Seder 30: Gen 31---Jacob's Exodus from Haran

 As Jacob continued to prosper, the attitude of Laban's family toward him soured.  They were jealous of his success.  God let Jacob know that it was time to return home to Canaan (Gen 31:3,13).  

Jacob made the case to Leah and Rachel that is was time for them to go.  Apparently Laban had also cheated them, and they wholeheartedly agreed with Jacob (vv 4-16).  

Jacob felt that the only way he would ever be extricate himself from Laban would be to just leave, without telling his father-in-law.  Like the Pharaoh of the Exodus, Laban always had a way to put off Jacob's departure a little longer.  

When Jacob and his family left Haran, Rachel took the teraphim (household gods) of Laban.  We don't know the precise appearance or significance of these objects, but they probably represented Laban's ancestors, or patron gods of his ancestors, and Laban probably believed that they provided protection and promoted prosperity.  

We are not told why Rachel took the teraphim.  It may be that she took them as a way to get back at her father, knowing how much he valued them.  A number of other possibilities have also been suggested by commentators:

• The objects could have included some valuable precious metals or gems.  Perhaps Rachel took them as partial payment toward the amount out of which that Laban had cheated them.
• One midrash suggests that Laban used the teraphim in divination, and Rachel took them so that he would not have extra help in determining the location of Jacob's family after they fled from him.
• Another midrash suggests that Rachel felt they might promote fertility.
• The interpretation most favorable to Rachel is one that says Rachel took the teraphim because she wanted her father to quit following false gods.

When Laban found out that Jacob had left, he set out in pursuit.  Here Laban is a precursor of the Pharaoh of the Exodus, who pursued the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt.  There are a number of ways in which Jacob's departure foreshadows the Exodus.  The Israelites left Egypt with great wealth, and Jacob left Laban with wealth.  Egypt's gods were defeated in the Exodus, and Jacob left with Laban's teraphim.  Laban overtook Jacob, as Pharaoh did the Israelites, but in both cases God provided protection.  

The subsequent confrontation between Jacob and Laban showed how much relations between them had broken down.  But they made a covenant and enjoyed a final covenant meal before parting for good.

Laban had been untrustworthy in dealing with Jacob, often deceiving the deceptive Jacob.  But God had been faithful to his promise to be with Jacob and bring him back home (Gen 28:15; 31:3).  God continued with his promise to Abraham and plan to bring blessing to the whole world through his family.