All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Genesis 31. Genesis 31, Laban, I mean Jacob,
has left the house of Laban. He's carried all the Lord has
graciously given to him while he was there. And he's leaving
because the Lord has instructed him to leave. instructed him
to leave and go to the house of his father's, to his kindred. With this promise, he said, I
will be with thee. And Laban, finding out that Jacob
is gone, now is in hot pursuit. The scripture says in Genesis
31, verse 25, then Laban overtook Jacob. Jacob had pitched his
tent. in the mount, and Laban with
his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. And Laban said to
Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away, unawares,
to me, and carried away my daughters as captives, taken with a sword? Wherefore didst thou flee away
secretly, and steal away from me? And didst not tell me that
I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, and tabret,
and harp? And hast not suffered me to kiss
my sons and my daughters? Thou hast now done foolishly
in doing so. It is in the power of my hand
to do you hurt. But the God of your father spake
unto me yesterday night, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak
not to Jacob, either good or bad. Now Laban has been warned
of the Lord, how he was to speak to Jacob. And he tries to speak,
starts off speaking in a way that just makes him appear to
be the victim of unbelievable cruelty. Just starts to accuse
Jacob of being a hypocrite. The way he's acted speaks of
the great injuries that's been done to Laban and leaving him
without notice. Just up and carried his daughters
away like they were captives, which wasn't true. Those girls
wanted to go. They told Jacob, realizing what
their dad had done concerning leaving them no inheritance,
they told him right at the end of the, at verse 16, this chapter,
for all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that's
ours. They said, our dad tried to get
it, but God has given it to us through Jacob, being married
to Jacob. Now then whatsoever God has said unto thee, do. So they're wanting to go. They're
wanting to go with Jacob, their husband. But here's Laban making
himself out to be a victim of circumstance. He has just been
so mistreated. The way that Jacob has just done
him in, rest assured. like the Pharisees toward the
Lord Jesus, are masters at making themselves appear to be marvelous,
while they heap false accusations upon those that are truly seeking
to walk after the Lord, follow Him in obedience, always blaming
others. Never seeing themselves as wrong.
Hypocrites never wrong. You're never wrong. It's your
fault. It wasn't my fault, your fault. Well, with all the accusations
that's levied against Jacob, he doesn't answer a word. There's
no, you know, while Laban's doing all this talking, he didn't say
anything actually until verse 31 when Jacob told him, he said,
the reason I left, because he said, I was afraid that you were
gonna take the daughters, take your daughters back. But think about this, concerning
Jacob not saying anything, just being honest. How was our Lord
treated? He who did always those things
that pleased the Father. He was falsely accused by the
religionist of his day, and truly shall we expect any less Men
are gonna justify themselves. And it's always gonna be at the
expense of God's people. When they're dealing with God's
people, Laban did just that. He justified himself. And then
after justifying himself, talking about how he was just truly done
in. Here I am, poor, poor, pitiful
me. What in the world have you done?
Treated me like that. Then again, read that verse 29
again. After saying all these things,
he said, now it is in the power of my hand to do you hurt. But
the God of your father spake unto me yesterday night, saying,
take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob, either good or
bad. Now, what an arrogant exhibition
of man's pride. The Lord had told him. Now, let
me tell you what it says. When the Lord had told him, he
said, you speak, you know, you speak, take he that you speak
not to Jacob, either good or bad. The margin says to go from
bad to good. Laban was told of God that when
he met Jacob, don't give peaceful greetings at first and then take
up bitter reproach. Don't talk to him like that.
That's what he told me. God had warned him. Now, here's what
he's doing. He's foolishly boasting. Now, he started off the conversation.
We saw that. I can't believe what you've done.
Listen. Verse 27, this one gets me. Wherefore
didst thou flee away secretly? and steal away from me. And didst
not tell me that I might have sent thee away with mirth, with
just happiness and songs. I would have gotten a band. We
could have had just, you know, Tabret and the harp. We would have just had a wonderful
celebration. Oh, what I would have done for
you. But then he starts right after
that, doing exactly what the Lord told him not to do. Don't
come and speak in a good way, and then turn around and start
speaking evil. After he had taken it, and he
did foolishly boasting, and how marvelous he had been, and how
he had been so mistreated, but he turns right around, And he
speaks to Jacob in such a way that he's telling him, actually,
let me be honest with you, Jacob. Verse 29, it is in the power
of my hand to do you hurt. I just want you to know. I mean,
I've been offended. I've been mistreated. But the
reason I'm not going to do anything is because The God of your father
spoke to me and warned me. There's no fear of God in the
carnal man. There's no fear. Here he is. He didn't say to Jacob, my God
or your God, our God, but rather the God of your father. That
was Jacob's God. Laban openly expressed he didn't
know God personally. He had spoken to him, but Laban
didn't know him. But he knew God opposed him because
he warned him. Laban hears what the Lord says
and then does exactly what the Lord said don't do. He spoke
in that way of trying to make himself to be the hurt victim. But then he told him, he said,
I can get you if I wanted to. Don't kid yourself. I can do
just exactly. It's in the power of my hand
to hurt you. But the reason I'm not going to is because the God
of your father spoke to me yesterday night. He does not hesitate to
glory in his own strength. He arrogantly speaks to Jacob
from a carnal heart, willing to compare his will against God's
will. The only reason I'm not doing
it, the only reason you're not doing it is because God's not
going to let you do it. The Lord was with Jacob. Man's pride is
the very evidence of unbelief. Man chooses to glory in His own
spiritual darkness, rather than bow to the sovereignty of God. Brethren, listen, every knee
is going to bow. Every tongue, those that oppose the God we
love, speak of Him in such a disrespectful way right now. They can hear,
they can hear what God has to say. But the way they speak,
the way they react to it, I promise you this, there's coming a day
when there's gonna be a reckoning. And every knee will bow, every
tongue is gonna confess unto God. That's what scripture says.
Now or then. Every knee's gonna bow, thanks
be unto God that the Lord's been pleased to give in this life
a heart of willingness to bow to him in submission unto the
Lord Jesus Christ, in whom alone we have mercy. Verse 30, and
now he says, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore
longest after thy father's house. Can you detect the sarcasm there?
I mean, that's what he's, he's saying that sarcastically. And
now though thou wouldest needs be gone because I soar longest
after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my
gods? Now we're going to get down to it. He, he did come after
him. He did come after him and Jacob,
was afraid he was going to take his daughters back and there
was going to be trouble. But you know why he's here? Because
his gods are gone. Rachel had stolen his gods. He said, wherefore hast thou
stolen my gods? Why did you take my gods? You
took my grandkids. You took my daughters. He worked
for them. It was an agreement. He worked
seven years each for those girls. And Laban lied to him. Laban was not fair with him. He made an agreement with him
that the cattle, the sheep and goats that would have been received
by Jacob was going to be only those ones that were ring-striped,
spotted and striped. But then he changed it 10 times,
trying to benefit himself. But now here he is, accusing
Jacob again. Oh, how evil is the carnal heart. Not only does Laban falsely accuse
Jacob of taking his family without even a goodbye, now he accuses
Jacob of stealing his gods. It's almost ridiculously funny. Ridiculous, but this is his heart. While Laban is accusing Jacob
of being a thief, of stealing his gods, do we not see the foolishness
of that statement? Surely we do. What kind of a
little g-god can be stolen and be called a god? Laban's gods needed Laban's help. And really, is there any difference
today? This is the liturgy god of all
these different false denominations. They're liturgy gods. The gods
of this world's religion must have the exercise of man's will,
man's work, man's hand, man's arm before they can save. They
can't do anything. And even then, they still can't
do anything. They're nothing. They're stones,
they're rocks, they're imaginations. But concerning the God who is
truly God, the God who is worshipped by His people, the people of
His choosing, the psalmist wrote, Psalm 115, 2 and 3, in light
of Laban asking, you've stolen my
gods, where are they? Where are they? I know you got
them. Here's what the psalmist says.
Wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God? Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. And the scripture says
in verses 31, 35, and Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because
I was afraid, for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy
daughters from me. Then concerning his question
about the gods, he said, With whomsoever thou 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. And Laban went into Jacob's tent,
and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservant's tents.
But he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent,
and entered into Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the images,
and put them in the camel's furniture, and set upon them. And Laban
searched all the tent, but found them not. And he said to her
father, and she said to her father, 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. Now, Jacob gives reason for not
giving an adequate answer or notice to Laban. He left because
of the way that Laban had deceptively and selfishly treated him for
20 years. Jacob didn't trust him, and good
reason not to trust him. Jacob answered as to what he
saw in Laban. But concerning the stolen gods,
Jacob knew that he was innocent and therefore spoke from the
heart. Scripture says Jacob knew not
that Rachel had stolen him. Surely Jacob felt that his family
was clear of any guilt, but Rachel had him. She took him. There
was all kinds of speculation. I've read different things. I
said last time, Some said she took them so that her dad wouldn't
have them to worship, and she did this, or they were family
heirlooms, so they have the monetary value of them probably, or something
like that. The Spirit of God doesn't give
the reason she took them. It just says she took them. But
Laban sought hard to find his gods. But even in his fruitless
searching, Those gods proved to be false
in the fact that he couldn't find them. That right there said
something about him. When he was looking for them
and couldn't find them. The God of the Bible declares
concerning himself, Jeremiah 29, 12 and 13. This shall ye
call upon me And you shall go and pray unto me, and I will
hearken unto you. And you shall seek me and find
me when you shall search for me with all your heart. Here's what God, who is God,
says. You call and I'll hear. You seek me and you'll find me. Laban was looking for gods that
can't hear, can't speak, can't see. They're nothing. They're nothing. The God who
is worshipped by the vast majority of this world's religions, that
God who needs man, or needs man's will, or needs man's uh, choice
or needs man's help or needs man. That God, that little G
God that needs man to do something for him is nothing. He's nothing. He's nothing. The Lord said, there is no God
but me. So you know what that means?
All these other gods are there. Nothing. Laban went into everybody's tent.
He could not find his deaf and dumb gods. They couldn't hear if he called.
They couldn't speak to make themselves known because they are not the
God of the Bible. What happened to them? Well,
the scripture says that Rachel had put them in the camel's furniture. That is the camel's Saddle basket,
on the saddle was a little place where you could put stuff. Called
a saddle basket. And what she did was, now listen
to this. I always told you that the spirit
of God never puts words in here just for information. Here's
what scripture says. Verse 34, now Rachel had taken
the images, put them in the camel's furniture, and look what the
next part says. and sat upon them. She sat upon
them. She sat upon them. Then when
her daddy came around looking for them, she's there sitting
on them. She said in verse 35, let it
not displease my Lord that I cannot rise before thee, for the custom
of women is upon me. found not the images. Rachel hid the idols for reasons
that are not given by the Spirit of God. She took them, she stole them,
she had them, she hid them, she sat on them. She told her dad that she couldn't
rise before him at this time because The custom of women is
upon me. It was her time of the month. Therefore, she told him, she
said, I can't get up. Possibly from fear, being exposed
as a thief. Possibly fear of being disgraced. Possibly because of her desire
for the idols. She wanted them. But she sat
on it. She chose to hide the truth from
her dad and her husband rather than give up the gods. May we
all take heed here. Liturgy gods don't always come
to small things. But Rachel's actions Through
those actions, the Spirit of God taught us a very needful
truth. Something we know, but something
we need to hear again. I want you to hold your place. Turn to Leviticus 15. Leviticus
chapter 15. Leviticus 15, and I want to read
verses 19 and 20. Leviticus 15, when the Lord gave
Moses the law, This is what it said. Vedicts 15, 19, if a woman
have an issue and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall
be put apart seven days and whosoever touches her shall be unclean
until the evening. And everything that she lieth
upon in her separation shall be unclean. Everything also that
she sitteth upon shall be unclean. Now here, we're taught that if
a woman had an issue of blood, whether it was the normal periodic
issue or if it was an unnatural issue, such as the woman that
had the issue of blood for 12 years, any contact with her Anything
that came in contact with her was ceremonially unclean for
a specific period of time. Rachel had handled these gods. Now the scripture says she sat
on them. The scripture says if a woman touches them, if she
sits on anything, it's unclean. It's unclean. From this truth,
Let us behold again that everything that man touches, everything
that man tries to accomplish by his own design or will concerning
his state of acceptance in the hiding of his guilt, everything
that man does to hide his guilt. She sat on those gods to hide
them, to hide her guilt, to hide what she had done. She was guilty. She took them. And what she did
was, she took them, handled them, put them in that little saddle
pouch, and then she sat on them. They were polluted. They were
ceremonially polluted. Rachel's desire to conceal her
guilt, sitting on those little idols, the custom of women was
upon her. I wondered when I first read
that. I know that, again, the Spirit of God doesn't put things
in scriptures in here for no reason. But it amazed me how
specific Rachel's actions were. Exactly
what she was doing, what her state was. He said, I can't get
up. The custom of women is upon me.
But in doing what she was doing, the scripture declares that whatever
she touched or sat on was unclean, showing that that idol, it wasn't
God. It was polluted. It was an idol. Again, everything that man touches,
everything that man touches, Thinking that he's doing something
for God. Cleansing himself. Hiding himself. Protecting himself. It's filthy.
It's filthy. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done. According to his mercy. Truly,
the only blood that doesn't pollute, the only blood that cleanses
is the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the night
of the Passover in Egypt, death. was promised to every firstborn
man or beast where the blood did not appear upon the door. The Lord declared to Moses, you
take a lamb, kill it, roast it, take the blood and put it on
the door. Tonight you get inside and you
stay in your house because I'm going to come through. and the
firstborn of every family, firstborn of the cattle, firstborn of the
lamb, firstborn of everything, man and beast. If it's not behind the blood,
I'm gonna kill it. But he said, Exodus 12, 13, this
precious, precious passage of scripture, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. I remember
something Brother Scott wrote one time. He said, thanks be
unto God, he sees it. He said, I don't see it, but
when he sees it, I'll pass over you. What can wash away my sin? What can cleanse me from sin? Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I pray God bless this to our
hearts.