Let’s wrap up the sordid saga of Jacob and his Uncle Laban, two cheaters, but God has his hand on one of them(!), and that makes the difference.

Jacob has not forgotten his objective, which was to go to Haran, find a wife among Abraham’s extended family, and return. God promised:

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28.15, ESV, emphasis mine)

And Jacob claimed it:

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” (Genesis 28.20 – 22, ESV, emphasis mine)

So it begins:

As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” (Genesis 30.25 – 26, ESV)

Then the haggling and cheating continue. Jacob says he’ll take the spotted and streaked livestock whereupon Laban promptly sends his sons out to take them all away:

But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock. (Genesis 30.35 – 36, ESV)

And so it goes. Jacob responds with some hocus pocus to cause the flocks to bear spotted and streaked offspring, resulting in ill-will (you think?):

Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” (Genesis 31.1, ESV)

Then God leads, and Jacob recognizes that his blessing and protection come from God:

Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. (Genesis 31.3 – 9, ESV, emphasis mine)

So Jacob flees. Laban pursues. There is a final confrontation before which God warned Laban not to mess with Jacob. (Genesis 31.17 – 24) The men make a covenant with memorial stones to serve as markers with this often misunderstood inscription:

The Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. (Genesis 31.49, NKJV)

This is not a loving blessing to be shared between, say, husband and wife while the one is on an extended absence. This was a warning between enemies! Then they separate peacefully:

And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place. (Genesis 31.55, NKJV)

And that’s the last time we see Laban in the story.

I’ve talked to enough people to know that God doesn’t always deliver his followers from the immediate effects of unscrupulous business partners, but he protected Jacob in this case. And after a reunion with Esau (Jacob thought it would be a dangerous confrontation!), Jacob returns to Canaan safely, as promised:

Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel. (Genesis 33.18 – 20, NKJV)