Ancient Near Eastern Background
Critical Thinking Aloud is dedicated to teaching the ancient Near Eastern context of the Bible. We must not forget this context is key while we are reading our Bibles. By keeping this in mind a whole new world will be revealed during your Bible study.
Since we are talking about Yahweh as the Bibles main character it will do us well to first take a look at what the average person in the ancient Near East believe about their gods.
Lets jump right in with this quote from one of our recommend resources
“‘The Great Symbiosis.’ People in the ancient world believed that the gods had made people as slave laborers because they were tired of growing their own food and taking care of their own needs. People cared for the gods (who lived an opulent, pampered lifestyle including food, drink, clothing, housing, etc.) and in turn, the gods took care of the people (because they had vested interests in doing so). Thus there was a codependent relationship of mutual need. This provides the context for understanding temples, rituals, worship, and religious obligation in the ancient world. Israel is called to a far different way of thinking, as Yahweh has no needs.”
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: in the Article on Major Background Issues From the Ancient Near East
As far fetched as it may seem to us this ancient way of thinking about ones god as a codependent was the normal way of relating to your deity in the ancient near east.
Codependence basically means the gods needed you to continue to live a luxurious life of pleasure and you needed them to provide for your food, and basic needs.
Not with Yahweh
Yahweh’s as the creator and sustainer of all things, has no needs. Therefore the relationship He shares with His community is fundamentally different.
What Does God Want?
Yahweh doesn’t need nor want slaves. He created us in His image with the freedom of a will to chose right and wrong or to worship Him or not. See, on a foundational level a relationship with Yahweh runs completely contrary to the ancient Near Eastern cultural belief system.
Yahweh didn’t create humans to be slaves, He created them to be His family! That is what God has always and will always want. Check out this post we made that covers this topic in more detail by clicking here.
We hope you enjoyed this Theology Lesson in 60 seconds.
If you are interested in this subject continue this study in our longer post here
Citations:
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible Grand Rapids, Michigan USA Zondervan 2016
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