Today, I am reading and commenting on  Genesis 31-32.

My first thought reading this was, “Why did Rachel steal her father’s household gods?”  I spent some time thinking about that and trying to come up with something to write about that question and its answer.  However, as I thought about it some more it struck me that this account of Rachel stealing Laban’s household gods conflicts with the idea that the Book of Genesis was composed in the eighth century BC (or even that it was composed in the ninth or tenth century BC…note that in BC higher number centuries come before lower numbered centuries).  Further, the fact that this passage records that Rachel stole Laban’s household gods suggests that the story being told here reflects actual events.  As we read the story here, its primary message is about how God looked out for Jacob, protected, and blessed him.  Why would someone, who believes that there is only one God, making up a story to tell that message include that his favored wife stole her father’s idols?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.