Is Joshua allowed to enter the Tent of Meeting OR are only Aaronid priests? The Very First Bible: The Hebrew word there, , is exclusively used in Classical Hebrew to describe the wrath of a deity. Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. They stop by the prophet Elisha to get Yahweh's word on whether they will be victorious. Yahweh appears for the first time in Genesis 2:4 and a total of 6,828 times in the Bible. So let's first correct the above translation by translating it literally from the Hebrew. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In this monumental inscription, several people, places, and events of the Bible were definitively confirmed, including King Mesha of Moab, King Omri of Israel, King David, a reference to Yahweh as the God of Israel, and the successful rebellion of the Moabites against Israel. (Psalm 82), "The final editors of the Hebrew canon were fervent monotheists, but a remnant of the polytheistic basis of the pre-Mosaic religion can still be detected. Chemosh (from Hebrew , pronounced /emo/), was the primary god of the Moabites (Num. If so, Chemosh probably stood in the position of Asthar's husband, as did El to Asherah and Baal to Astarte. http://triangulations.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/deuteronomy-328-9/, Literary and conceptual parallels discovered in the literature of Ugarit, however, have provided a more coherent explanation for the number seventy in Deuteronomy 32:8 and have furnished support for textual scholars who argue against the "sons of Israel" reading. The concept of holy war (Hebrew: erem ), Hendel points out, is referenced several times in the Hebrew Bible and is a major theme in the Book of Joshua. (2 Kings 23:13). The great wrath may refer to the divine wrath of Chemosh! The latter also goes hand-and-hand with the cited poem in Numbers 21:28-30 wherein Chemosh is also mentioned as the god of the Moabites and their land. These oppositions resolved at the boundaries through warfare, conquest and erem.7 . Burton, Judd H. "Chemosh: Ancient God of Moabites." Ugaritic mythology plainly states that the head of its pantheon, El (who, like the God of the Bible, is also referred to as El Elyon, the "Most High") fathered seventy sons, thereby specifying the number of the "sons of El" (Ugaritic, bn il). (For the unusual circumstances surrounding its discovery, see Archaeology and Biblical Research, Winter 1991: 2-3).Mesha was ruler of the small kingdom of Moab, east of the Dead Sea, in the mid-ninth century BC.He was a contemporary of Jehoshaphat, king of the . Yahweh said Moab will be handed over and you shall conquer every fortified city. Disspossess so to inherit his land! (Deut 2:24, 31). One says: The king sacrificed his son for the sake of Heaven, and one says: The king sacrificed his son for the sake of idol worship. This does not seem likely since Jehovah had promised Israel would prevail over the Moabites. Of course, we cannot overlook the fact of . Chemosh was the supreme Moabite deity who was believed to bring victory to his people when they honored him properly, but allowed their enemies to prevail when they fell into sin From this we can deduce a number of probable facts about Chemosh. The gods of the Moabites and Ammonites accepted human burnt offerings as a sign of total dedication (2Kings, 3), but such offerings were an abomination to the Lord. (Ex 32:27-28 vs Ex 32:35 vs Ex 32:34), #116. 1. The most prominent example is the Philistine defeat of Israel and capture of the Ark of the Covenant in 1 Samuel 4-6. Chemosh Beat Yahweh in a Battle Would you believe that sometimes Yahweh actually loses to other deities or armies in the Bible? The borders of Moab are from the Zered to the Jabbok, that is both the Moabite and Amorite territories of the J and D traditions. Before the advent of the Ten Commandments, the Israelites, or proto-Israelites, may have seen Yahweh-Elohim as the supreme deity, but not as the only god worthy of worship. He was incredibly wise and compassionate to those that came to him for guidance, but not always. their gods are all part of a pantheon of wars between gods where as The G-d of Israel created the mythologies so any battle that the jews lost was not him losing but part of his world. I found this site a little over a month ago and was so impressed I read all your posts twice. What is the source of your belief, do you think? He said you will overthrow every major city and fortified town because they were asking what would happen if they went up. As Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi raises a contradiction: It is written concerning the Jewish people: You have not walked in My statutes, neither have you kept My ordinances; nor have you done according to the statutes of the nations that are round about you (Ezekiel 5:7), and it is also written: You have done according to the statutes of the nations that are round about you (Ezekiel 11:12). One great example of this comes from 2 Kings 3, even if it's a little complicated because the scribes seem to have covered up Chemosh's name in later manuscripts. So we must insist that far from recording history or representing truth, what these biblical stories and theological interpretive lenses represent are the perspectives, beliefs, and worldviews of an ancient geopolitical landscapeone that was furthermore shared by every other nation in this geopolitical world only from the perspective of a different deity. Solomon erected an altar to Chemosh south of the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem, on the Hill of Corruption. Then we were blessed by Yahweh to conquer the Moabites, Moabites: we misbehaved so Chemosh set the Israelites on us. The stele was erected by Mesha circa 850 B.C.E . The Moabites are apostrophized in an old Hebrew song as the "people of Chemosh" ( Nu 21:29 ). They weren't beaten back, they just left. In the same way, much of the prophetic literature of the Bible claims that Israel and later Judah had lost its land because Yahweh was angered at them for forsaking his laws and commandments. And his son followed him and he also said, I will humble Moab. In my time he spoke thus, but I have triumphed over him and over his house, while Israel has perished forever! Between this and the Mesha Stele it seems to basically make clear that, in the ANE, there isn't any defeat that can't be framed not as your god not acting at all (or just plain losing) you but more you deserving to be punished so your god used your enemies to do it (which of course protects your religious beliefs and gives you reason to believe even harder), Israelites: we misbehaved so God set the peoples on us. (Ex 33:11 vs Num 1:51, 3:10, 3:38, 18:5-7), #224. But since they became afraid of the wrath of Chemosh, or because they were simply disgusted by the crazy act of the king, they left. [1] However, there is an even greater significance to this verse. Information on Chemosh is scarce, although archaeology and text can render a clearer picture of the deity. Only the pure are allowed to eat sacrificial meat OR both the pure and impure? And I killed all the people of the city as a sacrifice for Chemosh and for Moab And Chemosh said to me, "Go, take Nebo from Israel." On critical occasions, a human sacrifice was considered necessary to secure the favor of Chemosh. So Israel is made up of humans, and Elijah's prophecy is not a prophecy of predestined destruction of Moab. In short, the stele makes it clear that from the perspective of this Moabite scribe Chemosh controlled what befell the Moabites (blessings or curses) and who possessed the land. Within the text, the inscriber mentions Chemosh twelve times. The devil is in the details, it seems. Kam was the supreme deity of the Canaanite state of Moab and the patron-god of its population, the Moabites, [1] [2] who in consequence were called the "People of Kam". no religions talk of their gods ever losing battles. Please, How would the Pre-Nicene Christians view the tumultuous events of today? The meaning of the name Chemosh is not understood, though some scholars believe it may have meant "destroyer" or "subduer." Chemosh was also seen as a fish-god. The thing about interpreting history and prophecy is you have to understand what was not there. Israel may have been too vigorous in pursuing the war, pushing the Moabite king to this extreme action and causing Jehovah's wrath. God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the gods: 2 How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? They represented the fierce, inescapable, and often consuming heat of the summer sun (a necessary but deadly element in life; analogs may be found in Aztec sun worship). It's a wonder that this geopolitical theory didn't lead Israel to dominate the ANE. It also mentions Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, which is also listed 8 times in the Bible: Num 21:29: "Woe to you Moab! (Judges 11). An ancient poem, twice quoted in the Old Testament (Num. Dispossess so to inherit his land! (Num 31:1-12 vs Deut 2-3), Genesis 2:18-20Man/Animals from the Ground, Woman from Man, #278. What part of "every" don't you understand? Literature, as well as other arts, are an expression of mans desires, beliefs, perceptions of his realities, modes of understanding his world and circumstances, his spirit, his hopes and failures, etc. The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."'). Here as well, the Jewish people learned from the king of Moab to engage in human sacrifice.en Levi. (Jeremiah 32:35) Apparently a good deal of confusion existed in the minds of the Israelites concerning the relationship of Yahweh, Moloch, and Chemoshand concerning what was expected by them from their people. (Num 21:29; Judg 11:24 & the Mesha stele vs Deut 2:24), #371. He was very respected and was considered by the people to be all-knowing and all-powerful. I often get asked why if Im not a believer, do I study these texts? Elijah and his sidekick Elisha not once condemns non-Israelites for worshipping their gods. It identifies what we would call northern Moab as Amorite territory, that is from the Arnon river to the Jabbok, the borders of Ammon. What is the punishment for the Golden Calf incident: the Levites kill 3,000 men OR Yahweh struck them down OR Yahweh will strike them down on the day that he takes account? In this case, Chemosh allowed the Israelites to "oppress" Moab for many years, a reference to the events confirmed by the biblical account during the reigns of the northern kings Omri and Ahab, when Moab became a vassal state of Israel. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Begin! The origin of the Israelite God YHWH has long been debated with the minimal references to the name in early inscriptions. If he is all-good, why doesn't he avail himself of these means? You have perished, O people of Chemosh!" Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. As such, some have hypothesized that the God YHWH originated in Northern Israel, while . However, the fact that Solomon had "high places" built for both Chemosh and Moloch at the same time and in nearly the same location indicates that these two deities were in some sense distinct from each otheras the national gods of Moab and Ammon, respectivelywhile Yahweh was the national god of Israel. https://www.theveryfirstbible.org Why would a god, any god, need people to fight and kill each other in useless wars? (Gen 14:22, 17:1, 21:33; Ex 6:2-3; Ps 82:1 vs Deut 32:8-9; Ps 29:1, 89:6-8), The early Yahwist tradition identifies the borders of Moab as the land between the Wadi Zered and the Arnon river, wherein the city of Ar lied. Israel wanted to be like the other nations (see 1 Samuel 8:5, 20 ). This parallel is clear. 2 Kings 3:27 27 Then he (Mesha, king of the Moabites who worshiped Chemosh) took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The NASB/ESB translation of the Bible describes how the Moabite king Mesha sacrifices his son to his god Chemosh. Privacy Policy. Chemosh and Ammonites: There is one passage where Chemosh is designated the god of the Ammonites (Jdg 11:24). Rites involving this god were said to be cruel also and may have involved human sacrifice. Neither Elijah nor his biographer thought that the woman of Zarephath ought to give up the service of her Baal on the ground that there was no God but Yahweh. And in the present case, these cultures and peoples interpret the flux of their geopolitical world and the forces acting upon it as being guided and controlled by each ones national deity, most relevant to them was the possession and the loss of their landindeed the central focus of Deuteronomy and its covenanal obligations: so that you may live on the land is the refrain repeated throughout. [5] The great divine wrath might have therefore been satanic. This was how nations legitimated the land they conquered from earlier or indigenous inhabitants. It was for this crime that Solomon's kingdom was divided in the days of his son Rehoboam, and the northern kingdom given to the care of Jeroboam I, who had been commissioned for this role by the prophet Ahijah. In 2 Kings 3:18-19, Elisha relates Jehovah's prophecy that the armies of Israel will defeat the Moabites: And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. So he could be more powerful? And that in itself is fascinating. King Mesha of Moab erected the Moabite Stone to his god Chemosh to commemorate Mesha's breaking of Israel's domination, which, he says, had lasted 40 years and was allowed by Chemosh because he was "angry with his land." This revolt of Moab is usually considered to be related to the events recorded in the third chapter of 2 Kings. Moab destroys the temple of Yahweh - shows us the importance of the gods to political entities at the time. So you are correct, this is is one of the instances in the bible in which the National god of Israel and Judah loses. Israelites had 4-5 criteria for determining how Yahweh was the 'true god,' but I won't launch into that here ." Parker: "There are many uses of the plural term of the word Elohim in the Bible." Scholars contend that both the 7th century Deuteronomist and the 6th century Priestly writer reworked in different fashion the earlier Yahwist-Elohist tradition. Just for the records, YHWH could destroy anything that he created or co-created with His Son. Twitter. Chemosh, the subduer, was the national god of the Moabites and was also worshiped by the Ammonites. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron. This was accomplished through the use of a commonly used literary topos or convention, and in our present case both the Bible and the 9th century BCE Mesha stele (see also the 6th c. Babylonian cylinder seal) bear witness to this literary convention. Even the biblical writers are forced to admit that the strategy succeeded: "Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession." 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