12. Stolen gods

Jews Don't Need Idols

If you want to read about the spacecraft Jacob encountered on his way to Haran, or the outcome of a wrestling match he had with Jehovah, on his way back home, see:

http://spaceshiptheology.blogspot.com/2013/09/e-f-cast-jacob-dreamer.html

When Jehovah called Abram to leave Haran it was not only a geographical change which Jehovah was calling for.  Abram was to be the Father of a new kind of religion; a religion which worshipped only one God, not many gods, as his forefathers had done.  

It was a religion which demanded a righteous lifestyle and honest dealings with one's neighbours.  It was to be part and parcel of one's innermost mindset.  It was the religion on which Christianity, Islam and Judaism are based.  

After Abram left Haran, he was no longer encumbered with idols to worship or even to aid worship.  He did not carry around a rosary or pictures to remind him of the presence of Jehovah.  His God was much closer to him than any of that paraphernalia could ever be. We find a marked contrast between the religion of Abraham's grandson, Jacob and Abraham's grand nephew, Laban. 

Rebekah, Laban's sister, became the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob.  Later Jacob married Rachel, Laban's daughter, who was Rebekah's niece.  This is significant because it shows how two generations of godly living can have an amazing impact on the lives of the progeny.  Jehovah called Abraham to follow Him but Nahor, the father of Laban and Rebekah, did not receive such a call, consequently, Nahor's offspring still worshipped various gods with the attending idols.

To Abraham religion was a matter of the heart, to Laban it was a matter of pagan symbols. Jacob felt the same way his father and grandfather did, but Laban and Laban's daughter, Rachel, were still of the "old school" of polytheism and idols.  In fact, those idols were so important to Rachel, that just before she left Haran with Jacob, she stole them and hid them among her possessions.  

Rachel's Hangups

This would have been a good situation in which to confide in her husband.  She nearly paid with her life for this lack of discretion on her part.  Three days after Jacob snuck away from Haran, with his family and possessions, Laban heard that Jacob was gone and he pursued Jacob.  

When he had caught up with Jacob's caravan he said, "And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, ... “With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live.”  For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. Genesis 31:30-32.

Many Bible students believe that the family member who had possession of the family gods was also entitled to become the inheritor of the father's estate.  After Laban's and Jacob's continual swindling of each other, there was no way that Laban was about to let Jacob, or his offspring, become the owner of his estate.  If Laban had no other reason to pursue his gods, that reason alone would have been sufficient.

The only thing that saved Rachel's life at that time was what might have been a lie which she told her father.  She was sitting on the saddle bag that contained the idols, and when Laban asked her to move so that he could do a search, she said, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.”  Dad, it is my time of month, so please don't ask me to move.

It seems as if Jacob felt that he could not worship Jehovah properly as long as his wives and concubines had idols with them.  So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel".

The word, Bethel, means, the House of God, and it was there that Jacob had his close encounter with a spaceship on his way to Haran.  He said, "I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.”  So they (the whole entourage) gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands. Genesis 35:2-4.  

How many of us are willing to give up those things that we cherish the most?   Would we do it for the God we claim to worship?