ANGEL OF YAHWEH SESSION 10 11/11/2020 Read Exodus 2. 1. ​ To which nation-territory-land did Moses flee? - From whom does this tribe originate? (Genesis 25:1-2) - What important role does Moses’ father-in-law play in Israel’s story? (Exodus 18) 1. Where and how does Moses meet his wife, Zipporah? - What other significant Hebrew encounters have already happened at a well? Read Exodus 3. 2. ​ What was Moses’ job in Midian? Where does it lead him? - Other names are used interchangeably for this mountainous region. What are they? (Deuteronomy 33:1-4; Habakkuk 3:3-7; Judges 5:4-5) - What will be ‘the sign’ that Yahweh is with Moses? (v12) - Who is it that has ‘come down’ because of the misery of the Hebrew people? When else did Elohim (God) “come down” in order to take action? What was the action? 3. Who ‘appears’ to Moses in a flame of fire in the midst of the bush? - Who ‘saw’ that Moses turned aside to see this great sight? - Who ‘called’ to Moses from the bush? - Who else in the OT is told to take off his sandals because the place they are standing is ‘holy ground’? (Joshua 5:13-15). How is the person who appears to Joshua described? Read Genesis 16. 4. ​ Who finds Hagar and speaks to her (v7)? - Where does he find her? What is significant about this? - What does he say? Who typically offers this kind of blessing? - Who does Hagar believe is speaking to her? (v13) Read Genesis 22. 5. ​ Who calls out to Abraham from heaven? - Who blesses Abraham for his obedience? Read Judges 2. 6. ​Who is speaking to Israel? - Who led Israel up and out of Egypt? - Who did Israel disobey? Why did they weep? Read Judges 13. 7. ​ Who appears to the wife of Manoah? How is he described? - What does the narrator tell us about this visitor? (v.16) - Who do Manoah and his wife believe they have seen? (v22) Read 1 Kings 19. 8. ​ Who appears to Elijah in the wilderness? (v5-7) - Who appears to Elijah in the cave at Mt. Horeb? (v9) - Who tells Elijah to ‘go out and stand on the mountain’? Why? (v11) - Who does Elijah believe is speaking to him? Read 1 Chronicles 21. 9. ​ Who does David see ‘standing between heaven and earth’? - To whom does David believe he is speaking? (v16-17) Read Exodus 23:20-2 10. ​6. Who will bring God’s people to the place he has prepared for them? How is this angel described? Read Exodus 14. 11. ​ Who traveled in front of Israel’s army? What was the visible manifestation to the people of Israel? Read Exodus 15. 12. ​ How is the LORD - Israel’s deity - described in this poem? Read Daniel 7. 13. ​ What is the scene? Who is in the throne room? (v 9-10) - Who arrives on a cloud? How is he received? What is his role? (v13) Read Revelation 19. 14. ​ ​ What is the scene? - Who is on the white horse and how is he described? What is his role? Read Exodus 13. 15. ​ Who struck down all the firstborn in Egypt? Read Jude 1. 16. ​ ​ Who, according to Jude, ‘delivered his people out of Egypt’? (v5) 17. There is no reference to ‘the Angel of Yahweh’ in the New Testament. Why do you think this is? You’ve covered a lot of scripture this week! Good job! What questions do you have? How has the Holy Spirit helped you to “walk in the way” of Wisdom? ​(hokma​ = humility + obedience)? Shalom to you and yours! Kim Outline - Canaanites and Moabites Week 10 1. Who does Israel encounter next? Canaan a. Battle of Hormah b. Canaanite religion ● El ● Baal ● Asherah 2. Next up...Moab a. Genealogy b. Geography c. Moab in scriptures ● Numbers 22-24, Judges 3: 12-30 ● 1 Kings 11: 1-8 ● 2 Kings 3 ● Ruth 4: 17-18 Week 10 -Canaanites and Moabites Numbers 20:22 - 21:3 ​Edom had come out against Israel and did not allow them passage. They came to Mount Hor near Edom. The lord said to Moses and Aaron that Aaron would be gathered to his people and not enter the land because both of them rebelled at the waters of Meribah. Aaron was to take his son Eleazar up to Mt. Hor, remove Aaron’s garments and give to Eleazar and Aaron would die on the mountain. They mourned him for 30 days. They then made their way around Edom. A C​ anaanite ​king of Arad who lived in the Negev (Num 21) heard Israel was journeying on the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some of them. Israel vowed to the Lord that if He would deliver them into their hands, they would totally destroy their Canaanite cities. The Lord listened and they completely destroyed the towns. T​his battle victory at Hormah (Num ​ ​ 21:1-3) is in the exact same location as the earlier battle that Israel lost when trying to enter Canaan without the Lord’s blessing after the incident with the spies refusing to conquer Canaan(Num 14:39-45) and Israel was forced to flee. There is a question as to whether Canaanite means an ethnic designation or a geographic designation. We really don’t have much information about where they may have come from or when they entered the land. Early in the Iron Age, they were replaced by the Philistines (1200BC) who became the great enemy of Israel. It appears Canaanites were only in the land during the 2nd millennium Bc. The Canaanites developed the alphabet very early in their history and this was thought to greatly influence Israel’s history. The western boundary of Canaan was the Mediterranean Sea which was a stormy body of water and very unpredictable. In their local mythology, the sea was the abode of a malevolent deity much like a leviathan. The land began at the Brook of Egypt in the south and ran up to Hazor and Lebo Hamath in the north. Religion - The city of Ugarit is located just north of the Canaanite boundaries and the beliefs of those in Ugarit are probably much like those of the Canaanites. Hundreds of documents that have been found at ancient Ugarit give us some glimpses of the lives of the people of Canaan. Their worldview included a cult of the dead, the worship of many gods. The earliest deity recognized by the peoples of the ancient Near East was the creator god E​ l.​ He was seen as a wise and benevolent god from whose residence flowed fertile waters.His mistress, the fertility goddess A​ sherah, ​gave birth to many gods, including a powerful god named ​Baal (​"L​ord"​). There appears to have been only one Baal, who was manifested in lesser Baals at different places and times. Over the years, Baal became the dominant deity, and the worship of El faded. -Baal won his dominance by defeating the other deities, including the god of the sea, the god of storms (also of rain, thunder, and lightning), and the god of death. Baal's victory over death was thought to be repeated each year when he returned from the land of death (underworld), bringing rain to renew the earth's fertility. Hebrew’s also viewed the sea as evil and destructive, so Baal’s promise to prevent storms and control the sea, as well as his ability to produce abundant harvests, made him attractive to the Israelites. When the Israelites entered Canaan, they found a land of farmers, not shepherds, as they had been in the wilderness. The land was fertile beyond anything the Hebrew nomads had ever seen. The Canaanites attributed this fertility to their god Baal,and that is where the Israelites problems began. Could the God who had led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness also provide fertile farms in the Promised Land? Or would the fertility god of Canaan have to be honored? Maybe, to be safe, they should worship both; Yahweh wasn’t replaced, but Baal would simply have come alongside him. Baal is portrayed as a man with the head and horns of a bull, an image similar to that in biblical accounts. His right hand (sometimes both hands) is raised, and he holds a lightning bolt, signifying both destruction and fertility. Baal has also been portrayed seated on a throne, possibly as the king or lord of the gods. 1 Kings- with King Ahab of Israel, Baal worshipping, though it was already commonplace, became accepted practice, bringing Ahabs’ kingdom much closer to the mainstream religious practices of the ANE. Standing against the acceptance of Canaan’s gods was Elijah, the champion of Yahweh’s kingship. In 2 Kings, the Lord tells Elijah to go to Samaria and ask the king why he is consulting Baal-Zebub? In Matthew we hear of this same deity referred to as Beelzebul. This Baal - Zebub, one of the local manifestations of Baal. Zebub means “flies”. This literally means Baal - Lord of the Flies. Baal-Zebub is a title indicating mastery over flies, spreaders of pestilence and so this means a god over the curing of disease. ● 1954 Pulitzer Prize novel Lord of the Flies - William Golding (group of British boys stranded on island and their attempt to govern themselves) Asherah ​ was honored as the fertility goddess in various forms and with varying names (Judg. 3:7). The Bible does not actually describe the goddess, but archaeologists have discovered figurines believed to be representations of her.