A Return to the Promised Land

In the passage in Genesis, there is tension between Laban and Jacob because of Laban's deception, trickery, and lies. This, in turn, is the beginning of tension in Jacob's marriage to Laban's two daughters. This tension continues because of the persistence of Laban's deceptive business practices and his pragmatic use of his daughters to get rich. While Laban knows that everything has a price, it seems he knows the value of nothing.

But, throughout all this God is faithful to keep the promise he has made to Abraham, to Issac, and now to Jacob to give him a posterity that numbers that of the stars and the sand on the seashore (Gen 22:17).

Even so, what we are going to see in this section is a pattern that is going to happen throughout the rest of the Bible: a promised people that God delivers from oppression whom he then brings to a promised land and makes a promise of peace with them.