In Genesis 31 we see that: "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.' And Jacob noticed that Laban's attitude toward him was not what it had been. Then the Lord said to Jacob, 'Go back to the land of your father and to your relatives, and I will be with you.'"
Things were turning South for Jacob and it sure was a good time for God's advice to come his way. So he split. While they were all getting ready to leave, Rachel ripped off the household gods from her father's place. Maybe they were golden statues that would fetch a sweet price on ebay... So Laban found out that his son-in-law had taken off, along with his daughters and grandchildren ... and his household gods. He pursued Jacob and found him. God spoke to Laban in a dream and told him "not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." Of course, when he caught up to him, he did speak to him. He tore into Jacob, perhaps trying to make him feel guilty for taking Laban's grandkids away from him without even giving him a chance to kiss them goodbye. He didn't give Laban a chance to send them away with singing and music. By this time, though, Jacob didn't trust the guy. He had deceived him with his daughters' marriages and changed his wages ten times. He wasn't about to give him a warning that he was splitting. Laban let him know that he thought what Jacob did was foolish. "I have the power to harm you," he said, "but last night the God of your father said to me, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.'"
Laban then asks him why he stole his gods. Jacob denies it, since he didn't know that Rachel had ripped them off. He said, "Look around for them. If you find them, the thief will be killed." He didn't know what he was promising, but Rachel said she was on her period and anything a woman sat on during that time of of the month was considered unclean ... and Rachel had hidden the gods in her camel bags that she was sitting on. After the search was over Laban asked for a covenant to be made, where at this point (where they made a pile of stones) Laban would not cross to harm Jacob, and vice-versa. They sacrificed an animal and had a meal together.
Isn't it interesting that Laban, who apparently worshiped false gods, was able to recognize and disntinguish the God that was talking to him? I wonder why he didn't repent at that point and realize that the God that had spoken to him was the one true God? Perhaps the spirits and visions of spirits that people saw in those days were so commonplace and/or were able to deceive the people they came into contact with. In our not-so-supernatural Western world, we are slow to believe such things. I wonder why Laban didn't realize at that moment that his gods were lame... Maybe the fuzziness of a dream left room for doubt. Who knows?
Rachel really did a foolish thing, though, huh?
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at February 5, 2007 09:27 AM