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19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s. 20 And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21 So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead. ~ Genesis 31:19-21
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 31 where we find Jacob preparing his family and his flocks for their long journey to the promised land. As indicated in our passage, Rachel and Leah went back home to gather whatever things they planned on taking with them on this journey. While their father, Laban, was shearing his sheep, we are directed to the theme of today's study which is idolatry.
In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s."
While Jacob's wives were gathering their things and their father Laban was shearing his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father. That which is described as "idols" here is referred to later in this chapter by Laban as "gods." To Laban they were good luck charms. Also, later in this chapter, Rachel will show her contempt for the "idols." Her actions will clearly show that she certainly wasn’t expecting to benefit from them. What Rachel will do to these "idols" is known as iconoclasm which is what people do when they turn away from idolatry by destroying their idols. In reference to idolatry, Charles Spurgeon once said, "Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else."
Idolatry is more than thinking our idols bring us good luck though. Idolatry is when we love something or someone more than God. It’s the misdirection of our worship. It’s our hearts clinging and confiding in that which does not or cannot bring us what we long for. It is the elevation and glorification of anything other than God, which eventually leads to personal emptiness and separation from true life. An idol could be a girlfriend, good grades, the approval of other people, success in business, and it could be a hobby. In Romans 1, the Apostle Paul put it like this: Idolatry is when we exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve the created.
King David wrote in Psalm 115 idols are useless. They have mouths but they can't speak. They have eyes but they can't see. They have ears but they can't hear. They have hands but they can't touch. They have feet but they can't walk. They have mouths but they can't speak.
In v.20 of today's passage we read, "And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee."
Jacob left Laban in the very same way that he had left Canaan before coming to Haran. He departed during the middle of the night. Here in this verse Moses used a form of the same word which was used to describe Rachel when she stole Laban’s idols. Literally the first four words of this verse reads, "And stole Jacob Laban’s heart."
The "heart" in the Bible is the center of everything. Mentioned hundreds of times, our heart is presented as our "control center" from which all of our decisions are made. The heart is the place where our deepest being is found. Our heart is the place where we make all of our decisions. Our heart is that place where we make connection with God who brings life and light into our souls. The heart that opens itself to other, impure influences becomes blind and confused when it comes to discerning between good and evil.
What we give our heart to is what we worship to a certain degree. And, if we are not in the habit of giving our hearts to the Lord, we will be controlled by that which is out to destroy us, including ourselves. Jacob took that which Laban's heart was set upon which was himself. Laban loved himself more than anything, and as is most of the time the case, our idols are clearly a reflection of us.
The problem is that we miss the whole point of our existence, the very purpose for which we were created. God made us for the relationship of His perfect love. He doesn't have the need, we do. But if we’re always chasing after other things, we’ll never experience the fullness of His love. And the fullness of His love is His holiness. There’s a big difference between a half-hearted approach to God and whole-hearted devotion. That half-hearted approach is where Jacob had been all of his life, but he is about to be shaken to his core. After the shaking will come a greater degree of love for God in Jacob.
In v.21 of today's passage we read, "So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead."
Beginning in this verse we see Jacob leading his family, his servants, and his livestock back to the Promised Land in response to God’s command earlier in this chapter. Jacob had obviously entered into a personal relationship with God. God was now clearly defining Jacob to some degree. God’s command to Jacob, and his obedience was no small thing because Jacob still believed his brother intended to kill him. Jacob was literally risking his life to obey God.
The river referenced here is the Euphrates and some argue over how he could have gotten his family, camels, flocks, and goods over that river at that time. But getting over the Euphrates river wasn’t a difficult task. There have been rope-pulled ferries for eons and there are rope made bridges spanning rivers around the world. There would have been routes of travel that included these or other ways of crossing and the speculation isn’t difficult to think through.
It is rather instructive that Jacob and his family went in the direction of Gilead which is mentioned 132 times in the Bible. In his book Jeremiah mentioned the balm of Gilead which comes from several herbs that are part of the mint family of plants. This balm is related to the tree the balsam poplar and it is considered a myrrh-like resin/chemical compound found in the Arabian Peninsula, specifically in ancient Israel east of the Jordan River. It was used for medicine. Jacob was being directed by God to go to the place which represents healing.
The balm of Gilead is also metaphoric. It, like almost everything in the Bible points us to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who can truly satisfy us on this earth and into eternity. Everything else only promises but never truly delivers. He is the One who came to save us from our disastrous state. JC Philpot once said, "There is more in the balm to heal than there is in guilt to wound; for there is more in grace to save than there is in sin to destroy." The author of such grace is the Lord Jesus Christ.
