19 - The power of the spoken word

Laban searching for the family idols - Pietro de Cortona

Chareen's Thoughts:

• Genesis 31:19 ... Rachel stole her father's household idols.  The household idols were more than just idols in those days.  They were the evidence you used to claim your inheritance. Rachel wanted more than her husbands wealth she wanted her fathers too.  This is evidenced in Genesis 31:14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, "Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father's household? ...
• The trickery between these two men is astounding!  I am so surprised by God's protection of Jacob even with all this deception and even more by how the Lord appears to Laban and warns him...
• Genesis 31:32 Shows us the power of the spoken word. We read here: The one with whom you find those gods of yours, let him not live I have often wondered if Jacob would have uttered these words which meant the death of his beloved wife Rachel (Genesis 35:16-19) if he had known she had the idols with her.  King Solomon confirmed this when he said in Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].  I think that we underestimate the power of the spoken word in our daily living.

 
Blessings
Chareen