Every so often I see a personal message (on a birthday card, for example) that ends with Genesis 31:49: “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.” The message writer presumably is trying to convey the hope that God keeps her and the reader safe during their time apart. The sentiment is nice. Unfortunately, that’s not what the verse means.
In Genesis 31, Jacob has taken his wives, children, servants, and flocks (and unbeknownst to him, Laban’s household idols) and left Laban’s estate to go back to his father’s land. Laban believes that Jacob has been cheating him: “Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, ‘Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.’” (v.2) According to Jacob, he’s endured living under the deceitfulness of Laban for many years: “…your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times…” (v.6) Laban, having learned what has happened, goes after them. After some verbal wrangling they make a covenant and mark the boundary between Laban’s territory and Jacob’s.
Then Laban says, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.” Given what has happened so far in the narrative, the meaning is obvious. He is basically saying, “Jacob, you’re a dirty, rotten, lying, thieving scoundrel. Since I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, I’ll have to rely on God to keep me safe from you.” Verse 50 ought to tell us that verse 49 is not the nice sentiment that people think it is: “If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.” Laban mistrusts Jacob and Jacob mistrusts Laban.
So when you’re writing a birthday card to your, say, grandmother, and you quote Genesis 31:49, you’re effectively saying, “Grandma, you’re a dirty, rotten, lying, thieving, scoundrel. xoxoxox Happy Birthday!” Now, you could just quote the verse and leave out the scripture reference, thereby making the sentence just a general statement of your wish that God keeps watch over the both of you. But, since many Christians know the verse, this would make little difference. They would know that you’re quoting Gen. 31:49.
Another verse I find less problematic though just as curious is Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This verse and the entire passage it is in is written to the Jewish exiles returning from Babylon. Now, since God certainly does have a plan for our lives, I guess one could quote the verse and draw the general principle of God’s having a plan for our lives from it without too much of a problem (though I wouldn’t do it myself). The curious thing to me is why people only quote this verse. Why does no one ever quote verses 17 & 18? “yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, or scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them.” These verses are in the same passage as verse 11.
One answer that comes to mind is that we live in a therapeutic culture and Christians have the tendency to carry that mindset into their religious life. People are so fixated on their feelings and the desire to avoid adversity at all cost (as I do). But Christianity is not a feel good religion. It is a truth seeking religion. Neil Postman has pointed out that Christianity is a serious and demanding religion. And C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, writes: “In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: If you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth – only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair. Most of us have got over the prewar wishful thinking about international politics. It is time we did the same about religion.” (Book I, Ch. 5).
Greg Koukl at Stand to Reason has some simple advice: “Never read a bible verse”. Always read it in the context of at least a paragraph, preferably a chapter or two or three. This doesn’t mean that you can’t quote a bible verse. Just make sure you know what it means first.
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