a. A blessing. “Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them.” Remember what Laban said to Jacob when he first confronted him. “Why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell?” Though he said this he did proceeded to demand his household gods back and spent time searching through all of Jacob’s tents. And now, finally, he does in fact kiss his family goodbye and gives them a final blessing. b. The end. With that, Laban departs and his place in the biblical narrative comes to an end. It would be good for us to pause and consider who Laban was as a person. We first encountered him back in Genesis 24 when the servant of Abraham arrived in Haran looking for a wife for Isaac. The servant gave some gifts to Rebekah when he met her and we are told that, “As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man.” This phrase by itself could have meant that he saw that what she was saing was the truth but from the rest of Laban’s story we see he is a man that is driven by wealth. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10). William Tiptaft said, “If rich men only knew when they died, how their relatives would scramble for their money, the worms for their bodies, and the devil for their souls, they would not be so anxious to save money! If I love money more than Christ, woe is me!”