A Journey Through the Bible, Part Sixteen

Old Testament

Genesis 31 and 32

Genesis 31:19—“Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father's.“ I mentioned in an earlier post that Abraham had grown up in a pagan family; part of his greatness lies in his rejection of that paganism to accept the one true God, Well, that paganism and idol worship obviously remained in some of Abraham’s family (Laban was the grandson of Abraham’s brother, Nahor). And, obviously, Jacob hadn’t washed the idolatry out of his own beloved wife—unless we want to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she just stole them out of spite, to keep Laban from being able to worship them. Some commentators do suggest that was the reason, but I’m not inclined to believe it. If she grew up with those idols, then it is distinctly possible that she would still believe in them, marriage to Jacob notwithstanding. We’ve already seen that she had a rather immature, petulant character.

Genesis 31:43—“And Laban answered and said to Jacob, "’These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne?’” Do what??  “All that you see is mine"?  What a liar.  Jacob had worked hard for what he had and his wives were his. When we first meet him (Genesis 24), Laban is a pretty likable fellow. By the time we reach this point in the story, it’s hard not to despise the guy.

Genesis 32:28—“And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’" Jacob hears that his brother Esau is coming towards him with 400 men. The younger brother, because he had cheated the older brother twice, fears Esau is out for revenge. So the night before they meet, Jacob has this wrestling match with what appears to be a human manifestation of God. The patriarch’s name is changed from Jacob to Israel, which means “struggle with God,” or “wrestle with God,” or something like that. The Hebrew word “El” is one of their words for God, so any time you see it attached to something, it has reference to God (e.g., Bethel, means “house of God”). Jacob will still be referred to in Scripture, often, with his given name, but he has the added name of Israel now.

New Testament

Matthew 18

Matthew 18:18—“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This statement, which Jesus made to Peter in Matthew 16:19, is now expanded to apply to all of the apostles. They aren’t given any legislative power here apart from God. The phrase “will be bound” is, in the Greek, in the future perfect tense, which actually means “will already have been bound” in heaven. So all the apostles will be doing is passing on the diktats from on high. Incidentally, Jesus’ statement in verse 20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them,” has reference to the apostles and their authority on this earth. That’s the context and that’s whom Jesus is speaking to. We hear this verse quoted often as applying to any of the Lord’s people when they gather together in His name, and in principle, there is truth in it. But that’s not the meaning in the context.