Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." – Genesis 31:24

Today's Scripture Reading (October 12, 2024): Genesis 31

During the French Revolution, there came a time when Louis XVI and his wife, the infamous Marie Antoinette, decided that they had to leave Paris and France. The idea was that they would masquerade as commoners and escape with their family. The original plan was for the Royal Family to separate and escape using different routes. But that was not acceptable to the Royal Family. And as the plan for the grand escape went forward, it became clear that King Louis and Queen Marie had led such sheltered lives that they had no idea how a commoner lived. And the way they left the city, although disguised, left little doubt that the Royal Family had traveled here.

As a result, there was also a significant change in the escape route. The original route went through the countryside, contacting very few villages or settlements. But again, Louis was mistakenly convinced that the problem was the "woke" people living in the city, namely Paris. The smaller towns would rally to his side and support their King. So, Louis decided to take a route that went through several smaller towns. As a result, at almost every step of the way, not only did the people recognize them, but the ones who wanted to keep the Royal Family under guard in Paris knew precisely where Louis and Marie were. All of this worked together to make the attempted escape a grand failure and return the Royal Family to their captivity in Paris, where Louis and Marie would eventually be executed.

Jacob and his family decide to escape Laban. Jacob wasn't in danger like Louis and Marie, but he knew he had to get away from his scheming Father-in-law. Jacob takes his family, including Leah and Rachel, Laban's daughters, and heads away from Laban's influence.

Another difference between Jacob and Louis is that Jacob already seems to have lived a fair distance from Laban. It took Laban three days to figure out that Jacob was on the run, but Louis's enemies knew the King was gone almost immediately. However, with all of his family and flocks, Jacob couldn't move very fast. As a result, Laban was able to locate Jacob and catch him.

We don't know what could have happened when Laban finally caught up to his son-in-law. Laban was angry and would have liked to have caused Jacob harm, except that God came to him in a dream and told him no. God wouldn't force Laban to play nice with Jacob or say good things, but he would not allow him to cause Jacob harm. Laban had a front-row seat to watch God bless Jacob over the years. Laban had no reason to doubt that God would protect Jacob from any damage that Laban could do to him.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 32

Personal Note: Happy Birthday, Mom.