Israel and the slaughter of Nations

Discussion in 'Religion & Philosophy' started by Giftedone, Jan 13, 2021.

  1. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    During OT times - Israel took out many city states - slaughtering women children and babies .. because these bad people worshiped other Gods.

    They also were to take out Israelite towns were folks to worship other Gods - although there is not much record of them doing this.

    Aside from the wanton Genocide - the literalist perspective has other problems in light of what we now know about the religious beliefs of these other people

    The problem is that the Caananites - Amalekites, and every other clan the Israelites ran into for the most part - all believed in the same God - Same with the Babylonians and Assyrians.

    El - to all in the near east - including the Israelites - was the Most High. So they all believed in the same God as the Most High "Creator, Father, Most High - God who dwelt in the Mountain" and so on.

    The difference was in the God's which were worshiped. Most towns/cities back in the day had its own Patron God .. along with numerous others. Israel's patron God was YHWH and they were to worship only that God .. they believed in the other Gods .. but were not to worship them.

    So the battle was over who's patron God was best .

    What was not going on - was a battle between "The Most High" and the lower Gods .. YHWH being one of those lower Gods.

    This is a battle between the Son's of God .. Sons of El

    This was the perspective of the Israelites - regardless of what someone living today thinks.
    This is what they thought .. as per Psalm 82 where YHWH is depicted in the council of El - prosecuting these other Son's of Gods .. and YHWH is shown to reign victorious over these other Gods .

    Here is a reference for Psalm 82

    https://jhsonline.org/Articles/article_144.pdf

    Here is Psalm 82 Translated from Hebrew

    https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/psa82.pdf
     
  2. The Wyrd of Gawd

    The Wyrd of Gawd Well-Known Member

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    That is just another excellent reason modern day people should not believe in ancient ethnocentric Middle Eastern Jewish and Arabian religious fairy tales.
     
  3. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    OK - but how does that help us .. in the quest to make the world a better place.
     
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  4. The Wyrd of Gawd

    The Wyrd of Gawd Well-Known Member

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    You are mistaken if you think religions are making the world a better place.
     
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  5. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I made no such claim - not that I would deny there are not good things that can be taken from religion... but I simply am not claiming this in this instance.

    Consider your response - "People should not believe this nonsense" ... OK - so then -how do we get them to "Not believe this nonsense" ?

    Thus making the world a better place :) .. Now in this light - address the OP.
     
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  6. Jolly Penguin

    Jolly Penguin Well-Known Member

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    So... Ancient peoples were tribal and fought for stupid reasons. Sound familiar?
     
  7. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    If you are on a quest to make the world a better place, start with cleaning up the corruption cancer of the government, its their religion that counts not ours.
     
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  8. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I do not have the power to clean up corruption in gov't.
     
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  9. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    Yep, no one ever does. They up the ante so high that only revolutions get the job done, at least long enough to write a new set of pretty words that are corrupted before the ink dries, and its back to our corrupt SOP in less than 2 weeks.
     
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  10. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    While I don't have the power to clean up Gov't - I do have the power - sometimes - to turn individuals away from evil thoughts :)
     
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  11. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Indeed - and it is likely that the reason these folks fought were not the reasons given in the Bible.
     
  12. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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    Psalms 82:6, "Ye are gods and children of the Most High." Jesus quoted this verse when asked if he was God. The meaning of this is that we are all children of our Father in Heaven. That's why we call him, "Father." We are his children and have the potential to be heirs to his kingdom. To become then like Him with dominion over our children. But, this is in the post earth life after the Judgement Day and Resurrection. Today, we are then gods in embryo with potential Godhood.

    To another relating point of "Son's of Gods," Genesis states that there is more than our Father in Heaven. "They have become as one of us, knowing good and evil." Plural. Father was talking to someone. It's my belief that in the pre-earth life, we were all in heaven as spirit children of our Heavenly Father (Parents as well). There were two of the greatest of us, Jehovah and Lucifer. Our Father presented a plan for his children to come to the earth. Jehovah accepted Father's plan that allowed for free moral agency to choose for ourselves good or evil. Those that learned by faith to keep the commandments would have eternal life with Father and Jehovah. Satan want to bring us hear like cattle and not let us fall or grow on our own. We would have no freedom to choose for ourselves and Lucifer would claim all glory for returning us all back to the Father. Both then could be considered god's as well with some of Father's authority and power. Our Father went with Jehovah's plan and Lucifer rebelled becoming Satan. Satan still retained power like a god. But, a god of evil. Jehovah became the Son of God our Redeemer and Savior who atoned for our sins that we may be able to return if we accept Christ as our personal Savior. And, we also have help from a third member of the Godhead, The Holy Ghost. All three make up the Godhead and are separate and distinct god's. Satan is also a god. But, a god of evil that is hell-bent on keeping all of us from returning to the highest degree of Glory with the Father, Son and The Holy Ghost. The people who worshipped other gods on the side were worshipping idol gods Satan manufactured. They weren't real. They were made of stone and other materials by man. The Father and Son attempted to keep Israel clean from worshipping idols that neither hear, see or speak. But, Israel often freely rebelled against the Godhead. Following idol gods of Satan.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2021
  13. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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  14. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Are you cutting and pasting or regurgitating from some apologist website - of which you can find 1000 on this topic - desperate to deny what is written in scripture.

    Obviously you did not read the link provided and learn what the "Journal of Hebrew Scriptures" has to say about Psalm 82.

    The idea that we are all Gods - on the same level as Jesus - as you have claimed - is preposterous nonsense in relation to Christian doctrine. Apologists modern translators claiming Jesus was referring to Psalm 82 and not some other part of the bible "Defacto" is nonsense .. and further - even if Jesus was referring to that part of scripture in John 10 (which you did not bother to quote) - claiming that Jesus meant what you claim literally .. is preposterous nonsense on steroids.

    But all this aside - Regardless of what a modern Translator thought Jesus was referring to - and in what sense - is irrelevant to what the ancient Israelites thought and believed - and the beliefs of those around them.

    What the Israelites believed - and the author of Psalm 82 - was that El was the "Most High" - as did everyone else in the near east.

    El is the God of Abraham .. Abraham does not know of any YHWH .. In this Biblical Scholars and Theologians are in agreement .

    The reason I gave you the second link is that you can see that "El" is mentioned by name in the "REAL" Bible - and not the Pious Fraud you will find in modern Bibles - desperate to hide Israel's non monotheistic past.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2021
  15. trevorw2539

    trevorw2539 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I hate to mention it but most of the massacres never happened, there never was an Exodus, the 'Amalekites' are not known outside the Bible, there never was a Hebrew invasion of Palestine. They were already in the land. The land was ruled by Egypt. The tribes joined together - Israel and other Canaanite tribes and threw out the Egyptians while the Egyptians were defending themselves from the Hittites. The Armana Letters state quite clearly that the Egyptian governors in Palestine pleaded with Pharaoh for help against these tribes- but failed to get it. After the battle of Kadesh, where both sides - Hittite and Egyptians - fought themselves to a standstill, the Hittites slowly vanish from history and a weakened Egypt succumbs to several invasions - and loses independence for over a millennia.

    El certainly is the main god of these tribes, Jahweh being a subordinate god - given charge of the tribe of Israel in the Ugarit Pantheon. It wasn't until the Babylonian exile that Yahweh became Israel's god. The northern tribes that worshipped El at Shiloh had been swept away, while the Southern, who worshipped Yahweh at Jerusalem, remained..
    The return from exile did away with the authority of Kings and placed ultimate authority in the hands of the Priesthood.That was to be the downfall of the Maccabean Kingdom later when various factions/individuals claimed the High Priest position for their own and fought each other. One side asked the Roman General Pompeii for help. His help led to the Roman takeover.

    If Abraham had existed he certainly would not have known of Yahweh who comes much later

    The whole story in Genesis to Judges is simply a well written story which attempts to give the Hebrews an origin.

    And Satan is only evil in Christianity. In Judaism he was Yahweh's 'adversary'. Not in the sense of being against Yahweh, but working for Yahweh in testing men's faith.
    Christianity has made Satan evil because of the wrong interpretation of Jesus supposed temptation. As with all Jews, so Jesus was tempted. The story itself is simply made up and shows Jesus as a Jew. The baptism was simply another Jewish tradition used to show Jesus as a Jew. The dove etc was an addition as a symbol of peace.

    I've posted about Satan on another thread 'why do Jews and Christians become non-believers'
     
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  16. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Correct - Hittites and Egyptians battled themselves to a draw - and made peace - dividing up the area in between into vassal states. 12-1300 BC or there-about.

    Around 1100 there is a dark age .. not just for the Hittites but the whole region .. something happened - and we don't know what it is. In Greece they go from city states to Rural - homogeneous language to different languages - trade -which went as far as India and China ceased - Pottery - Art - gone.

    It is not until around 700 BC when city states re-appear

    Genesis is the Sumerian Creation Myth - It is not just the Israelites that believed in this particular Creation story - "Everyone" in the near east believed this. Genesis was not created by the Jewish writers of Genesis - this was the collective consciousness of all the people in the near east at this time for the most part .

    Around 2350 Sargon of Akkad" unites the city States in Mesopotamia in to the worlds first Empire. The story of Sargon is interesting - he is put into a river in a basket as a baby from where he is plucked out and adopted by people of high status - and chosen by a Patron God. (this is where the Moses Story comes from) - it is a parallel of the Sargon Story.

    There is a "dark age" around 2100BC - in 2000 BC the Sumerians have split into 2 peoples - Assyrians and Babylonians. These share the same language - same religious beliefs and so on.

    The religious beliefs of the Canaanites - were very similar to that of the Israelites - "El" was the most high to all these peoples - Head of the Sumerian Pantheon. the "Council of El"

    Abraham grew up in Ur -- Babylon. His father Terah made idols -- and the people worshiped many Gods .. Abrahams idea was to worship only one God - the most high - which was El.

    "Satan" - is depicted in Job as being 1) a Son of God 2) is on good terms with God - has a "father/son" relationship" with the Most High 3) does not act outside the will of the Father

    Satan is the "tester" - whom God sends to test humans .. just as Satan was sent to test Jesus in Mark - an obvious parallel with the story of Job.

    Notice that the OT depiction of Satan is clearly at odds with the fellow depicted in Revelations.
     
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  17. trevorw2539

    trevorw2539 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Thanks. Been into it myself.

    Why do the righteous suffer? Job is similar to 'Ludlul-Bel-Nimeqi' - an earlier version of the same argument.

    According to the Bible Yahweh is a son of El. DSS and Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy 32. Later - in Babylon - the Hebrews conflate the 2 into one - Yahweh.

    I believe Revelations refers to the Roman Empire. Christianity just took the OT scriptures and added Jesus The Essenes did the same but added Mother Earth. Prophecy for the disant future is pointless, it is all about the time of near future.
     
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  18. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Margot would make a good case for 666 being Nero - and there is definitely some foretelling of the past in the Bible - like how some stories of Jesus "fulfill OT prophecy"

    Revelations was some fellow's dream - like that of Nostradamas - or Casey and so on. Do I believe in Divine Revelation .. "YES" - but these are glimmers of the future .. very vague - and have very little to do with Jesus coming back anytime soon .. very little to do with what has been attached to it.

    and further - Revelations being included in Canon was highly debated - which is odd if we knew defacto that this revelation was from a disciple of Jesus - but we don't .. and the book of John was definitely not written by a disciple .. at least not all of it .. perhaps someone found a few scraps from John that are in there .. the rest is ad lib .. new material .. the "Logos" concept and all that .. a hellenistic Pauline Fusion work..

    John was thought to have been martyred by 60 Ad along with the rest - but - if he did survive - he sure as hell would not be extorting Pauline theology - and further .. there is absolutely NO WAY - that if a 110 year old disciple .. was still alive 100-120 AD - that we would have next to no information from any of the sources around that time period .. such as Clement and Ignatius.

    How is it possible that John gets no mention in the sermons .. but I have digressed big time..

    Job - one of the oldest stories in the bible - could be the oldest as in past down in original written form. Similar stories exist throughout Urgaritic literature - it is allegory - trying to explain the relationship between Man and God - trying to teach a lesson - these should then be looked at as part of the collective religious consciousness of the people of the day.

    Why do any of us suffer - if God is Good ? - a question asked back then - far more often than now. Job is trying to address this question.

    What is perhaps more interesting about Job - is what it tells us about the religious beliefs of the people -

    1) "Sons of God" are visiting the Most High in Heaven ... and no .. these are not angels .. we know this from proper translations of Deut 32:8 and Deut 32:43 https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/7862/what-is-the-original-text-of-deuteronomy-328-9


    2) Satan does not act outside the will of God - has a father and son relationship with the Most High
    3) Satan himself is a Son of God - not an Angel.
     
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  19. WillReadmore

    WillReadmore Well-Known Member

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    Why do we suffer if there is a God that is "good"?

    Isn't it the case that Christians see our time on Earth as a test?

    It sorts us out by who figured out which God is real, what that God wants and then whether we actually acted on that.

    Given eternal heaven, our time on earth is exactly 0% of our existence.

    So, measuring God by whether he made 0% of our existence a pleasure hits me as worse than just silly.
     
  20. trevorw2539

    trevorw2539 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    There is a debate on who the John was that wrote Revelations. It certainly wasn't the disciple. I think it was a Jewish Scribe/teacher that had converted. It is put together by someone who was VERY familiar with the Tanakh. Enough to put together OT images and interweave Jesus Neither was the Gospel of Matthew written by Matthew himself. Arguments for the others.
    I don't believe that there is any reference to Jesus in the OT. I don't believe in 'prophecy'. Most 'prophecy' is written at the time or as history. The book of Isaiah was written by more than one person. When, and who, actually 'prophecied' the destruction of the Northern tribes and southern tribes. Whoever wrote them was a very astute person who could see what was happening and warned both against certain actions. They both ignored the warning, went ahead and suffered the consequences. Isaiah is simply all about Israel. It says so all the way through. There was no Isaiah 53. There were no chapters in early Jewish books. These were put into the OT around 13/14th century CE by a Catholic Bishop/Priest. It should be read as one book.

    Pauls 'Theology' was a mixture of Judaism and Greek Philosophy with Jesus included.
     
  21. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Prophecy - and yeah - much of the stuff that doesn't work out - such as the end coming in the lifetime of those listening to Jesus - they don't talk about too much or dismiss. Get as much out of Nostradamas

    The Gospel of John is far to different than Matt/Mark - to be written by John .. No mention of John still alive by anyone in Christianity - after the fall of the temple - Ignatius - Clement mention him not in their epistles - as the only living disciple .. come on .. that don't pass the giggle test - in of itself. The writing of John is 100-120 AD .. why 100 the earliest dating you ask ? and good question ..

    One of the major differences between Matt/Mark - and John - is that it is distinctly anti Jewish. This is a reflection of the early Church changing over time - distancing itself from Judaism after the fall of the temple - and subsequent fiscus Judaicus - tax on the Jews..

    Clement does not quote from John - nor mention that he is still alive - and has written some fresh scripture 96-100 .. and if you read his letters to the Corinthians .. there is absolutely no way he would not have mentioned this last living disciple - who just published a new Gospel.

    What you say about Paul's theology can be said of John - which is another reason to reject the disciple John as author. The ideology of the Church of Jerusalem - Led by James Brother of Jesus - was vastly different than Pauline Doctrine. John is a Pauline Fusion work - the Church of Jerusalem has disappeared from History after the fall of the temple -- well before that - after James and the others are Martyred -

    This is the Church that interests me :) .. not such a big fan of Pauline scripture.
     
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  22. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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    Absolutely that it was Jehovah who came to Abraham and Moses. As the Son of the Father, he is the God of Israel because he would become the redeemer of Israel through his Atonement that he would make as Jesus the Christ when he came down to receive a body so he could Atone for our Sins. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are distinct and individual personages making up the Godhead. And, Psalm 82:6 is what Jesus was quoting when he was asked if he was God. You simply don't understand the Plan of the Father nor the Scriptures.
     
  23. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Why are you talking about Jesus - in a conversation about what the Ancient Israelites believed ? And the idea that Jesus believed that folks were "Sons of God" - on the same level as Jesus is a "Son of God" .. is preposterous nonsense in any case.

    but regardless .. this has no bearing on Psalm 82 - despite wishful thinking of modern Translators - because we know what the Ancient Israelites believed .. and they were not "Monotheists" - they believed in the existence of many Gods..

    And Psalm 82 is clearly talking about divinities in the spiritual realm .. as that was who YHWH was fighting .. and he dispenses with these other Gods .. reigns supreme .. It would not be much of a victory if these were men .. You have made no effort to understand the passage .. you went to one of the hundreds of apologist websites .. and that was that .. despite the fact that sites like 'gotquestions" are lying sacks of manure .. intentionally dishonest .. quite nasty really.

    Here is some honest scholarship -
     
  24. WillReadmore

    WillReadmore Well-Known Member

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    There is a good solid argument to be made for the fact that the Israelites were looking for land as they escaped from Egypt.

    When they found land, there were people livin there.

    So, they slaughtered those people.

    I really don't believe it had anything to do with what gods the people of Jericho and other cities worshipped.

    The same is going on today.

    Israel is ethnically cleansing West Bank of Palestinians - stealing their homes, farms, water rights, etc.

    I don't believe that is because of Israeli hatred for Islam. They just want the land. So, now Israelis have settled the land on the Jordon River on the opposite side of Israel.

    That isn't because of hatred of Islam, thought they certainly do hate muslims. There are large numbers of Muslims in Israel! Israel doesn't drive THEM out (though they do rule them with apartheid law).

    Israel is ethnically cleansing West Bank primarily because they want the land. And, the cheapest and easiest way to get it is to steal it.
     
  25. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    :applause::applause: Good post I hope my response will be likewise.

    So The Ancient "Israelites" are Semitic People - easily distinguished from other people in the region right ? those other tribes so different .. Yes no Maybe ?

    Of course not - Everyone in the Near East / Mesopotamia is a Semite.. Sumerians - which branch off around 2000 to Assyrians and Babylonians .. this empire not ending until Persia takes over in 500 BC .. you are talking - if we include at least from when Sargon United the City States in Mesopotamia to create the worlds first empire round 2350 BC - a near 2000 year long empire .. that reigned supreme in one form or another in that region. - Semitic People .. every one of them - sharing the same religious beliefs - same Divine Pantheon ... with the God of Abraham at the Top ..

    Abram was born in Ur a major city in Babylon - Abram is related to everyone around him - quite closely - all being able to trace their lineage back to Shem .. and in fact Shem and Noah are still wandering about - still alive when Abram is born

    The chief God of the Sumerian Pantheon - the "Most High" "Creator" "Father" "God Who Dwells in the Mountain El Shaddai" is EL - aka (Enlil, Elil, Elyon" ) .. the Most High.

    and everyone believes in the Most High .. same one .. the God of Noah. The difference is in all the other Gods they worship - the lesser Gods - referred to as "Sons of God" in the Bible Psalm 82, Deut 32-8 and 32-43, Job 1, and in Genesis when the "sons of God" take some fair female flesh and create the hero's of old .. Perseus - Oddyseus .. :)

    So everyone worships all kinds of different Gods -- and sure there is this Most High fellow in the background - but this one doesn't factor in that often .. special occasions his name would be invoked .. that kind of thing.

    Abram makes a change - worshiping the one true God Alone - El - and revealed to Abraham as "El Shaddai" - Abram knew naught of this YHWH fellow .. sans stories of lesser Gods .. one of the 70 Son's of El - as per Urgaritic beliefs.

    (This is modern scholarship btw - that El is the God of Abraham - you can find in the Encyclopedia Britannica or if interested I have many other sources)

    So - yeah - this was battle over land - and when one side one - they would claim their God had something to do with it. YHWH came to be the God of this group of Semitic people who came out of Egypt - who may or may not have been slaves - or perhaps some were but unlikely all of them were .. it is not like all Semetic people are going to be Slaves in Egypt - that is crazy .. there are likely Semites in high places.. there is trade between these nations - travel .. but let us say there was some group who were slaves - included in the group that left.

    Let us assume that this was the Akhenaten cult - we know there were a bunch of people that fled during that period.. Regardless - we know that prior to getting into this new cult - they were worshiping El - Bull El - Consort Asherah - son Ba-al. hence the Golden Calf incident. .. and Joshua 24 tells is this in any case .. and that the Israelites are still worshiping those other God's at this time .. which means .. there is nary a time when they stopped worshiping these other Gods.

    YHWH is the war God - who through syncretization - assumes the attributes of El - and those of the other Son's of God.

    After Joshua dies - not much attention gets paid to this YHWH fellow - sans a few important battles - until the Babylonian Captivity/Persia freedom.. where YHWH is fully Transformed into El - and monotheism in Judaism begins.

    Prior to this time they are worshiping all the other "Sons of God" - of which YHWH is one .
     

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