Genesis 35:1 people of all faiths welcome i would be delighted to hear your opion on this! (please read on)?

Question

Genesis 35:1
God said to jacob, "Arise,go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an alter there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
here it is.in the christian bible the chosen one of 'God', Jacob, worshping two gods. only when one god has told him to worship another does he purge his household of idols
I repeat there are TWO different gods mentioned in the bible. and evidence of jacob acknowledging both
iknow there are other places in the bible that mention this.Also know that the bible is NOT the actual work of god but a story passed down and compiled by Moses
a)what do christians think about this?
b)what do athiests or people of any other religion think of this?does it sound to you like more than one god?
c)why does it go unquestioned?
d)why has it not been removed if you are so 'one god' oriented
and what excuse is given to those who do question it.and if it is god talking then why not say build an alter to "me"or build an alter to your "one lord"

this is genesis 35:2 when jacob accepts this one god of his father
35:2 so jacob said to his house hold and to all who were with him," put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes.

and by the way i am repeating this question because i didn't get any good answers last time and the question wasn't very clear

to the second answer:
my version of genesis says THE GOD and that is what i am questioning

i am sorry but most of your answers are not logical and are just crap with fancy words.
i wasn REAL logic not Christian logic which seems to eb the only thing i am getting with a few ecceptions.

when will you OPEN YOUR EYES!! you are all blind evey single one of you
open you eyes and see the world from a WIDER perspective as i do and you will be able to actually answer with an open mind!!

**it*** Wasn't**

Answer 1

I already answered this one. Check your first one.

Answer 2

The answer lie in hebrew grammar and style of litterature.

In that verse the title El (singular for God) is preceded by the definite article ha which gives the expression ha'El. This expression appears 32 times in the Masoretic Hebrew text. It is always singular and always refer to the true God. The only God of Jacob's forefathers Abraham and Isaac.

Gesenius Hebrew Grammar renders ha' Elohim and ha'El as "the only true God."

The New Living Translation translate the same expression in Deuteronomy 7:9 as "God is indeed God."

The Contemporary English Version translates the same expression ha'El as "the only true God".

I will add that in the Contemporary English Version, Genesis 31:1 is rendered:

"God told Jacob, "Return to Bethel, where I appeared to you when you were running from your brother Esau. Make your home there and build an altar for me."

My translation uses "The true God".

If you are not familiar with the expression 'definite article' is is simply the use of the article 'the' or 'a'. For example 'a house' can mean many houses but with the definite article as in 'the house' the sentence means something different.

God was not encouraging Jacob to build an altar to another God. He was expressing the fact that He is the only true God. The only one in which Jacob can fully trust.

A while earlier God use the same expression ha'El to Jacob when he was working for Laban. The passage of Genesis 31:13 is rendered in the above translation:

"I am the God you worshiped at Bethel, [...]"

Digging a little in the Word of God can help solving some apparent puzzles. Hebrew is a very old language. The Psalms are good examples of literature not use nowadays.

See how Paul use the Scriptures to prove his beliefs:
"Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead" - Acts 17:2,3

D.

Answer 3

That verse refers to the God who appeared to Jacob in the wild, which was God. Jacob was ordered to purge his house of idols so he could purge. Purify himself and therefore truly worship the one and only God which had appeared to him in the desert.

NIV
Genesis 35:1
"Then God said to Jacob, 'Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.'"

There's never 2 gods metioned in the Bible which are the one and only God. The Bible mentions the trinity; the Son, Spirit, and Father. But each one is God.

As a Christian I think you're misquoting and misinterpreting the verse. The verse is not unquestioned, you just asked for one. And why God said exactly what He said I don't know. I don't know His mind, but I could ask Him.


Anyone feel free to email.

Answer 4

Once again...
A)Christians see this as God speaking about Himself. Although God didn't hand-write the Bible, he inspired every word in it.
B)I can't answer this, since I am a Christian.
C)It goes unquestioned because most, if not all (minus you), have interpreted as God referring to Himself in past events.
D)It has not been removed because Christians think that the Bible has been written by the inspiration of God, and isn't a living document (like the Constitution...it changes). I do not have the right to question God or His word choice.

This is the answer, whether its the answer you are looking for or not (which I know it is not, because you would not have made this one if you were alright with the same answer on the other one).

I hope that clears it up for you, enjoy.

Answer 5

1. And God said to Jacob, "Arise and go up to Beth el and abide there, and make there an altar to the God Who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
2. Thereupon Jacob said to his household and to all those who were with him, "Remove the deities of the foreign nations, which are in your midst, purify yourselves and change your clothes.


It is the same scenario you get in a dramatic movie. G-d has a personality, two different ones. Woman A (wife) has a personality, two different ones. (i.e. "moods")

Cheating husband says, "what do you want from me?"
Changed woman A (wife) says, "Ask the woman who married you in the first place."

Same deal. He's speaking about Himself in 3rd person.

Answer 6

there is one God, and the Bible says that. there is mentioned the god of this world, which is the devil, but he's not GOD.

a) most would say you've got several screws loose. others would say you're misinterpretting it. still others would say something scriptural.

b) atheists wouldn't care, would say you are right or you are wrong, or say "you decide"

c) it just got questioned. and probably cuz everyone takes it to mean what it says. and I have to check if this is in the Bible.

d) Scripture is Scripture. Scripture points to one God (the true and living). No word in the Bible is unneeded. you can get a lesson from every verse. this could mean "you have seen My glory, as I revealed Myself to you there, so build an alter to Me as you saw me".

IF SCRIPTURE SEEMS TO CONTRADICT ITSELF, YOU'RE READING IT WRONG. the Bible also said that God said (I'm paraphrasing) "there's other real gods that I don't know about? Okay, I'm all knowing and you say there's someone I don't know? ha!" and "the true and living God", etc. It's God's Word, let Him tell you what it means.

Answer 7

If you go to Genesis and read the part of the story pertaining to when Jacob fled from Esau's anger, you will see a story full of selfishness and deception.

Basically, Jacob was not better than Esau, both were very self willed in their own ways, and neither of them worthy to carry on the family name and blessing from God.

Jacob wanted the blessing, but Esau was born first and by order of birth (even though they were twins) he would receive the blessing from Issac (Rebecca had already warned Isaac that Jacob was supposed to get the blessing, but Isaac ignored her).

Jacob got Esau to give up his birthright for a bowl of stew. Jacob and rebecca deceived Isaac in order for Jacob to receive the blessing.

It is important here to understand that all that I just typed was done by human desire and God was not consulted. If you read a bit more of Genesis, you will note that even when people believed in God themselves, others would call them believers in the God of Abraham, they themselves would call themselves believers in the God of Abraham.

This is more than likely to distinguish Abrahams God from the false Gods that many others worshipped, but saw as real or they would not have been worshipping them.

Now, when Jacob fled from Esau's anger at the blessing deception, he knew that he had done all this on human terms and it meant nothing if God said NO. When God appeared to Jacob and told him that he would indeed receive the blessing, Jacob was finally able to relax and know that he was Gods chosen one to carry on the flesh line of the coming Messiah.

Now jump ahead to the part of the story that you are questioning. Jacob has been through a whole lot in the meantime, two wives, two bondservent wives and 12 male children whom do not get along real well. One adored and supposedly killed son and in the part of the story that you question, a daughter whom has been kidnapped and raped and the kidnappers who wanted to keep her have all been slaughtered by some of Jacobs sons.

Jacob realizes that his family is out of control and he consults God on this issue. God answers him and reminds him of the promise made to him when he was fleeing Esau. This next wording is God reminding Jacob of what he was promised and then telling him what to do next.

It is the same one and only true God, when he appeared to Jacob when he was fleeing Esau and when he is telling Jacob to arise and go to Bethel.

Answer 8

Jacob was confused, he and his family got many foreign gods and when God spoke to him. Jacob wondered which of the gods is talking to him. So God told him to go to Bethel and build an altar to the God he met in his dream in Genesis 28:13.

So Jacob finally realized that God is the real God and
told his family to get rid of all the foreign fake gods.

I already answered your questions in other post.

God, I don't know why people keep questioning your existence.

And this (Additional Detail), we don't know who you are replying
to.

Answer 9

In that specific verse, God is speaking about himself in third person.

There are other gods mentioned in the Bible, but they are all false gods that were worshiped by the people. Most of those gods were fertility gods or gods that "controlled" how well the crops would turn out.

The Bible does not contain two gods that Christians worship. There is only one God.

Answer 10

This ritual was an act of holiness. Jacob's family was now separated to God. Their worship of foreign gods was over. This was an outward act symbolizing an inner spiritual change. There were not 2 Gods. There were false gods and God. Jacob's family became separated to God and got rid of their idols.

Answer 11

That verse shows only one God, but for arguments sake, let's say theres 2. Well in fact the Christian Bible says there's 3 so hey, let's add another to the mix. They are, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They are called the trinity. 3 entities that are also one entity. It seems impossible to the natural laws of logic, but thats why the trinity is called super natural.

check out Evidence for Christianity : Josh McDowell
then come back with the questions.