How the God of the Hebrews became THE GOD of the Western World (Part 1)

THE OLD TESTAMENT

The story of the Hebrew people and their religion is recounted in the writings which Christians refer to as the Old Testament. It is the story of a small group of people who were dominated by the much greater nations which surrounded them for most of their history. Indeed, over the course of a thousand years, they enjoyed true political and religious independence for less than a third of that time. For the vast majority of their existence as a people, they were conquered, persecuted and suppressed. Moreover, the Hebrews occupied a largely arid strip of land devoid of great rivers, citadels or ports - a land whose only importance was derived from the fact that it was sandwiched between two great empires. In fact, one could justly characterize the Hebrews and their story as a footnote - a relatively insignificant appendage to the history of the civilization of the ancient Western World.

The story begins with a family of nomads which grows into a loose confederation of twelve tribes who came to be dominated by the Egyptians. For our purposes, the debate over the historicity of their slavery and exodus from Egypt is immaterial to our larger narrative. Suffice it to say that most historians believe that Egypt dominated the region and its peoples for much of the period before Israel became an independent kingdom. Hence, the story of the Hebrew peoples' eventual emergence from the shadow of Pharaoh's might has some basis in reality - whatever particulars fundamentalists, archaeologists and historians may argue over.

From there, the OT relates the story of the founding of a Hebrew kingdom. Again, whatever one thinks of the historicity of the stories about Saul, David and Solomon, the outlines of the story ring true. In other words, even in these stories of the tribes united as a single kingdom, the period is depicted as one that is rife with division, civil war and intrusions by surrounding nations. And, after Solomon, the Hebrew Scriptures recount a tale of two kingdoms with separate monarchies, capitals and religions. Indeed, there are several occasions where we find Israel and Judah at war with each other! In other words, a picture emerges of two weak and relatively unimportant kingdoms struggling to barely survive and unable to exert much (if any) influence on the nations around them.

Next, the story is told about how the Assyrians invaded and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and carried many of its people into captivity. A few generations later, we are told that the southern kingdom of Judah suffered the same fate at the hands of the Babylonians. Moreover, the Old Testament makes clear that YHWH's temple at Jerusalem, the center of their religious life, was completely destroyed by the invaders. From that point forward, the story is one of exile in a foreign land and powerlessness. At this point in the narrative, the gods of the Assyrians and the Babylonians appeared to be triumphant.

Nevertheless, the Old Testament concludes on an extremely modest note of hope. After the Persians conquered the Babylonians, a small group of exiles was allowed to return to their former homeland and rebuild their God's temple. To be sure, we are told that this second temple was but a pale reflection of the original building, and the Jews remained under the thumb of the Persians. Even so, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of a zealous and devoted remnant intent on restoring and preserving their religious observances in the face of extreme hardship and the opposition of committed enemies.

In terms of the chronology of when they were written, the Hebrew Scriptures finish with a number of prophecies. The book of Daniel offers a brief synopsis of what was to follow the close of the Hebrews' narrative of their experiences. And, finally, the book of Malachi closes the Old Testament canon on a note of hope for the future. Once again, however, there is nothing in this closing narrative that suggests that it would eventually become part of the foundational documents of Western philosophy and religion. There is nothing here that would lead an objective outsider to believe that one day the Hebrew God would become THE GOD of the Western World.