2024_07_08 Insight Post- Kim Feld
This week’s reading- Genesis 29, Genesis 30, Genesis 31, Genesis 33:1, 2, & 7, Genesis 35:16-26, Genesis 46:19, 22, & 25, Genesis 48:7, Ruth 4:11, 1 Samuel 10:2, Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:18
For the next three weeks, we will focus on the story of Rachel, Leah, and Jacob. As we will see, Jacob was deceptive as a young man and had the tables turned on him by his uncle Laban. Rachel was the woman Jacob loved, but he was tricked into marrying her older sister, (Leah) before he could marry her. The family story is convoluted and full of drama. Still, Rachel and Leah (and their servant surrogates) were the mothers of the tribes of Israel (see Ruth 4:11).
Although Rachel had a professed belief in God, she still stole her father’s household idols when Jacob moved the family away from Laban. Take a look at Genesis 31:19, NLT:
19 At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and took them with her.
Maybe she thought the idols would provide some protection during their travels or ensure their family’s prosperity. The text doesn’t say why she took them, just that she did. Later in the story, when Laban catches up with them and demands his idols back, Rachel lies and keeps them hidden. We don’t know if she still felt she needed them or was afraid of retribution for taking them. We only know she kept them without Jacob’s knowledge. Lockyer (1988) refers to her as “secretly idolatrous.”
There are several things to unpack in Rachel’s story, but her connection to the idols caused me to ponder the role of idolatry in our lives. I don’t have physical idols sitting around my home, but what about the unseen ones? Merriam-Webster (n.d.) defines an idol as “an object of extreme devotion.” Are there things in my life that I am highly devoted to? Like Rachel, do I seek to add something (or someone) seen to the unseen God?
So, what does this look like in a practical sense? Do I manipulate situations because I need to be in control, prioritizing my sense of control over trusting God? Do I prioritize my job, family, hobby, etc., over God and spending time with Him? What about how I spend my money – does God get the first money out of my paycheck, or what’s left over? Idolatry can show up in our lives in multiple forms.
As we read Rachel’s story this week, let’s ask ourselves if we have fallen into the “Jesus plus ________” mentality. This mentality says, “I trust Jesus, but I need (fill in the blank) too.” Rachel professed faith in God but took her father’s idols to cover her bases. Do we see any of Rachel in our relationship with God?
Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach
References:
Lockyer, H. (1988). All the Women of the Bible. Zondervan.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Idol. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 6, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idol