Aryas, Semites and Jews

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Interregnum 11

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their

II. The Hebrews

ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, AND THEIR HOUSEHOLD GOD.

From the Hebrew Scriptures we learn that Abram was a citizen of Ur, one of the oldest of the Chaldsean cities. From the cylinders we find that at the time of his birth that city was at the height of its prosperity, and was the principal or capital city of the southern district of the country afterward known as Babylonia.

Its name " Ur " comes from the tutelary god worshipped by its inhabitants, the moon ; and Ur means the moon-city. It was situate about six miles west of the Euphrates, perhaps ten or twenty miles from its mouth. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates bring down each year so much sediment, that the land rapidly encroaches on the Persian Gulf; and the present mouth of the Euphrates is many miles beyond the outlet of the river at the time of Abram.i

1 The ruins of Ur, now known as Mugheir, show that it was originally surrounded by a wall, and was a place of considerable importance. The first monarch of Ur, whose name has been

Terah, the father of Abram, the Scriptures inform us, "was a worshipper of other gods," and Hebrew traditions call him a maker of images or teraphim.

Teraphim were images of the household gods, made of any size, some small to be easily carried on a journey, and others of life size. Kitto's Cyclopaedia says, " They were similar to the ' Penates;'" and calls them "tutelar household gods, by whom families expected, for worship bestowed, to be rewarded with domestic prosperity, such as plenty of food, health, and the various necessaries of domestic life."

In Genesis it is stated, that Rachel, the wife of Jacob, secreted her father Laban's images, or teraphim ; and Laban, in his interview v»rith Jacob, charges him with having "stolen his gods." When Jacob goes to Bethel, at the command of his god, he orders his household to " put away the strange gods that are among you," evidently referring to images or teraphim. In Judges, Micah, it is stated, "made an ephod, and teraphim," for the purpose of worship. These household gods

preserved, is Lig-Bagus, wno ruled apparently a little before the time of Abram. He extended his empire by conquest over niost of Southern Babylonia. At Ur, he built a temple to the moongod, a tower, and a palace; remains of the temple still exist. He also erected a temple in Larsa; one to the god Anu, in Erech; and one to Bel, at Nipur.

were well known to the Israelites, both before and after Moses.

To understand the Bible account of Abram, we must first know what were the influences surrounding him during his sixty years' residence in Ur, previous to his removal with his father Terah. This knowledge we obtain from the Babylonian cylinders.

The Semites in the Euphrates Valley, as we have before said, were worshippers of many gods. The whole universe was divided up among them. Anu was the supreme ruler of the heavens, and had command over the seven baleful spirits of the air, or winds. Bel, or Belus, the Baal of Scripture, was god of the middle region ; he represented the principle of active and creative life, and held sway on earth. Hea governed the regions under the earth, and the sea. The throne-bearers, or seven wicked spirits of the sea, were under his control. Hea was also the representative of wisdom. Vul, the son of Anu, was the god of the atmosphere and its phenomena. Anatu, the wife of Anu, was goddess of life and death. Istar, daughter of Anu, afterward known as Astarte or Venus, and in Scripture as Ashtoreth, represented' the heavenly bodies. She is also portrayed as the mother of mankind, and as the goddess of licentious love. Elu, prince of gods, was the principal god of war, and is afterward known as Mars. Nagal was also a war-god. Shamus was the sungod. Merodach was benefactor of mankind ; Maklin, god of dreams ; with many others of less note, also tutelary gods of the various cities and villages, down to the tutelar household gods. A change of rulers frequently caused a change in the god worshipped in the city or country. The same was true of the household god. Those old Babylonians believed that the gods desired sacrifice ; the burning of fragrant woods and the flavors of burning flesh were grateful to them, and they would flock in crowds to smell the sacrifice. The Bible says of the sacrifice of Noah, "and the Lord smelled a sweet savor;" and the Babylonian legend, speaking of the same thing, says, "The gods collected at its burning ; the gods like flies over the sacrifice gathered," In return for this sacrifice (which was not an act of worship as we understand it, but merely an offering for benefits received or expected), the god to whom the sacrifice was offered, it was believed, would protect, care for, and aid the worshipper in his undertakings, and give him health, food, and success. If the worshipper did not succeed, he became dissatisfied with his god, and unceremoniously dethroned him as weak and powerless, and put in his place another, and, as he hoped, a more powerful deity.

They had no fear, love, or reverence for them: they were merely convenient helpers.

The supreme god Ann, with Bel, god of earth, and Hea, god of the sea, they believed to have been created by the forces of nature ; with the exception of these and their immediate descendants, they believed the gods to have been men, who, for services rendered on earth, had been made immortal. By thus becoming immortal, they had obtained and wielded power beyond that of man, and became gods.

In the Book of Acts, we read that the inhabitants 01 Lystra desired to offer sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul, as being Jupiter and Mercury. After the shipwreck at Melita, Paul shook off the viper that had fastened on his hand, without injury ; and they said, '* He is a god." The Lares and Penates are the same as the household gods of Abram's time ; and a Christian adaptation of the same belief is seen in Europe in the Roman- Catholic worship of saints.

The duties of the household god, in return for sacrificial offerings, are expressed in the covenant or bargain made by Jacob with his god as recorded in Genesis: —

" Jacob vowed a vow, saying. If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my Lord."

This illustrates the belief and the expectation of the men of those times, and shows the nature of the covenant or bargain made between the parties. In payment for this care and these blessings, Jacob promises the usual sacrifice. " Of all thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee : " in other words, will spend that amount in incense and sacrifices. ^

We smile at the Eastern legends and traditions respecting Abraham : yet Christians have fallen into as great a misconception of his character, by imagining that the god with whom he covenanted and conversed was the Deity as revealed by the Christ two thousand years later. Jehovah, the Hebrew tutelary god revealed by Moses ; and our Father, revealed by the Christ, — were both alike unknown to Abraham.

Then, who and what was the god revealed to Abram? and what does the Scripture story mean?

Abram for sixty years was a resident of Ur. He was in no way different from the other inhabitants of the city. Like them he was a believer

1 Undoulbtedly, most Christians in their early manhood would gladly make an agreement to give ten per cent of their income to the support of religion or to charity, upon a contract like the above. Yet how few from their incomes pay to the Giver any such proportion!

in, and a worshipper of, the gods of Babylonia: he knew no others. At sixty years of age he journeyed to Haran with his father, who took with him his gods ; and there the family remained until the death of Terah.

Previous to this time, Abram had received this message, as he believed, from a household god: " I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing ; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee ; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." This was the promise. The consideration for all these blessings was, " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee."

We see that he did not do this until his father's death ; then " Abram departed, . . . and they went forth into the land of Canaan." Abram showed that he had faith in the promise, by fulfilling the condition ; and this was the first step in the contract made between Abram, and the Deity in the character of a household god.

A revelation such as was afterward made through the Christ could not have been understood by the Semites at that time, neither were they far enough advanced at the time of Moses. God reveals himself to the extent of the ability

28 AETAS, SEMITES AND JEWS,

of man to receive. For eighteen hundred years we have had the Christ's revelation ; yet how few Christians have the ability to receive it to-day !

To reach or influence man, the only way open was for the Deity to meet man on his own plane of knowledge and belief, crude as it was, and through that belief carry forward his own objects ; and that is what he did do.

Abram believed that his worship of a household god made it obligatory on the part of that god to help him. He received the proposition of the god naturally, and showed his faith in the message by removing to the land pointed out. That was the first step, and fulfilled his part of the agreement or covenant.

Abram's obedience received its reward by a visible or personal appearance, and he was encouraged by a promise of a gift of the land to his seed. In answer Abram erected an altar on the plain of Moreh and afterward at Bethel, and offered sacrifice to this god ; this was equal to a vow of confidence. From thence he travelled to Egypt, where he was protected by his god ; and he returned to Bethel laden with riches. In return for this protection and increase, he called upon the name of, or sacrificed to, his god.

At a later period the promise was made more particular in its terms, and stronger; and the

THE HEBBEWS. 29

promised protection was soon put to the test in his conflict with Chedorlaomer and the allied kings, in which he won the battle, and rescued Lot from bondage. On his return he was met by Melchizedek, who informed him that he had conquered Chedorlaomer by the aid of " the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth." This was the first knowledge Abram had received as to the personality or position of the god whom he served ; and he immediately gave the credit of his success to the " most high God, possessor of heaven and earth," in his response to the king of Sodom. Every god previously known to Abram had a name, but as yet he did not know the name of the god he served.

After these things, Abram was still more strengthened by the promise, " Fear not, Abram : I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward," and with the additional promise of a son, and that his seed should be in number as the stars in heaven. Then comes the dream, in which the servitude of the Hebrews was foretold, and the result ; and a covenant, or agreement of possession, was made with Abram. We see that the promises of the god were continually enlarged, and Abram was prospered in all his undertakings. Coming in contact with the king of Egypt, it was Abram's god who was known and acknowledged.

Thus the Deity endeavored to enlarge Abram's idea of his power, and to strengthen his confidence in him.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, his god, as he believed, appeared unto him, and revealed himself as the " Almighty God," and talked with him ; changed his name to Abraham, and established with him the covenant of circumcision ; and '' he and all the men of his house were circumcised the same day." Shortly after, Abraham held an argument with a being who he believed was his god, relative to the destruction of the cities of the plain.

In all these interviews, in which God is represented as appearing in the form of a man, and holding intercourse, face to face, with Abraham, we must remember what Abraham's belief was. A man who had become immortal was to him a god. He would meet one, so immortalized into a god, on a plane of equality. The exhibition of any extraordinary power by a being in human form would lead Abraham to believe in him as a god, — as did the Grecians long years afterward ; and as did Jacob, when he wrestled all night with a man, who then, with a touch of his finger, put out his thigh-joint ; and Jacob said, " I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." At a later time, the Deity said unto Moses, speaking of

Aaron, " Thou shalt be to him instead of God ; " also of Pharaoh, "I have made thee a god to Pharaoh." Thus we see any unusual appearance, or the possession of extraordinary power, led to the belief that the possessor was a god ; and it is this belief which is expressed in the words and acts of Abraham ; and they make true the statement of Christ, '' No man hath seen God at any time."

The contract or covenant of circumcision was continued with Isaac, and renewed with Jacob. God had been revealed to them, also, as the Almighty ; but they do not seem to have given any thought to its meaning, and do not give him his title. He is known to their descendants simply as a personal or household god, as " their fathers' god," or "the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." <

The various experiences of the patriarchs, and the power shown in their behalf by this household god, gave him a place in the worship of their descendants ; and we find the acknowledgment of it down to the days of servitude to the Egyptians.

Various events caused the children of Jacob, with their father, to settle in Egypt, a portion of the country being assigned to them as their residence.

After the death of Jacob, several hundred years passed. In the changes of rulers, the former honored guests had become the bondmen of Egypt. The belief in the power and personal care of their fathers' god had, during their long years of servitude, died out. Some still remembered there was a god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but they had lost all faith in his power. If he had at one time been " possessor of heaven and earth," as he claimed, he evidently had lost his power on the earth. Had he not led them into captivity, and then deserted them ? Had they not besought his help, until they had ceased in despair ? The large promises made to their fathers had not been fulfilled, and apparently would not be. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was powerless, and his promises of no avail. For hundreds of years they had been bondmen, and no help had come to them ; and they had long ceased to expect it. The mighty gods of Egypt had proved to be too powerful for this household god, and they had no refuge.

The descendants of Abraham had increased to millions. A nation, in numbers, had been formed, and kept separate from all other nations by the peculiarity of their position. The Deity had dealt with the patriarchs as a household god. He had obtained their full and unwavering faith by fulfilling his promises to them, but their descendants knew him not.

MOSES, THE ISRAELITES, AND JEHOVAH THEIR TUTELARY OR NATIONAL GOD.

It is under these circumstances that the Deitytakes another step in the accomplishment of his purpose. Moses is brought forward as a messenger from this god who has been so long silent and unobservant of their misery.

Up to this time, Moses' life had been an exceptional one. Adopted and brought up by the Egyptian queen, he had received a thorough schooling in the religion of the Egyptians, and had been a worshipper of their gods. He was aware of the sufferings of his race ; at one time, in the heat of his indignation, he had killed an Egyptian in defence of a Hebrew, and had been obliged to flee on account of it. We may suppose that at this time he was conversant with the doings of the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : perhaps he had hoped the Hebrews might some day gain their freedom ; if so, that hope had died out, and he was quietly passing his days in keeping the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro, in Midian.

Moses was approached through a voice in the burning bush, claiming to represent the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This voice expressed the determination of that god to free his people

Israel, and desired the co-operation of Moses. Moses had no faith in the power of this god, and no hope of freeing his people. How was it possible for this god, alone, to cope with the enormous power of Egypt ? He had no wish to become the leader of a forlorn-hope in any rash scheme for the deliverance of the Israelites.

We see Moses' want of faith in the power of this god, in the reluctance with which he accepted the position urged upon him, as the proposed leader of his people.

"Who am I " (he says), "that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Being still further urged, he says, " When I shall come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The god of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me, What is his name, what shall I say unto them?" When answered, he claims that "they w^ill not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice." To meet his objections, he is given the power of miracles. He then makes the slowness and hesitation of his speech an excuse for not accepting; and, notwithstanding this god promises, "I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say," he still hesitates, and seeks to get free from the proposed task. He beseeches the god to send some one else : " O my Lord, send.

I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send." This unwillingness provokes the anger of the god; "and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses." His objection is met by appointing his brother Aaron as his spokesman, and declaring that to both his brother and to Pharaoh he (Moses) shall be as a god.

It was not, as has been said, the meekness of Moses that led him to refuse tlie office proposed. The objections come from a man fearing for him-" self, and doubting the power and ability of the god who desired his services, to carry out what he proposes ; and who is consequently indisposed to take the prominent part insisted upon. He seeks in every way, by every subterfuge, to escape the task sought to be laid upon him ; and it is not until he is driven from all his excuses, his faith strengthened by the power of performing miracles which is bestowed upon him, and by the promise of personal protection by reason of the belief that he is a god, which is to be planted in the mind of Pharaoh, that he accepts the position thus persistently urged upon him.

Moses was aware of the vast power of Egypt, and, like all others, supposed that power was obtained and retained by means of the good-will of their gods. They received enormous gifts and offerings; sacrifice and incense arose before them

36 ABYA8, SEMITES AND JEWS.

day and night ; and in return they blessed Egypt with happiness, prosperity, and power : and Moses felt it to be a dangerous thing to proceed against such a power. He is led on by degrees ; his first effort is against the weakest of the Egyptian gods. His success leads to more confidence hi the power of Jehovah, until at last he has measured his power single-handed with them all. This confidence is shared by the Israelites, who at first, watching anxiously his movements, are encouraged, and finally are filled with joy and confidence.

The Deity further reveals himself to Moses by name as Jehovah: "the existing one." By my name Jehovah (he says) was I not known unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

As in former times the Deity revealed himself to Abraham as a household god, meeting the expectations and belief of those times ; so now he takes a higher position, and proposes to make himself the tutelary or guardian god of a nation that he will form out of these Israelites. He will measure his strength with the gods of Egypt; will bring the Israelites out of bondage, and make them a nation. If he does this, they shall as a nation make choice of him as their guardian, tutelary, or national god; they shall be loyal to him, and serve and worship him alone. It is upon this platform that he proceeds against the gods of Egypt. The Israelites believed in the gods of Egypt, in their strength and power; and the Deity meets them in that belief, and uses it for his own purposes.

The bargain accords with the ideas of the Israelites ; it is in unison with their desires, and with the belief ot the times. It is the proposition of a god without a people, desirous of becoming the protecting or tutelary god of a nation, instead of being the god of individuals or of a family. His proposition is, that he will prove his power ; and if successful, he is to be their god. As the god of a nation, sacrifices would be offered daily ; which, according to the belief of the times, was all that was desired by the gods. If he succeeds in his undertaking, they will gladly choose so powerful a god, as their national god, and will rejoice to be adopted by him.

This bargain or agreement is expressed by the Deity, as Jehovah, to Moses, as follows : —

"Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. . . . Say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage ; and I will redeem you with a stretclied-out arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God, and ye shall know that I am your God, which bringeth you out from under the burden of the Egyptians ; and I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for an heritage; I am the Lord." This is the proposition of Jehovah to this people.

Here were two or three millions of bond men and women, a people robbed of all manliness by long years of servitude ; slaves, ignorant and superstitious, desiring only creature comforts, satisfied with their servitude if only well fed; worshippers, if at all, of the gods of Egypt. These people, so debased, were under subjection to the most enlightened and powerful nation existing; at that time in the height of their power and glory ; their country the seat of learning, arts, and civilization, and their gods the most powerful of any nation ; with immense armies, and all the resources necessary for protection or offence ; a nation whose interest it was to keep these people in bondage. How could Jehovah, alone and unaided, accomplish the work he proposed ? How could he break the chains of the Israelites, and set them free, — one god against a dozen ?

The effect of the first visit of Moses to Pharaoh was to increase the tasks of the Israelites, and they were angry at his interference. What could give them faith sufficient to take the first step for their own deliverance ?

Moses was the mouthpiece, the representative, of Jehovah, — his agent. He must prove to them that Jehovah not only had the will, but also the power, to deliver them. He must bring them out of their bondage boldly, with force and might, and the exhibition of great strength. Not only must this be done without their help, but even in opposition to their fears; he must do it in such a manner as to win their confidence, and give them faith in the ability of Jehovah when exerted in contest with the gods of Egypt. These gods must be put to shame, their power mocked and brought to naught. This could only be done by the direct agency of Jehovah, exerted through Moses, in such stupendous and extraordinary exhibitions as should be seen and acknowledged of all; even the weakest and most timid of the Israelites must be able to boast of the triumphs of his god.

On the other side, how could Moses bring the Israelites out of bondage to the Egyptians, without their consent ? and how would it be possible to obtain that consent?

40 ,AIiYAS, SEMITES AND JEWS,

There was no way to do this except by the use of the miraculous power placed in his hands by Jehovah for that purpose. The confidence and faith of the Egyptians in the power of their gods must be broken down and destroyed; and they must be made to realize that both their gods and themselves were wholly powerless before Jehovah, the mighty god of the Hebrews ; that their lives were in his hands and at his mercy.

We see that the use of extraordinary and miraculous powers was necessary, on the one side, to inspire confidence in Jehovah ; on the other, to arouse fear and dread of that being, by proving that he was not only more powerful than all the gods of Egypt, but that all attempts to withstand him would meet with disaster, defeat, and death.

The series of events, com^monly called the plagues of Egypt, were direct and systematic attacks on the various gods worshipped by the Egyptians. As each in turn was shown to be powerless to prevent the plague or curse brought upon them, the faith of the Israelites in the gods of Egypt was weakened, and their confidence in Jehovah strengthened ; until from, the bloody water, the lice and frogs, to the fire and hail, the thick darkness, and the death of the first-born, all the Egyptian gods, one after another, had been defied, and found powerless to protect either themselves or their worshippers.

The Deity used this miraculous power for his own purposes. By its means he not only strengthened the faith of the Israelites, but, in the various occasions in which it was used, the name of Jehovah was spread abroad, his power became known, and a fear of him existed in other nations.

Here was a nation of bondmen. Fear was the only means of teaching, or keeping in subjection, these millions of rude, uneducated human beings, but little above the animals; slaves to their appetites and passions ; a huge, unwieldy mob of ignorant, lawless, headstrong men, women, and children, suddenly relieved from bondage of body and soul, left now at liberty to work their own sweet wills without let or hinderance ; with only one man to say them nay, and he self-elected to the position of leader, with no standing army to enforce his behests, no system of laws or punishments to keep them in subjection, and, if there had been, with no civil power to enforce those punishments. How could this one man keep these hosts in subjection ? By his own power alone, it was impossible. It was necessary at the start, and would be necessary throughout, for Jehovah himself so to enforce obedience to Moses and his requirements, that they should know and feel that punishment would in-

■y evitably follow transgression; and that it would be quick, stern, and unrelenting.