Genesis 31:30-35  The Argument Over Household Gods

  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, "Because I was afraid, for I said, 'Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.'  With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.  And Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, and into the two maids' tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.  Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them.  And she said to her father, "Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me." And he searched but did not find the household idols.

Genesis 31 is the story of Jacob, who by this time has spent years working for his father in law Laban the Syrian, noting that his in-laws have started to look upon him as a nuisance and that he was finally overstayed his welcome there.  Not that he has ever felt that welcome.  He has learned the hard way that deceptive people are poor neighbors.  He who had deceived his own father in order to get a parental blessing reserved for his brother has not spent years working for a father-in-law who has apparently tried to cheat him over and again.  And now he fears violence from his in-laws.  Sound familiar?  Sometimes the people you can trust the least are relatives who live close to you. 

God speaks to Jacob in a dream and tells him that it is time to return home.  Jacob, fearing malice and mischief from his in-laws, decides to leave by stealth, a challenging endeavor because he takes his entire family, servants and all possessions with him.  It takes three days for Laban to realize what has happened, and seven additional days to pursue and catch up to Jacob's entourage in the mountains of Gilead.  There they have a tense standoff and eventually negotiate a truce.  A telling detail about this whole drama is the importance of the household idols, the little statues of the gods to whom Laban and his family offer prayers. 

Note:  I've read that the one who holds the family idols is the heir of the estate.  Maybe Rachel wanted to steal because there was value in the material of the idol, or to claim the estate, or because she was idolatrous, or she wanted to make a statement to her father and brothers.  I don't know.  The notion that one was to worship the God of Israel alone, and worship no other, died hard in Israel.

Verse 34 makes quite a statement about the power of idols, that they could be defiled by sitting upon them and they had no defense.  They command sacrifice, but cannot deliver.

It is said that the United States is one of the most idolatrous of nations, despite the fact that we do not have household idols in most of our homes.  The nature of idolatry is to worship in order to receive.  People would worship that god of grain for a good harvest, the goddess of fertility if they wanted children, etc.  Ultimately the most important person to the one who is worshipping is themselves.  The goal is to placate the god or convince the god to help you get what you want.  In true worship we worship the living God because the living God deserves worship whether we get anything out of it or not.  We do get value from worship, but that is not the primary consideration.  The primary consideration is to know and love God and the give to the Lord the honor due to the Lord.  For such a person as this, there is no point to household gods, or to the notion that we worship only when we want to get something. 

Hi, everyone.  It's been awhile since my last post.  I'm now in the latter part of Genesis, learning about Jacob, a dishonest man who had to spend twenty years working for his dishonest father in law.  In the end he finds that God, who met him when he was on the run, had been with him the whole time.  Verse 13 caught my attention.

Genesis 31:13  I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.' "

Note:  The Lord has intervened in dreams, in animal husbandry, in genetics, and in business and economics in order to defend Jacob from Laban, a man in a position of power determined to cheat and oppress.  Cf. Genesis 28:10-22, in which Jacob has the powerful dream of the angels ascending and descending the stairway to heaven.  He called that place "Bethel"-the house of God.  Before then the village was known as Luz.  It is this God who has come to his aid all these years. 

            Jacob would go back to live at Bethel, but in other generations that locations would be the site of idolatry.  It's sacred nature may not be due to its location but to the experience of Jacob and his vow, which serves as a symbol of all who met God in some sacred way and vowed to follow Christ as Lord as a result.