Main news for 15 March 2022

Why did Rachel need those "idols," small images of pagan gods, household patrons, which in those days were in every home? There is one simple explanation: the person who possessed the household gods could claim the inheritance. True; but was that all? Rachel herself must have understood that there was no way back to her father's house. Then what was it? Distrust of Jacob's God? Of the God in whom she now had to place her only hope? Hardly: if that had been so, Rachel would not have dared to flee with her husband, risking everything. Then why?

The simplest answer may look strange at first: just in case. Of course, Jacob's God is stronger than the pagan gods. He is plainly stronger than Laban's gods, and He has proved it more than once. But still: what if? What if His support turns out not to be enough? After all, He is unpredictable. But here everything is familiar and known; these household gods have always helped, and they will help now. The main thing is not to leave them behind, but to take them along.

Of course, such arguments are not always clearly thought out. Sometimes a person follows them while giving little or no account to himself of what he is doing and what motives guide him. But in the heart, where choices are made and decisions are taken, indecision settles in. And indecision brings the desire for backup, the desire not to put all one's eggs in one basket. Let it be God, and also something or someone else: the old gods, the old half-magical customs, whatever it is, as long as it is old and tested. And how it works or what help it can give does not matter either: it helped before, so it will help today.

Deep down there is one desire: to get hold of, if not a lifeboat, then at least a life preserver in case of possible shipwreck, in case God somehow does not manage. And it does not occur to those seeking such "salvation" that if God leaves them, no boats and no life preservers will help. Without Him there is only one road: to the bottom. With Him, to the Kingdom. Without life preservers and without a safety net.

To become the leader of God's people, one must learn to listen to God and hear Him. Jacob learned this, judging by the words he spoke to his wives. He mentions the God of Abraham, who appeared to him in a dream. Jacob speaks of an angel, a messenger of God, but in those times people often made no distinction between the appearance of an angel and the appearance of God Himself. God made Jacob rich, and this was a lesson. A lesson that by following God one can become rich, and quite unexpectedly.

Now the next lesson lay ahead: he had to understand that such following is not free of problems or danger. Even when, it would appear, everything has succeeded and one can feel like a victor. Jacob has become rich; now he has almost more flocks than Laban himself, and he owes all of it only to God. It would seem to be a complete victory. But after victory, after success, he has to flee, to flee from otherwise unavoidable problems, and serious problems at that.

A successfully carried out plan of God, even with our direct participation, does not at all imply the possibility of relaxing and resting. Everything can turn out quite the opposite: after carrying out one of God's plans, one may have to begin immediately carrying out the next, and it may well be a matter of one's own salvation. Perhaps even of physical survival. God's pedagogy can seem severe, but it is needed to teach a person real spiritual collectedness. Real means not at certain times and places, but constantly.

God does not have a fixed workday or workweek for us; He does not provide a legal vacation. Sometimes He may give a person rest, and at times even quite a long rest, but not according to the schedule a person usually counts on. Besides, rest can end at any moment and turn without delay into active work to carry out another of God's designs.

Such unpredictability belongs to God's action - unpredictability, of course, only from our point of view, since He Himself knows His plans well. For a person, what matters is learning a quick, almost lightning-fast response to His words and actions. Otherwise one cannot become God's person. And God wants to see Jacob precisely as His own person, and trains him accordingly.

Jacob's departure from his father-in-law's land is connected with understandable human ideas of justice. To work for his father-in-law for so many years, to face petty deceit and substitution, to endure constant attempts to grab a piece and profit from Jacob: all this is hard. But his departure is not connected with an ordinary "I've had enough," but with God's call to obtain the land promised to his father and grandfather. Despite being in the right, Jacob fears for his life and for his family; he fears revenge from his brothers-in-law. He leaves secretly, having secured the support of Rachel and Leah. This secrecy gives Rachel the opportunity to bring idolatry into the people who worship the One God. She cannot part with what had long formed the foundation of her life, and the weed of paganism, without Jacob's knowledge, penetrates the field that the Lord planted.