Jacob in Haran
29:1 to 30:43
In the next three chapters of Genesis we find the record of Jacob’s twenty long years away from the land of Canaan and his home. Recall that he was probably around seventy-five years old when he left home, so that he was around ninety-five when he came back. However, in terms of normal aging and life spans today, these figures could probably be cut in half to correspond to equivalent life spans in our own time. Even so, he was still well enough along in years to be leaving home for the first time and to be looking for a wife. Many have treated this period of Jacob’s life as though it were a punishment for the treatment of his brother. However, those years were very happy and prosperous for the most part, with no more troubles and problems than are normally encountered by a believer seeking to follow ADONAI. He even spoke of it fondly on his deathbed. He did receive some rather unfair treatment at the hand of his uncle Laban. On the other hand, Laban did give Jacob a job, permitted him to marry his daughters, and made it possible for him to build up extensive wealth and holdings of his own.456
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