Knowing The Word in Genesis 31:1-16, Time to Pack and Leave

1 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.” [Jacob’s gain is their loss.] 2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” [God intercedes again for Jacob’s benefit, reiterating his promise of divine presence.]

4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was [so that he can make sure they will be on his side and not on their father’s] 5 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. 6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me [tactfully omitting the most egregious wedding cheat] and changed my wages ten times [hyperbole]. But God did not permit him to harm me [pitting God against Laban]. 8 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. 9 Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10 In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me [which you must now keep]. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” [Now we know where this crazy scheme came from. It was God’s plan all along.] 14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. 16 All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.” [Jacob’s appeal clearly moves them and they see their father for who he is. Or, are they more like their father than we are led to believe, going for the deal that is to their advantage?]