Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God." (Genesis 28:20, 21)
This passage gives us a glimpse into one of Jacob's most basic theological building blocks - his belief in God. Jacob, his father Isaac, and his grandfather Abraham were not monotheistic - that is they did not believe in the existence of only one God. They were henotheistic. Henotheism is the belief that one god is superior among a range of other lesser gods. It can also mean choosing to worship only one god, even though one still believes in the existence of other gods.
Some might say the first commandment betrays the same belief during the time of Moses. You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3) What about during the time of Joshua? As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15) Jacob traveled to Haran in approximately 1700-1650 B.C. The nation of Israel's repeated flirtations with the gods of its neighbors wouldn't stop until its Babylonian exile, between 587 and 536 B.C., over a thousand years later.
Wouldn't some of that go back to what is defined as a 'god'? There are certainly other spiritual beings running around - if they lumped any spirit into the term 'god' then our God, who is spirit, would be in that category, though (as they were faithful to point out) superior. Something being translated in English as a 'god' - hence a spiritual being that has demonstrated its existence and caused some level of intimidation or awe to humans - does not automatically equate 'Creator' status. I may note the world is full of mothers, but that does not mean I do not understand there is only one person who is MY mother. Hm.
ReplyDeleteAs to the content of this reading, one thing I'd almost forgotten was the crazy political tug-o-war Jacob had among his wives and their maids - plus how many of those sons were in fact sons of those maids instead of really from Rachel or Leah. How'd you like to live in a household like that? No wonder the family dynamics couldn't survive the additional burden of the favoritism for Joseph.
- Amy
My own feeling is that this is more than just semantics. Israel's constant failing was running after other gods. They were giving their allegiance to those other gods, mocking the first commandment.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'm sure then, as today, there were cultures and individuals that would define things as gods that we, as followers of Christ, would not define that way.
Regarding Jacob's family, can you say "dysfunctional"?
Oh yes, quite! There is more to it than semantics, but perhaps there is also more to it than mere allegiance. It hinges on what you mean by "belief", I think - is it belief that gods/God exist, or belief that ONE particular God is capable of saving you personally from condemnation? At what point did they acknowledge God to be THE God - the one who made even all the other 'gods'? Not just the one who could throw the best thunderbolts, but the Creator? That would be when they crossed the line.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lovely in-a-nutshell look at the way the singular and plurals for 'elohim' are employed over here, I like the way they mix the two to create a verbal picture of One God who yet has more than one expression of Himself. http://www.yeshuaconnection.com/elohim.htm