how we discern God's will. Jacob has been a prodigal son. He's been on the run, and God now comes to Jacob and says, that's it, time to go back. Time to return to your land. I want you to enter the life of Jacob, stand there with him, and then see, as we do this, that this story is not divorced from your life at all. It is your story and God's deliverance of his people. It's much more, though, than you've ever probably really seen or understood or considered. This passage helps us grasp that. It helps us understand how the Lord is working, how he's bringing all of us home. Come home, Jacob. I'll be with you. I'll be with you the whole way. That means he's doing something the entire way. When God says, I'm going to be with you the whole way, he's working the whole way. And we learn a lot from the life of Jacob this morning about that, about the Lord's workings and about him bringing his sheep to himself. And that is what we're ultimately being shown, how the Lord works to bring his sheep back. And he does it in a certain framework over and over and over, telling us a certain story so that we would grasp it and understand. And when we get it, the Bible shrinks. The Bible is not this big, cumbersome book. we see that it's telling us the same story. Jacob has been in bondage for 20 years, 20 years of his life to a cruel man who manipulated him and used him and abused him in servitude, taking advantage of him in every possible way of his wages 10 times. When have you ever had your wages taken advantage of 10 times? I want you to think about the scene for a moment. There's a little baby that's just been born. Who is it? Joseph. And did you notice how the text triggers as soon as Joseph was born, it was time. Here's a thought. Do you realize it was those very bones that would be carried out of Egypt later? from out of bondage by the children of Israel. Here's a baby being carried out. It triggers it, the birth of Joseph. Israel years later would cry out being in bondage and God would bring them out and he would bring them back home. He would bring them to the promised land and he's the trigger. But Jacob, Jacob's been running his entire life. He was running from, what was he running from? He was running from conflict. We're good at that. We're mentally good at that. But God was with him. He was his sheep. God was preserving him the whole time of his running. Blessing him. Flourishing him. Well, now it's time to return home in verse 31. The Lord says to him, I want you to return to the land of your fathers, to your family, and I will be with you. What is this this morning? It's God bringing us out of our misery. There's a lot of things that God's going to confront on the way home. And there are a lot of things that God confronts on our way home. And you're going to see that this morning that God is dealing with Jacob's certain things. He's dealing with fear. He's dealing with major fear in his life. He's dealing with idolatry. He's dealing with a conflictful past and we can learn so much about how God is working in those very things. Fear, idolatry, and a conflictful past. How he is working to bring us back to him. So you have here really a pursuit, a confrontation, and then a covenant. A pursuit, a confrontation, and then a covenant. Jacob leaves, and we read in verse 21 that this great multitude came up out of Haran, and they come to the river, the river Euphrates. And they're crossing the river, and they're heading to the mountains. Well, Laban gets ear of this. And a hot pursuit of Jacob now begins, and it's a really intense pursuit. You'll notice in verse 22 that Laban heard this on the third day. They were separated three days. Remember, Laban had done that, so he took his brethren and pursued him for seven days. This is, properly read, an intense warlike pursuit. You need to see it that way. It's hostile. Jacob says it. You've hotly pursued me. What happened? What's happened to Jacob? Well, when the Lord told him to leave, he was afraid of Laban. He was greatly afraid of Laban. And the imagery that we have is Jacob is having a great exodus in total panic. He will say to Laban that he was deathly afraid of him, that he was afraid that Laban would use force on him. So here is Jacob. Now, the imagery of this. He has no warriors. He's got young sons. He's got four wives. He's got tons of flocks and sheep. And here comes Laban in warlike pursuit behind him. He turns around and there he comes. This is not just a nice story, is it? This is not a nice story that we can find some good applications for. That's not just the intention of this. This is a greater story that is being told that is central to the Bible that God is bringing his children from out of bondage. Remember what happened. God told Abraham that he had planned from the beginning that Israel, his children, would go down to Egypt and be in bondage for 400 years, and he would listen to their cries, he would listen to their bondage, and he would bring them out with a glorious exodus. And remember what he did. He plagued that nation so powerfully that he brought them out with this mighty hand and this outstretched arm. And that was the most celebrated event in Israel's history. That was what the Old Testament was about. That's the story of the Old Testament. And now I hope you're beginning to piece together why that is so central. It's the story of salvation. Think of it. He brings them out and in the 10th plague, instead of death, he covers them with blood on their doorposts. And he gives them the Passover to feast and to know forgiveness while death fell on Egypt. And then he leads them to the sea in glory and he passes them through the sea, heaping up the waters and brings them out safely on the other side. So what happens? Well, they grab the bones of Joseph and they leave. And they go to the sea. And they're backed up against the sea. And you remember what happened? They turn around and they look and there comes Pharaoh and chariots. All the powerful war chariots of the day of the most powerful nation on earth are coming after these little sheep who are there backed up against the mountain. And remember what the text says, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. What a moment. It wasn't a prayer of faith. They're backed up. And they had just witnessed God pummel the mightiest nation on earth and fear has overwhelmed them. Fear has gripped them. Well, same thing. God plunders Laban's house. God sees the affliction. And he delivers out Jacob with this mighty hand. And notice in verse 41, all the language you could pick up from Egypt is here. There I was, by the day heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the awe of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night. He saw my affliction these 20 years. So he brings him out, and Jacob turns around and there comes Laban in hot pursuit. Why do you think God's showing you this twice? There's a big message here, isn't there? He brings you out. And what is your struggle on the way home? Enemies are pursuing you. Real enemies. We don't wrestle with flesh and blood. We wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age who are behind us shooting fiery arrows right at us it's the whole imagery and in both cases why is God putting this before us he delivers us he brings us out on the march he's delivering us and bringing us to the land and remember what happened when Israel's panicked up against the mountain what did Moses say, first thing Moses said, don't fear. Don't be afraid. 600 chariots are coming. You have nowhere to turn. And Moses says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. See it. You don't have to do a thing. I'll deliver you. I'll work for you today. I'll fight for you. Jacob's deathly afraid. What does God do? Fights for him. In verse 24, but God came to Laban, the Aramean, in a dream. Can you imagine this? You be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad. He put the death fear in that man. What are both texts teaching us? It's the same thing. both fell to fear. In both cases, look at God's deliverance. What did God do at the sea? He passed them through. How many? If it's true, I still wrestle with how many, probably a couple million. All these babies and children and flocks, these little, little harm, these infants that can't, can't fight for themselves. The Lord passes them through and not one of them is hurt. And then he pummels that whole mighty nation and drowns them like a lead sinker into the midst of the sea. And he strikes so much fear in Laban, Laban can't touch him. It's that perspective of life the Lord wants us to have. Do you realize that? I'd be moving to ask how much fear grips us. know this past week we get just fire conditions that are perfect for something we have no control over i mean absolutely perfect fire conditions and you realize in all that that you can lose everything in one moment everything and then it takes one idiot out there in escondido we got a pile of them in Escondido, to strike a match. You know what I realized in all this? People stand back and say, they say, why is this happening? Why is God letting this happen? I realized afresh this week, that's the wrong question. Why? The question is, why doesn't this happen all the time? Southern California should be lit up. Southern California should be toast. it's because God controls the wind because God controls the fire and sometimes we need to learn that don't we and do you see what he wants you to see this morning here he is with his people no enemy can ultimately touch you it no enemy can hurt you oh we don't fear him who can kill the body. You're His. And that kind of deliverance, He wants us to have a bearing on how we go forward. I mean, this is Romans 8. If God is for you, who's against you? Who can harm you? He gave His Son. So God is teaching Jacob something here, and He would teach Israel something, and He's teaching us. Stand still. Stand still. Stop the fear. It's a marvelous thing. Backed up against the sea. Backed up with all the enemies. Backed up. I know you can't deliver yourselves. I know you have no strength against it. I know you young men have no strength against the sins you're struggling with. But I do. And he sunk them into the midst of the sea. And that's the story of your salvation, you see. You were slaves to sin, Romans 6. You were in great bondage to sin and in bondage to the devil and he shattered it and he brought you out and there was a great cross event when jesus hung there and said it's finished so that you could pass through in death to the resurrected life and i believe what the lord's teaching us through this is that when he starts that project, he doesn't leave us. I'm going to be with you, Jacob. He wants you to know that the shielding power of God, which are sung about in the Psalms everywhere, is with you. He's put a hedge around you. I love the Psalms. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. And then it goes through all these lists of the worst circumstances that he'll deliver you from. Wherever you go, I'm blessing you, says the Lord, in protecting. Now, what a perspective about life. But he's also doing something else. The minute he brings you out, guess what he's committed to do? He's committed to begin training and instructing you in righteousness. He's committed to that. It's the purpose. Do we get that? We think, you know, of life as a journey to get where we're going. but it dawned on me this week as i was working through this text that essentially we're all longing to get to the glory amen i want to be done with sin and misery but i find it fascinating that ultimately what this wilderness life is pictured as is as god's working to bring us to him the israelites come to the other side of the sea they turn around past is behind them that the sea is back calm Egypt's done and they begin to head out into the wilderness and what begins to happen well they sing this great victory song I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously the horse and the rider he's thrown into the sea and the New Testament picks that up and says at the cross now we sing the song of the lamb we're on the other side we're free but now we've got a long path a little bit longer than our sanctuary to go home and in along that path are some real tests you head out into the wilderness and you thought it was going to be easy but man this life of sanctification is tough business tough what do you think god wants to deal with? Well, Israel gets out in the wilderness and God brings them to Mount Sinai and he summons up Moses. And what does God do? He prepares the law. What was the summary of the law? Jesus told you, boys and girls, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. He's preparing to give that to Israel. This is what I want on the journey. This is what I want you to know on the journey. At that moment, Israel's at the bottom of the mountain. Aaron, they're taking too long. Make us a God. Israel fell into idolatry. Well, what's this text now about with Jacob? Isn't it fascinating that the whole thing centers on idolatry? Look at it. Well, God brings Jacob and his sons and his wives and livestock out, and the text now becomes about idols. Laban overtakes him. Remember, he can't speak a word of good or evil. Confrontation in a safe way begins. Laban says, why did you flee? I wanted to bless my sons and my daughters that you've taken away. I could hurt you. God told me not to. But I have one major concern here, Jacob. Why did you take out my gods, my idols? I want you to see the irony in this, the irony. Jacob makes a rash statement. Whoever has the idols dies. We're kind of sitting on the edge of our seats because you know who has them, Rachel. Rachel stole them and brought them out. So Laban runs to the tents and he goes through Jacob's tent and then he goes through Leah's tent and then he does a search and he goes through Rachel's and Rachel in verse 35 says, let not my Lord be angry that I cannot rise before you for my way of woman is upon me. So he searched and did not find the household idols or gods. Now that's a strange irony. If that's true and she's having her monthly woman issue, She's sitting on the gods. Oh, the Lord's mocking, isn't he? This is a big issue with him. You see how this is shown to you? Jacob didn't know, but now here he is. And I don't want you to think that Jacob doesn't have his care, not carrying idols himself. That would be wrong. In fact, I want to show you something. Remember when Aaron made the golden calf? what did the people do? Well, we read in Exodus, so the people broke off the golden earrings in the ears of Aaron and took them from their hands. And if you flip over to chapter 35 of Genesis, you'll see this. Earrings were made, were used to make the calf. If you turn to verse 35, Jacob enters Bethel and he tells the household to put away the foreign gods and purify themselves. So they're all carrying gods. Jacob and the household are all carrying foreign gods. Look at verse 34. So they gave all the foreign gods which were in their hands and the earrings which were in their ears. Whoa. Give me your idols and they pull out the earrings. The earrings were some kind of symbol of the foreign gods. They're wearing them. It was those earrings later that would build the golden calf. And the Lord is showing us something here. He's mocking the false gods. They're unclean. They're unclean. But do you see how great of an issue it is? They carried them out and it was completely unconscious to them. They didn't even realize it. They're wearing them. I wish I could tell you that life is great after you believe in Jesus. But the Lord is showing you a very intense struggle that begins to happen once He's called you out. You're all holding tight to a lot of idols. All of us. And God's concerned about that. He's concerned about idolatry. He's concerned about anything that masters us. He's concerned about anything in your lives to which you are going to now to find help. And you are going to now to find pleasure sinfully apart from Him. and you're putting your trust in. What do you do when you're stressed? What do you do when you're under great pressure? You run to these things. I mean, this is why the New Testament says, put to death whatever is earthly in you, whatever belonged to Egypt, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which all of it is idolatry. And now you understand why God gave the law to Israel. The first thing the law says is, I don't want you worshiping anything other than me. And you've got to realize that's the fight of this path. The law says first, love me. Love me. I brought you out. I'm the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. No more idols, you guys. No more idols. It's not the righteous life now that I have for you. But then, something else this morning. What is the second commandment? Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. That's what it's all about. When the law was given, a confrontation happens with Laban. Jacob becomes furious. Now he has the idols. And it's ironic, he's wearing idols and he's not worried about offending the Lord. But he becomes angry at Laban and rebukes him because the idols weren't found. And Laban looks at, and Laban's guarded here, Laban looks at all of his daughters and all of his children and all of the flocks and he says, it's all mine, Jacob. Well, then let's make a covenant. Let's make a covenant, a non-aggression act between us. I looked at that and I thought, well, why is that happening? Should Jacob do it? I don't feel the least bit sorry for Laban. But here's why I think it's important. Here's why I think it's really important. Jacob has had nothing but conflicts all of his life, and he is a runner. That's the picture. He's running again. He ran to Haran last time after he offended and stole from his father and brother. He ran and now he's running again and he's never known peace in his life. Never. He's never known what it is to be at peace with his neighbor. Ever. When you run, that's what you get. Running from conflicts and stealing. Well, as this God is bringing him home, what is he forcing Jacob to do? He's training him in peace. Idolatry is going to be confronted, but also how to love your brother. In the next scene, who's heading towards him? Esau. So, from behind comes Laban, and from in front comes Esau. He can't get away from it. see what god's done he's completely made him deal with what he needs to deal with you don't get away with anything in life if you're his child he's bringing you home but he's committed to the path of sanctification and that does not include avoidance of dealing with past sins and past conflict it's easy to avoid but god has put his enemy behind him and his brother in front of him and look at the training in righteousness that begins to happen in this man's life in the wilderness. And you know what I love about it? Jacob's beginning to shine for the first time. He doesn't say, forget you, Laban. Look what you've done to me. He grabs a pillar. Okay. And he sets it up. and they swear. And isn't it fascinating? Laban says, don't hurt my daughters. It's really a beautiful scene, isn't it? And don't take any more wives, Jacob. And let's agree that we'll never harm each other anymore. And he makes peace. It's fascinating that the Lord says that one of the fruits of His chastening work in our lives is what? When he chastens us, it's producing in us the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who are trained by it. How quick to pursue peace and being trained in it. And you're going to see how that plays out and benefits him for the next scene with Esau. I close with this. Remember what God said would be the sign of his faithfulness to Moses and Israel? When I bring you out, God said to Israel, Moses, here's going to be the sign. I will be with you, Exodus 3.12, and I quote, I will be with you, same thing, and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain. I am who I am. How does this scene end? Verse 56, early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned. Look at verse 54 though. And Jacob offered a sacrifice in and on, literally, the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate that bread and spent the night on the mountain. He worshiped on the mountain and that's God's purpose for you. You know, I don't know what you think this life of Christian life is, but I'm telling you, God has set you apart, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, to bring you home. But on that way, the purpose He's brought you out into the wilderness is to worship Him. Have you been brought out of Egypt? That's the question. Are you aware of bondage to sin? are you aware of idolatry in your own life are you aware of the conflicts that you yourself have not pursued the way that you should to resolve and do you see what the Lord is announcing to you today he brings you out through the cross you stood still as Christ redeemed you the devil came after you and he took his big foot and stomped his head at the cross telling you he's defeated already in principle but your journey in coming home is one of coming back to me that's why worship is so important in your lives and he's confronting in your wilderness journey fear idolatry conflict in other words he's confronting these things so that you would turn and repent of your sins realize what a mess you are and look to him for a new righteous life being born again by the spirit so that you would begin to know what it is to love the lord your god with all of your heart soul mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself welcome to wilderness life you're coming to the table next week it's a pretty good preparation confess your idols ask for forgiveness Confess your sins to the Lord of not loving Him or reconciling with your neighbor and go reconcile. And He will strengthen you to enjoy worship on the mountain next week with Him, for that is the purpose that He has brought you out into the wilderness, bringing you to Him that you no longer would remain in bondage to your sin. Amen. Heavenly Father, praise awaits you in Zion and all men shall worship there. Our God has been faithful and we are so grateful for how you instruct us and train us and the project that you started in delivering us from all of our sins. We stood still and we were onlookers at the grace, the covenant of grace, when Christ fulfilled it. And all the way through now in sanctification, we're being brought back to you. And so we openly say, confront the idolatry in our lives, confront the conflict, and draw out from us the righteous life that you desire and give us good, clean consciences that we might come to the mountain and worship you next week, partaking of the bread of eternal life. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.