Who Is Asherah?

Above the Holy Ark, is the star of David, which is from 1845 and is the oldest representation of the star of David in an architectural building in the country. This is also the location of the Ten Commandments.

In 588 B.C a horrible act was started by the Babylonian Empire. The Babylonian captivity had started and was exiling the Hebrews from their land. This was a very hard time for the Jews. The exile had brought a significant amount of change to how Judaism was practiced. Before they got exiled by the Babylonians their life revolved around the temple in Jerusalem, which the Babylonians have destroyed. The Hebrews believed that this was an act of god like when they were slaves in Egypt and then freed. They believed that they have to still keep their beliefs till god saves them again. Since they didn’t have a temple to go to where they made animal sacrifices they shifted their minds to the religious side. This is what led to the rise of

five elements: the wife is childless; a messenger from God appears to one or the other spouse; the messenger promises a son; the event is confirmed despite human doubt; and the promised son is bom and receives a significant name.6 We find these elements in the accounts of Sarah, Samson’s mother, Hannah, and the Shunammite woman. The third model, request, involves a simpler plot with only three elements: someone requests a son for a barren wife; the Lord hears the request; and a son is given. The accounts of Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and the woman in Ezra’s vision contain these elements.7
Childless Women in Relation to the Models.

John H. Walton’s Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible is broken up into fourteen chapters. Those fourteen chapters are each part of one of five sections. This book also contains over twenty historical images. Before the introduction, the author gives readers a full appendix of all images used in this published work. The author then gives his acknowledgements followed by a list of abbreviations.

An examination of Israelite theology goes beyond finding similarities and differences, it should articulate the relationships which existed and clarify the cultural context. Otherwise, the mere interpretation of text may lead to interpretation with a theological significance based on our understanding.

In pre-Islamic Arabia the three goddesses were known as “daughters of god”. From God’s many daughters there were three chief goddesses named: Al-Alat, Al- Uzza, Al- Manat. These goddesses equated the Greek-Roman goddesses Venus, Aphrodite, and Athena. Al-Uzza is known as “the strong one” and is the goddess of the morning and evening star Venus in Arab deities. The women invoked Al-Uzza from the rooftops, worshiped the star goddess. She is the goddess of love and war, and big cats were sacred to the goddess. Al-lat means “the goddess” she is known is “mother of the Gods” or the “Greatest of all”. Some of the worships also associate her with the “female version of Allah”. She was also identified as Isis from Egypt. [

Unlike the other two major religions Judaism evolved form the Israelites who didn't deny the existence of other gods for other nations, though they only worshipped one deity. Its deity was Yahweh, the god of the patriarchs, who was worshipped in a sacrificial cult centered in Jerusalem and later at sanctuaries in the north, where a rival Jewish kingdom was formed. Prophets who warned against the people's reliance on these temple cults saw themselves vindicated when both the northern and southern kingdoms were destroyed by foreign conquerors. The exile of the Judeans to Babylonia in 586 BC was a major turning point in Israelite religion. The prior history of Israel now was reinterpreted

“The Pentateuch developed against the background of the Ancient Near Eastern culture first cultivated in and spread by Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian empires”. From this, we can see how Israelite religion was “shaped by responses to and reactions against this culture due both to contacts with neighboring Canaanites and to conflicts with Assyrian and Babylonian

The ancient tabernacle of Moses was a sacred and holy place for the people of Israel. It served as a tool for the people to remember God and to look forward to their promised Messiah. The tabernacle was so integral to the lives of the Israelites that they even built the tabernacle in the center of their encampments during their journeys (Yom Kippur). The tabernacle also served many purposes for the Israelites in their rituals, ceremonies, and beliefs of their religion. Many practices that the ancient Israelites performed in and for the tabernacle anciently, may seem peculiar to the modern thought process or many beliefs today. The main focus of the tabernacle was the day of Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement. On this day, the Israelites would gather and watch as a high priest performed the rituals in the tabernacle that would rid the sins of the people of Israel. This day and ceremony was a very important aspect to Israelites’ beliefs and the tabernacle was the main tool for their ceremonies. The tabernacle and the day of Yom Kippur served many purposes in helping the Israelites to remember their God, learn from symbols, and to help them strive to obey their God’s commandments.

Over thousands of years, the religion of Judaism has evolved. With years of suffering, persecution, and dispersion the Jews’ religion stays constant. When researching the religion, the history is extremely strong, and the doctrine of the religion dates back thousands of years. With such a vast history, one might want to examine the change into modern society.

The main religion of the Israelites is Judaism. They worshipped God in a Temple. While most Israelites were Jews, some worshipped false gods or idols. Some of Israel’s earliest leaders were connected to God in powerful ways. Moses is an example of such a leader. “God himself, it was declared, had revealed his new name of Yahweh to Moses (Fletcher).”

Studying the religion of the Ancient Israelite People must be done in a careful manner. The ways in which biblical scholars frame significant ideas can have a major effect on how their point is received. Today’s ideas about the religious lives of Canaanites have been drawn on primarily from The Hebrew Bible and archaeological evidence. In their respective works, biblical scholars Benjamin Sommer and Carol Meyers choose to interpret these pieces of religious evidence is varying ways; Meyers takes a more cultural approach while Sommer’s has a theological leaning. Recognizing these different perspectives, I prefer the approach that Meyers takes because of its focus in anthropology.

Before we can totally dive into how the Temple destruction changed Judaism, we must gain some knowledge of the Jewish faith itself, as well as Jewish terms. One of the first ideas many people may discover about the term “Jew” is its lack of use in the Old Testament scriptures.

God’s goodness and mercy far transcends the comprehension of the most brilliant human mind! He “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”(Psalm 113:6).Yet in His infinite love for us He stoops down to reveal Himself to us by a multitude of illustration, types, and shadows, so that we may learn to know him. This paper will describe what is meant by the Kingdom of God; examine the religious philosophy of the various sects of Judaism during the Second Temple period: Pharisee, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, describe the religious philosophy and political philosophy of each sects, it will also describe how the Messianic expectation differ from the Messianic role that Jesus presented, and include an exegesis of

Before, King David gathered a surplus of wealth when in power to bring the Jewish culture into the Golden Age. “With Solomon...the surplus accumulated...rapidly dissipated in ambitious building.” (Asali p.53) through large fortifications and military armaments. At his old age, he placed a heavy tax burden on his people, and in turn they became largely bitter towards him. After his death, massive conflicts came before the people to eventually split Israel and Judah into separate kingdoms. In 800 B.C.E., “two centuries later, the Assyrians conquered the north, and many of the Jews of Israel were deported” (Ardito, Gambaro and Torrefranca p.42). Later, in 600 B.C.E., the kingdom of Judah was overthrown by the Babylons. In turn, this lead to their captivity as slaves; entering a new era of a nomadic culture spread across the western world. On the other hand, it was this captivity which strengthened their religious identity, and evidently propagated the largest monolithic deity known throughout the 21st century: Jesus Christ.