GENESIS 35:2-4

Q: The foreign gods -- were these idols that the people with Jacob worshiped (other than his family). Why did God allow that?

Yes, these were pagan idols. The text specifically states that Jacob's command was to his family as well as the rest of his household. Thus, it is entirely possible that his own family worshiped idols as well as the others that accompanied them. Remember that his wife Rachel possessed household idols.

Although God made it abundantly clear to his chosen people that worshiping other gods was a sin, that did not mean that they always obeyed this command. It also did not mean that God enforced that command with immediate punishment (except in rare cases like the aftermath of the Golden Calf incident in the wilderness). God's more usual response was to patiently guide the Israelites back to proper worship. As a good example, look at the Book of Judges where prolonged periods of disobedience to the Word led God to eventually raise up an enemy against Israel, followed by Israel's repentance and God raising up a deliverer--- and then the cycle repeated itself numerous times with God never losing patience with his people.

In the present instance, God's action to address the situation is to lead Jacob and his family away from surrounding pagan influences and back to Bethel where Jacob originally encountered God. Jacob himself realizes that before this can happen, the people must be purified spiritually, and this includes getting rid of their pagan images.

 The question we should probably ask is: “Why did Jacob allow the possession of idols in the first place?” But again we should resist the temptation to put the patriarchs of Genesis on a pedestal. They were only too human.