And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
Jacob was distressed and unsure which way to turn because Laban's countenance and hostility had turned against him. The command to return was God's merciful answer to Jacob's distressed prayer for direction. God gave Jacob this direction in a dream. God told him to leave Laban and Padan-aram and return to the land of his fathers and to his kindred and family country. God promised to be with Jacob as he went.
That direction renewed the promise Jacob had received at Bethel, and God's presence assured him of protection as he left Laban. The promised presence meant help, guidance and favor.
Jacob called Rachel and Leah to the field to tell them God had told him to leave. He told Rachel and Leah that God had been with him and protected him from Laban's deceit, proposed leaving, and they agreed to do what God had told him. Jacob obeyed and left after twenty years, retracing the road he had traveled as a fugitive. He journeyed with many misgivings on a very sad journey under the reproaches of an accusing conscience day and night, with his sin in deceiving his father ever before him, knowing his long exile was the direct result of that sin. As the hills of his native land appeared in the distance his heart was deeply moved with all the past rising vividly before him, and with the memory of his sin came also the thought of God's favor toward him.
Jacob was distressed and unsure which way to turn because Laban's countenance and hostility had turned against him. The command to return was God's merciful answer to Jacob's distressed prayer for direction. God gave Jacob this direction in a dream. God told him to leave Laban and Padan-aram and return to the land of his fathers and to his kindred and family country. God promised to be with Jacob as he went.
That direction renewed the promise Jacob had received at Bethel, and God's presence assured him of protection as he left Laban. The promised presence meant help, guidance and favor.
Jacob called Rachel and Leah to the field to tell them God had told him to leave. He told Rachel and Leah that God had been with him and protected him from Laban's deceit, proposed leaving, and they agreed to do what God had told him. Jacob obeyed and left after twenty years, retracing the road he had traveled as a fugitive. He journeyed with many misgivings on a very sad journey under the reproaches of an accusing conscience day and night, with his sin in deceiving his father ever before him, knowing his long exile was the direct result of that sin. As the hills of his native land appeared in the distance his heart was deeply moved with all the past rising vividly before him, and with the memory of his sin came also the thought of God's favor toward him.