A Good Departure Poorly Done

, I got a, I had a picture on my office door this morning when I came in. And it's a picture that has 3 sheep on it. One of them is Well, they're all spotted and striped. And the, the message says cornerstones, streaked, speckled, and spotted sheep are praying for you this morning.

So. And given what we've been, covering in Genesis, that's a great, reminder. But why don't we just go to the Lord in prayer and ask His blessing on our time. Of worship through listening to him.

Lord, we thank you, for the privilege of coming together. And worshiping you. Through song and through prayer and through listening to your wonderful, beautiful voice. We thank you for all things in your word, including things such as we find in the Book of Genesis, in the Old Testament, knowing that these things were written for our learning.

That we might have hope. And I do pray, Lord, that you would open. Our hearts this morning to you and we invite you to do whatever work it is that you desire to do in our hearts. Convict where conviction is needed, encourage where encouragement is needed.

Challenge. And call where a challenge and a call is needed. And do your full good pleasure in our lives. We, we need you, Lord.

Perform miracles of speech and Miracles of listening. In this room in the coming hour, and we ask these things in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen. Well, we are continuing in our series to the Book of Genesis, and as we continue in our study of the Book of Genesis, we come this morning to Genesis 31. So, let me invite you guys to turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter.

31 for our time of study in the word this morning. And if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be a good departure, Poorly Done. A good departure, poorly done. Exactly 30 years ago this week, my wife and I made the biggest move of our lives, moving from The state of Indiana to the state of California, back in 1988 for me to be able to be a student at the Masters Seminary.

The decision that we made to move from Indiana to California was the hardest choice that we had ever made up to that point of our lives. And knowing that the decision would be huge, I made a list of over 20 people. In my life and I sought counsel from them, taking comfort in the proverb that says in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. And over the span of a month, I got counsel from some of my college professors and from friends, but most importantly from Mine and Donna's parents.

and from the pastor of our home church in Indiana, Donna and I would process everything that we were hearing from all of these counselors at every turn. We prayed together about what God seemed to be showing us. Donna's input into the decision was huge. And I absolutely would have never made the decision to move from Indiana to California without her full participation and approval.

I, I have to say that not everyone was excited about us coming to California. They described it as the land of fruits, flakes. And nuts, they were concerned about California possibly ruining us or if Donna and I drowning when California fell into the ocean. so there were various concerns that people voiced, but everyone's input was valuable in bringing us closer to making this decision.

And when we finally made our decision to move to California, we didn't keep That decision to ourselves and just sneak out of town without telling anyone. We did what most of you would have done. We announced our decision to everyone, family and friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, co-workers, and letting them know the date of our departure. When the time was right, we submitted our two-week notice to our employers, and on the final day of our employment, they each had a farewell party for both Donna.

And for me, and a few days later, we began the process of saying some very difficult, tearful goodbyes to our family and friends, and then we hopped on our, into our Ryder truck and took off to California. Our move from Indiana. to California to attend the master seminary proved to be a destiny altering decision for us. It was while sitting in an office at the Master seminary that a phone call came in from a Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church in Riverside, asking me if I could perhaps fill the pulpit.

While the church looked for a pastor. 27 years later, Cornerstone is still looking for a pastor. And I'm still here I've done a lot of wrong things, in my life and I'm so thankful for the cross and the forgiveness of Christ. I've made plenty of wrong decisions.

I'm very grateful though that back in 1988, Donna and I made a right decision. And that our departure from Indiana to California was a departure that honored the relationships that were in our lives. No bridges were burned. By our move.

It was a good departure that was well done. Except for one mistake that I'm pretty embarrassed about. The shorts that I chose to wear. The shorts that I chose to wear for our trip to California were just too short.

As you can see from the picture, I should have sought more counsel. On my choice of shorts to wear. But in our passage today, we're going to see Jacob making, let's get this off of there. There we go.

In our passage today, we're going to see Jacob making A big move The move is God's will, and Jacob, we're gonna see does some really good things in connection with this move, but in the end, we're going to see that it is a good departure, poorly done, reminding us that sometimes it's possible to do the will of God, yet sin in the process. At the time that the events of our passage today take place, Jacob has been with Laban for approximately 20 years. When he first arrived in Iran 20 years prior, Laban had said to Jacob, What shall your wages be?

Jacob wanted to marry Laban's daughter, Rachel.

So he said, I will serve you 7 years for your younger daughter, Rachel. So Jacob works for 7 years for Rachel, and when it came time to receive Rachel as a wife for his wages, Laban gave Jacob Leah instead. Jacob was furious and said to Laban, why have you deceived me? Laban makes up an excuse and then he promises that he would give Jacob Rachel.

If Jacob agreed to serve him for another 7 years, Jacob agrees, and then Laban gives him. Rachel, as a second wife. Jacob ends up, as we have seen, having many children over that length of time. And when that second 7-year period is completed, Jacob approaches Laban and he says, basically, my service to you is completed.

Send me away so that I can return to my homeland. Which is Canaan. Well, Laban responds and says to Jacob, no, stay with me. I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account.

Then Laban says to Jacob, name me your wages and I will give it. Jacob should have thought, yeah, right. But he didn't do that. He names his wages to Laban and basically says to him, separate all of the speckled and spotted and striped sheep and goats from the flocks that I am tending.

And from this point on, any speckled, spotted, and striped animals that are born will be mine as wages, and all the normally colored animals that are born will remain yours. Laban agrees. In fact, he loves the idea that Jacob has devised in verse 34 of Genesis 30, he says to Jacob, good, let it be according to your word. We then saw how Laban.

took the step of removing all the spotted striped and speckled sheep and goats from the flock, leaving Jacob with a completely normally colored flock of sheep and goats to tend. But amazingly, we saw last week how those normally colored sheep and goats ended up producing. A surprising number of striped and speckled and spotted offspring. One thing led to another.

And the end result is found in the final verse of Genesis 30, where the text says, so the man speaking of Jacob became exceedingly prosperous and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels. And donkeys. This is where we left off last Sunday. This is where things stand at the end of Genesis 30, and this sets the stage for the events of Genesis 31 verses 1 through 21 where we end up finding The story of Jacob's departure from Iran and the way we'll break down our study this morning is we'll observe 4 developments in the story of Jacob's flawed departure from Iran for Canaan.

4 developments and the first of these developments, we begin to find in verse 1, and that is that Jacob is told by God to leave Harran for Canaan. Jacob is told by God to leave Haran for Canaan. Observe what happens in verse one. Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father's and from what belonged to our father, he has made all his wealth.

These words are not being spoken directly. To Jacob's face, they're being spoken by Laban's sons to other people, and word is getting back to Jacob. of what they are saying. Jacob's flocks are thriving and growing in number and Laban's flocks are growing weaker and smaller in number.

And these sons of Laban are seeing that the inheritance coming to them when their father dies. is getting smaller and smaller on account of Jacob. They're complaining to others about this and word of their complaints is trickling back to Jacob. Jacob hears this, but it's also what he sees that concerns him.

Look at verse 2. Jacob saw the attitude, literally the Hebrew is he saw the face of Laban. And behold, it was not toward him. or friendly toward him as formerly.

Most of the time with most people, you can look at someone's face and tell if they are for you or against you. And Jacob can tell by looking at Laban's face that Laban's attitude toward him has changed. What Laban's sons are saying out loud to others is written all over Laban's face and Jacob can see that whenever he is in the presence of Laban. Around the same time, Jacob is hearing and seeing such things, the Lord Himself speaks to him.

Look at verse 3. Then the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you. How's that for clear direction from the Lord. The Lord is explicitly telling Jacob to leave, telling him to return to the promised land, to the land of his fathers, of Abraham and Isaac, and God also describes the land as the land of your relatives, which would include Esau.

God says to Jacob, I will be with you as you make this move and as you return to your relatives in your homeland. Given Jacob's history with Esau, he would be very much encouraged by this assurance that God will be with him. Go with him as he returns. So Jacob now receives this revelation from the Lord and he realizes that God is telling him to leave Haran and go back to Canaan.

God is saying that he's going to go with him. In that move. But Jacob seems to also realize that if he's going to make this move, he's going to need his wives to be on board with him in this decision. This leads us to the second development in the story of Jacob's flawed departure from Haran for Canaan, and that is Jacob explains to his wives, Rachel and Leah, how God is leading him.

To leave Iran for Canaan. He explains to his wives how God has told him. To leave Haran for Canaan. Observe what he does in verse 4.

So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field and said to them, I see your father's attitude. The Hebrew is, I see your father's face, that it is not. Toward me or friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me, Jacob says to his wives. The fact that Jacob is calling his wives to his flock out in the field for conversation is probably so that he can talk to them in secrecy.

Knowing that out in the open field, it would be much more difficult for someone to eavesdrop on their conversation. Jacob also calls them, no doubt, out to his flocks in the field because he wants them to be surrounded by visible evidence of God's favor that he's going to be directing their attention to as he speaks to them in the coming verses. But Jacob begins his speech to his wives by sharing with them two things that he sees that he wants his wife to see. Number 1, Laban is not of a friendly disposition toward Jacob anymore, and number 2, God has been with Jacob.

Another thing he wants his wives to know is in verse 6, he says to his wives, that I have served your father with all my strength. Jacob is defending the integrity of his work ethic for Laban, telling his wives that he has given Laban his very best effort over his 20 years of service. In Laban's employment. In contrast to his faithful service toward Laban, Jacob cites Laban's corrupt behavior toward him as he speaks to his wives.

Look at verse 7. He says to his wives, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages 10 times. The Hebrew word that is translated cheated is the word that means to make a fool out of someone. As one writer says, it involves deceiving someone so that their public reputation suffers as a result.

Imagine a boss changing your wages 10 times over the span of 6 years and every time in a way that was disadvantageous to you. And every time he changed the wages, your boss is acting like he just caught you trying to pull a fast one on him. That's what Laban does to Jacob 10 times over this 6-year period. You will recall that in the last chapter, Jacob had asked for all of the striped, spotted, and speckled animals as his wages, and Laban had agreed to that deal.

But evidently when Laban saw how many striped and speckled and spotted animals were being born, He began to change his mind and he would come to Jacob and say, actually, as I recall our agreement, Our agreement was only that the speckled would be your wages. So stop trying to steal my striped and spotted sheep and goats. The striped and spotted belong to me and only the speckled belong. To you That's the thing that Laban did 10 times to Jacob and Jacob, in speaking to his wife says to them, however, God did not allow him to hurt me.

If he spoke thus, if Laban spoke thus, the speckled shall be your wages, or in other words, only the speckled shall be your wages. Then all the flock brought forth speckled. And if he, Laban spoke thus, only the striped shall be your wages, then all the flock brought forth striped. Thus God has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me.

Imagine what a lowlife Laban had to have been to keep changing Jacob's wages like this 10 times and imagine how frustrated Laban had to have been to see God coming through for Jacob. Each time. Imagine how encouraging it had to have been for Jacob. To see God coming through for him again and again to keep Laban from hurting him.

In the last chapter, we saw how Jacob was using striped rods and cross breeding to generate a particular result of spotted striped and speckled offspring in the herds, but here, Jacob is giving God all of the credit for every outcome as he's speaking to his wives, describing to them what has happened. In verse 7, Jacob says, God did not allow him to hurt me. And in verse 9, Jacob says to his wives, thus God has taken away. Your father's livestock and given them.

To me, Jacob is not boasting to his wives about his techniques to generate these results. He's giving all the glory to God. Back in verse one, Laban's sons are accusing Jacob of having taken All that was their fathers, but here Jacob is saying, I didn't do it. God did that.

Don't forget that Jacob is speaking here to his wives and he's telling them about how God has been protecting him and prospering him in spite of all that Laban has been doing and Jacob's motivation for sharing these things with his wives is to provide a context for announcing to them that the Lord is telling him to leave Haran for Canaan. Observe how Jacob does this in verse 10 and following. Jacob says to his wives, and it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled.

Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob, and I said, here I am.

He said, lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing. To you God here is speaking to Jacob in this stream and wanting Jacob to take stock and observe that God has been the one who's making it happen, that all the male animals are now stripes, speckled and mottled. God has caused this to happen as a countermeasure to all that God has seen Laban trying to do in cheating Jacob.

Jacob continues his speech to his wives and tells them that God then spoke to him.

In his dream saying, I am the God of Bethel. In other words, Jacob is telling his wives, God introduced himself to me in this dream and basically said to me, I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel 20 years ago. I am the God who stood above the ladder of ascending and descending angels and made promises to you, Jacob. I am the God who promised you that your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and then you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

God is saying, I'm that God who said that to you. God is saying, I am the God who spoke to you at Bethel. And gave you the promise saying, behold, I am with you and we'll keep you wherever you go, and we'll bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. God continues speaking to Jacob in verse 13 and says, I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to me.

God is saying, I was there in that place 20 years ago. When you responded to my promises by making a vow to me. I heard you, God is saying. I heard you, Jacob, when you said to me, if In other words, if it is true that God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my Father's house in safety, then the Lord will be my God.

The stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me, I will surely give a 10th to you. And God is saying, Jacob, I'm that God. Who gave you these promises. I'm the God who heard you at Bethel, when you made this vow to me.

And so God then says to Jacob, Now arise, leave this land. And return to the land of your birth. God is saying it's time to return to your father's house in safety. It's time for me as your God to make good on my promises to you in connection with your return to the promised land.

It's time for you, Jacob, to experience my faithfulness to my promises which served as the basis, as the foundation for the vow that you made to me. Again, remember that Jacob is speaking to his wives here. And he's sharing this exchange with God. In this dream sequence, and he's telling them this in the hopes of obtaining their support for his decision to follow God's call and return to Canaan.

He's telling His wives, I think, in my opinion, all the right things to accomplish this purpose. It's important for Jacob to tell his wives that God had spoken. To him that God had told him to return to Canaan. It's important that Jacob is explaining to his wives that God's call to return to Canaan is connected to promises that God had made to Jacob 20 years prior at Bethel, and even connected to a vow that Jacob had made.

In response to God's promises. So Jacob shares all of this with his wives essentially saying, God is telling me to leave Harran and return to Canaan. We see how Jacob's wives respond next, and this leads us to the 3rd development in the story of Jacob's departing from Harran for Canaan. Number 3, Jacob's wives encourage him.

To do what God Has told him They encourage him to do what God has told him. It's interesting, Rachel and Leah, we've seen them at odds with each other in moments prior to this passage, but they're both in agreement here. The first thing they're in agreement about is their sense of grievance against their own father, Laban. Observe what they do in verses 14 and 15.

The text says Rachel and Leah said to him, they said to Jacob, do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house? Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us and has also entirely consumed our purchase price. It's actually hard to be certain about the specifics of each one of these complaints that they are uttering here, but it's likely that they all lumped together as a single.

Grievance. Evidence shows that back in this day, when a groom paid the bride's father. For the bride. That the father was supposed to hold on to what the groom had paid him.

And to keep those funds in trust. In the event that his daughter was abandoned or widowed on the road ahead. Many fathers' evidence shows would also often take parts of those funds and, and give them to their daughter as a dowry. When they got married, so that the purchase that the groom made and paid to the father for the bride would end up redounding back to the benefit of the daughter, at least to some degree.

And to whatever degree Rachel and Leah expected this to happen, it didn't happen. In the mind of Rachel and Leah, Laban should have figured out what he would have paid Jacob for 7 years of service. And then set that amount aside. For each of his daughters in trust.

Evidently, Laban didn't do that and his daughters are pretty ticked about it. Their dad got all the benefit for what Jacob paid to him in order to have them as his wives, and none of that benefit came to Rachel and Talia. It's clear here that Laban has been selfish. He's been greedy and in the process, he's lost the heart of his daughters.

In fact, in verse 15, Rachel and Leah literally say he has also entirely eaten. Our purchase price, presumably through a sumptuous, extravagant lifestyle. And they They're angry about this. So Jacob says, hey, let me tell you about this dream that I had.

God told us to leave and they respond by saying, well, let's talk to you about how upset we are with our father. How greedy and selfish he's been in connection with us. Given their grievance against their father, Rachel and Leah, find a certain poetic justice and seeing Jacob now prospering at Laban's expense over these past 6 years. In verse 16, they say to Jacob, surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our Father belongs to us.

And 2, Our children. What Laban failed to do voluntarily, God made happen anyway, causing Laban's wealth to pass from him. To Jacob and thus to Rachel and to Leah. With these grievances and with these observations in mind, Rachel and Leah give Jacob their green light.

Look at the end of verse 16. They say to him, now then do whatever God has said to you. They're saying if God is telling you to leave Haran and go back to Canaan, do what God is telling you to do. And what sweet words this must have been for Jacob.

Ladies, there, there's no sweeter words from a wife. than to look at her husband and say, do what God has told you to do. What Jacob has done in this moment is a great example for us as husbands. There's a lot of good here.

God has told Jacob to leave Harran and return to the land of Promise. Jacob could have said, I've heard from the Lord, that's all I need to hear from, and then just told his wives, hey, get in line behind me because I'm doing what God has told me to do. Instead, it seems that Jacob is trusting. that if God is truly telling me to leave Iran, And return to Canaan, then God will be faithful to tell my wives the same thing.

And God does that, and the wives express their support and this gives Jacob the objective confirmation that he's looking for, I think. From as far back as I can remember, I've been taught by many people. As a married man to never make a significant life-altering decision without your wife's full and honest participation. And approval I've seen husbands disregard that principle to their own hurt and to the hurt of their marriage, and I've seen men honor that principle.

To their own benefit, and I'm happy to see Jacob modeling this very Behavior here. Well, so far, so good, right? Up to this point, Jacob and Rachel and Leah have handled themselves beautifully. They've discerned together the will of God in the matter.

They've all agreed that they should do what God is telling them to do. Jacob, it seems, is acting as a spiritual leader to his wives, and Rachel and Leah have done well to tell Jacob to do what God is telling him to do. So far, so good. There's so much that is commendable here until it actually comes time to move.

And this leads us to the final development in the story of Jacob and his family's flawed departure. From Harran for Canaan. Number 4 With deception and theft, Jacob and his family leave Iran. For Canan.

Isn't that jarring? At this point, Jacob, after hearing from his wife, should have met with Laban and told him Of the decision to move back to Canaan. He should have told Laban that God had spoken to him in a dream and directed him to move, and that he had spoken with Rachel and Leah and they had agreed. That they should move.

Laban deserved this from Jacob. Though Laban we have seen as a scoundrel, he is Jacob's father-in-law. He is the father of Rachel and Leah. He is the grandfather of Jacob's 12 children, and he's Jacob's employer.

Jacob should have had a face to face conversation with Laban. If God is truly telling Jacob to return to Canaan, Jacob should have trusted God to work things out with Laban. So that he could do God's will. We'll find out next week in verse 31 that Jacob does not approach Laban.

He does not talk to Laban and announce their decision to move. Because of fear. Jacob was afraid that Laban would hear the news of the plans to move and take away Jacob's wives and Children by force. And Jacob should not have been afraid of that because God had promised him that he would be with him in this move, but Jacob let his fears get the best of him and he avoided having that hard conversation with Laban, and he just ups and leaves.

Observe what happens in verse 17. Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels. And he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock, which he had gathered in Padaram, which is another name for the region of Haran, to go to the land of Canaan to his father, Isaac. The fact that the text tells us that Jacob drove away all his livestock shows his urgency to return to The land of Canaan and ultimately to return to his father, Isaac.

We get our first glimpse of something amiss in verse 19. This is a family that's doing the will of God in returning to the promised land. Yet, verse 19, when Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole. The household idols that were her father's.

Sheep shearing happened between in the months of April and May, so we know that it's springtime when these events are taking place. We also know that sheep shearing entailed much hard work on the part of a large number of men who often had to labor at a considerable distance from their homes for extended periods of time. And the fact that Laban was occupied with doing this at this particular time would have provided an opportunity for Jacob to get out of town without Laban knowing and for Rachel to enter into her father's house and steal her dad's household idols while Laban was away.

In verse 30, Laban will refer to these household idols as his gods, clearly indicating that He's an idolater.

The household idols would have likely been small carved figurines of religious significance. Later in the chapter, we're gonna learn that these little gods would have been small enough for Rachel to hide in her saddle cushion. As to why Rachel would do this, I know we're reading this going, why would she do this? As to why she would do this, we don't know.

It could have been out of spite against her father. It could have been because these idols were valuable in and of themselves being composed of costly metals and maybe Rachel is stealing them, telling herself that she was taking no more than her due. Some suggest that Rachel is stealing them because she still has a love for these idols in her heart and she doesn't want to leave her on without them. It's possible that these household idols had sentimental value for Rachel, stemming all the way back to her childhood growing up in Laban's home.

The truth is we don't really know what her motivation was and the writer of Genesis doesn't tell us, as one writer says, the text represses any mention of explanation of Rachel's motives. And why? Because her motives don't matter. All we need to know is that she stole something that did not belong to her.

She stole something that was her father's and she should not have done this. Rachel has no business stealing and she has no business wanting these idols, even if her dad was wanting to give them to her willingly. This is a double failure on Rachel's part, even a triple failure. She could have used the opportunity of their move to give her dad a parting gift that would be waiting for him at the house when he returned from the sheep shearing, but she doesn't do that.

Instead, she steals from him and of all things to steal, She steals his gods idols that he had in his home. This is not obvious in most English translations, but it turns out that Rachel is not the only one that is guilty of theft. Of stealing. Observe what is said in verse 2.

In the New American Standard, it says, and Jacob deceived Laban, the Aramaean by not telling him that he was fleeing. Might want to mark that word deceived. Literally, the Hebrew reads this way, and Jacob, stole the heart of Laban. By not telling him that he was fleeing.

And the word stole is the same word used in verse 19 to describe Rachel's theft. So if you put verses 19 and 20 together, it reads this way, Rachel stole the household idols that were her father's and Jacob stole the heart of Laban. The Aman by not telling him. That he was fleeing.

Notice the word fleeing. This is not just a departure. Jacob leaves like a fugitive on the run, looking guilty. And in the process we're told that he stole the heart of Laban by not telling him.

That he was fleeing This expression. stole the heart is such an unusual one that we should take a few minutes to think about what it means to steal someone's heart in the sense in which it is used in this passage. We use this expression differently today, right? For example, I could say to my wife, honey, you stole my heart 38 years ago.

And she would say, oh, thank you, you say the sweetest things. Because it means something different today than what it meant in this passage, when the writer of Genesis tells us that Jacob stole the heart of Laban. Jacob, at the very least, stole Laban's heart by leaving Laban and not telling Laban that he was leaving. At the very least, we can learn from verse 20 that you steal a person's heart when you fail to give them information that they are entitled to.

You steal a person's heart when you run out of a contractual or covenantal or family relationship without any notice. Nowadays, this is called ghosting. That's a theft of someone's heart when you ghost them. If we want a fuller understanding of this expression, We get more insight into the meaning of this term from the way Laban uses this expression when he complains to Jacob later in this chapter.

Listen to what Laban says to Jacob, and I'm gonna put the literal Hebrew expression. Into the translation that's on the screen behind me. Laban will later say to Jacob, what have you done by stealing my heart and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters.

Imagine, parents, that you have a son-in-law who marries your daughter and they give you a few grandchildren. They live close to you and your son-in-law actually works at the company that you own. And then imagine waking up one morning and hearing the news that your son-in-law has quit his job of working for you without telling you, and he's taken your daughter and your grandchildren and moved away without telling you. Without giving you any chance to process the move, without giving you any chance to see your daughter's face to make sure that she's OK with this decision, and without giving you any chance to say goodbye to your son-in-law and to your daughter and to your grandchildren.

And imagine that. They're moving to a place far enough away that that you will likely never see them again. How would you feel if your son-in-law did that? To you.

You say, well, I would feel like he's ripped my heart right out of my chest. And that's exactly what Jacob has done to Laban stealing the heart. Of Laban And the interesting thing to me here is that none of us, as the story has unfolded, none of us are set up. To have any sympathy for Laban.

He's a scoundrel. He's an idolater. But the writer of Genesis is reminding us that he is a human being created in the image of God. He is the father to Jacob's wives.

He's the grandfather of Jacob's children, and Laban deserves better from Jacob than what he's getting right now in the way Jacob went about making this move. Please note, it's not just Laban later in the chapter who's going to accuse Jacob of stealing his heart. The narrator of Genesis uses this very expression in verse 20 to describe what Jacob has done. Basically, the narrator of Genesis is saying I'm with Laban on this one.

Jacob is doing the right thing and making his move to Canaan in obedience to God's call, but sneaking away like this is not the way to do it. This is a sad case of doing the right thing in the wrong way. Jacob doesn't just leave, he flees. Look at verse 21.

So he fled. Literally he ran away. This isn't a move, this is a, a flight, a running away with all that he had. And he arose and crossed the Euphrates River and set his face toward the hill country.

Of Gilead The Euphrates River stood between Haran and the land of Canaan. Jacob crosses the river and then sets his face in the direction. Of the hill country of Gilead, which was in the land of Canaan on the eastern side of the Jordan River. And we're gonna see next week that Jacob will make it that far in his journey.

He'll make it to Gilead, and it will be there that Laban will catch up to him and a confrontation is going to take place. But you have to wait till next week. To see how all that's going to go down. All in all, guys, just as we sum some things up, we see some good things from Jacob and This passage, we see him hearing the voice of God when God speaks to him, we see him taking stock and giving glory to God for the good that he's experienced.

We see him actually leading his wives. We see him humbly taking the time to share with his wives how God has been leading him. And he gives them a chance to participate in the decision that he's making. Ultimately, we see Jacob, together with Rachel and Leah, obeying God and leaving Harron and returning to Canaan as God had commanded them to do.

And that's wonderful. But it's in the way they move that we began to see the problem. Jacob steals Laban's heart by not telling him that he was leaving, and Rachel steals her father's gods, an act that will put her life in danger. In the coming verses.

Their departure from Canaan is God's will, making this a good move. But in their doing of God's will, they sin. So evidently, it's possible to do the right thing that God is telling you to do, and yet do it in a sinful manner. It's possible to do the very will of God in a wrong manner.

And the unblinking eye of God sees it all. And describes and calls our sin what it is. We're gonna see next week that Jacob sneaking off in this way did not spare him any difficulties at all. In fact, it just delayed.

The inevitable face to face confrontation with Laban and it ended up actually making things far more complicated and dangerous than they otherwise had to be. But can we learn something here as Christians about leaving well? In the course of life, there are inevitably arrivals and there are many departures. There are many hellos and there are goodbyes, even marriage requires a leaving of one's father and mother and cleaving to his wife.

Sometimes in the course of life and ministry, God calls us to leave people. whom we love and who love us, to leave people who are in one place, in order to go elsewhere and to do His will in another place. So I challenge all of you to not just be a good arriver, But be a good lever. 2, we owe certain things to the people that we are leaving as we follow God's will.

We owe them honesty. We owe them honor. And when you don't give those things to someone that you are departing from, you're stealing from them what they're entitled to from you. You steal the heart of a person when you bail out on a covenantal or contractual relationship with them without any closure, without any notice.

Maybe God is actually leading you to marry somebody. Will you leave your father and your mother in a way that honors them? Or will you leave them in a way that steals from your mom and your dad the honor? And the honesty that is due them.

Maybe God really does want you to marry that particular person, but why make the whole thing odious, which means stinky. Why make the whole thing odious by the way you go about doing what God may actually be leading you to do? Maybe God will one day lead you to leave Cornerstone. And to move your membership elsewhere.

How will you go about leaving Cornerstone? We've actually talked about this as a staff and one day, we've talked about preaching a sermon entitled How to Leave Cornerstone. Because there is a right way to leave. A church If God led you to leave Cornerstone, will you just up and leave and disappear without a word of explanation or conversation with the brothers and sisters here and the leadership here?

Will you Avoid The hard conversations, or will you move into those hard conversations in your departure? Will you Humble yourself and maybe allow us the privilege of partnering with you in your decision. Will you talk to us and lay out for us like Jacob does his wives and say, here's how I believe God is leading me. And in doing that, will you give us the privilege of being able to hear you and say, do as the Lord is telling you to do.

Many from our church have done exactly this, and it always gives us great joy as elders to be able to affirm such people and how God seems to be leading them. Even in cases where they're leaving Cornerstone because of disagreements. With some doctrinal issue or what have you. I would say that everything I just said would apply to how you go about leaving one care group and going to another.

When one chapter of your life is coming to an end, do you leave well? Do you leave with honor and with honesty? Or do you live in a way that burns bridges and robs people of the honor and the honesty that is due them? Don't be a bridge burner.

As you seek to follow God and do His will. As we truly wrap this up, I, I, I, I have to share this with you that The language that we find in Genesis 31:18, we're told that Jacob departed from Haran to go to his father. To go to his father. That's a touching way of describing the move.

He's going to his father, and that is a good thing, but he tried to go to his father without having the hard conversation with Laban. It just makes me grateful when I think about Jacob and how he did this move, and then I think about Jesus, and how Jesus returned to his father. Jesus was willing to do the hard thing. He had multiple conversations with his disciples and he said to them things like, I go to the Father and you will no longer behold me, repeatedly preparing them in advance for his departure.

And then he did the even harder thing of going to the cross. Jacob was afraid to talk to Laban because he feared that Jacob or that Laban would take away His wives from Him. Jesus went to the cross knowing that he would experience the loss of his father at the cross. Jesus took nothing away.

From anybody. When he returned to his father, he gave up everything. And his departure and laid down his life. And was raised from the dead and then ascended to the right hand of God.

And when he got to the right hand of God, he obtained from the Father the promise of the Spirit for us that was then poured forth in Acts 2, and all of us who know the Lord have the Holy Spirit inside of us as a gift from Jesus, the ascended Jesus, who obtained that gift for us from the Father when he went to his Father. Oh, it was a good departure. Jesus did the Father's will in returning to his father, and he did it perfectly down to every detail. And because he did so, we have an example to follow.

As we seek to obey God, and we also have atonement and we have forgiveness for all those times that we sin and fall short, just like Jacob and Rachel and Leah are falling short in our passage today. And returning to his father the way that he did, Jesus shows us how we can go to our Heavenly Father. When Jesus told his disciples that he was going to his father's house, Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going and how do we know the way? And Jesus says, I've already thought about that.

Because I want you to come to my father with me. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life.

No one comes to The father, but through me. Part of what he's saying is the only way you're gonna get to your father. Your heavenly Father is in my company through me and together with me. I'm going to my father.

Let me bring you with me. If God's spirit is working in you this morning through the songs that we've sung and the scripture we've read and studied. If God is calling you home, calling you To his house. I invite you to come.

To your Heavenly Father obey this call. And come. To the Father through Christ. Let's pray together.

Lord, if there are hearts in this room that you are touching, we do pray. For you to do. A miracle of regeneration in their heart that you would give life. That they would see your beauty, Holy Father.

That they would see the beauty of Christ, the Son, and so be taken by Your beauty That they would consider it an intolerable suffering to live for one more minute apart from you. And may they get up from their sin and return to their father. And return to you, Lord, through Christ. We're thankful for scripture, Lord, and A passage like this today is not one that if we're just doing a topical series on whatever we want to talk about, I don't think I would have ever preached on this passage.

And I don't know that we would have ever been thinking about, man, how do we leave? Do we leave well? So we, I, I just thank you, Lord, for the texture of your word and how as we Allow ourselves to enter into the biblical story and just watch it unfold. There are things that are here for our learning that make us better and richer people.

Better Christians, better arrivers, and better leavers. And all the while, more and more grateful for Jesus, who does all things perfectly, who does all things well. And you, Lord, are the one that captures our gaze. You are our vision.

Receive these funds that we give in this offering, Lord, thank you for the opportunity to give to you and return to you just a portion of what you've lavished upon us. Do much with every penny that is given for The glory of Jesus Christ. We thank you for Team Indonesia and their service over the days that they were abroad, and we thank you for returning them safely this past week for all the good that they were able To do in representing Christ and representing Cornerstone. And thank you for the privilege through our giving of participating in things like this here in Riverside and around the world.

You're a good God, and we thank you for the privilege. of being able to participate in your great cause. We surrender ourselves to you in the name of Jesus and all God's people said, Amen.