The God El The first characteristic of the God El in which the patriarchs believed is that El is not bound to one country. Abraham left Mesopotamia and then he arrived in Canaan, he built an altar at Shechem to his God. Whether Abraham or Isaac are inside or outside Canaan, for instance in Egypt, their God still remains present with them. The same holds true for Jacob when he is in Mesopotamia. Thus although El is worshipped at various sanctuaries, his domain is not limited to Canaan. Reading the scriptures attentively, it strikes one that the Abraham stories are set mainly around Hebron, those of Isaac around Beer-sheba and those of Jacob at Bethel. From this one can deduce that the central points of the El religion of the various clans were at Hebron, Beer-sheba and Bethel. Abraham and Jacob also had a short term contact, however, with a further sanctuary, namely Shechem of Genesis 12:6 and Genesis 34. All these sanctuaries were all situated in the south of Canaan, since Bethel was situated on the border of the later Southern Kingdom with the Northern Kingdom, while Hebron and Beer-sheba formed part of the later Southern Kingdom. The patriarchal tradition which occurred mainly in the south of the country was also handed down by the southern circles. A second characteristic of the patriarchal tradition is that it does without priests. The relationship between god and man is direct. El speaks directly to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they themselves make their own sacrifices.
In contrast the majority of the religions of the ancient near east as well as the later Yahwism always have an Priestly intercessor between the gods or God and the ordinary people. Thirdly it is also noteworthy that mention is nowhere made of a god-image. Whereas most of the religions of the time represented or symbolised their gods in some or other way. This religion evidently did without such symbols. It is indeed so that El is represented anthropomorphous that is in human form, but such representations only existed in the realm of thought of the patriarchs. however in the relatively old tradition of Jacob's journey to Bethel Genesis 34, explicit mention is made of the destruction of god-images. Another characteristic of the El religion a feature that ties up with the fact that there are no priests is that there are few if any sign of magic. That is to say that El is not, as in the case of some natural religions, manipulated with the aid of acts of magic. What El gives to and does for his people He gives and does of his own accord . El is the one that creates fertility, who gives rain and descendants. These are things that are not assured by magic acts.
The whole patriarchal faith revolves around two themes the promise of land and the promise of descendants. El promises Abraham that Abraham has a special destiny, that he will father a mighty nation with descendants more numerous than the stars and that his descendants will possess the land Canaan as their own. Other than happened generally in the ancient near East the patriarchs did not view history as an ever succeeding cycle of seasons but rather as a process in which the promises of El is fulfilled. In the ancient Middle East their contemporaries worshipped gods such as Marduk, Baal and Anat that did not involve themselves in the ordinary, profane lives of their worshippers but appeared only at sacred moments in time. On the other hand History is in the realm in which El is making his promises come true. The El religion is basically a religion of promises. What El promises, still has to be made manifest in future. Because El acts through history and in this way become known to people, the patriarchal narratives does not provide signs of an elaborate mythology. In other words, there is no account of the origin of El which explains his deeds and character. Mythologies are often explanations of historical events, but in the El religion the world is not explained in a mythological way.
Abraham's God was El, the High God of Canaan was also called El. The story of the god Baal-Hadad, the god of storm and fertility, and his battle with Yam-Nahar, the god of seas and rivers, is told on clay tablets that date back to the fourteenth century before Christ. Often mentioned is that Baal and Yam both lived with El, the Canaanite High God. At the council of El, Yam demands that Baal be delivered up to him. With two magic weapons, Baal defeats Yam and is about to kill him when El's wife Aherah and mother of the gods intervenes and pleads with Yam. All names for God had El as the main component in the patriarchal tradition and connected to it an attribute of God e.g. El Olam means The everlasting God and El Elyon means the most high God, it can also mean God of the mountain even place names like El of Bethel but it is for ever preserved in Hebrew in Isra-El or Ishma-El. The plural form Elohim however, can be treated as singular, in which case it means the one supreme deity and is translated into English as God.
Because El does have a Mythology, there is a hierarchy of gods. That is to say El as in the most religions of the ancient near east, have a wife and there is gods under El. For instance there is a god of fertility , god of war, god of death, and so on. If one were to bring together the characteristics of the El religion as propagated in the Bible one would therefore be able to say that in certain respects it differs from the religions of the ancient near East. The fact that is why everything that happens is attributed to El himself and El himself is in control the history of the clan to whom he himself promises a land and descendants. Furthermore because the El religion has no magic rites, it lacks a Priestly hierarchy or images. Access to El is direct and always free, inside or outside Canaan. All this does not mean however that we can say that this religion is unique in the ancient near East. Moreover we cannot say El was always the God who existed for the patriarchs. Some characteristics we have mentioned here are typical of a nomadic culture for example, the omnipresence of El or the fact that there is no Priestly class. From the History of Israel 's religion we also know that even later they did not deny the existence of other gods. For that reason we should perhaps speak of the patriarchal religion as a Henotheism rather that a monotheism. That is: they certainly worshipped only one God, namely their El, but it does not necessarily deny that there were also other gods. Monotheism means that only one God exist, Henotheism means that only one God is worshipped but many could exist. Thirdly the patriarchal religion of the Bible knew El prominently as the God of the unconditional promise, Promises of land and descendants, as well as protection. The God of the Joseph people was characterised by God's unconditional intervention and the unconditional promise to lead them out of Egypt and to take them to a new land.
With Moses however God is far more the God who appears The story of the god revealing himself to Moses on the mountain and in a burning bush is two examples of how his god Yahweh makes himself known in the theophany, (the appearance of God). The way the Hebrews experience god is ways that would not be unfamiliar to pagans of the Middle east. To Moses on Mount Sinai, he appears in the midst of an awe-inspiring volcanic eruption and the Israelites had to keep their distance. Where as the god of Abraham appears to Abraham as a friend and even assumes a human form. This type of apparition known as an epiphany, was quite common in the pagan world of antiquity. The Greek Iliad is full of such epiphanies. The Gods and goddesses appear in human form in dreams, when the boundary between the human and divine worlds was believed to be lowered. It is also clear from this that in the case of the god Yahweh there is less direct communication between god and the people. Note in Genesis 18 the God El appeared to Abraham in human form, this was later adapted to place Yahweh in the place of El "The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. 3 He said, ''If I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant." ''Very well," they answered, ''do as you say." In the course of the conversation it transpired that one of these men was none other than his God when he revealed hidden knowledge that is Sarahs's laughter in reaction to his previous promise that she will bear a son even at her late age.
The God Yahweh appears in fire and smoke, however he is not completely aloof but seeks communion with people. Read Exodus 24 : 6-11 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, ''We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ''This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank." The most important difference between El and Yahweh is the rise of formal agreements and laws between God and the people of Israel, which gives arise to the Law.
More coming soon!