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 other lesser gods. It can also mean choosing to worship only one god, even though one still believes in the existence of other gods.
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.
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 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 toHaran in
approximately 1700-1650 B.C. The nation of Israel 's repeated flirtations with
its neighbors’ gods wouldn't stop until its Babylonian exile, between 587 and
536 B.C., over a thousand years later.
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
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?
Who
(or what) receives your worship?
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