It's a living

[dreamer_easy]

I assume Yahweh is referred to as "the living god" to contrast Him with lifeless idols. Now, my understanding is that the Hebrews were henotheists: their neighbours' gods existed, but were not to be worshipped, and in any case were subordinate to Yahweh. However, quick search turns up the first use of "the living god" in Deuteronomy. So now I'm wondering - did "living god" have a different meaning, for example, a deity without idols or images?

Comments

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Oh, I meant when the concept was first developed - by Paul's time I'm sure it was well in place.

I have a dead interesting article here somewhere, which I'm going to write a little entry on, which suggests how the Hebrews solved a pressing problem which goes:

1. Yahweh pwns all.
2. The Assyrians kicked our ass.
3. WTF

The article suggests that their solution was that the Assyrians' war god, Aššur, was working for Yahweh - that this mega powerful foreign deity was still nothing more than Yahweh's agent, punishing His wayward people.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

The Old Testament itself offers an even more interesting theory:

1. YHWH pwns all.
2. YHWH promises Israel He will pwn all their enemies on their behalf if they worship Him and keep His commandments.
3. Israel says "w00t! kthx!" but only for about five minutes before being distracted by the pagan Shiny.
4. YHWH warns Israel x 1000, via various prophets, that they will be pwnd if they don't quit with the idolatry.
5. Israel says "LA LA LA WE CAN'T HEAR YOU".
6. Cue Enemy King: "IM IN UR BASE KILLIN UR D00DS".
7. Israel: O_O *cries* *repents*
8. YHWH: *forgives* *rescues*

Then repeat steps 3-8 for about 1500 years, getting progressively worse as you go along, until finally you get the Assyrians and the Babylonians and after that Israel finally seems to Get The Point.

And yes, the book of Isaiah in particular describes the Assyrians as being used by God to bring judgment on Israel, before going on to point out that God will in turn judge Assyria for their cruelty and bring about their ultimate defeat. But by that time, the idea of God allowing enemy nations to invade Israel in order to spur them to repentance was nothing new.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

6. Cue Enemy King: "IM IN UR BASE KILLIN UR D00DS".

This is so much more expressive than "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold."

("The pagan Shiny" should be an Ebay category.)

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

[NODS VIGOROUSLY] I want my next Bible to be the translation. =:o}

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

"Then repeat steps 3-8 for about 1500 years, getting progressively worse as you go along, until finally you get the Assyrians and the Babylonians and after that Israel finally seems to Get The Point."

[NODS VIGOROUSLY]

...Until sometime later when some D00D turns up saying, "OK, well done folks for getting the hang of this stuff at the national level. You've been a beacon to the nations, shown 'em where it's at, YHWH-wise, yadda yadda. But there's personal and internal sides to all this stuff too, remember? I see, for example, that we have a slight imbalance between the poor and lowly versus the rich and powerful... " And Israel listens happily for a bit until it starts sounding, y'know, like they all might actually have to *work* at it, whereupon for the most part they say, "Oy, give us a break already!", except for few of them plus a few (Shock! Gasp!) foreigners who say, "Hang on... this sounds interesting..."

Cue 2000-ish years (so far) of Christians following the exact same cycle (steps 3-8), individually or in small groups, and mostly out of synch with each other. =:o}

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Actually, "working at it" is what most people in Israel (particularly the Pharisees) were happy to do, at least as far as their understanding of the Law was concerned. It was the humiliating news that God's standards of holiness were even higher than they had imagined, too high for even the most scrupulously pious human beings to meet, that made (and makes) Jesus's teaching so unpopular. After all, as long as you are even theoretically capable of working your way into God's favor by diligent effort, there's a chance for you to feel good about yourself. But if there's no way to heaven but a narrow gate labelled REPENT, and the line in front of it seems to be made up of prostitutes and tax collectors and other despicable "sinners"... now that's humiliating.

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

Ah, but for some of us, the instinct to work at things is so strong that *not* working at it is hard work! =;o}

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

That is the most hilarious version of Jewish history ever. Thank you

related joke: the story of most Jewish holidays: "They tried to kill us; we won. Let's eat." :)

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

"They tried to kill us; we won. Let's eat."

*sporfles*

The thing about reading the history of Israel, though (I'm on my latest re-read of Exodus right now) is that it is so very much the history of human nature in general and my own heart toward God in particular. Fearfulness, unbelief, complaining, idolatry... it all hits just a little too uncomfortably close to home. And then there's the incredible patience and mercy of God in the face of all this appalling misbehaviour ("All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people").

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

I agree - it sure is a good thing God is so forgiving, because human weakness is so prevalent...

[jblum.livejournal.com]

Who was it who had the routine about the Instant Seder? "STILL HERE!"