Hebrew People as the Chosen Seed - Essay Example

HEBREW PEOPLE AS THE CHOSEN SEED Almighty God created man in His own image and blessed him with the superiority over all other creatures includingthe birds of the sky, the beasts of the forest and the fish of the water. He not only created man, but also introduced and developed a perfect scheme for his comprehensive guidance and spiritual uplift on permanent basis. The basic motive behind that all was to protect the children of Adam and Eve from the seduction of satanic forces. Satan is the central figure, basic symbol and supreme source of evil, iniquity and wickedness according to the teachings and mythology of all the three Abrahamic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Holy Scriptures of these religions emphatically affirm Satan as the transgressor and Gods nemesis, which refused to comply with the commands of the Creator—Almighty God the Omnipotent. Satan, according to these sources, is one among the jinn; a creature has been made by the Lord out of flame of the fire. He became the enemy of Adam and Eve at the time of their birth and caused their expulsion from the Eden Garden because of his jealousy with the new creature. Satan had challenged God that he would try his utmost to seduce the children of Adam and Eve to prove their superiority as a wrong thing. Hence, God Almighty sent His angels to His apostles including Adam, Enoch, Noah, Eber, Shelah and others to preach the humanity the noble message of God, so that they could manage to regain their permanent dwellings in the Eden Garden lost due to non-compliance of their first parents in respect of tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree because of the satanic seduction and temptations. Satan maintained grudge and enmity for the whole mankind and intended to entice Adam, Eve and their children forever and ever till the Day of Resurrection out of sheer malice for the human beings. According to the Torah, Satan does not challenge Almighty’s powers; rather, he challenges God to examine the sincerity and compliance of Adam, Eve and their generations. “However”, Scheib argues, “Satan remains inferior to God and is incapable of taking action on mortals without God’s permission. In the Talmud and Midrash, Satan appears as the force in the world, responsible for all sins.”(2004) Almighty God has divided the humanity into two categories: one who those are transgressors and breakers of the covenant of God, and imitate the path of Satan; and the other ones are those who sincerely comply with all the terms of the sacred covenant. The individuals, tribes, clans and communities which did not obey the word of God and committed crimes and practiced deviancies by following the path of Satan, were inflicted misery and wrath of the Lord. On the other hand, the nations which remained obedient to their Lord, and displayed virtue and evaded vice, were blessed with the spiritual leadership and God was pleased with them. The reward in the form of God’s favor and mercies was bestowed upon them and were declared as the people of God. Almighty God has narrated the incidents of their sacrifices and great velour in the Scriptures they displayed while facing mountains of hardships and their foot neither trembled nor wavered in any sort of turmoil or turbulence. The name of the holy prophet Abraham is the most prominent among all. Abraham underwent all types of trials; he was thrown into the burning flames by the king Nimrod and the people of his nation expelled him from the city and he was sent him to compulsory exile; he did not have any children till the age of hundred years; but he remained as firm as the rock and could not be bent down at all. Then it was the benevolence of God which was showered upon Abraham and his progeny because of getting successful in all trials, tests and examinations. At a time when Abraham was issueless, God said to him that his progeny would be more than the stars on the sky. (Genesis, xxii:17). Not only this but also God selected his children to carry the weight of spreading the light of His holy message in all corners of the world. Almighty God bestowed Abraham with two pious sons i.e. Ishmael and Isaac and showered His spiritual favor in the form of prophet-hood on both the two. Thus, God’s special attention and consideration towards one specific tribe was not the outcome of mere a chance. On the other hand, all that was the result of long and untiring efforts made by the forefathers of the chosen seed in the way of God and the pains the noble personalities tolerated while teaching and preaching the word of God. It is therefore, the sons, grandson, great grandson and so on were exalted to the highest spiritual position of prophet-hood. God said to Abraham: “And thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear their ministry and Priesthood unto all nations; And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed; and shall rise and bless thee, as their father;...and in thy seed after thee ... shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal (Abraham 2:9-11). Jews are the progeny of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. They had been the Heaven’s favorite-most nation since their creation on earth. Therefore, Jews are called as the chosen seed, as Milton quotes in his Paradise Lost: “Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire that Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed”. (Book I, lines 6-7). The history reveals their origin at Canaan, where Abraham’s grandson and Isaac’s son Jacob, also alias Israel, lived. The special blessing of the Creator on the house of Jacob has always been a debatable question for the clergymen, scholars and philosophers since ever. It has often been said that the house of Jacob had been selected as the chosen seed among all the nations and races of the world. The Holy Torah and Hebrew Bible have repeatedly declared the progeny of Jacob as the selected nation, which has superiority over others in the eyes of the Lord. “When God called Abraham aside, He made a covenant, assuring Abraham, "In thee and thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Out of the loins of Abraham came the seed which produced the sacred Scriptural House of Israel. These people were chosen to fulfill a definite Divine plan of God for the salvation and the redemption of His children of all the nations.” (Smith, 2000) “The essence of the Hebrew religion (i.e. Judaism)”, Alan (1993) states, “was that the Lord had made a covenant with the chosen people, the children of Israel.” The other Scriptures including the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran have also mentioned the same fact that the house of Jacob was once granted supremacy over all other human nations of the world. In the words of God in the Book of Nehemiah: “Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.” (Nehemiah 1: 8-10) Thus, the children of Israel (Jacob) had been blessed with special favor and spiritual blessings from the Heavens. In the words of the Holy Quran: “O Children of Israel! Remember My favors which I bestowed upon you and that I exalted you above the peoples of the time.” (The Heifer, 2:48) Many non-Abrahamic religions and groups refute the notion related to the concept of the chosen seed altogether, because they do not think it fair to give one race superiority and preference over others. But this special blessing on the Hebrew people was due to the fact that they were appointed to convey and preach the message of Almighty to all the people of the world. Also they were bestowed with the Scripture, guidance and spiritual leadership, though they could not fulfill their mission in a responsible way. The children of Jacob are called the house of Jacob as well as the chosen seed of the world because they had entered into a sacred covenant that they would always stick to monotheism and would abide by all the commands have been given to them from the Heavens. Thus, the superiority was on the basis of Gods special blessing and favors upon them. The clouds always moved on their heads to save them from the heat of the sun. Almighty God says in the Holy Quran: “And We caused the clouds to be a shade over you and sent down on you Manna and Salwa, saying, Eat of the good things We have provided for you. And they wronged Us not, but it was themselves that they wronged.” (Chapter 2: 58) They were favored with the blessing of Manna and Salwa to avoid any labor to earn their bread so that they could complete their prayers and meditations with full concentration rather involving into any worldly activities. The Chains of the holy prophets including Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Jethro, Zachariah, John, Christ and many more were sent to guide the people and all except one belonged to the same tribe of Israel. They were the spiritual leaders of the world at large and their Patriarchs suffered great pains in order to spread the message of God, and God blessed the progeny with respect and honor of worldly comforts and the reward in the hereafter. The reward hereafter was conditional with the good deeds and performances on the one hand and conveying the word of God on the other. Since the initial offspring of Abraham was pure monotheist, they were exalted to the position of king (Joseph as Egyptian king) and the prophet-hood (Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph were the prophets sent from God Almighty). God never turned down the virtuous deeds of others; it is therefore, He always rewards His creatures who act according to the commands given by him. All such blessings attributed to the house of Jacob were snatched from them and now no cloud moves with them. It is due to the fact that they have failed to perform their obligation successfully. Thus, belief in one God and His adoration was the reason of their supremacy over others. Believe in one God and performing good was the essence of Judaism at its earliest stage. With the passage of time, the people observed delusion about the oneness of God. Culture plays dominant role in individuals’ pattern of behavior. It is often said that culture and environment influences more strongly than cult and religious belief even. The same was the case with the ancient Jews. The influence of Greek and Roman culture and civilization and the concepts of so many gods and goddesses caused religious perversion among Jews. So, out of their sheer love for Abraham, they developed the sculptors of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and preached them. “Looking ahead several centuries”, Goldenberg reviews, “the Jews under Greek and Roman rule were driven by two distinct factors to adopt diverse attitudes toward paganism: their own Scriptures gave them an ambiguous teaching on the subject, and then they had to apply that teaching under circumstances which themselves were highly varied.” The interaction with Zoroastrians also purified their belief in oneness of God, though most of the Jews did not practice it for long. Man is rebel by nature, as the Scriptures signify. Since the creation of Adam, humans do not comply with the commands of the Lord wholeheartedly. It is therefore, Cain killed Abel, committing the first murder on the Earth. (Genesis 4: 1-17). In the same way, an overwhelming majority of his era tried to falsify Noah and his teachings and only few could abode the Arch to escape the destructive flood, who had belief in one God and His prophet Noah. Further, people forgot all the bright teachings of Noah as soon as God sent Abraham to teach the humanity. Abraham preached nothing but reverence to one God, and the same did Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. All the twelve sons of Jacob promised him that they would submit no one other than Jehovah. But after his death, the descendent clans and tribes forgot the Covenant and fell into misconception regarding the oneness of the Lord. “In effect, the thesis was developed that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob became aggregated into one deity from separate household Gods.” (Quoted in God revealed, 2000). Subsequently, they went astray and kept far away from their teachings and the real picture of the religion eclipsed. The Jews suffered lots of humiliation and pains and Egyptians made them their slaves because of their transgressions and violations of the law of God. (Exodus 1: 8-14). The Egyptians killed their sons and kept their daughters alive. Meanwhile, God sent Moses to save the suffering Jews from the cruelties of Pharaoh. But they again became transgressors during the temporary absence of Moses, who was called to Mt. Sinai by the Lord. “And We appointed a meeting time for Moses of forty nights, but then you took the calf after him while you were wicked.” (Al-Quran, 2:53). Since the first term of the covenant was worshipping of the one God (Yahweh), the Torah declares one God as the Creator of the world. In its words: “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth”. (Genesis: 1:1). Thus the discussion strengthens the concept that monotheism prevailed among ancient Jews, but they did not observe it in their daily lives. The main part of the Jewish law, originated from the Torah, consists of the Five Books of Moses strictly lays stress on conveying to the people the concept of monotheism. The Old Testament as well as the Talmud expresses the same. In fact, personality-worship and idealism promoted idolism and dualism among the chosen seed. They either made the sculptors of the holy men or started worshipping them or they declare prophets. It is therefore it had become very hard for them to observe monotheism especially while interacting with other civilizations of contemporary times. The calf worship is one of the most significant examples of their deviation from the right path. Consequently, they had to suffer a lot because of their transgressions and non-compliance with the word of the Creator, the Lord of the Empyrean. BIBLIOGRAPHY The Book of Abraham: Chapter 2 Verses 9-11 The Book of Nehemiah. Chapter 1 Verses 8-10 The Holy Quran Chapter 2 The Heifer Verses 48, 58 The Book of Job. The Genesis Chapter I, IV Exodus. Chapter 1: Verses 8-14 The Holy Torah Goldenberg, Robert. Ancient Jews, Ancient Gentiles, and Modern Scholars: Current Issues in the Study of Early Judaism. Department of Jewish Studies of McGill University. March 11, 1999. Smith, Gerald L. K. A Collection of Sermons and Essays. The Cross and the Flag magazine (Quoted in http://stormfront.org/posterity/ci/smith16.html) Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Book I (1667) Scheib, Ariel. Satan. Jewish Virtual Library (Quoted in www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/satan.html) Read More