The Lord will be
my God (Genesis 28:21).
Jacob, his father Isaac, and his grandfather Abraham were
almost certainly 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 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 household, 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
Harran in approximately 1700-1650 BC. The nation of Israel’s repeated
flirtations with its neighbors’ gods wouldn’t stop until its Babylonian exile (587-536
BC), well 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 vv. 6 and 18). And yet we worship all kinds of other gods, don’t we?
TODAY’S MEDITATION
What other gods are
receiving your worship? Is there anything or anyone keeping you from giving
your first love to God alone?
The question made me think long and hard on the things that I hold dear to my heart. I would have to say that one of the things that I thought of was work. I have two jobs and I am actively involved in my church along with my family responsibility. I sometimes feel that there is no time in my day to get everything done that needs to be done. I will sometimes forget to pray in the morning which then turns into not having time to do my devotion for the day. It is a matter of prayer for my wife and I to become better time managers so that we can get our work and devotions done along with all other activities for the day.
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