Theological Warfare in 8th-Century Judah

The prophets had a significant task: to call people back to the pure worship of Yahweh. Their culture, like all human cultures, were filled with false views of God. In order to understand the prophets, it is helpful to understand the religious ideas that circulated in their time, and the way that people understood the spiritual realm. We should not assume that most Hebrews were faithful worshippers of God; rather, there were three beliefs dominant in Judah and Israel at this time.

Canaanite Traditional Religion

This is the belief system that people held to prior to the Israelites entering the land. It refers to the religion of the Canaanites, the non-Hebrew people, and this belief spread rapidly among the Hebrews.

Canaanite traditional religion was a polytheistic belief system. The Canaanites believed in many different gods and godesses who ruled the world. But these gods and godesses were not supreme; they resembled superheroes more than a divine, all-powerful being. These gods were mostly uninterested in human beings, focused instead on their own pleasures and desires. The gods included El and his consort Asherah, Baal and his consort Anat, and many others. Each had control over a certain realm of life, such as fertility, chaos, or death.

The worldview of the Canaanite system was animistic. They believed that everything had a spiritual significance, and even inanimate objects were imbued with spiritual existence. They did not understand cause and effect in terms of physical laws, but rather in terms of spiritual realities.

This leads to a third understanding of the world. The Canaanite system was mythopoeic. They believed in myths, but not literally. Actions, just like objects, have spiritual significance. Because the gods did not care, you had to get their attention. But over the centuries, people learned what actions the gods would pay attention to. And because these actions have spiritual power, your actions could change events. You could wield power in the spiritual realm by taking action.

What sort of actions must one perform, in order to wield spiritual power over the physical world? Sacrifices and rituals to the gods were a good place to start. Pray to Baal, make an offering to him – the more it hurts you, the more likely he is to pay attention. Offer your firstborn son as a burnt offering, and that will really get his attention – he will probably do what you ask him to.

But you could also jump-start physical processes by re-enacting what goes on in the spiritual realm. This is where Canaanite religion became very immoral. Because the Canaanites believed that the fertility of the natural world (specifically, the cycle of the seasons, and the rain and bountiful harvest) was the result of the sexual union of the gods. So, if one engaged in cultic prostitution, reenacting the sexual union of the gods, these actions had spiritual power to ensure a bountiful harvest.

This allows us to understand the world of the Old Testament prophets. They reference these things – child sacrifice, sacred prostitution, mythopoetic action – and the prophets are filled with arguments against this worldview and belief system.

But Canaanite worshippers had this argument against the prophets: “We have time-tested formulas on our side. We’ve learned, through generations, what exerts spiritual power in the world. If we give up on these rituals, on these offerings and sacrifices, and if we stop worshipping these gods, they will turn against us and destroy us.” This is one reason why people did not repent when the prophets preached. They were genuinely fearful of what could happen if they did not worship the gods of their ancestors.

There was another reason why people clung to the Canaanite religion. It was the moral system that the Canaanites held to, which allowed people to live however they wanted. The prophets were always calling out the people for their sins, but if one believes that the gods are immoral superheroes, then you can live your life without fear of judgment. Of course, sinners are always looking for an excuse to live the way that feels good. In fact, Canaanite religion even took things like prostitution and made them a part of the religion, so that the sinful fleshly desires became central to this religion, and could be indulged without judgment! As evil as this may be, it is certainly a reason why many people preferred to follow Canaanite beliefs.

Yahwism

The second belief system is the belief system of the prophets. We call it Yahwism, because it is the belief in Yahweh, that he is God and there is none else.

Yahwism is marked by several defining features, which made it unique in the ancient world.

The Hebrews were monotheistic in their belief in God. No other God could be worshipped. You cannot add Yahweh to your god-list, the way that Hindus adopt gods into their worship system.

The Hebrews believed that God intervened in history. Unlike other religions, which believed in myths which were fabulous stories and not meant to be taken literally, God had actually intervened in history in literal, tangible ways – through the calling of Abraham, the ten plagues, and parting the red sea.

The Hebrews also believed that they were the chosen people of God. Yahweh had chosen them, over all other nations on earth – and yet, Yahweh was still the God over all the world, who held sway over every kingdom and nation.

Yahweh was a holy God, separate from people, transcendent. The other gods were more like superheroes – super men, individuals with uncommon strength, but still resembling mortals. God was holy, separate, entirely distinct.

Hence the prophets called the nation of Israel back to the worship of this God. They condemned the people for rejecting Yahweh, who is their God. Isaiah’s words are very fitting:

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the LORD,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.
(Isaiah 1:2-4)

Syncretistic Yahwism

The third belief system is what we could call ‘civic religion,’ ‘syncretism,’ or ‘Yahwism-lite.’ It is the fact that many people were nominal believers in Yahwism, but they were not devoted and committed to God.

Judah, as a nation, did have a national religion, the worship of Yahweh. There was a temple in Jerusalem, and there were priests, who offered sacrifices.

The national religious establishment also had prophets, just like all the other religions, who made predictions about the future. And all of this was sponsored by the state, but these men were not sent by God.

In this sense, Judah held to Yahwism in a way that resembles how America is Christian – it was a surface-level religion, with a lot of people claiming to believe it, but few people serious about the faith.

One reason why people held to this syncretism is because of the way that they understood spiritual power. Animism says that you can control the world around you, if you engage in the rituals. And so there were many people who claimed to believe in Yahweh, but when life was on the line, they were willing to do ‘anything that works’ to be sure that they got the outcome they wanted. In this way, they are similar to many people in Africa who claim to be Christians, but still go to see witch-doctors, because their worldview, also animistic, says that you can control outcomes if you do the right rituals.

This is why we see, time and again, the conflict between the biblical prophets, and the priests in God’s temple, who actually oppose God’s messengers! For example, Jeremiah, who came from a priestly family, was persecuted by the priests from his own hometown – they even formed a plot against his life.

The prophets attacked this civic religion, castigating the people for claiming to worship God without actually obeying him:

Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the LORD;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
“When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
(Isaiah 1:10-15)

This was the diverse religious landscape of ancient Judah. It was a nation that was familiar with Yahweh, but contained few actual believers. It was in this context that the prophets delivered their messages.