Verse 32, "...with whomsoever thy findest thy gods,
let him not live.
Before our brethren, discern thou what is thine
with me, and take it to thee.
For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen
them."
You see, Jacob is so sure that they
haven't done a thing like this.
And if you think Laban believed Jacob, you're
wrong.
He didn't believe him.
Jacob didn't believe Laban either.
They had no confidence in each other.
That had been a nice, pleasant little 20
years, had it not.
Now notice, "...and Laban went into Jacob's tent,
and into Leah's tent, and into the two
maidservant's tents, but he found them not.
Now he expected one of his daughters to
be the one that got them.
Then went he out of Leah's tent, and
entered into Rachel's tent.
Now Rachel had taken the images, put them
in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them."
Quite a clever girl herself, isn't she?
She's sure a daughter of a father.
And she had taken them and put them
in the camel's furniture, that is, that which
went on the camel's back, and then she
sat down on them.
"...And Laban searched all the tent, but found
them not.
And she said to her father," listen to
her now, "'Let it not displease my Lord
that I cannot rise up before thee, for
the custom of women is upon me.' And
he searched, but found not the images."
Why?
Well, she's sitting on them.
She says, I'm sorry, but I can't get
up.
Don't feel well today.
And she's sitting on them.
May I say this is truly a very
realistic setting that's given to us here of
this family.
Now, will you notice verse 36?
"...And Jacob was wroth and chode with Laban.
And Jacob answered and said to Laban, What
is my trespass?
What is my sin that thou hast so
hotly pursued after me?"
And now old Jacob gets a little confidence
because he doesn't locate these images, and he's
sure that they're not anywhere around.
And frankly, he just now wants to rebuke
the man, his father-in-law, that's come
after him.