The Sons of Isaac(94)
One day while he was out in the field, he sent for Leah and Rachel so he could talk to them privately. The day was crisp and cool with a few scattered clouds. They joined him under a hastily constructed brush arbor. He waited until one of the old shepherds had served them some fresh pomegranate juice before explaining.
“I hear that your father has turned against me,” he said. “You know how hard I’ve worked for him while he has never dealt fairly with me. He’s cheated me and tricked me over and over again. However, in spite of all his cunning plans, my God has not permitted him to really harm me.”
“It’s true,” Leah interjected, “that when he said all the speckled and streaked young goats and sheep should be yours, then all of them seemed to be speckled and streaked. Your flocks have grown while his are much smaller.”
Jacob toyed with a blade of grass as he hesitated. He wondered if he could trust his wives, the daughters of Laban, with the secret of his success. Finally, he made up his mind. He had nothing to hide. He must be open and frank with them if they were to understand.
“This cunning is not from me,” he said finally. “It was at the mating season that I had a dream. One of God’s messengers appeared to me and told me that my God, the God who appeared to me at Bethel, had seen all that Laban had done to me. He then showed me how to manage so that I would prosper in spite of Laban’s plans.”
Both Leah and Rachel were listening intently. They understood how unfair their father had been, how he had constantly taken advantage of their husband. They had watched with amazement as Jacob had prospered in spite of their father’s plans. “What did the angel show you?” Rachel said, leaning forward with an expression of intense interest.
“In the dream the angel called to me and told me that if I brought the striped and mottled he goats to mate with Laban’s white nanny goats, most of the young goats would be mottled. You see the result. I did what the angel told me, and I have been blessed beyond anything I could have imagined. That’s why your father and brothers are angry.”
“We know they are angry,” Leah said. “What will you do?”
“The angel must have known this would happen, for he instructed me to return to the land of my birth. I have also received word that my mother is not well.” He looked at them to see what their response was to such a radical solution.
He was relieved to find that Leah and Rachel were both tired of their father’s tricks and told Jacob they were ready to leave. “We can wait a few days until the time of the sheepshearing. Everyone will be so busy they won’t miss us right away. That’ll give us time to gather our things,” they said.
Elaborate plans were being made for the shearing. Laban and the brothers had decided this would be the time for a final showdown with Jacob. They would count his flock and then their flock and demand an explanation. “He will have to confess to whatever trick he has used to get so many speckled or streaked animals,” they said.
* * *
Since Laban and his sons were so occupied with their plots and plans, no one noticed that Jacob’s wives were busy packing all of their important belongings. Leah had so many children that she had to choose very carefully what each would carry. They now had slaves and servants to manage the larger, more cumbersome things such as grindstones, kneading troughs, wineskins, tripods for making the goat cheese, and woven material for shelter from the sun or rain.
Rachel took very few practical necessities. Bilhah, her faithful maid, carried her cosmetics, medicinal herbs, and perfumes. She herself carried only her jewelry and two of the birdcages.
At the very last moment, after Laban’s family had left for the shearing sheds, Rachel made her way stealthily to her father’s courtyard. She went straight to the door that opened into the space under the stairs where Laban kept his household gods. Then, swiftly and silently, she picked out all of the small teraphim that were supposed to deal with women’s problems. They were stone or clay figures with legs stiff and rigid, heads small with prominent noses, and arms held straight and close to their sides. They were not at all beautiful but were considered to be very powerful in matters that might concern a woman.
The collection was greatly prized by Laban. Many of them had been made by his grandfather in Ur, and others had been traded by desperate landowners in time of drought. A small fertility goddess could even be bartered for food.
Rachel especially wanted the ones that were to help a woman become pregnant and protect her in childbirth. She desperately wanted to become pregnant again. She had prayed to Jacob’s God to give her a child but had had no results. “What harm would it do,” she reasoned, “to try asking the clay images for help?”