- Theology and Identity
- Season 1
- Episode 6
- Airdate: 22 December 2023
- Please note this is a script, and not a transcript. There may be slight differences between this text and the actual broadcast.
- All Bible quotations taken from the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016)
Audio Links:
_________________________________________________________________
In this episode we’re considering the question: What’s the point of being religious? We’ll be addressing this question from different perspectives emanating from the Ancient Near East, and from the OT.
In our last episode, we talked a bit about the idea of the afterlife. We noted the fact that in early Judaic theology, there really wasn’t a clear concept of life after death. The ideas of heaven and hell and the resurrection don’t appear as systematic beliefs until the Hellenistic era, 2 or 3 centuries before the birth of Jesus.
Now of course some people in ancient Israel suspected that death wasn’t the end of the story. Many people certainly hoped that there would be life after death. But many biblical authors were pretty open about their doubts.
We see this for example in Ps 88, where the author contemplated his passing into Sheol, the realm of darkness. He asked God:
‘Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?’
His answer to all of these questions was of course No. This guy seemed to think that death was the end.
So If this was the case – if people actually believed that death was the end - then what was the point of being religious? Why would anyone obey the commands and try to be good – if at the end of their life all that awaited them was nothingness?
There are multiple responses this question – but one very general answer is that people in the Ancient world believed that even if there wasn’t life after death - having the support of God (or the gods) could be very useful in life.
We noted in the last episode that Israel’s king Saul had a very utilitarian approach to his relationship with YHWH. YHWH gave him guidance with regard to his battle plans, he gave him victory on the field, and Saul knew that his leadership depended on people perceiving him as the one whom YHWH had chosen to lead.
Saul’s allegiance to YHWH was strictly utilitarian. He sought God’s favour so that he could be a successful king and military leader.
In this regard, Saul wasn’t so different than other kings in the Ancient Near East.
If we look at Ancient Israel’s neighbours, we find that each nation had a primary god or gods that they worshipped. What did the kings of these other nations expect to get from their gods? And what did these kings have to do in order to win the favour of their deities? There is an abundance of inscriptions from the OT era that give us insights into these questions.
Here are some examples I found in an article written by James Watts entitled ‘Ritual Rhetoric in Ancient Near Eastern Texts.’
Mari was a city in the area that today we call Syria. Around 1700 BC , this city was ruled by a king named Iah-dun-Lim, and he worshipped a god named Shamash. An inscription was found which records what lah-dun-lim had done for Shamash: "For his own life he built the temple of the god Shamash, his lord’ It then goes on to state what he expected in return: ‘ May the god Sham ash, who lives in that temple, grant to Iah-dun-Lim, the builder of his temple, the king beloved of his heart, a mighty weapon which overwhelms the enemies (and) a long reign of happiness and years of joyous abundance, forever"
Here’s an example from Egypt. In the 15th century BC , the pharaoh Thutmose III worshipped a god named Amun. One inscription has Amun explaining why he had blessed this leader with his favour: ‘I gave you protection, my son, ... who does for me all that my heart desires. You have built my temple as a work of eternity ... "
Here’s an example from Babylon: In the 7th century BC there was a ruler named Nabopolassar, a contemporary of the Biblical kings. He worshipped the gods Nabu and Marduk. In the era before his reign, he Assyrians had ruled the land Akkad. When he became king he rebuilt the walls of Bablylon. He wrote in his autobiography
When I was young, though I was the son of a nobody, I constantly sought the sanctuaries of Nabu and Marduk my lords. My mind was preoccupied with the establishment of their prescriptions and the complete performance of their rituals .... The Assyrian, who had ruled Akkad because of divine anger and had, with his heavy yoke, oppressed the inhabitants of the country, I, the weak one, the powerless one, who constantly seeks the lord of lords, with the mighty strength of Nabu and Marduk my lords I removed them from Akkad and cause (the Babylonians) to throw off their yoke.
Here's an example from Phoenecia . Azatiwata was the eighth-century ruler of a small town. He worshipped a god named Tarhunza. He wrote "therein I caused Tarhunza to dwell, and every river-land will begin to honor him: by the year an ox, and at the harvest (?) a sheep, and at the vintage a sheep,"
And then he recorded his prayer: : "Let (Tarhunza) bless Azatiwata with health and life, and let him be made highly preeminent over all kings"
And we’ll look at one final example, from the 6th century Persian king Cyrus, who is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian king Nabonidus and became the ruler of Bablyon. He then issued a declaration explaining why he had been victorious. Cyrus explains that Nabonidus had put an end to the worship of the Persian god Marduk. The inscription notes:
.... By his own plan, he did away with the worship of Marduk, the king of the gods.’
The text goes on to say that Marduk then "searched for a righteous king whom he would support. He called out his name: Cyrus, king of Anshan."
After Cyrus conquered the city, he wrote ‘I daily attended to his worship .... I increased the offerings [to x] geese, two ducks and ten turtledoves above the former (offerings) ...’
And not only did Cyrus restore the worship of Marduk. He wanted to be careful that he wasn’t angering the gods of other nations that his predecessors had captured. So this same inscription says
‘ I returned the (images of) the gods to the sacred centers (on the other side of the) Tigris whose sanctuaries had been abandoned for a long time’
This of course explains why this same Cyrus let the Jews who had been captive in his land return to Jerusalem, and why he helped them rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed.
So what we see in all of these examples kings in the Ancient Near East tried hard not to anger their gods, and did their best to show them honour. In return, they expected to receive blessing and favour.
What these texts reveal is a quid pro quo relationship between the ancient gods and their worshippers. Rulers must build temples for the gods and ensure that in these temples the gods are worshipped in a consistent and ritually precise manner.
When a king does this, the god will reward him with wealth, a long life and victory in battle. So what predominates in the religions of the Ancient Near East is a completely transactional relationship between the gods and their worshippers. You serve the god, and the god will grant you favour.
So going back to the Biblical narrative – this is the same mindset that King Saul had. His was a completely transactional relationship with YHWH. And what becomes very clear in the text, is that this wasn’t the type of relationship that YHWH wanted to have with Saul.
And this is one of those factors that make Hebrew religion so unique in the Ancient near East.
The God of Israel was not an aloof, egocentric power – ready to reward those who honoured him and to punish those who didn’t show him respect. YHWH the God of Israel was a personal God, a God of pathos, of feeling - who desired intimate relationship with his people. He was emotionally connected to them. He wanted was best for them because he loved them. And his heart broke when they made choices that hurt themselves and hurt Him.
And this the beauty and the power of Judaic spirituality. No one today worships Marduk or Tarhunza or Nabu or Amun. These religions all died out thousands of years ago. But isn’t it amazing to think that YHWH, the God of this struggling little nation of Israel, is still worshipped today? Isn’t it amazing to think that three out of every five people on the earth today claim to worship the God who revealed himself to Abraham?
What this says to me is that there’s something about the God of Israel that resonates deeply with the human heart. He’s not a god who can simply be appeased with offerings. He’s not a god whose favour can simply be won with sacrifices. He’s not a god who simply demands ritualistic precision. He’s a god who wants love relationship. He wants people to love him with their heart, with their soul, and with all of their strength.
And so going back to the question that we presented at the beginning of this podcast -what’s the point of being religious? For the Judaic people, this didn’t guarantee reward in heaven. It wasn’t supposed to be a transactional, quid pro quo relationship. So what did the people hope to get out of their faithfulness to YHWH?
To answer this question, we look to the life of the young man who came after King Saul, and this of course was King David.
The first reference to David is found in Samuel’s declaration to Saul that his rule would come to an end. Samuel said: ‘The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people.’
Later in the narrative, when Samuel went to the house of Jesse in order to find out who this person might be, he at first thought it was going to some of the older sons. But God spoke to Samuel saying “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
YHWH saw something in the heart of David that made him think: this is the man. This is the one who can lead the people of Israel back to covenant faithfulness. This is the one who help Israel get back on track so that they can thrive and flourish and be the model people I’ve called them to be. This is the one who will make Israel a nation so powerful and so beautiful that the peoples around them will turn from their false gods to worship the one true God of Israel.
So what was it about David’s heart that YHWH found so attractive and compelling?
Of course many books and sermons and devotionals have been dedicated to this question. And I don’t propose to have a simple quick answer. But this is what I see.
We know of course that David wrote numerous Psalms, and these texts more than anything else reveal what was in his heart. For me, one of the most beautiful Psalms historically attributed to David is Ps 116. What we see here stands in sharp contrast to the transactional, quid pro quo type of worship that characterised King Saul and so many other kings in the ancient near east.
David didn’t worship YHWH in order to gain favour. He worshipped YHWH out of love and gratitude for all the things that YHWH had already done for him. Listen to what he says in the Psalm
I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;
And then in verse 12 David really reveals the essence of his religious understanding;
What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?
He doesn’t ask: what can do I do for the Lord so that I’ll be successful in battle? He doesn’t ask what can do for YHWH so that he’ll give me wealth and power?
The driving question of David’s life is this: what can I do for God to show him how grateful I am for all the things he’s already done for me? He delivered me when I cried out for help. He had mercy on me when I asked for forgiveness. Now what can I do for God to show him that I’m grateful?
David concludes that the way to show YHWH his gratitude will be a to live life of worship, faithfulness and integrity as he walks in love relationship with his God
‘I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.’
Its no surprise, then, that this is the kind of man that YHWH wanted to lead his people.
But looking again at the big picture of ancient religions, texts like this show us why the spirituality the Hebrew scriptures remains so compelling today. People want to worship a God who hears them. They want to worship a God who forgives them. At its heart, Judaic spirituality isn´t about what a person can get from God. The religion set forth in the Hebrew Scriptures isn´t for people who want a a transactional relationship. Its for people who know that God is real, who know that God is good, who know that he is merciful - And who want to show him their gratitude.
Transactional relationships are not satisfying and they don’t last. No one today worships Marduk or Nabu or Amon, because there came a time when the people who worshipped these gods just weren’t getting what they expected from their deities. When their nation were defeated and as their civilisation collapsed, these ancients peoples probably came to the conclusion that the god they worshipped wasn’t strong enough to save them. And the cult died out.
But this is not the case with the God whom encounter in the Hebrew Scriptures. He is still worshipped today by billions of people, and there are no signs that these faiths are dying out.
Over the past few centuries, the Old Testament has been subject to a long process of deconstruction. Questions have been raised around the dates the texts were written, the process by which they were compiled, and the historical accuracy of the accounts. These are all very important fields of study that shouldn’t be ignored. But what sometimes gets lost in the academic research and discourse around the Old Testament is the fact that for thousands of years, something in these texts has deeply resonated with the human experience. Something about the God who is presented in these texts has drawn, and continues to draw people to worship him.
Is this simply because people are gullible, ignorant and deluded? Personally, I don’t think so.
In this podcast, I’m not going to spend a lot of time probing the historical accuracy of the Old Testament, nor will I dig deeply into tasks such as text, source and redaction criticism. As a historical theologian - what I’m trying to uncover is the power of the story. I want to know why it is that over thousands of years, people of different nations, cultures, ethnicities and social locations have claimed that the God presented in these texts changed their lives? Why does that phenomenon continue to be on the rise today?
At the beginning of this episode we posed a question: What’s the point of being religious? What’s the point of worshipping God?
What we’ve found in the Biblical text is that king David had a pretty clear answer to this question. David would say that what humanity most deeply wants, and what humanity most deeply needs is to worship a God who hears them, who forgives them, and who offers them intimate love relationship. Worship cannot be primarily a transactional relationship. The religious practice of the Hebrew Scriptures is not driven by what people can get from God. Rather, the Old Testament asserts that the most satisfying, deeply gratifying expression of worship is one in which the person simply seeks to express her love and gratitude to YHWH for the things she’s already received.
And on that thought, we’ll end our reflection for today. In our next podcast we’ll continue looking at the life of David, and we’ll focus in particular on a moment in David’s life where YHWH made it clear to him that he was the next link in the plan to fulfil the promise made to Abraham.