Genesis 31:25-35 – Our Character gives weight to our words

Finally Laban caught up with Jacob. It must have been a petrifying experience for Jacob prior to the confrontation. For sure Laban would have killed him had not God intervened the night before. In verse 24 we are told that “God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, ‘Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.’” So during the meeting it was Laban that was tentative rather than Jacob. There was much uncertainty. What Jacob received were just harsh words Laban tossed at him.

Laban’s words were calculated to put Jacob on a guilt trip. He wanted to make his nephew feel guilty for what he had done. So he painted a picture as if he was a loving father who had been gravely hurt by an inconsiderate son-in-law. He accused Jacob of deceiving him and fleeing secretly. He even had the audacity to give Jacob the idea that had he known that he wanted to return to his father, he would have sent him off with a grand celebration. Really? Would he have acted that way? We all know that those were just hollow words knowing the kind of character that he was. Bear in mind that what we are, speak more loudly than what we say. What we learn from Laban’s deceptive life is this: for our words to be taken seriously, we need to be found trustworthy. There can be no trust when at the basic level we are untrustworthy. Remember it is possible for one’s character to speak so loudly that what that person says cannot be heard.

Whatever Laban had said were just hollow empty words and couldn’t be taken seriously until his final line. He asked Jacob, “…but why did you steal my gods?” Jacob was baffled for he did not know that Rachel had stolen her father’s idol.  So he responded saying, “The one with whom you find your gods shall not live….” With that line, Jacob had just pronounced a death sentence on Rachel, the wife he loved so much. So he confidently allowed Laban to search the tents of his family.  The uncle diligently went through tent by tent beginning from Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah and then back to Leah’s and finally Rachel’s. He found nothing for Rachel, who had stolen it, had placed it in the saddle of her camel and sat on it.

Meanwhile Rachel remained seated and did not move. Her excuse: “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me.” She claimed to be having her monthly period so she was not moving. Laban bought her excuse because he could not imagine that Rachel would sit on his household gods. That would have been a grave sacrilege. What Rachel did indicated her disregard for her father’s gods. Though we would not go far to do what Rachel had done, we nonetheless would only honor our True and Living God. There is no other God worthy of worship but the Lord God Almighty, the Mighty Creator, the Covenant-Keeping God who came to us in Jesus Christ. He alone deserves the glory and honor and endless praise!