Prayer of Parting

“And Mizpah; for he said, ‘The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.’ “ (Genesis 31:49, KJV).

The occasion of the often-used benediction from Genesis 31:49 was the parting of Jacob with his father-in-law Laban. If you recall the account from Genesis, Jacob deceived his father Isaac and received his brother Esau’s birthright. He then fled and ended up in the land of Haran where Jacob’s mother Rachel’s brother, Laban lived. There Jacob worked, keeping his flocks and receiving Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel for wives. Through shrewd (and sometimes underhanded) management, Jacob became the owner of great flocks. He was fleeing, going back to the land of his father Isaac, departing from Laban with his entourage of wives, children, servants and flocks. But Laban overtook Jacob and his fleeing company. When they made peace, as was the custom, they set up a memorial stone to the resolution of their differences. Jacob called the stone pillar Galeed and Mizpah. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha Each had a meaning. Galeed means, in Hebrew, “heap of witnesses” and was the place where Jacob and his father-in-law Laban made their covenant of peace near Mount Gilead. Jacob added also the name Mizpah, meaning watch tower. The stones were erected as a boundary marker between the two men, but the stones had a deeper meaning. Neither man was to go beyond that marker to harm the other, or his family or possessions. Jacob was also to treat Laban’s daughters and his grandchildren with love and respect. It was a covenant before God, the One who was to watch between them. Laban’s name for the place, Jegar Sahadutha, may have represented the differences in language of Laban and Jacob, for the name Laban gave the heap of memorial stones also meant “witness heap.” People passing would see the heap of stones and know that a covenant had been agreed upon at that site. As long as the stones withstood the elements and vandalism, they would be a testimony that an important agreement took place there. And Laban voiced the prayer that we still pray. The prayer prayed at Mizpah has been a favorite one with Jews and Christians since that long ago time (about 1739 B. C., according to scholars). Each Sunday morning, the wonderful Sunday School class of which I am a member joins hands in a circle at the end of the class. We pray this prayer in unison. It is a means of bonding with each other and with God, and a pledge on our part that we are praying for and loving one another. Whatever the occasion and whenever we voice the prayer, we are entering the watchtower of God’s love, being surrounded by His peace, and extending love to those for whom we pray. “The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from the other.” Selah.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, November 9, 2010