Sunday, January 10, 2010

Day 10: Genesis 28, 29 and 30

The Lord will be my God. (Genesis 28:21)
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 lesser gods. It can also mean choosing to worship only one god, even though one still believes in the existence of other gods.
Listen to Jacob: If God will be with me and 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).
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 BC. The nation of Israel's repeated flirtations with its neighbors' gods wouldn't stop until its Babylonian exile, between 587 and 536 BC, over a thousand years later.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God makes it clear: I am the Lord and there is no other (45:5 - also vss 6 and 18). And yet we worship all kinds of other gods, don't we?
Who (or what) receives your worship?

No comments:

Post a Comment