“’But if you find your gods with someone, that person will not remain alive. So with our kinsmen to witness, if you spot anything that I have which belongs to you, take it back.’ Ya’akov did not know that Rachel had stolen them.”
Genesis 31:32
When I read this section of scripture I always get stuck on the same two things. The first issue resolves around the fact that there were gods in Lavan’s house. Maybe the hang up isn’t really that there were gods, as Lavan probably did not have the same standards as Ya’akov. Maybe the hang up comes in the fact that Rachel stole them from her father. I question what she was planning to do with them. Did she take them in spite? Did she plan to worship them later on? Was she still cleaving to the ways of her past as opposed to the ways of her husband? We are never told the details as to why she stole them, just that she did and that she hid them in the saddle of her camel. Regardless of all the pieces I do not read and wonder I find the following truth. We cannot bring the gods of our past with us. Adonai is a jealous God and wants no competition, but the bringing of the gods of our past needs to be exposed.
This then brings me to my second point in this passage. Lavan began a search. Lavan, although looking for his gods, began to search the tents and expose the thief of his property. May I suggest here again that we need to go through the tents and expose the gods that we have brought with us? Our sinful ways can easily become our gods. The things that we elevate above Adonai need to be exposed, leaving nothing out ranking Him. So the challenge is do the exposure we know is needed? Will you go through your tents and remove the things that should not be there?
Genesis 31:17-42
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