And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s (Genesis 31:19).
Reading through Genesis 31, one can glean much wisdom for marriage. Jacob and Rachel’s mistakes can teach us precisely what not to do. A few verses before the one I quoted, Jacob is visited by YHVH in a dream and is told to leave his father in law’s property and go to a land that the Lord had prepared for him. His father in law, Laban, a Syrian, had family idols that he worshipped. I think it’s safe to assume that they were gods that had been adored by his family for generations. His daughter Rachel grew up seeing her family serve these idols and was more than likely taught to believe that these gods were responsible for her family’s prosperity.

When Jacob fled from Laban, his wife, Rachel stole her father’s idols without telling her husband. Already we can see the inappropriate behavior of the wife. There should be no secrets in a marriage. Nor should the wife take it upon herself to make rash decisions that will affect her marriage. A godly wife submits to her husband. Rachel, like her mother in law before her (Genesis 27:5-10) and Eve before her (Genesis 3:6) exhibits the qualities of a Jezebel (please see The Jezebel Spirit).

Further into the story, Laban learns that Jacob has left. Perhaps he would have mourned his two daughters leaving home but would have let Jacob seek his own fortune. However, once Laban learned that his idols had gone missing, he was quick to assume that Jacob had stolen them and went chasing after whom he thought was the thief. That family was in bondage to those demons-just look at their behavior! Now we see that Rachel has pitted her father against her husband. Laban resents Jacob over something he didn’t even do! This is all due to Rachel’s deceitful and manipulative ways.

Laban catches up with Jacob’s caravan and demands that his idols be returned to him. Since Jacob didn’t steal them nor was he aware that his wife was the culprit, he was quick to defend himself. Jacob also spoke in haste and unwittingly sealed his wife’s fate: “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live.” (Genesis 31:32a) Rachel proves to be quite crafty and is able to hide the idols from her father, again through deceit (Genesis 31:34-35). Laban searches the whole company and does not find his beloved statues. Satisfied that Jacob did not steal them, he lets them be and returns home.

There is a lot to digest here. Jacob was sly and crafty: it is no surprise he fell in love with and married someone with those familiar spirits. Attraction is not only physical-it is indeed spiritual. An Ahab (please refer to The Ahab Spirit) will attract a Jezebel. An alcoholic will attract another who is under the same bondage to the demons of alcohol and addiction. How do psychopathic serial killers recognize one another and join together to prey on their victims? In the spirit. How does a homosexual who is married with children and keeps his sexuality a secret meet and have affairs with other homosexuals? They recognize each other’s familiar spirits.

As for the curse spoken over the thief, who was in fact Jacob’s own wife: Rachel dies during childbirth (Genesis 35:18). Who knows if she would have lived a long life had she not been under that curse? She brought it upon herself, first through stealing and then by lying about it. We reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). Every decision we make carries its consequences.

Which brings me to the thought that came to mind and inspired me to write this. Rachel brought a generational curse into her marriage. She probably expected to convince her husband to worship those same idols instead of YHWH. It happened time and time again in biblical history. Let us look at this through spiritual eyes. She is dragging those generational chains behind her, putting her new family’s bloodline in bondage. Until generational curses are broken they will continue to wreak havoc on families, from one generation to the next. It’s no coincidence that a family will have a history of alcoholics, adulterers, single mothers, victims of molestation, etc. It is a generational curse, demons that attach themselves to a bloodline and affect each generation.

We need to come clean with ourselves and with God; He knows every dirty little secret anyway. There is no need to enter into a marriage covenant still bound. If you are single, engaged or even if you’re already married: read my post Self Deliverance. Follow each instruction, preferably with your partner. You can both seal those doors behind you with the blood of Christ before walking down the aisle. If you are already married, today is a good day to do this. Your descendants should not suffer the consequences of your ancestors’ sins, or your own. Make sure your children, grandchildren and their descendants inherit a blessed bloodline, bloodwashed and blood bought, free from all generational curses.
May the pact your bloodline makes with the Living God never be broken.

I pray this blesses you.