Podcasts about yahwism

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjones Dr. Barnea is a Lecturer at the department of Jewish history and biblical studies at the University of Haifa as well as a Research Fellow at “the Bible in its Traditions". SPONSORS https://irestore.com - Use code DANNY for a huge discount on the iRestore Elite. https://trueclassic.com/danny - Upgrade your wardrobe & save on True Classic. https://whiterabbitenergy.com/?ref=DJP - Use code DJP for 20% off EPISODE LINKS https://haifa.academia.edu/gadbarnea Gad's book on Yahwism: https://a.co/d/7M4HLAX FOLLOW DANNY JONES https://www.instagram.com/dannyjones https://twitter.com/jonesdanny OUTLINE 00:00 - Studying ostraca & ancient Egypt 07:16 - Cyrus the Great's empire 14:08 - Yahwism 25:24 - Judaism came from Yahwism 36:48 - Biblical vs. extra-biblical narratives 50:44 - History's most popular religion 55:04 - The Bible is a "battlefield of ideas" 01:00:16 - Moses is not a historical person 01:06:59 - Advanced tech in ancient Alexandria 01:17:39 - Is the Septuagint originally Greek? 01:29:38 - Greek vs. Hebrew translations 01:41:16 - The problem with history 01:48:31 - Was Jesus a real person? 01:56:48 - Unsolved mysteries of antiquity 02:09:45 - Egyptian texts describe how the pyramids were built 02:19:27 - Patreon questions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dust off your halo and flap your wings, dearest ravens, as today we're rejoicing in the absolutely bonkers history of Angels, following up on last year's "Haunting Season" episode about Demons.Part of the "Three Ravens Bestiary" series, we start by discussing how words for things like "angels" and "God" in ancient texts have created a mess of confusions across the ages. Then we leap straight down from heaven (or out of a hidden dimension, at the very least) to discuss how ancient ideas like Animism and Polytheism laid the foundations that enabled the introduction of Angels into early Abrahamic religious texts.Through discussions of Zoroastrianism, Yahwism, and ancient apocryphal mystic writings, we dig into some fascinating stuff, including 'Guardian Angels' in general, specific Angels, like Michael, Gabriel, Samael, and Metatron, and chat about how a proliferation of esoteric writings throughout the Dark Ages and Medieval Era spun 'Angelologies' out in some pretty weird directions.From the mysteries of Gnosticism and the Kabbalah to descriptions of what Cherubum, Seraphim and Elohim actually look like (which is not as you might expect) it's an episode of big ideas and bizarre truths that might just change how you think about Angels. And likely modify how you describe your loved ones. Because if your children or significant other really are "angels" then, frankly, you should be cowering in terror!The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, many are wondering why there is a sector of individuals in the Messianic community who have denied Yeshua and either converted to Judaism, or their own primitive form of “Yahwism.” While the reasons vary, one thing that is occurring in our midst is that idle words have taken root in the hearts of people, which are now coming to full fruition. One of the statements that is made far too frequently among certain Messianics today is: “Christianity is pagan.” This statement, while often said “innocently” to describe the ills and some non-Biblical practices of mainstream Christianity, can cause the naïve and spiritually unstable person to begin to think that if the pagans believed something, it must therefore be rejected. The problem with this line of reasoning is two-fold: (1) The problem is not with non-Biblical and questionable practices in contemporary Christianity; the problem is rather with the fact that all of us have strayed from God's Word. God's people have not widely made the Bible and being Scripturally compliant their top priority. (2) If you believe that the message of the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) is “pagan,” you must hold the Tanach (Old Testament) to the same standard. If you believe that the story of Yeshua the Messiah and His resurrection are copied off of pagan myths, then you also have to believe that the Bible stories of the Tanach are also borrowed or copied from the mythology of the Ancient Israelites' neighbors.

As Gaza and Israel explode in crisis and unspeakable tragedies unfold there, we are producing a Middle Series in which we will soon have guests to tell the story of the Palestinian people. In this episode, my guest, Dr. Michael Ptylik, tells the story of the origin of Jewish people through these discussion points: From when were the Jewish people called Jewish? What was their land called? When did Jews form a polity? So, was it Judaism or Yahwism? When did Judaism become a religion? When did Jewish people begin to leave Israel? How much of the Bible about the Jewish people is myth? And how much of it is history? Dr. Pytlik is a professor in Anthropology and Judaic Studies, Director of Judaic Studies, and Director of the Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies at Oakland, University, in Rochester, MI. To learn more about him, you can visit his academic homepage. Also, here is his dissertation on Imagining David, the Man and King, and also a paper on the Canaanite and Judean Cities of Lachish, Israel. Also, here is my 2021 conversation with Dr. Pytlik about the Golden Age of Muslims and Jews - a period of coexistence. I hope you enjoy these episodes. Adel Host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠History Behind News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast Watch my guests & I ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SUPPORT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠ and join⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ our other supporters in the news peeler community. Thank you.

Assyrian hordes eradicate Aram and swarm across the Levant, consuming almost all of Israel and its eight tribes. While most Israelites are led off to assimilation or death, some—like the ancestors of Anna the Prophetess—escape south to the Kingdom of Judah.     In Judah, Ahaz escalates his pro-Assyrian religious reforms, effectively banning Yahwism and erecting altars to Baal in the streets of Jerusalem.   Ian and Caleb discuss the mythology of the “ten lost tribes,” and Ian engages with emails and DMs from listeners on the order of the biblical cannon.

Moses is presented as the prototypical prophet who brings Yahwism to a nation of people who have forgotten Yahweh. Under his reform and leadership they eradicate idolatry and establish a new covenant. But is Moses the true prototypical prophet, or is he modeled after another?

This week we are studying Zechariah 10. Our previous chapter ended with the promise of such agricultural fertility that “grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women” (9:17). The guarantee of satiated bellies carries over into today's reading with Zechariah reminding the petition the Lord and he will send the “spring rain” and “the vegetation in the field” (10:1). After encouraging the people to pray to Yahweh for their needs, the prophet warns them not to seek their protection and provision through other means. He cautions the people against falling back into idol worship, reminding them, “the teraphim utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; the dreamers tell false dreams and give empty consolation” (10:2). During the divided monarchy, the people of Israel and Judah were fond of merging Yahwism with the occult. But, even before the age of the prophets, God's people had been flirting with all kinds of pagan divination. Rachel brought her father's statues (Gen. 31) into Canaan. Right after the Exodus, when they should have been thanking God for his saving grace, they constructed the golden calf at Mount Sinai (Ex. 32). And there is even the strange scene in 1 Samuel of King Saul consulting a medium to conjure up the ghost of Samuel (1 Sam. 28). For the most part, biblical historians believe that idol worship stopped being a big problem after the exile. The Bible indicates this was the case and the archaeology confirms it. The prophets Hosea and Ezekiel prophesied that after the ordeal of captivity, the people would eradicate idol worship (Hos. 3:4; Ezek. 37:23). Hosea foresaw a time when “the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim” (Hos. 3:4).

     Continuing the reason for God's judgments on Israel, Moses stated, “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you” (Deut 28:47-48). In this statement we are reminded that God's cursings would come upon His people “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart” (Deut 28:47a). Wiersbe comments: "It's quite depressing to read this long list of calamities, especially when you realize that Israel experienced all of them at one time or another and that innocent people suffered because of the sins of the guilty. Not only Deuteronomy 28, but also Jeremiah's Book of Lamentations is a solemn reminder that it doesn't pay to rebel against God and try to have your own way. And what was the reason for all this trouble? “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things” (Deut 28:47)."[1]      One would expect that God's magnificent kindness to Israel would result in humility and a natural expression of gratitude and service to Him. However, it appears in her prosperity and in her abundance of all things, that Israel would forget the Lord and pursue her gifts rather than her Giver. This language harkens back to Moses' previous words in which he warned the nation not to forget God because of His goodness (Deut 6:10-12). By failing to serve God with joy and gladness, Israel would bring God's judgment, and the result would be that the nation would serve its enemies whom the Lord would send against her. Israel's enemies, like all enemies, would be cruel. Israel would know hunger, thirst, nakedness, and a “lack of all things”, which are indicators of poverty. And this will be God's judgment upon them, as He will place an iron yoke on their neck until they are brought down. Most yokes were made of wood, so an iron yoke would be heavier and impossible to break. At a later time in Israel's history, Jeremiah used this language to explain God's judgment upon those who would not submit to Babylon (Jer 27:6-8).      God's judgment would come in the form of a foreign power whom He would raise up to attack Israel. Moses said, “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young” (Deut 28:49-50). This reveals that God is the sovereign Lord of the universe, that all nations are ultimately under His control, and He will raise up one and bring down another. The Assyrians are described as an eagle that swoops down with destruction on Israel (Hos 8:1), and the Babylonians when they were used by God to destroy Moab (Jer 48:40). Daniel Block offers this insightful comment: "Verses 49–50 characterize Yahweh's agent of doom with five bold brushstrokes, each of which intensifies the terror of Israel's demise. (1) The enemy will come “from the ends of the earth.” What is near is familiar; what is distant is mysterious and fearful. (2) The enemy will be fast. Like an eagle swooping down on his prey, he will attack his targets suddenly and without warning. (3) The enemy will speak an unintelligible language. This rules out negotiations and contributes to horror. (4) The enemy will be “fierce-looking” (lit., “strong of face”), which expresses both the terror of a victim and the resolve of the attacker. (5) The enemy will be heartless, showing no respect for the aged or mercy toward the young."[2]      Moses' description continued, saying, “Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish” (Deut 28:51). Here we observe a kind of scorched-earth tactic where the enemy would devastate the land and leave nothing for the inhabitants. And this would envelop the whole land, as “It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you” (Deut 28:52). Israel would make the mistake of trusting in its own fortified cities and abilities when they came under attack, but these would prove useless against the forces God would raise up to defeat them. If Israel would have maintained their walk with the Lord, He would have been their protection against all enemy forces (Deut 28:7). But turning away from God meant leaving the fortress of His love and care.      Then, in horrific detail, Moses explained the degree to with Israel would act when being starved while under siege, saying, “Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you” (Deut 28:53). When all food portions had run dry, Israelites would resort to cannibalism, even eating their own children. Moses continued, saying, “The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, 55 so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns” (Deut 28:54-55). Eugene Merrill states: "The intensity of the distress is emphasized by the fact that parents would eat their children, their only hope of earthly remembrance and posterity (v. 53). And not just the most crass or barbaric among them would do so. The gentlest soul would abandon all restraint and loyalty and in his hour of self-preservation would feed upon his own precious loved ones (v. 54), not retaining a shred of generosity toward others in similar plight (v. 55). The basest human (or animal?) instincts would prevail when choice had to be made between one's own life and another's."[3] Having discussed the gentle man who engages in cannibalism, Moses said of the gentle woman: "The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57 and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns." (Deut 28:56-57) Eugene Merrill states: "Lest it be thought that the maternal side of womanhood might preclude such abhorrent behavior, the text goes on to reveal, in terms that stagger the imagination, that women so refined and genteel as to avoid touching the ground with unshod feet would not hesitate to consume their own offspring (vv. 56–57a). In fact, they would keep for themselves their newborn infants and even the afterbirth even if it meant that their husbands and other children had to do without and starve. These they would hoard and eat secretly to preserve themselves in that day of unspeakable horror."[4]      These horrible acts of cannibalism occurred among the ten northern tribes of Israel during the Aramean siege by Ben-hadad II circa 850 B.C. (2 Ki 6:24-30), and the two southern tribes of Judah when they were besieged by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. (Jer 19:9; Ezek 5:9-10; Lam 2:20; 4:10).      What follows in Moses' speech is a summary statement that all the curses described herein would come upon God's covenant people if they turned away from Him. Moses said, “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God” (Deut 28:58). Serving God and experiencing His blessings was not a guessing game. Moses had clearly communicated “all the words of this law”, which words, he said, were “written in this book” for Israel to know and follow (Deut 28:58a). Moses had referenced the words of the law before (Deut 17:18-19; 27:2-3, 8, 26), and he would reference them again as being “written” for posterity to study, understand, and follow (Deut 28:61; 29:20-21, 27; 30:10; 31:24, 26). Studying God's Word and walking in obedience meant they would fear and honor (כָּבַד kabad) His “awesome name”, which name embodied all that God is in character and conduct. According to Kalland, “This glorious and awesome name speaks of his essence, character, and reputation as the God of the promises, the true and living God revealed to the people, particularly at Horeb (Sinai).”[5] If Israel would not honor God's name, “then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses” (Deut 28:59).      Unfortunately, throughout Israel's history, the book of Deuteronomy was rejected and Israel fell into all sorts of sinful behavior and judgment. It was during the reign of Josiah (2 Ki 22:1), that a copy of Deuteronomy was found in the temple (2 Ki 22:8-20), and the land was largely purged of idolatry and the temple restored to its proper place of function (2 Ki 23:1-25). However, after Josiah died in 609 B.C., the four subsequent kings all did evil in the sight of the Lord until eventually Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.      The disobedience of Israel meant they would suffer diseases, sicknesses, and plagues, some of which Israel had seen God bring upon Egypt, but also included other maladies not mentioned here. Moses said, “He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed” (Deut 28:60-61). Merrill states, “the Hebrew construction in v. 61 allows the sickness to be viewed as a divinely ordained instrument of judgment, not just an illness of happenstance or of no apparent purpose.”[6] And such illnesses would decimate the nation's population, as Moses said, “Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God” (Deut 28:62). Whereas God had promised to bless the nation with a multitude of people, here the curse would cause their numbers to shrink, making them smaller and smaller as His judgments advanced, and this until they were destroyed.      God is righteous, and it pleases Him to bless His people when they walk in righteous conformity with His directives. However, it also pleases the Lord to act righteously to judge His people when they disobey Him. Moses said, “It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it” (Deut 28:63). God prefers to bless and not discipline; however, His attribute of righteousness demands He act justly toward His people. Block correctly observes: "Moses begins by speaking shockingly of a change in Yahweh's disposition toward his people. Where previously Yahweh had delighted in causing Israel to flourish, now he will delight in their destruction. The notion is troubling to modern readers, but read within the ancient conceptual environment, it contrasts sharply with the notions of Israel's neighbors. Where others attributed such calamities to demonic forces and hostile deities, Yahwism refuses to take the easy way out. These statements reflect the other side of Yahweh's passion: When his people trample underfoot his grace, his passions will be ignited against them."[7]      Not only would God remove Israel from their land because of idolatry, but He would scatter them among the pagan nations to worship and experience what they sought to elevate above God. Moses said, “Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known” (Deut 28:64). Of course, the reality is that these idols are dumb—wood and stone—and are foreign to the living God who revealed Himself to their patriarchs.      The sad reality is that idols offer no real rest from the troubles of this world because they cannot deliver. Moses said, “Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul” (Deut 28:65). There would be no rest physically “for the soul of your foot”, and there would be no rest mentally or emotionally, as they would have a heart that constantly trembles, eyes that never fail to see trouble, and a soul that despairs all that life offers. Merrill states, “External transience would be matched by internal, emotional upheaval. The mind would be anxious (lit., “there will be a quaking heart”), the eyes would fail because of longing (cf. 28:32), and the heart (nepeš; i.e., the inner being as a whole) would become faint. The very lives of the people would be hung up before them, that is, would be in suspense.”[8]      The state of their difficult condition would be constant. Night and day they would have no confidence about their condition. Moses said, “So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life” (Deut 28:66). When blessed by God, Israelites would experience long life in the land of blessing. However, when cursed by God, they would never know from day to day whether their lives would be safe. They would be in a constant state of anxiety.      Internal fears and stress from life's experiences would cause them great anguish. Concerning their mental state throughout the day, Moses said, “In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!' And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!' because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see” (Deut 28:67). Here is psychological and emotional disequilibrium that is caused by the uncertainty of a troubled life.      Slavery and subjugation would be the end result, as Moses said, “The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!' And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer” (Deut 28:68). These would become the lowest of slaves, regarded as so worthless that no one, not even their former captors in Egypt, would want to buy them. Deuteronomy 28:68 shows a final reversal of all God's blessings as the Lord, who had once brought them out of slavery in Egypt, would return them to their former captors, only in a worse state than before. According to Craigie, “In the blessing of God, the people had been brought out of Egypt and freed from that old servitude. In the curse of God, they would return to Egypt once again, and there they would experience the depth of humiliation; in offering themselves for sale, they would be deemed by the Egyptians to be substandard, not even worth making into slaves.”[9]      All of these cursings could have been avoided. None of them had to happen. In fact, God desired to bless His people, and all they had to do was to know His Word and walk in it, keeping covenant with the Lord. These curses served as a warning of the consequences of turning away from the Lord and pursuing a life of sinful rebellion. Constable states, “God designed these blessings and curses to persuade His people to obey His covenant with them. Stronger proof of the blessing of obedience and the blasting of disobedience is hardly imaginable. God's will was, and is, very clear and simple: obey His Word.”[10]And Wiersbe adds: "There's a sobering message here for the church in today's world. Like Israel of old, we are God's chosen people and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9–10) and have been greatly blessed in Jesus Christ. We are here to “advertise” the virtues of the Lord and declare the good news of the Gospel. If we fail to glorify God and obey His Word, He will chasten us just as He chastened Israel (Heb. 12:1–14). “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17) If God chastens His own people for their sins, what will He do to those who don't belong to the family and have resisted His will? But judgment will begin in God's family, and the only way we can avoid it is to turn from our sins and obey His will."[11]     [1] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series, 169. [2] Daniel I. Block, The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy, ed. Terry Muck (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 658. [3] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 367–368. [4] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary, 368. [5] Earl S. Kalland, “Deuteronomy,” in The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 176. [6] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary, 370. [7] Daniel I. Block, The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy, 660–661. [8] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary, 371. [9] Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 351–352. [10] Tom Constable, Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible, Dt 28:58. [11] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, 171.    

The House of Omri reigned for 140 years with four kings: Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah and Jehoram. They created the first sophisticated Hebrew state, and brought the kingdom of Israel to the height of its power and prosperity. During this period, the first great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, created the religion of Yahwism. We also meet Ahab's wife Jezebel, the painted lady. Assyria makes an unwelcome appearance.

Moses and Minimalism will be coming out in a few weeks. Holy Fable: The Bible Undistorted by Faith is still in the works. A fundamentalist Bible teacher claimed that the Dead Sea Isaiah scroll debunks a "liberal" theory that Christians created Isa. 53 as a prediction of Jesus and inserted it into Isaiah. Huh? Regardless of the date of the authorship of Isaiah, could parts of it be Christian interpolation? Regarding the rise of the monotheistic Yahweh cult and child sacrifice, was this prohibition a deliberate attempt to turn the Israelites to the animal sacrifice cult as an alternative to killing their kids? In Jeremiah, when the sacrifices of cakes to the Queen of Heaven stopped, why did Yahweh still punish the people for idolatry? Too little, too late, like Josiah's reformation? What was the status of Asherah to El in relation to the rise of Yahwism and the Deuteronomistic reforms? Who would win: Barney or H. R. Puffinstuff? Does the existence of demons, sorcerers, etc., in the NT represent polytheism? Why did no one preserve the numerous prophetic and historical books mentioned in the OT, e.g., the Book of Gad the Seer? Does Isaiah promote actual monotheism or henotheism? Since rabbis usually were married and had kids, and Jesus is not so depicted, does this imply docetism in the gospels? Since Abraham's 300 retainers were circumcised, thus members of the covenant, mustn't they have been fathers of Israel, too? Since the Hebrew words for "God" and "nature" share the same gematria value, might we translate Genesis 1:1 as "In the beginning nature created the heavens & the earth"? What is your opinion on various theories of Isaac Asimov equating individuals in the OT with groups, tribes, nations, etc.? In Galatians 3:1, couldn't the Greek word translated "publicly portrayed" also be rendered "written before," the translators misleadingly implying Paul meant he had publicly demonstrated that Jesus' crucifixion was a fulfillment of OT prophecy? What resources are available for citation in academic undergraduate and graduate studies that might be more acceptable to university professors than, for instance, Richard Carrier?

EREV SHABBAT is developed to learn the building blocks of who we are as a nation. In this time we will focus on the study of Hebrew as a language, we will focus on the importance of prayer and what it means and does to and for us, and finally, we will focus on the ritual of our observances as well as learn about the Holy Days that have been Set-Apart by YHWH Elohim (Blessed Is He).

EREV SHABBAT is developed to learn the building blocks of who we are as a nation. In this time we will focus on the study of Hebrew as a language, we will focus on the importance of prayer and what it means and does to and for us, and finally, we will focus on the ritual of our observances as well as learn about the Holy Days that have been Set-Apart by YHWH Elohim (Blessed Is He).

EREV SHABBAT is developed to learn the building blocks of who we are as a nation. In this time we will focus on the study of Hebrew as a language, we will focus on the importance of prayer and what it means and does to and for us, and finally, we will focus on the ritual of our observances as well as learn about the Holy Days that have been Set-Apart by YHWH Elohim (Blessed Is He).

EREV SHABBAT is developed to learn the building blocks of who we are as a nation. In this time we will focus on the study of Hebrew as a language, we will focus on the importance of prayer and what it means and does to and for us, and finally, we will focus on the ritual of our observances as well as learn about the Holy Days that have been Set-Apart by YHWH Elohim (Blessed Is He).