And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. (Genesis 35:4)
Allow me to give a background that you will
find in the previous verses.
God instructs Jacob to create a worship
event (make an altar), probably as a sign of what He had for him and also to
remember where the whole affair started.
It is apparent that Bethel was the place
Jacob had his first real encounter with the God of his fathers and so it was
very important for his forebears to have that sign.
Jacob then orders his people to prepare for
that by getting rid of any foreign gods amongst them since God does not share
worship with others.
They of course do that.
But what I find interesting is that they
also got rid of the earrings in their ears and both the idols and earrings were
trashed.
The easiest question to ask is
What do earrings and idols have in common?
Why did they not bury the clothes yet they
also changed them?
I am posing this to myself as I do it to
you because the connection is not clear to me.
Incidentally, centuries later, Aaron was
asked to make gods when Moses stayed too long on the mountain.
Remember what he requested for? Earrings.
Does the Bible have more to say about
earrings and idols?
That is what I want to know.
Any answers out there?
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