Genesis 31:15 Daily Devotional & Meaning – Counted as Strangers by Their Father
- Benjamin Michael Mcgreevy
- Aug 15
- 7 min read
Daily Verses Everyday! Day 191
“Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.”
Rachel and Leah continue speaking with painful honesty. They say, “Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.” This is a heartbreaking statement because they are not speaking about an enemy. They are speaking about their own father. Laban should have treated them as daughters, but they feel as though he has treated them like outsiders. He should have protected them, provided for them, and cared about their future, but instead they say he counted them as strangers.
The word “strangers” matters. Rachel and Leah are saying that Laban no longer acts like a father toward them. He has treated them as though they do not truly belong to him anymore. This is not merely about hurt feelings. It is about betrayal. A father’s house should have been a place of belonging, covering, and inheritance. Yet Rachel and Leah feel as if they have been pushed outside of that place. They were born into Laban’s household, but his actions made them feel like foreigners within it.
This shows how deeply greed can damage a family. Laban’s greed did not only affect Jacob’s wages. It also affected his daughters’ sense of worth. When a father becomes controlled by gain, he can begin to see even his own family through the eyes of profit. Instead of seeing daughters to bless, Laban saw an opportunity to benefit himself. Instead of honoring their future, he consumed what should have been connected to their security.
They say, “for he hath sold us.” This points back to the way Laban gave Rachel and Leah to Jacob. Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, but Laban deceived him and gave him Leah first. Then Jacob served another seven years for Rachel. In that sense, Laban received fourteen years of labor through his daughters. Their marriages became the means by which Laban profited. The tragedy is not that there was a marriage arrangement, because marriage customs in that time often involved gifts, service, or bride price. The tragedy is that Laban used the arrangement selfishly. He gained from it, but his daughters did not feel protected by it.
This is why they say he “hath quite devoured also our money.” They viewed what Laban received from Jacob’s labor as something that should have benefited them in some way. It should have represented provision, security, or inheritance. But Laban devoured it. That word gives the sense of consuming something completely. He did not preserve it for them. He did not honor them with it. He used it up for himself.
There is a strong contrast here between Laban’s selfish fatherhood and God’s faithful care. Laban used his daughters and devoured what was connected to them, but God saw them. Laban counted them as strangers, but God was bringing them into the covenant household through which His promises would continue. Laban failed to act like a faithful father, but God did not fail to act as the righteous God over their lives.
This connects to Proverbs 13:22, which says, “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children.” A good father thinks beyond himself. He does not only ask, “What can I gain right now?” He asks, “What am I leaving behind? How am I blessing those who come after me?” Laban did the opposite. Instead of leaving an inheritance, he devoured what should have been preserved. Instead of building up his daughters’ future, he consumed the benefit for himself.
Second Corinthians 12:14 also says, “for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.” Paul is speaking in a different context, but the principle still reveals something true about godly care. Parents are meant to pour into their children, not exploit them for personal gain. The normal direction of parental love is sacrifice from the parent for the child. Laban reversed that order. He used his daughters’ marriages as a way to increase himself.
This is why Rachel and Leah’s words are so sorrowful. They are saying, “Our father did not treat us like daughters. He treated us like goods to be exchanged. He received the benefit, and then he consumed it.” That kind of treatment leaves deep wounds because it attacks a person’s sense of belonging. It teaches someone that their value is tied to what another person can gain from them.
But Scripture teaches that people are not commodities. They are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says that God created mankind in His own image. That means Rachel and Leah were not merely pieces in Laban’s household economy. They were women seen by God, known by God, and included in His unfolding plan. Laban may have treated them like strangers, but God did not.
This verse also warns us about the danger of selfish authority. Laban had power in the household. He had authority as a father. He had control over agreements. But authority is never given by God so that a person can devour those under their care. Authority is meant to protect, guide, provide, and bless. When authority becomes selfish, it becomes destructive.
Ezekiel 34 gives a strong warning against leaders who feed themselves instead of feeding the flock. God rebukes the shepherds of Israel because they used the flock for themselves rather than caring for it. That same principle can be seen in Laban’s home. He was supposed to care for his household, but he fed himself through those he should have protected. He gained, but his daughters were wounded. He profited, but he lost their trust.
This is one of the saddest things about Laban’s story. He may have gained wealth, labor, and advantage, but he lost the hearts of his own daughters. Rachel and Leah are not defending him. They are not pleading to stay with him. They are not saying, “Our father has been good to us.” They are saying, “He has counted us as strangers. He has sold us. He has devoured our money.” That is what selfishness eventually does. It may win transactions, but it loses relationships.
First Timothy 5:8 says, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.” That verse shows how seriously God takes household responsibility. A person’s spirituality cannot be separated from how he treats those under his care. Laban may have been clever, but he was not righteous. He knew how to negotiate, but he did not know how to love faithfully. He knew how to gain from people, but he did not know how to bless them.
Rachel and Leah’s words also explain why they are ready to leave. They are not simply following Jacob because he is their husband. They have come to understand that remaining in Laban’s house does not mean remaining in safety. The house that should have protected them has already consumed what belonged to them. The father who should have preserved their portion has treated them as strangers. Their future is no longer tied to Laban’s house. Their future is tied to the God who is calling Jacob home.
There is a painful but important lesson here. Sometimes the place that should have blessed you becomes the place God calls you to leave. That does not make the pain small. Rachel and Leah were not leaving a random place. They were leaving their father’s house. They were leaving the place of their childhood, their family history, and their old identity. But they were also leaving a place where they had been used, diminished, and treated as outsiders.
God’s calling often requires separation from what is familiar but no longer faithful. Laban’s house was familiar, but it was not faithful. It was connected to their past, but it could not carry their future. God was moving them out, not because He was careless with their story, but because He had a greater promise ahead.
This verse also comforts those who have been treated as strangers by people who should have loved them. Some people know the pain of being used by family. Some know what it is like to be valued only when they are useful. Some know what it is like to have someone take from them emotionally, financially, or spiritually, and then act as if nothing wrong happened. Rachel and Leah’s words show that the Bible does not ignore that kind of pain. God allows their complaint to be recorded in Scripture.
That matters because God sees the wounds that happen inside families. He sees when parents fail their children. He sees when leaders devour those they should protect. He sees when people use spiritual, financial, or family authority for selfish gain. Nothing about Laban’s behavior was hidden from God.
Yet this verse is not only about what Laban did wrong. It is also about what God is doing right. Laban counted Rachel and Leah as strangers, but God was not abandoning them. Laban devoured their money, but God was leading them into a covenant future. Laban failed to give them a secure inheritance, but God was attaching them to a promise far greater than anything Laban could have preserved.
Psalm 27:10 says, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” That verse captures the hope underneath Rachel and Leah’s pain. Earthly parents can fail. Families can fail. Inheritances can be lost. Money can be devoured. But the Lord is able to take up those who have been failed by others. He is able to become the portion of those who were denied a portion.
Rachel and Leah’s father may have counted them as strangers, but God did not count them as forgotten. He was moving them out from under Laban’s selfishness and into the next stage of His promise. Their pain was real, but it was not the end of their story.
This verse reminds us that God cares about how family members treat one another. He cares about whether fathers bless or use their children. He cares about whether those in power protect or devour. He cares about whether people are treated like image bearers or like property. Laban’s sin is exposed not only through Jacob’s words, but through the testimony of his own daughters.
Rachel and Leah are saying, “We have no reason to stay. He has not treated us as daughters. He has treated us as strangers.” And in that painful confession, they are being freed from the false security of Laban’s house. They can now follow the call of God with clarity.
Laban sold them, but God saw them. Laban devoured what should have helped them, but God preserved their future. Laban counted them as strangers, but God included them in the household of promise. And that is the hope of this verse. Human selfishness may wound deeply, but it cannot cancel the faithfulness of God.
If you would like to explore Genesis in a sustained, verse-by-verse way with space to reflect, journal, and trace how these foundational truths unfold through Scripture the Verse by Verse book expands these reflections into a unified reading experience. The book gathers these meditations into a structured journey through Genesis, designed to help readers linger in the text and engage God’s Word more deeply over time.
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