Often we say that first impressions count for a lot and this is true of today’s character-study, for from the very first mention of Laban in Genesis we learn of his motivations in life, ‘when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, …’, 24. 29. This implies that his regard for Abraham’s servant was much influenced by his regard for earthly riches. Here was a man whose desires were centred on earthly things, and who would never lose an opportunity, by fair means or foul, to further his own selfish interests.
We see that he was marked by: –
covetousness – i.e. greed or avarice.
hypocrisy – he used the Lord’s name to cover up his underlying motivations in the light of valuable gifts soon to be bestowed for his sister, 24. 50.
lying – ‘And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn’. He had not mentioned this to Jacob before, nor is it likely that there was any such custom.
cheating – for Jacob said ‘… thou hast changed my wages ten times’, 31. 41.
hardness – for Jacob said, ‘That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night’, 31. 39.
Eventually, of course, God turned all this upon his own head for: –
he lost the respect of even his own daughters, 31. 15.
God overruled in spite of his cheating Jacob in the matter of the flocks, 30. 7 (i.e. having agreed with Jacob that he could have all the spotted offspring of the flocks he then tries to remove all of this kind, 30. 35).
The chief lessons for us, then, are that God is sovereign and will cause a man to reap what he has sowed in life, Gal. 6. 7, and that if pressure and even persecution should come we should leave vengeance to the Lord. God sees all and will eventually give the victory ‘… for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee’, 31. 12.
