The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim (27 page)

Getting back to the Divine Council, the pantheon of ancient Sumer was eventually borrowed by Sumer’s northern neighbors, the Semitic peoples of Mesopotamia. And “borrowed” is an overly simplistic term. It would be much better to say that the ancient religion evolved and spread into the other civilizations that arose out of and around the Sumerian culture. Generally, they substituted Semitic names for the Sumerian gods, but the structure of the pantheon, including the distinction between the Divine Progenitors and the Assembly of Gods, was maintained in the Semitic religions—although Semitic people typically substituted the name of their local chief god for that of the particular name of the God-king who was one of the gods of the Assembly.

We see this in more recent history with the Christian church, when it banished the pagan religions and took over their groves and high places, building their cathedrals, and even renaming the pagan holidays with Christianized versions. However, the Christianizing of pagan Europe resembles more of a
conquest
than an evolution, much like the pogroms instituted by Jehovah to “wipe out” all the non-believing inhabitants of the land of Cana’an in order to institute the pure religion of Judaism. And although that may seem like an over-generalized statement, all you need do is go to the pages of the Old Testament to find instance upon instance played over and over again of religious-based genocide and xenocide. It is no wonder the early church felt the need to murder “infidels.” It is not difficult, then, to comprehend the heinous murder of someone such as Hypatia of Alexandria
⁶
—considered the first notable female mathematician who also taught philosophy and astronomy—at the hands of murderous Christian mobs
⁷
under the orders of their bishop, St. Cyril of Alexandria. It is also not hard to see how even the Crusades were then justified by the Christian hierarchy of the day, as it was so much the established pattern set forth in the pages of Old Testament scriptures. The spread of religion and religious practice either evolved, or it was foisted and forced upon the
new masses of commoners at the hands of a ruling monarch or body that needed to establish its power base over the people. (See
Chapter 7
for more on this.)

In Babylonian religion, the children of El, collectively known as the Elohim were subordinate to their father, El. These sons of the god presided individually over the various stars and planets, as well as over their respective individual earthly estates. At the height of Babylonian civilization, the Elohim were ruled by a son of El called Marduk, who could be seen in the night skies as the “wandering star,” the planet Jupiter today. In Cana’anite culture, in-country, northern neighbors and political competitors to the Hebrew Israelites, Marduk was called simply Lord or Ba’al, while his true name (Hadu or, in some dialects Hadad) was held secret and known only to his priests. Ba’al’s chief rival for kingship among the gods was Yamm, meaning “Sea,” who also sometimes took the guise of a storm-god—think: Zeus. His personal name was Yaw or, in some texts, Yawu. For instance, in the Epic of Ba’al, El, speaking to Athirat about their son Yamm says, “The name of my son is Yaw, Oh Goddess….”

It is extremely interesting to note that the name Yamm is intriguingly similar to the name of the Hebrew deity Yahweh, the short form of which was Yah. The similarity of names is paralleled by a similarity of roles, because Ba’al was considered to be the chief rival of Yahweh by the Hebrews. Although this identification is not a certain one, the two are thought to have been the same deity by some scholars or, at the very least, drawn from the same roots.

In the same fashion as the Cana’anites, the Hebrews regarded the true name of their tribal god, Yahweh, as far too sacred for common use, and they too usually called him simply “Lord” (Hebrew
adonai [
]
or, sometimes,
ba’al
[
]). Consider the scene of Moses before the burning bush. In the account in the Book of Exodus, Moses asks God to “tell him his name”:

“13 Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to
them?’ 14 God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ [in other translations: ‘I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE’—or literally: ‘I AM THAT ‘I AM’ THEY SPEAK OF’] And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ 15 God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, [when in capital letters, means ‘YHWH’] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.’”

(Exodus 3:13-15)

Knowing the secret name of God was forbidden in Hebrew religion, and in a round-about way Moses here was asking God to reveal it to him, which, according to tradition, would have given Moses power over God. Again, Moses’ ambition stands out, or at least the need to elevate himself as the pharaoh-god of Israel. Another prime example of this was when the prophet Elisha called on the secret name of God (how he obtained it, we do not know) to punish some young people who were taunting him and his position as prophet of Israel.

“23 He [Elisha] went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD [capital letters = “YHWH”]. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.”

(2 Kings 2:23-25)

As a rabbit trail, yet vital to understanding all these things, I find it very interesting to note that the prophet in this passage was able to call upon the name of the Lord and violently and maliciously kill 42 children who were mocking him. Despite the fact that Bethel was known for mocking the prophets of God, this seems an extreme consequence
for childish bullying. Perhaps this is a picture of the severe, uncontrollable consequence of calling on the secret name of God. For as it shows in the text, there was no other consequence for Elisha’s extreme actions. And as an anecdote to this story, keep in mind the third commandment of Moses:

“You shall not utter the name of Yahweh your God to misuse it, Yahweh will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name to misuse it.”

(Exodus 20:7; the Jerusalem Bible)

A more literal reading in modern idiom would read something like “You shall not utter the secret name of God to misuse it for vain or selfish purposes, for Yahweh will not leave that person unpunished who does so.” This commandment has little to do with cussing and saying things such as “Goddammit.” It has more to do with a person’s conduct of life, especially in light of the secret name of God being used to fulfill vain purposes. Elisha seemed to be inviolate of this commandment, yet there is no consequence mentioned in the passage. It is pure and complete speculation, but perhaps the greatest punishment of all was living in the horrid aftermath of having utilized the Holy to perform such an evil deed.

As Israel expanded its territories, conquering and possessing the land throughout the region of Cana’an, they killed and ousted the inhabitants who had entrenched themselves there during the 400 years of the Hebrews’ Egyptian captivity. As a result, the displaced Cana’anites became the traditional enemies of Israel, but their deities seemed to have the same, identical roots, and were actually the same god, but in name only, as the form of worship differed between the two cultures. The parallels between Ba’al and Yahweh are quite detailed. For example, both peoples referred to him, in his role as the god of storms and war, by the euphemisms “the rider on the clouds” and the “father to the fatherless.”

Limestone stele from the western wing of the Temple of Ba’al, Acropolis, Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), Levant. It depicts the storm god, Ba’al (late Bronze Age, 18th to 15th centuries
BCE
.
Photo courtesy of the author. Copyright 2011.

“5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. 6 God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.”

(Psalm 68:5-6)

Both are portrayed as overcoming their enemies, such as when Yamm and his henchman battled Litan, the Fleeing Serpent/the Twisty Serpent, known as “Leviathan” [
] in the Hebrew.

“13 You did divide the sea by your strength: you brake the heads of the dragons [some translations say, ‘sea monsters,’ perhaps an allusion to the Serpent ] in the waters.”

(Psalm 74:13)

“12 Am I a sea monster or a dragon [again, an allusion to the Serpent?] that you must place me under guard?”

(Job 7:12)

“12 By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.”

(Job 26:12)

“8 Or who enclosed the sea with doors when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb….”

(Job 38:8)

So it is more likely that, whatever the origin of his name, Yahweh took over the history of Ba’al in Hebrew folklore and is best understood as the Hebrew equivalent of that Cana’anite god.

Anecdotally, there is a famous confrontation between the Israelite prophet Elijah, and the prophets of Ba’al recorded in the Bible.

“16 So…[King] Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that you, you troubler of Israel?’ 18 ‘I have not made trouble for Israel,’ Elijah replied. ‘But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Ba’als. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba’al and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.’ 20 So Ahab sent word
throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Ba’al is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them, ‘I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Ba’al has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let
Ba’al’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.’ Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” 25 Elijah said to the prophets of Ba’al, ‘Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.’ 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Ba’al from morning till noon. ‘Baal, answer us!’ they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. ‘Shout louder!’ he said. ‘Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.’ 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come here to me.’ They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, ‘Your name shall be Israel.’ 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs[a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, ‘Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.’ 34 ‘Do it again,’ he said, and they did it again. ‘Do it a third time,’ he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran
down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: ‘LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.’ 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!’
40 Then Elijah commanded them, ‘Seize the prophets of Ba’al. Don’t let anyone get away!’ They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.”