#90 Is Anything Ours Genesis 31

And Laban answered and said to Jacob, "these daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to those my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me." So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. Then Jacob said to his brethren, "gather stones." And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. Laban called it Jegar Sahudutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, "this heap is a witness between you and me this day." Therefore its name was called Galeed, also mizpah, because he said, "may the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from one another. If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us-see, God is witness between you and me!" Then Laban said to Jacob, "here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us." And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place. Genesis 31:43-55 NKJV

Maybe because of being the elder, and or just his greedy nature in general, Laban describes everything that is with Jacob, as his. Jacob received both his wives and livestock as payment agreed upon by Laban. Jacob had nothing upon his arrival twenty years prior to this, but leaves with great wealth. He achieved this during his time with a swindler. God blessed Laban because of Jacob. Laban in turn deceived Jacob, and God used Laban to bless Jacob. It is eating at Laban, and he is not happy with this, and yet, for the fear of God, he does not hurt Jacob. 

Laban moves from his lofty claims of importance to seeking a treaty. They call the name of the place in two languages which both appear to mean "heap of witness", and then Mizpah which means "watch tower. " The treaty marks the heap as a territorial border which neither is to go across with intent to harm the other. Laban invokes their shared ancestors in what may have been a political attempt at harmonizing their beliefs. Jacob has not acknowledged Laban's past pleas of ownership, and at this point choses to swear on the "Fear of Isaac." This was the God who spoke to his father, the God his father reverenced and came to have faith in His words and promises. Jacob seems to have chosen to depart from invoking the God of Laban's understanding. There is only one true God, but Laban has come hunting for his idols. His view of God would not be in line with the God that has revealed himself to Jacob. The God that would have no other God's, and here we come to a separation. Laban leaves, and it would appear that this is the end of their relationship. 

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 NKJV

Pride and greed mixed together allows men to think and do unjustly and walk away feeling justified.