Genesis 28:5

"And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Paddan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother."

It is not stated that Isaac lavishly equipped Jacob for this journey. On the other hand, Jacob long afterward mentioned that he had passed through this area "on foot with his staff in his hand" (Genesis 32:10). Some have wondered why Jacob should have been called upon to endure such hardship. But perhaps it was imperative that he should learn some of the lessons that vividly appeared in his experience.

Sin always drives the sinner out. Adam and Eve sinned and went out of Eden; Gehazi sinned and lied to the prophet, and went out a leper white as snow; Judas betrayed the Lord and went out and hanged himself; Peter profanely denied the Lord and went out into the darkness weeping bitterly; here Jacob had sinned and lied to his father and went out to rest in the wilderness with a stone for a pillow. The application is perpetual: men become vain, worldly and sinful and go out from the Bible school, out from the worship services, out from the prayer meetings, out from the holy church!

The reason behind Jacob's being commanded to take a wife from among the daughters of Laban lay in the near-universal paganism then descending upon apostate humanity. It was imperative that the head of the chosen nation be relieved of the burden of paganism in his own family. Even in the case of Laban's family, there still remained vestiges of the Gentile paganism then engulfing mankind, but, at least, the people of Laban's household did know and honor the one true God.

We have no sympathy whatever with the critical theories about multiple sources of this chapter. For those interested in such things, reference is here made to the scientific analysis of this problem by Leupold, who outlined the various complicated arguments allegedly favoring a division of the sources, concluding thus:

"Note how flimsy all this becomes on closer examination ... There surely is little convincing proof ... If such arguments are proof, we do not know what proof means ... Could any procedure be more unscientific ...? Critics admit that they are not sure ... !"[2]