In today’s society contracts are sealed with papers and lawyers and filings and all other sorts of legal actions. In the day of Jacob, there was a sacrifice to God.
“53The God of Abraham and God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.’ So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, 54and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.” – Genesis 31:53-54 (ESV)
Jacob had been pursued by Laban for 7 days for what Laban believed to be true. In the interest of trust and integrity, Jacob allowed Laban to search his tents and belonging for what he believed to be true. When Laban was unable to confirm what he believed to be true, he and Jacob had a discussion, and I stress the word discussion, to hash some things out.
After the discussion was completed Jacob and Laban had come to an agreement and that was sealed a covenant, and then Jacob sacrificed to God to seal the deal. The deal was sealed in front of the kinsmen of both Jacob and Laban as witnesses to the deal, with the truest of witnesses being God.
The sacrifice was to God as the sealing of the covenant between two men. I have to think what are we doing in the world today when we have to file papers, motions, legal documents, and the like to come to an agreement on even the smallest of items. Why are we not able to simply have a hand shake before God to seal the deal? (Trust that I am not completely naive.)
I wonder how much more dedicated to the deal we would be when simply realizing that with every deal, God is watching? And what if we realized that our handshake is our sacrifice of honor to the deal that God is watching over and witness? I have witness with many “deals” that before the ink is even dry, someone is working to find the loophole when what everyone should be looking at is how to continue to honor the deal.
What are some deals that have happened around you that could have been hashed out and sealed with a simple handshake? Have you found yourself looking for the loophole? What if we believed in the sacrifice before God to seal the deal?
Trevor's Thoughts 