Vs.29- “And Rebekah had a
brother, and his name was Laban:” We are introduced to Rebekah’s brother,
Laban. We will become well acquainted with
this man as we study through the book of Genesis. As far as we know, he is the only brother of
Rebekah. It is evident at this time that
Laban is the spokesman for the family instead of his elderly father.
“and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.”- The servant did not
follow Rebekah to her home. He waited
for her to run home and get permission from her family. He expected that if the family was willing to
allow him to lodge with them then they would return and fetch him. It was a custom at this time and in this area
to be hospitable to travelers. After
hearing Rebekah’s report, Laban runs to meet the man at the well. Unfortunately, it is rather clear that his
motivation in meeting the man was not hospitality or generosity, but rather
covetousness and greed as is abundantly clear in the following verse and all
other scripture describing this man.
Vs.30- “And it came to pass,
when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands,”- This is the motivation
behind Laban running to meet the servant.
Rebekah had beautiful and expensive gifts given to her and Laban ran to
meet the servant hoping that by showing generosity he too would receive some
form of reward.
“and when he heard the words of Rebekah his
sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me;”-The servant has asked
Rebekah concerning her family and lodging.
Rebekah rehearsed the words of the servant into the ears of her
mother. Laban overheard all that was
said. Laban’s thoughts probably went
something like this, “A rich man’s servant is seeking out our family and needs
a place to stay. He is also giving out
expensive gifts! What an opportunity to
get something for myself. I’m going to
run down there and be the first one to greet him as the family’s spokesperson
and extend an invitation to stay with us.
Surely he will reward me just like he did my sister.”
“that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood
by the camels at the well.”- He ran to meet the servant by the well because
of the gifts he saw and the opportunity he heard presented by his sister,
Rebekah.
Vs.31- “And he said, Come in,
thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared
the house, and room for the camels.”- Laban comes to the well and praises the
servant by calling him blessed. He then
asks him why he has not followed his sister Rebekah to the house. I don’t believe this is a rebuke by Laban,
but rather an invitation to no longer delay in coming to the house. He then makes it clear that he is extending
an invitation by telling the servant that he has a place for him and the
camels. Laban was saying something like
this, “Hello servant, you are such a wonderful man. God has obviously blessed you and your Master. What are you doing standing around here
for? Let’s go to the house. I’ve got a room set up for you and a separate
room set up just for your camels.” Can
you see how Laban is laying it on thick?
He is motivated by money!
One-Line Explanation- Laban runs to meet the servant at the
well when he sees the gifts and hears the report of his sister.
Meaning of Names and Terms:
1.
Laban- White,
shining.
Lesson: Laban, the
brother of Rebekah, ran to the servant and showed hospitality, generosity, and
kindness. He did this, however, not out
of the goodness of his heart, but rather in expectation of monetary gain. Motivation is a big deal. It is not only important what you do, but why
you do it. Here are a few wrong reasons
to do something. 1.) Praise.
Jesus rebuked the hypocritical religious leaders of his day because they
did the right thing, but they did it to be seen of men. Mat.6:5-6-
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of
men. Verily I say unto you, Thy have
their reward. (Vs.6) But thou, when thou
prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly. Be careful that your
motivation is serving Christ is not to be praised by others. 2.) Payback.
Laban was only being hospitable to the servant in hopes of getting
something in return. Luke
14:12-14- Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or
a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy
rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made
thee. (Vs.13) But when thou makest a
feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: (Vs.14) And thou shalt be blessed; for they
cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt
be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. These verses do not teach that you can’t have
your friends and family over for dinner.
These verses are speaking about motivation. Don’t do good things for someone just so you
can be recompensed or rewarded. Jesus
taught us to do good for those who can’t reward us for our deeds. Jesus promised that if we did such things
then God himself would reward us in eternity.
Many preachers and Christians are doing the good work of the Lord, but
their motivation is to make money. We
see this all of the time in the health, wealth, and prosperity preaching
churches. We need to make sure that our
motivation is not monetary gain, but rather God’s glory. 3.) Power/Prestige/Position. Some people will do good things for certain
people in power so that they can make it up the ladder of success. This follows the same principle given in Luke
14:12-14. The Bible says that God is no
respecter of persons and is equally fair and good to all. We are supposed to be like our heavenly
Father. We should do good unto all men
no matter what they can do for us in return.
We should never expect anything in return. We should do good for others because we want
to please our heavenly Father and have the character of a true born again
Christian. We understand that God will
reward us for our deeds. We should not determine
who we will be kind, generous, and helpful to on the basis of what we can gain
from them.
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