It was mid-day when Laban came riding up to Jacob’s camp.  He had his sons with him and his lead men.  Earlier the previous evening he made camp a short distance away.  The night had been long and tense.

This whole scene reminded me of the movie Braveheart where two armies would stare at each other across a field.  Here we were in the middle of these two sides talking and I was waiting for someone to “pick a fight”.

“Why did you leave in the dark of night kidnapping my daughters?” Laban demanded.
“I did not kidnap them.” Jacob replied.
“You didn’t even give me the chance to tell my children, and my grandchildren goodbye!  I would have sent you away with my blessing after having a feast.” Laban countered.

Jared looked over at me and I could read his lips.  His words were “yeah right”, mocking Laban in his accusations.  The reality is that Laban would never have allowed us to leave.  Every action he had taken was to keep Jacob with him.

“I have every right to kill you for this Jacob.  You are fortunate.  Last night your God came to me in my dream.  He said I was not to touch you.” Laban reluctantly revealed.

My eyes went to Jared and Nathan.  We three shared glances and each of us were shocked.  Here we were ready to fight but hopefully it would not be needed.

“So you run away with my daughters, fine.  Tell me why you stole my gods?” Laban demanded.
“No one here took your gods that I am aware of.  If you like, search for them and if you find them, the person that stole them will die.  I will not keep anything that is not mine.” Jacob replied.

Nathan walked over to me and whispered “this is about to get serious”.  He was right.  I began to think that Laban was going to look for a fight no matter what.  He just needed the right reason.

Moments later Laban and a few of his men were tearing through tents.  Laban searched Leah’s and found nothing.  He then went into Rachel’s tent and there too he found nothing.  Coming out of the tent he looked at Rachel.

She was sitting on the saddle of her camel resting on the ground.  He walked over to her and was staring at her.  Rachel didn’t want to make eye contact.  The first thing that hit my mind, I also knew hit Laban’s mind.  She had the idols.

The gods Laban was speaking of were idols.  They were nothing more than stone carvings but he believed in them.  If he found them in Rachel’s saddle both he and Jacob would be facing a problem.  Jacob said whoever had them would die, and Laban would have to decide on what to do with his daughter.

“Get up Rachel.” Laban demanded.
“I cannot.  It is that time for me, I am not clean.” She replied.

Laban stared at her and in that moment everyone knew.  She had her fathers idols.  Jacob moved in quickly and began to tear into Laban verbally.

Jacob Demands Laban Explain

“You have come all the way here, made accusations, and searched our belongings.  Put anything you have found in front of everyone here.  Show us what is yours!  Let everyone decide if I have stolen anything from you!”  Jacob was on fire.

“I worked seven years and you gave me Leah when Rachel was promised.  I worked another seven years for Rachel.  I then worked six years for the livestock that I now have!  I never ate food that was taken from your animals.  I never required you to take a loss when an animal died.  I repaid it for you!” 

I was beginning to think this was therapeutic for Jacob.  He needed to get this out of his system.

“You changed my wages ten times.  Ten times Laban!  Now you are here and I know you would have taken everything from me, and maybe would have killed me!  The only thing that stopped you was my God came to you and told you that you couldn’t.”  Jacob finished his fiery speech.

Laban’s face began to change.  His slowly calmed.  You could see his demeanor shift as he looked at his daughters and grandchildren.  He knew he was in the wrong.  He knew he would have to walk away or choose to forever create a rift in the family he could never repair.

The pause Laban took seemed like an eternity. Everyone was waiting. His next words would determine the path this would take. I noticed Jared and Nathan had their hands on the hilt of their swords. Our eyes met, I shook my head no. This had to play out between both Jacob and Laban.

“Jacob, let’s make amends.  Come with me and we will make a pillar to be a witness between us and our people.”  Laban was asking for peace while offering a promise to Jacob.

The two families walked a short distance and began gathering stones.  We couldn’t hear the exact words which were being said.  A while later they ate together.

At the end of it all the pillar symbolized a promise that neither side would pursue conflict with the other.  The meal represented a unification despite differences.  There was hope once again and a peace between Jacob and Laban.

The name of this place Jacob now called Galeed.  There he would offer a sacrifice to God.  We sat in the distance watching throughout the night.  We were not the only ones watching.  Both sides of the family watched from a distance.

After this night there would be no one who could contest this.  No one would be able to say that there was not peace.  It was decided that all issues would be concluded in spite of disagreements.

When the sun rose we saw Laban embrace both his daughters, and his grandchildren.  He said his goodbye’s.  This chapter in Jacob’s life was finally closed.

Jacob Worries About A Confrontation With Esau

After that long night we all rested.  The heaviness that was on everyone created serious anxiety for ten days.  The climax of that tension on the eleventh day the air could have been cut with a knife.  I slept like a baby.

I was woken to Jared kicking my feet telling me to get up.  I had no idea what time it was, I just knew it was dark.  Looking into the sky seeing the stars and the constellations, I realized I had slept for nearly twelve hours.  Dawn would be a couple hours away.

“What do you want Jared?”
“I have some food for you.” He replied.
“You know I could have woken up later and gotten food myself.” I replied being short.
“Quit being ungrateful and eat.” He said.

I sat up and took the food.  Jared propped himself up next to me.  He was silent for a bit.  I could tell he was worrying about something.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked.
“We need to go see Jacob when your finished.” He replied.
“Why?” I was afraid to ask.
“It’s Esau.” Jared’s answer said it all.

There wasn’t any reason to continue the conversation.  We both knew what was coming.  I finished eating and began to get my rig ready for my horse.  I knew we would be riding.  Once dawn broke we both headed to see Jacob with Nathan.

We found Jacob outside his tent by the early morning fire.  They too had finished their meals and the daily chores were being handled.  As Jacob saw us coming he stood up and motioned to walk away from his camp.  Rachel saw us, and I saw a worried look in her eyes.

“You wanted to talk to us?” I asked Jacob.
“Yes.” He replied.
“Its about Esau right?”

Jacob shook his head to mean yes.  I could see tears in his eyes.  He had just been saved from one massive problem and was about to ride into the lion’s den of the next problem.  There was no way to avoid it.

“Can you go talk to him for me?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah, I think we better do that.  I just am not sure what will happen.” I replied.
“We can tell him your story.  You are not the same person now Jacob.” Nathan tried to help.

Jared looked at me and the look in his eyes showed that no one there really knew a way out of this.  This would be the big test.  Esau could lay claim to all that Jacob owned, and also lay claim to Leah and Rachel by Esau’s customs.

“Jacob, I am going to level with you.  If Esau comes to take what is yours there is literally nothing we can do to stop him.  Laban had men, Esau has a genuine battle hardened army.” I stated.

“I have to do this.  I cannot return home sneaking to my fathers doorstep trying to hide.  If I do that he will kill me.” Jacob was trying to process this finding the best way to deal with the issue.

The thing is, he was right.  If he tried to sneak home he could make it to his dad.  The problem was he would be seen as a coward that continued to disrespect his brother.  It would be seen as a slap in the face while playing weak.

“Yeah, you do not want to sneak home.  If anything you may want to offer tribute.  Announce your return and try to have open arms to him. Let’s just hope you don’t get a knife in the back.” Jared replied.

“Will you all go to see him?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah we will.  We can leave this morning.  Give us time before you move towards the river, it will allow a head start.  We will get back as fast as possible.” I replied.

Jacob shook his head accepting this diplomatic endeavor.  The choice for me being the emissary was logical.  Me, Jared, and Nathan, were the only ones with Jacob that could walk into Esau’s camp and be welcomed.  Anyone else would risk losing their head.

Jacob Seeks Reconciliation With Esau

I knew Esau wouldn’t hurt us.  I was just hoping we could beat him back to Jacob after we told him what was happening.  I decided to leave Xiang and Yu to help with any needed strategic retreat.  Jared, Nathan, and I went to prepare for the journey.

We packed our horses and began riding for Mt Seir.  The journey there was simple enough coming from the direction we chose, that is until we passed Zoar.  That place always made me nervous.

The path we set out on required us to cross the Jabbok River, a swing west across the Jordan, and then South.  We would skirt the edge of Canaan to avoid territories we were less welcome in.  It was not a straight line to Esau by any means.

Passing Zoar we faced no resistance.  It was tense, at least for me after my last passage.  I had held hopes they would recognize me as the same guy with Esau’s entourage.  After emerging past Zoar it was an easy ride to Seir.

We encountered some of Esau’s men along the path.  They knew where to find him.  When we rode into Esau’s camp and I saw him, he knew why I was there.  The look in his eyes gave it away.

I tried everything.  I used compassion.  I tried the whole family ties thing.  I brought up our past discussion and how Esau said he would think about things.  I negotiated with material goods.  Nothing worked.

After that conversation I knew my worst nightmare for these two boys had come to life.  Esau ordered four hundred of his men to arms and to make preparation to ride.  This is not what I wanted.

Esau had no issues with me, and he let us go.  He did specifically ask for us to not return to Jacob.  He wanted us to go to his father Isaac.  I knew Esau did not want to fight against us, nor ask us to pick a side.  I could see that in his heart.

When I attempted to use that against him to keep him from fighting it just made things worse.  Nothing I could do or say would change this.  Jared, Nathan, and I turned our horses and left.  We rode as quickly as we could to reach Jacob.

We needed to warn the caravan.  A real battle was coming with four hundred experienced fighting men armed to the teeth.