The Sons of Isaac(96)

Laban dared not challenge her for proof. She looked pale and fragile and he did not want to do anything that would upset her. Laban immediately called off the search. His whole attitude changed. Though he cited all of his grievances and listened to Jacob’s complaints, he finally agreed to make a peace pact with Jacob.

At that, Jacob took a huge rock and placed it upright between them, then calling his men, he told them to pile a great heap of stones around it. They called the pile of stones “the witness pile.” In Laban’s language it was “Jegar-sahadutha,” but in Jacob’s “Galeed.”

This was to be a barrier across which neither one would go to attack the other. “This pile of stones will stand as our witness if either one crosses this line,” Jacob said.

“This will be our watchtower (mizpah),” Laban said. “The Lord may be the only one who will know if we keep this bargain when we are parted from each other. If you are cruel to my daughters or take other wives, I won’t know, but the God of your father will see it.”

Jacob took a great oath in the name of his great-grandfather Terah, grandfather Abraham, and his own father, Isaac, that he would respect the boundary line. Then he made a sacrifice to God and ordered a feast prepared for everyone.

In the morning, Laban arose early, kissed his daughters and his grandchildren, then with tears in his eyes blessed them and departed for home.

After Laban had gone, Jacob pondered briefly over the missing idols. Was it possible, he wondered, that someone in his company could have taken them? He had questioned Rachel, and she had laughed her silvery laugh and admitted it wasn’t really that time of the month but insisted that she knew nothing of the idols. “I thought he was being too pompous and it would be nice to get even with him for all the times he has tricked you.”

* * *

As Jacob traveled on southward, he became more anxious about meeting Esau and more concerned about his mother’s illness. He prayed that he might have guidance and the assurance of God’s presence. He received no definite answer but instead had a strangely reassuring encounter with what appeared to be a host of heavenly beings.

It happened at dusk one evening. Just ahead of him on the path where two cliffs seemed to bar his way, he saw an army of light. Two camps of ethereal beings were dressed in full armor. As he slowly and cautiously advanced, they parted and let him pass. With sudden understanding, he exclaimed, “This is God’s host; they have come in two camps to protect us.” He promptly named the place Mahanaim, or two camps, so he would not forget the place where this miracle happened.

With this to encourage him, he determined he must immediately send a message to notify his brother, Esau, that he was on his way home. He must deal with the problem of Esau first before he could return to his mother and father. It was very possible that Esau still harbored such a grudge that he would threaten to kill him.

Time was running out. He had been procrastinating, putting it off long enough. The time had come to act. He didn’t know just what to do, but it was obvious he must settle that relationship before he could return home.

He finally singled out five young men to go as his messengers. “You must tell my brother that all this time I have been living with our uncle Laban. Tell him also that I have prospered so that I own oxen, donkeys, sheep, and many servants. I’m not coming back as a failure, and I hope he will be friendly to us.”

In what seemed a very short time, his messengers returned with the frightening news that Esau was coming to meet him with an army of four hundred men.

Jacob was wild with fear. He didn’t know what to do. Finally he went alone back up into the hills to pray. “Oh, Jehovah,” he prayed, “You told me to return to the land of my birth and that You would do me good. I am not worthy of all Your loving-kindness. I remember how I left home with only a walking stick, and now I am two large camps. Please protect me from my brother, Esau. I am frightened, terribly frightened. I know he’s coming to kill me. Please remember Your promise to make my descendants as the sands along the shore or the stars in the sky.”

After he had prayed he felt better and could think more clearly. “I must send him presents,” he said as he ordered his shepherds to single out from his flock,

200 nanny goats

20 billy goats

200 ewes

20 rams

30 milk camels with their young

40 cows

10 bulls

20 female donkeys

10 male donkeys.

Jacob gave the men who were to take these gifts to Esau instructions that they should arrive one after the other, with enough space in between to be impressive. As each arrived, they were to announce that the animals were a gift to Esau from his servant Jacob. In this way he hoped to soften Esau’s heart.