The question that needs to be asked is: Why did Rachel steal those household idols from her dad, Laban? A little background might help us to better understand what this story is about.
Household gods, or teraphim, were common in homes. Their name could be translated “figures” or “images” or even “oracles.” Some of them were fairly large, as seen when Michal, David’s wife, uses one to make it look like David is asleep in his bed (I Samuel 19). Others, as in our story now, were smaller — these were small enough to be hidden under the saddle for Rachel’s camel. These figures were thought to provide protection, and also answer questions (divination). This tells us that Laban worshiped idols and Leah and Rachel grew up subjected to this lifestyle.
Some people have guessed that Rachel may have been looking around inside her father’s tent before she left. In much the same way that we might look around in the house our parents lived in for years, and that perhaps we grew up in. Memories pop up with each glance around the rooms. Rachel was leaving home, and she had no way of knowing if she would ever see her father again. Perhaps she wanted to take something with her that reminded her of him and of her childhood. On the spur of the moment, she grabbed the images and left home. Household gods had too great a daily significance to be something she took as a simple keepsake. Let’s keep looking . . .
Was she worried that the idols might tell her father where they were headed? Perhaps they might assist Laban in tracking down Jacob, Leah, and Rachel, and all the children, servants, and the flocks. They were, in essence, running away — would the idols tell Laban where to look?
This doesn’t sound right, either. Laban, as an experienced cattle and sheep herder, and would know in what direction they had gone . . . there would be no way to disguise the tracks of the immense herds of cattle and sheep, the tracks of the ox carts carrying belongings, the prints of the camels in their slow plodding across the sandy soil. It would be very easy to follow them, and to catch up.
Perhaps she was taking them as an insurance policy, of sorts. Of course, she loved Jacob with all her heart, and had all the confidence in the world in his ability to care for her . . . but hoping that all will go well doesn’t insure a comfortable financial future. If famines were to come, and perhaps the cattle dwindled away, or if enemies stole the stock, the household gods could help. Why? Because these idols were often decorated with precious gem stones, and in an emergency, those could be sold.
Other scholars discuss a legal reason for Rachel’s actions. Some ancient records seem to say that the household gods were sometimes symbols of property rights and family status. Having them in one’s possession could indicate that the keeper had certain important privileges. I guess it was like who has the scepter of a kingdom, or to whom did they give the key to the city? (Grin) So, if Jacob had possession of the idols, it might prove that he was no longer in servitude to Laban. It could even mean that he was entitled to a portion of his estate. Jacob might already have attained this position, but perhaps Rachel wanted to make sure — to give it a stamp of approval.
We’ve already seen Rachel as a charming and beautiful woman who won Jacob’s heart at their first meeting at the well. We’ve seen her as a desperate woman, agonizing over the fact that she was barren. We’ve seen her jealousy of her sister, and we’ve seen her as a schemer who used her husband as a bargaining chip. Now we see that she is an independent and resolute woman. She has seen the relationship between her father and her husband becoming more strained, and she is taking the lead over her sister by siding with her husband. In the moment that they were leaving, she is motivated to take a most decisive action — she is taking what she believes to be the law into her own hands.
This might be the reason she stole the idols. Jacob certainly was clueless. He either wasn’t paying attention to the legal stuff, or he wasn’t aware that she was going to do something impetuous! He did, however, make an extreme (and ultimately tragic) oath. He vowed that whoever was found holding the idols would be killed (verse 32).
I think there is one more possibility for why Rachel stole the household gods . . . we’ll look at that when we conclude our study tomorrow – part 2.
PART 2
We’ve looked at several possible reasons why Rachel stole the household gods, or idols, from her father’s tent, when Jacob and his family left Laban’s stomping grounds and headed for home.
Maybe because she wanted a keepsake?
Naah.
Perhaps to keep the idols from telling Laban where they were headed?
Nope, he could easily follow their trail.
To sell any gems on the idols, in case they were in dire straits?
Welllllll…..
To make certain of Jacob’s legal status – to prove he was no longer Laban’s servant?
Possibly.
But scholars have offered up another possible reason for the theft. Perhaps Rachel wanted a backup. A backup to Jacob’s God, Yahweh.
Rachel’s family worshiped idols. As a child, she would have participated in the rituals and pageantry associated with them. She would have watched the sacrifices, the chants, the divinations, and more. When he was introduced to Jacob, her father Laban became a man of two religions: he was aware of Jehovah, but he also liked his household gods — after all, they never questioned his motives or his actions, and never challenged his conduct or made him pay any consequences for his treachery or immorality!
We can see that he may have been awe-struck by the God of his fathers, and find it inspiring that He could help, but hey, He didn’t always respond. It was nice to have these other gods who could be more cooperative, right?
So, the images made excellent backup gods. Maybe Rachel thought that if Jacob’s God didn’t answer, it would be nice to consult these idols that she had known for all these years.
Did you know there is a story in II Kings that sounds a lot like Rachel . . .
It is when the final piece of Israel fell to the Assyrians. The current king of Israel, Hoshea, decided the time was right to throw off the yoke of servitude to the Assyrians, and so he stopped paying tribute to them, and reached out to the ruler of Egypt, instead. This didn’t work too well. The king of Assyria sent his armies to carry off the last remnant of the Hebrew people to Babylonia.
His usual way of doing things was to re-settle a conquered land with different people. These people would be more pliable, more willing to show loyalty to him. So he sent a multitude of settlers into the land of Samaria.
He didn’t consult Yahweh.
We can see that God not only thought of the people of Israel as His, He also thought of the land of Israel as His, too. Ravenous lions descended from the hills to kill people, devour cattle, and generally scare the population to pieces. The settlers were superstitious, and they believed that the wild beasts were the instruments of the offended God of Israel. The complaints came thick and fast to the king.
The king decided to send one of the captive priests of Israel back to Samaria. His instructions were to teach the inhabitants how to worship “the God of the land.” We don’t know his name from the scriptures, but we know that he was headquartered in Bethel, and that he traveled from city to city, teaching everyone who would listen the laws of Moses. He was successful in one sense: the Babylonian settlers began to fear the Lord.
But here is the rub: they continued to worship idols. They were truly afraid of the lions of Jehovah, but they only gave lip service to Him. They continued to revere their own gods. They appeared to be devout believers but remained idolatrous. In short, they were pretend believers; they had no real love for the Lord.
This was very similar to Rachel, who had idols in her home (until in chapter 35 of Genesis, when Jacob puts his foot down and says everyone must ditch their idols). It also looks a lot like people today whose religion is only ritual and ceremonies. When “lions” of sickness, financial hardship, and affliction appear, these people pray for God to help them. Afterwards, they forget to give thanks, and they go right back to the gods they have created themselves; they forget about the God of creation.
We don’t know for sure, from Genesis, why Rachel stole the idols. But if we look at the people in II Kings who are so similar, we can guess that she wanted an extra measure of blessings and protection. When Jacob had said to his wives that it was time to leave, she had voiced her recognition of God’s blessing and direction (verses 14-16), but she must have wanted something more to reassure and comfort her as she left her home for an unfamiliar land. She had just enough faith in God to say she would go, but it wasn’t enough to give her emotional security.
Most of us don’t have little household gods in our homes. We don’t have figures sitting on a shelf that we cling to for protection and security, or to pray to and ask if we should go one way or another. But do we cling to things besides God for that security? Success, our finances, our jobs, our good deeds — all of these can be our idols.
Perhaps we should challenge ourselves to show faith — to learn to let go of “things” and instead, trust our Lord completely!
StudyforWomen, Snoodles