Genesis 31: 32-37: “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.”
If only Jacob had known; his favourite wife had taken the gods and he was willing to let her die. However, the Lord preserved Jacob and Rachel from her father’s anger just as he had preserved Jacob many times during his sad tormented life. Laban went through the tents that belonged to Jacob’s family and found nothing. He came to Rachel’s tent and wanted to search there but she told him that she was menstruating. He was horrified because they believed that a person touching someone who was menstruating would become unclean so he left her alone. Even though Rachel had learnt from her husband, she still needed the Lord’s protection to be saved from an untimely death. This reminds us of Romans 8: 35-39 (“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”)
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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