Biblical Hebrew Blog by ClassicalHebrew.com

Animals and Humans

Statistically, animal forms in Israel predominate those of human shape, and the majority of human forms are those of females. These female figurines have been labeled as the “Mother-goddess” or “Astarte” and since they go against the principal of aniconism (aversion to the use of icons) that the book of Deuteronomy describes, scholars have often placed the use of these figurines into the ‘popular’ religion of the common folk of Israel.

Religious Difference amongst the Israelites?

Many assumptions underline this idea. The first is that human figurines are representative of deities. The other, is that the presence of figurines in ancient houses is evidence of popular Israelite worship. This is contrasted by scholars with the official religion of Israel that claims to hate the production and use of such items as religious icons. Did such a religious divide exist in Israel?

The Bull and the Cherubim

One often cited example of unofficial versus official religion in Israel, is the worship at Dan and Bethel of the Bull that was installed by Jeroboam been Nebat, the first king of Israel. These bulls are interpreted as an image of worship, opposed to the Cherubim inside the Jerusalem temple that served as the throne of the invisible God, for the bible says God is “seated upon the cherubim”. So, from the biblical perspective, worship was different in Jerusalem than in Dan and Bethel.

Religious Ways Begin to Change

When we learn of the religious reform of Hezekiah, King of Judah - how he tore down the standing pillars and removed the Asherim from his land, we also hear how he removed an image of worship from the Jerusalem Temple. It was a bronze serpent and was called the Nehushtan which “the people of Israel burned incense to” (2 kings 18:4).

The bible clearly acknowledges that the worship of images and icons (such as the snake) existed at one time in Israel, and that a King who believed it a breach of proper worship took on the task of removing their presence.

The Call to Worship the Invisible God

The Bible tells us that the prohibition of religious images in Israel dates back to the times of Moses. However, the long use of the Nehushtan (the snake) in the Temple shows that either the Jerusalem priests ignored this religious stance against icons, or that the prohibition had not yet taken root in Judahite worship. What does seem to be sure is the growing awareness and introduction of worship of the invisible God alone, soon after the actions of King Hezekiah. Perhaps words like these drove him in his actions, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Deut 5:8).

In conclusion, we see that the official religion in Judah did, at one time, acknowledge the use of images in their worship, and thus one does not see the necessity of classifying figurines and such like icons into the ‘popular’ religion category. It was only a process of time that brought the use of icons to an end.

The Festival of Passover
There exists a very strong and powerful Jewish tradition remembered and enacted every year, called the Festival of Passover. This Festival is bittersweet because by remembering it one recalls that as a nation they were enslaved, but also as a nation they were freed through the miracle of God!

The miracle of God is in fact the tenth plague sent against the Egyptians because Pharaoh would not release them from slavery (Exodus 12-13). This plague takes the form of God’s Destroyer, also referred to as the Angel of Death. At the prescribed time this judgment of the Lord swept through and destroyed all the first-born of man and animal in Egypt. Those who were spared were those who followed the orders of God to sacrifice a year-old sheep or goat and paint its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes.

These images have become powerful symbols for the Jewish nation today, which while not painting the blood on their doorposts do remember the event by coming together and eating a specially prepared meal. This meal commemorates God’s saving act.

You may ask yourself why is this miracle more important than other miracles- for example the splitting of the Reed Sea? The passing over of the angel of death taught the Hebrew slaves an important lesson that they had not yet learned- that their God was mighty to save, and was not restricted by geographical boundaries. In the heartland of Egypt with Pharaoh on his throne and a legion of powerful deities at his command- there was yet one more powerful than all, Yahweh.

So this April 19^th-26^th it is important to remember that Yahweh led his people out of captivity, but in addition, remember that he is all-powerful and can reach out to save, wherever his people dwell in slavery.