RETURN TO CANAAN If Jacob refers to Christ the Lord, He embraces the Church of the New Testament (Rachel), with her children, and the Church of the Old Testament (Lea), with her children, and carries all of them to the heavenly Canaan. But the pagan Laban, representing the devil, does not accept this celestial procession, so he sets forth with his hosts to hinder it, but completely fails. 1- Escape of Jacob 1–21. 2- Laban pursues the procession 22–25. 3- Laban (the devil) seeks what is his in us 26–42. 4- Making a covenant 43–54. 5- Departure of the two parties 55. 1- ESCAPE OF JACOB Laban’s sons felt that Jacob has taken away all that was their father’s, and acquired all his wealth (Gen. 31:1), something that changed the countenance of Laban toward Jacob. At that time “The Lord said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you” (Gen. 31:3). Jacob’s heart was surely attached to the land of Canaan, being the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. He wanted to get married to Rachel, then return to inherit. But 7 years have passed, followed by 7 years more, and now, he is there for twenty years; he had to set forth from Haran; He had already gotten the beloved wife, children, numerous sheep and cattle, besides servants and maids. So How can he depart? The Lord spoke to him in the language of facts, allowing for the change of attitude of Laban and his sons against him, in order to let him feel his position as a stranger, and wish to depart. The Lord also spoke to him in a vision in a dream, and ordered him to depart (Gen. 31:12-13). Jacob realized that what he faces in his life, are not a matter of coincidence, but through divine ordainment, so as to fulfill God’s will in him. If the behavior of Laban and his sons was through jealousy and evil spirit, yet Jacob felt that all occurred at the right time. We learn from this that everything in our lives are for the good, if we surrender our life in His hands; something that was felt by the apostle Paul who says: “All things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28). So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Lea to the field, to his flock, so that seeing the extent of his wealth, they would listen to his counsel, and set forth with him together with their children. He revealed to them how the countenance of their father became unfavorable toward him. He reminded them of how he, with all might had served their father; yet he has deceived him and changed his wages many times,.and of how the Lord has taken away the livestock of their father, and given them to him. And finally, how the Lord commanded him to return to the land of his fathers, to which he is committed to obey. It seems from his talk to them, that they were aware of the dream he had, on his escape from the face of his brother, and how he anointed the pillar, and made a vow (Gen. 31:13) It is as though, by his previous talks with his wives, he had prepared their hearts and minds for what was to come, to respond to his talk, saying: “Whatever God has said to you, do it” (Gen. 31:16). We can say that the submission of Rachel and Lea to Jacob, and their position against their father, have been a result of their realization of the continuous dealings of God with their man, their understanding of his anticipation of God’s blessing and his 4 yearning to return, in order to enjoy His promise, and to fulfill his vow in Bethel. So the last talk came to respond to an inner thought that filled their minds. In other words, Jacob has succeeded in gaining his family on God’s account, and in preparing their lives to submit with joy to Him. Rachel and Lea felt that their father treated them as strangers; that instead of giving them of what was his, he sold them for the services of their honest husband all those years. So they encouraged Jacob to depart “Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels, and he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan... So he fled with all he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead” (Gen. 31:17-21). If Jacob is the type of Christ the Lord, Who came to our land, as though to Haran, and took us away from the ancient father (to those who once gave him the chance to be so), namely from the devil - Laban, the Pagan -, He acquired us as His bride, either if we were from the Gentiles as Rachel, or from the Jews as Lea. Consequently, to carry us together with our children, namely, the fruits of the Spirit, and our sheep, namely, the fruits of the sanctified flesh. Besides all that He acquired in us, through sanctifying our senses, thoughts, capacities, and energies; to set forth with us from our land, from Padan Aram to cross, not the River of Euphrates as Jacob did, but the water of the Holy Baptism. Thus, heading, not toward Isaac, but toward the bosom of God the Father, to be with Him in His heavens eternally! This is our new Jacob, who came to us, and would never rest, until He sets forth with us to where His heavenly glories are. He would carry us, yet, not against our will, but according to it, as Rachel and Lea did with Jacob. Let us likewise share the feelings of these two wives. Let us say as they once said that their ancient father, representing the devil, has treated them as strangers, and sold them, having confiscated their lives, freedom, and glories. And now, there the devil is deceiving us to captivate us in his kingdom. Let us escape, together with Jacob, away from his authority; and set forth by the Holy Spirit, crossing the water of Baptism, to enter to our new Father, the Holy heavenly Father, to enjoy His inheritance, instead of that of our perishable ancient father! 2- LABAN PURSUES THE PROCESSION If Jacob sets forth escaping from the face of Laban (rescuing his family from his authority), yet he was leading the procession of the Church, militant and victorious in Him and with Him. And as said by the apostle Paul: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ; and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place” (2 Corinthians 2: 14). That procession, as Fr. Caesarius of Arles1 says, would infuriate the devil who cannot bear to see Christ the Lord carrying humanity, but he would pursue it. Thus, if we accept the Lord Christ as a spiritual Leader, who carries us triumphantly, setting forth with us to His Father’s bosom, the evil one would never stand still, but would watch our lives, hoping to find in our inner life anything to hold against us, and to claim us as his, or as his children! While Laban has gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s (Gen. 31:19) that he kept in or near his tent. Laban did not sense that Jacob had fled until the third day. (Gen. 31: 22) Laban - as a representative of the evil one - was shearing his sheep. If the devil 1 Ser. 88:4. 5 is trying his best to acquire every soul as a spoil for himself; he intends to shear its wool on the account of his kingdom. He is abusing his followers! Rachel refers to the Church of the Gentiles, who could steal away his idols from him, to destroy the idols of her father, which she had worshipped for such a long time before the coming of the Lord Christ. As to his unawareness of Jacob’s flight, before the third day. This refers to the inability of the evil one to recognize, truly, the secret of the saving work of Christ the Lord, except by the resurrection of the Lord from the dead (on the third day). The devil did not realize the triumph of Christ the Lord and His conquest on the cross, until he knew that He is the Resurrection, the Grantor of life! Realizing, on the third day that Jacob fled, Laban: “took his brothers with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad” (Gen. 31:23-24). When the devil recognized our procession of triumph, having known Christ the Lord, as the Grantor of resurrection, instead of retreating, he took his brothers with him, and pursued us for seven days, as though the enemy uses every available means, and everyone, to fight against the procession of triumph. And he would persist on pursuing the individual for seven days, namely, he would fight against us along the whole week with no rest. He would fight against us as long as we are still in the world, as long as we are still in the body, he would never rest, in hope of gaining us for his kingdom, and diverting us from the way of our salvation. The war or the rivalry was not between Jacob and Laban. For it was not a personal rivalry, but it was between the kingdom of God, and that of the devil. For this reason, God Himself intervened in the proper time, and warned Laban against harming His man Jacob. 3- LABAN (THE DEVIL) SEEKS WHAT IS HIS IN US Laban rebuked Jacob for “carrying away his daughters like captives of war,” and not letting him kiss them or their children, accusing him of stupidity or foolishness, as he “might have sent them away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp” (Gen. 31:26, 27. It is obvious that Laban would not have allowed Jacob and his family to depart; he might probably hinder him, as Jacob himself said. In any case, Laban’s only question, after proclaiming that he is incapable of causing Jacob any harm was because of God’s warning to him in a dream, saying: “Why did you steal my gods? (Gen. 31:30). To that, Jacob answered: “With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours, and take it with you” (Gen. 31:32). Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen her father’s gods, and now, she had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them, pretending that she could not rise before her father, because of her menstruation. As we said before, Rachel represents the Church coming out from the Gentiles, who used to worship the idols, which later on she crushed under her feet! Jacob asked Laban to search his belongings and his family’s. And whomever he finds his gods with, should be put to death. And as Fr. Caesarius of Arles says: [Let God’s mercies come unto us, and grants us that the enemy would never find in us anything related to him. Thus, he would be unable to hinder us or to turn us away from eternal life1.] 1 Ser. 88:4. 6 Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, saying to him: “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me?... These twenty years I have been with you, your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it; you required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my eyes... ; and you have changed my wages ten times” (Gen. 31:38-41). By that, Jacob proclaimed his honesty all along twenty years in Laban’s service, presenting a living portrait, not just of the shepherd of sheep, but of every man given the responsibility of caring for souls. How should he bear the drought of the day and the frost of the night; so as not to let any soul of his flock be torn by beasts, or any heart to be stolen? I say that these words of Jacob shall remain rebuking every minister in God’s vineyard. If sheep are so precious in Jacob’s eyes, how much so would be every human soul in ours? Laban changed the wages of Jacob ten times, namely several times. Yet Jacob’s honesty did not change. Thus, it is fit for us, not to care for wages, whatever they might be: material or dignity! Let us stay honest for the sake of salvation of all souls. How beautiful are the words of St. John Chrysostom: [I am a father, filled with compassion... Hear what the apostle Paul says: “My little children for whom I labor in birth” (Galatians 4:19). As every mother screams at the time of her delivery, so also I do1.] 4- MAKING A COVENANT Laban wisely asked for a covenant to be made between him and Jacob, his sonin- law, so that none of them would harm the other. Jacob took a stone and set it as a pillar; and they made a heap of stones, and they ate on the heap for the sake of reconciliation. That heap of stones that would be a witness of the covenant they made was called “Jegar Sahadutha,” in Syrian, by Laban, but Jacob called it “Galeed,” in Hebrew. Both names meaning ‘heap of testimony;’ and also called in Hebrew “Mizpah,” meaning ‘watch tower,’ as though God would be watching over them. If Jacob and Laban have set a pillar and a heap of stones, as a covenant of reconciliation, and ate there, as a sign of peace, in fact, they shared one bread as well as one blood. That pillar refers to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, lifted up on the Mount of Calvary, offering His body and blood as a sacrifice of love for our sake. The Lord Christ reconciled us with His Father, in His body delivered for us, and offered as exalted food of love, capable of lifting us up to a union with God the Father, through abiding in Him! The cross would eternally remain, with the Lord’s holy body and blood, a testimonial of truth to that reconciliation, and a sign of the new covenant that we got, and we call it the “New Testament” (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). That covenant we accept and to it we commit ourselves, and as said by the apostle Paul: “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrew 10:29)2. 1 In Hebr., hom 23:9. .٨٤ – 2 للمؤلف: المسيح في سر الإفخارستيا ١٩٧٣ ، ص ٦٦ 7 5- DEPARTURE OF THE TWO PARTIES “Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place” (Gen. 31:55) At the end of that situation, Laban returned to his place, and Jacob went on his way. Laban had put his heart in Haran, while Jacob put his in the land of promise! And God gave each of them his heart’s request. Whoever puts his heart in dust, will hear the divine voice, saying: “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). While whoever puts his heart in heaven, will hear the divine voice, saying: “For a heaven you are, and to heaven you shall return.” He gives us according to what the heart lusts for, and to wherever it sets forth. If it falls down to things of the world, our life transforms into worldly corruption; and if it sets forth toward heaven, it transforms to heavenly!
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