The Development of Israelite Religion - Admission/Application Essay Example

The Development of Israelite Religion The concept of theistic evolution originated from the fact that most of the recognized religions all across the globe developed through phases, i.e., from polytheism to monotheism. A number of scholars have argued that monotheist gods appear to be less within reach to the life of faith, and therefore, the debate regarding the direction to be taken in certain quarters has been quite intense. Most people have argued that Moses was the first monotheist. However, it could also be possible that monotheism was practiced in Egypt before the coming of Moses, to deliver the Israelites. The first commandment states that, “you shall have no other gods before me”. This does not necessarily change the fact that polytheism was way far practiced before Moses. The existence of other gods other than Yahweh is overtly seen in Deuteronomy, where Yahweh sets the boundaries of nations as per the “the number of the sons of God.” The objective of this paper is to discuss the development of Israelite religion from polytheism and image worship through the worship of either Yahweh alone or Yahweh with other gods to the claim that Yahweh is the only god. I In the days of Moses, the Israelites were migratory people. After leaving Egypt and entering Canaan, the natives of the land had their own culture and religious beliefs, which was considered “pagan fertility cult”. In this religious system, there was a chief deity who by then was Baal. Baal was a creation of an ancient Semitic storm god and his superior was god El. In the system, there were also a couple of female deities such as Asherah, Anat and Astarte. The female deities were depicted mainly in the fertility cult as pregnant mothers or rather as courtesans of the gods. Though a minority, the Yahweh Israelites felt like it was their obligation to forbid particular practices that did not take seriously the need to increase legitimate population. It is true to mention that only Baal and Yahweh appear in Genesis and Exodus. Yahweh was the God that delivered the Israelites from captivity to the Promised Land. There, they did not formally adopt Baal; however, they substituted Yahweh at Baal’s sanctuary. This is because the native worship was a representation of fertility, something that was the most imperative issue within an agricultural society. II The Israelite religion was conceived in the desert at Sinai with Moses as he led the Israelites to bring it into Canaan. Therefore, the worship of Yahweh can be traced back to their migration from Egypt to Canaan. In Shechem, there existed a blend of Jewish communities and the desert nomads. Despite this, they swore to worship non other than Yahweh alone. Therefore, this is the point where the monotheistic religion was introduced. In the ancient world, this was quite a rare concept. The fundamental concept behind monotheism was the covenant struck, under which God promised to deliver the Israelites from captivity to the Promised Land. In exchange, he was supposed to offer them undivided protection for their total worship. In the worship of Yahweh, the key cultic ritual that was quite popular amongst the Israelites was live animal sacrifice, offerings of vegetables and incense. The worship of Yahweh under the concept of monotheism did not fully rule out the existence of other gods during that time. Even though they were present and recognized, they were completely distinguished from Yahweh. The Israelite’s religion generally prohibited the recognition and worship of any other god apart from Yahweh. However, a section of the Israelites persistently involved themselves in Canaanite rituals. It was evident that, during this time, strict monotheism was most likely unattainable. Therefore, for a while Yahweh was worshiped together with other gods. The worship of Yahweh together with other gods was persistently practiced until after the return from exile. It was during this time that austere devotion and loyalty to the law was codified. The worship of symbols was a taboo. It is important to mention that, Yahweh’s earlier association to the bull was quite confusing. Among the northern tribes who were largely influenced by the Canaanite beliefs, idol worship was quite widespread. Jeroboam used the ancient connections between Yahweh, Elohim, and Baal to come up with a spiritual lifestyle for the Israelites who disconnected themselves from the priestly caste and principles of the Jerusalem temple. The primeval religious groups of the east were extremely advanced polytheists, inclusive of the Canaanite religious system as well. In a way, Yahweh worship practiced amongst the Israelites and polytheism system of the Canaanites were conflicting, however co-existent. The biggest threat to Yahweh worship was of course the Baal worship witnessed among the indigenous Canaanites. The collaboration or rather some kind of union between Yahweh worship and Baal worship was inevitable. However, precautions were always in place. For instance, the injunctions against idol worship. It is no secret that certain Israelites voluntarily chose to embrace the Canaanite religious system of Baal worship. At the same time, it is also evident that there existed other Semitic gods in Israel. III Anointing in the ancient days of Moses was a representational act of formally appointing an individual for a particular leadership position in the society. Unlike other places, in Israel, when God formally anointed an individual, he also offered the guidance of the Holy Spirit to assist in leadership. This too applied when he anointed kings to lead the people of Israel. Therefore, kings were agents of God, who were anointed by him to accomplish specific responsibilities on his behalf. Frequently, people associate prophets with prediction abilities; however, this is not much of it. In the Old Testament, prophets were messengers of God who were used by him to speak of his word and heed warnings upon the people incase they wandered away. Before assuming their roles, they were ordained by the “Spirit of the Lord” (1 Kings 22:24). Generally, prophets were seen as vessels who acted as God’s guiding and rebuking voice. In those ancient days, life was all about people and land (1 Samuel 10:10). Often, those groups of people who were obedient to God’s word as relayed by his prophets were blessed and allowed to occupy the land. In instances when they chose to defy and wallow in sin, they were thrown out of the land. IV About twenty five percent of the book of Kings is entirely dedicated to Prophet Elijah and hi successor Elisha. This is a depiction of how their prophecy in this era of the life of Israelites was regarded highly. Their fundamental responsibility was to remind the kings of what God expected from them. Obviously, the prophets were held with high regards over the disloyal kings. For instance, Elijah was sent by God to threaten Omri and Ahab. Later on, it was his successor who accomplished this mission of dethroning their entire empire. The people viewed the two prophets as wonder workers who were highly favored by God. V In 2 kings 22: 16-17, the Lord sounded a warning to the people of Israel. He issued a threat that he would destroy the land and the people who coexisted in it. This was because he felt like the people had neglected him and offered their sacrifices to other gods in order to make him angry. He warned that, his burning hunger that would be extended to the land and the people would never be put out. Immediately King Josiah heard of God’s word, he tore his robes and turned to the council of the lord for advice. As a result of this and their submission to God, the king’s generation was spared the anguish of seeing any of the disasters that the Lord was going to bring on the land. Conclusion The concept of theistic evolution originated from the fact that most religions all across the globe developed through phases i.e. from polytheism to monotheism. Monotheism was practiced in Egypt before the coming of Moses to deliver the Israelites. Therefore, Moses was not the first monotheist as many might argue. The fact that, the first commandment warns against having other gods does not necessarily change the fact that polytheism was literally practiced before Moses. The existence of other gods other than Yahweh is openly seen in Deuteronomy. Despite the existence of a blend of Jewish communities and the desert nomads, the Israelites swore to worship non other than Yahweh alone. Therefore, this was the introduction of monotheistic religion. The worship of Yahweh under the concept of monotheism did not fully rule out the existence of other gods during that time. Even though, the Israelite’s religion generally prohibited the recognition and worship of any other god apart from Yahweh, a section of the Israelites persistently involved themselves in Canaanite rituals. Therefore, for a while Yahweh was worshiped together with other gods. This was until after the return from exile when the austere devotion and loyalty to the law was codified. The worship of symbols was no longer accepted. Works Cited Exodus. The new Jerusalem Bible: standard edition. Doubleday, 1999. 1 Kings 22:24 2 kings 22: 16-17 Exodus Genesis Read More