Inheriting Sonship: Part 1 – The Culture of Abraham the Hebrew

Contents

The Rise of Religion

The catastrophic judgement of the Flood brought a fundamental change to planet earth. Gone was the mist or canopy of cloud that surrounded the earth. Gone were great subterranean fountains of the deep, the great reservoirs of fresh water that had previously watered the earth. The waters of the Flood had washed away all traces of the previous civilization. God now sent the rains to water the earth and established his rainbow in the sky as a token to remind the people of his covenant of mercy. Whilst planet earth had changed, human hearts had not. As the population grew and spread over the plains of Shinar in Mesopotamia, the people prospered and as they prospered the knowledge of God as a loving father was lost. They had known God but did not glorify Him as God, nor gave thanks for his goodness and love, but became twisted in their reasonings, and their unintelligent hearts were darkened. The professed to be wise, but became fools and in their pride changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of images of corruptible man, or birds, or beasts or snakes. Instead of seeing God’s love as strong, like a bull, or God’s love as light, like the sun, they actually worshipped these things as gods that were to be feared instead of loved. They made small figurines of people and animals which were carved out of bone or baked out of clay and worshipped them. They took the skulls of their ancestors, covered them with clay and painted them and said that they also were gods. Religious specialists or priests emerged within the community. These priests claimed special or holy knowledge of the gods and promised to save those who honoured them and followed their religious observances and traditions from the curse of the gods, their enemies, disease and misfortune. They promised the blessing of success in every walk or aspect of life for those who wholeheartedly followed their religious practices and traditions. The priests developed a religious belief system that explained their origins and taught how they could pacify the anger or curse of their gods and gain some kind of control over the deified forces of nature. They taught that the deities Anshar and Kishar were the male and female principles, light and dark, or the twin horizons of sky and earth. They taught that their parents were Apsu (the watery abyss) and Tiamat (the salt water oceans of chaos). Anshar and Kishar begot the god Anu, the supreme god of heaven. Anu’s consorts were the goddess Antu, the great mother of the sky, and Ki the great mother of the earth. With Antu, Anu begot Enki the god of the Waters also known as Ea. With Ki, Anu begot Enlil, the Lord of the Air. Anu the supreme lord and god, and his sons Enlil and Enki were considered to be the original godhead or triad of gods who ruled the universe. Enlil was seen as the storm god and the tempest issued from the breath of his command. Enki was seen as the water god and was associated with the seed of animals and fertility. The firstborn son of Enlil was the moon god Sin (Nanna), represented by the horns of a bull and whose symbol resembled the crescent moon. Shamash (Utu) was the god of the sun and divine justice and was usually said to be the son of the moon god Sin. He was often depicted as an old bearded man seated on a royal throne whose head was surrounded by a halo, or solar disk with wings. Ishtar (Inanna) was the goddess of sex and war, the goddess of sacred prostitutes and usually represented by the planet Venus but sometimes the moon. Her husband was the god Dumuzi (Tammuz) who was the son of Enki. He was a pastoral and fertility god who was killed by a wild boar and spent part of the year in the underworld, mourned by his wife Ishtar. There were many other gods, each ruled over a particular place or aspect of life. The priests divided the year into 12 moons or months, each was ruled over by a particular god. As the earth travelled around the sun each year, the portion of sky occupied by the sun each month gradually changed. Each section or constellation hidden behind the bright light of the sun during the month was considered to be a sign or symbol of the gods that they worshipped. The imaginary line that was occupied by the arc of the sun and moon across the sky (the ecliptic) was also occupied by the 5 wandering stars or planets. The constellations were assigned to the different gods and movement of the planets amongst the constellations or star signs during the year revealed the will of the gods and the future that was to come. An understanding of these through omens enabled the priests and kings to govern their kingdom effectively. For instance, the star of Ishtar (the morning star, Venus) rising within the constellation of the Lion meant war was to come. Over time, names of the gods changed, but the sun was Shamash, the moon Sin, Mercury was Nabu, Venus was Ishtar, Mars was Nergal, Jupiter was Marduk, and Saturn was Ninurta. The worship of these gods and goddesses involved no absolute sense of right and wrong. Instead, these gods simply required the right offerings and sacrifices, incantations and spells and the wearing of the appropriate amulets or charms or jewellery. Their pagan mythologies described in detail the behaviour of these gods whom were often squabbling amongst themselves. They set an appalling role-model which the people followed and which often included self-mutilation, murder, incest and rape. These things were often acted out within their religious ceremonies in an attempt to secure divine favour.

Cities Belonging To Gods

On the plains of Shinar where the first civilizations developed, the leaders of the people being deceived themselves, realized that they could harness the power of religion by setting up a state religion that offered the saving benefits of serving these gods on a national or city-state level. They deceived the people into thinking that the protection and salvation of their particular kingdom or city state was dependent upon appeasing the anger of these gods. These leaders were war lords (or in Hebrew culture, sons of power) who forced the people to build and live in cities so that they could farm them for money, sex and political power. Each of these cities was dedicated to and protected by a particular deity and housed a large temple complex with shrines, granaries and store-rooms, houses for priests and priestesses, barracks for the temple guards, offices for city administration, kitchens, workshops and so forth, to handle all aspects of religious duty and life and city administration. The temples were staffed by priests or priestesses, musicians and singers, and temple prostitutes and slaves. Various public rituals, food sacrifices, and animal and sometimes human sacrifices took place there on a daily basis, depending upon the individual or group of deities being worshipped. Within the temples religious schools of learning were established which began to teach the immortality of the soul and the divinity of man to the initiated using secret signs and symbols and sacred numbers – mysteries which only the initiated could understand. The temple, city and even the whole city state ultimately belonged to and was protected by their god or patron deity whose representative on earth was usually the king. The town hall, with elders and administrators, was also housed in the temple complex with the people living outside in their agricultural small- holdings and villages. Within the temple complex there was often a large tower, in Akkadian Ziggurat, which meant “to build high”, that was a solid structure resembling a pyramid. These towers were huge structures, square in shape with a number of successive stages each containing shrines and gateways dedicated to the various deities. The top of these towers housed an elaborately decorated shrine, with a platform for viewing the stars and various rooms to house their idols. One of the principle cities in Mesopotamia was Ur, described by Moses as Ur of the Chaldeans, where Abram was born. The patron deity and protector of Ur was Ur-Nannu (Sin) the moon god, and their temple, tower and the whole of their society was dedicated to serving this and its related deities.

Idols of The Gods

The idols were manufactured on an industrial scale in the workshops within the temple complex and offered for sale. They were often hideous in appearance and had holes drilled in the back of their neck so that the breath or spirit of the god could enter the idol when it was inaugurated with the appropriate incantation and ceremony. The same breath of the god would enter into the worshippers as they gazed upon and bowed down to these idols. The largest and most ornate of the idols were carried up the towers with great pomp and ceremony probably on a national holiday or timed to coincide with one of the many religious festivals, such as annual rebirth of the sun. These idols would be brought down from the tower on a periodic basis to be carried around the temple estate to view their lands. Within the temples, sumptuous banquets were prepared for the idols. The food that had been offered was then used to feed the temple staff and sometimes the king. An army engaged in conflict would be accompanied by priests who would carry the idols and appeal to their army to honour their gods with acts of cruelty to bring victory. The victor in any conflict would put the defeated idols within their own temple to increase their power. Sometimes cities in conflict would hold a mock trial and pass judgement upon their opponent cities idols. Individuals or families had their own idols that they would bow down to, pray to and honour. The idols would also serve as a witness for business and covenant transactions. The people could buy these small votive statues in the marketplace. These household gods were often chosen based on the trade and occupation of the family and sometimes represented their ancestors. Such gods were passed down from father to son as an inheritance and guarantee that the protection of the family or house would continue. Sometimes these idols were offered back to their gods in the temple. The people could pay to have praying idols installed within the temple to intercede with the national gods on their behalf. Idols of metal that were offered in the temples were melted down in the workshops and then sold as scrap back to the merchants in the marketplace.

Serving The Gods

Misfortune on a national or personal level was attributed to the displeasure of the gods, and life was often spent in a continual state of anxiety. For a price, priests or priestesses, astrologers and wise men who were seen as saviours were consulted about all aspects of domestic, civil and national life. The whole of society was filled with superstition and even the simplest things of life could be seen as an omen or foreboding of something to worry about. For instance, ancient texts state regarding the tragic misfortune of someone who accidentally sees a snake on the wrong day of the year:

If in the beginning of the year on the first day of Nisan, or on the first day of Ayar, a snake is seen, the man who sees the snake will die during the year. If the man desires to live, he must gash his head and cheeks, he will be troubled for three months but will recover.

Or the plight and prayer of a man who has an unfortunate encounter with a howling dog:

You make a clay image of a dog. You place cedar wood upon its neck, sprinkle oil upon its head, clothe it with goat’s hear. At the river bank you set up a reed altar before Shamash [the sun], you arrange twelve emmer loaves, heap up dates and flour, honey and ghee, kneel before Shamash and say “;Shamash, king of heaven and earth, judge of the upper and lower regions, light of the gods, governor of mankind, pronouncer of judgement of the great gods, I turn to you, seek you out. Among the gods, command that I live! May the gods who are with you command my prosperity! Because of this dog, which has voided it’s urine upon me, I am frightened, alarmed and terrified. Avert from me the evil of this dog, that I may sing your praise“

Or someone wanting to be saved from misfortune, makes a clay idol, covers it with goat hair and throws it into the river, praying to that river:

“You, River, are the creator of all things. I [name], son of [father’s name], whose god is [god’s name] and whose goddess is [goddess’ name], because evil signs have befallen me, I am terrified and in dread. Just as this image and likeness of the evils do not return to their place, may those evils not approach me but be far from my person, that I may daily bless you, River, that those who see me may forever sing your praise. Take this evil away, down to your depths! You, River, take away that evil placed upon me, may a substitute serve for me, a surrogate receive it from me. May the day bring me health, the month gladness, the year abundance. Enki, Shamash and Marduk, help me!“

Or even an inn-keeper wanting to increase his trade, praying to Ishtar, the planet Venus:

“Ishtar, most courageous of the great gods, exalted, glorious, warlike Ishtar, noble one, most great lady, help me! You are fair and darkened, Lady Enlil of all peoples, goddess of males, mighty Ishtar, daughter of Anu, created by the great gods, giver of the sceptre and throne and the royal staff to all kings, lady of all lands, heed me. Ishtar, stand by my affairs and may my inn trade be yours, lay your hand upon my mixing vat and may profit come my way and never cease. You are the one that has this office“

Through prayers, rituals, incantations and ceremonies the people constantly sought blessing and were constantly on their guard against bringing a curse upon themselves by offending their gods. Different gods had their own roles (such as the god of justice, or the god of wisdom, or of truth, or rains) delegated to them by the supreme god Anu. The people who needed something specific or wanted to be saved from misfortune would visit the shrine or temple of that particular god and make their plea with the designated rituals and offerings. In addition to star watching, the will of the gods was determined by the patterns seen in sacrificed animal livers which resembled the heavens, or thrown lots or other methods of divination. In the local markets, amulets and charms that symbolized the gods could be purchased that would ward off misfortune and danger. Gold was particularly prized as it was considered to be condensed sunlight and wearing gold honoured the deified sun. Different metals represented different gods and precious stones were each assigned to their own astral deities. The temple could sponsor children of poorer families so that later in life they would serve the gods by becoming priests or priestesses or to one day be burnt to death to honour the gods in their sacred fires. There were monthly feasts and annual New Year celebrations to coincide with the waxing or waning of the moon or other cyclic events such as seasonal flooding. Their worship included various prayers and incantations, flattery, singing, and in particular acting out in ritual form extracts from their pagan mythology which they believed would contribute to the rebirth of the moon or the sun or the seasons on a periodic basis. Common prostitutes were franchised by the temple and offered their services as authorized representatives of the goddess Ishtar. These cult prostitutes were actually described as being holy and their services were required to bring fertility to the land. Religion was big business and affected every area of their culture.

The Heavenly Bull

Huge wild bulls called aurochs (now extinct) roamed the plains of Shinar and were domesticated because of their great strength for ploughing and farming. The bull was worshipped as the embodiment of supernatural strength, virility and ferocity. Their horns represented sunlight, warfare and honour. Just as they had domesticated and harnessed the power of the wild bulls, the people imagined that they could domesticate and harness the power of the gods, if they followed the right religious practices. The most important constellation in the sky was the constellation of the Heavenly Bull (Taurus). Between about 4300 BC and 2150 BC the constellation of Taurus rose at the vernal equinox, the rainy season and fertility was associated with the bull calf and the god Dumuzi. Because of the progression of the equinoxes after 2150 BC the constellation of Taurus began to rise towards the summer months and became associated with a wild bull roaming the plains bringing bush fires, drought, drying up pastures and causing plague. The people feared the bull and they often gave the bull symbol first place in their alphabet whatever form that took. The place of honour of the first letter was also symbolic of the number one. So the head of a bull was the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “alef” which is alpha in Greek. In Shinar, worship of bulls seemed to them to be the most sensible thing to do, and in times of plague or war, sacrifice and especially human sacrifice within their sacred fires, seemed to them to be the best way to pacify the ferocity and save the people from the anger of this wild heavenly bull.

Gods Of The Sacred Year

The Solar or sacred year revolved around the marriage of the god Dumuzi (Tammuz) to the goddess Ishtar (Inanna, Venus) and his birth, death and rebirth. Key to the worship of these gods were the solstices and equinoxes. At the winter solstice, when the sun was at its lowest point in the sky, Dumuzi, represented by the power of the sun, was reborn. His rebirth from the waters of chaos was celebrated with feasts and offerings. The star signs being a galloping horse with its mane representing glistening sunlight, and the stag with new growing antlers representing the increasing power of the sun’s rays. At the spring or vernal equinox, when night and day were equal lengths, light was finally triumphing over darkness and daylight beginning to outlast the night. The new year was celebrated at the first new moon after the vernal equinox when the sun god Shamash was in the constellation of Taurus. At this time Dumuzi was crowned king by the gods for another year. His marriage to Ishtar was celebrated as the women identified themselves with Ishtar and some even offered themselves as sacred prostitutes. The king was sometimes identified with Dumuzi and the high priestess with Ishtar herself. They were often required to consummate their marriage sexually. The crowning of Dumuzi was also associated with a golden bull calf which represented the strength of the newly crowned king and the coming rains. There was an ancient omen that referred to the stars within the constellation of Taurus the Heavenly Bull which stated “If the Bull of Heaven’s stars are very bright: the offspring of cattle will thrive”. As the seasons progressed, the summer solstice was associated with Dumuzi’s coming death. The women wept and mourned for Dumuzi and gave Ishtar offerings of raisins and baked bread or cakes marked with her symbol, star or cross. At the height of summer when the power of the sun was at its strongest, the summer solstice was seen as a time of death and plague. The people held funeral rites in honour of Dumuzi as he walked the paths of the dead on the way to the underworld. In the fifth moon (or month) the people held festivals for the dead and lit fires and torches to guide the souls of the dead back from the underworld, which strangely enough for them was amongst the stars. At the autumn equinox the people celebrated the coming rains and the starting of the planting. They saw the planting of seeds as symbols of the death of Dumuzi but also celebrated this as a prelude to his inevitable rebirth or resurrection at the time of the winter solstice. After the autumn equinox the people celebrated the serpent guardians who guided the spirits of the dead ever towards their final resting place within the constellations of the stars, the milky way often being seen as the visible passage of the souls of the dead and those who were to be reborn.

Gods Of The Sacred Numbers

Over time, the gods were given numbers and the numbers were worshipped as symbols or representations of the gods. For example the number 1 was associated with the ruling constellation of the Zodiac – Taurus, the heavenly bull and the sun. This was the masculine principle of power and strength, light and virility. It was sometimes seen as a pillar or obelisk. This was symbolic of sunlight striking and fertilizing the earth. The number 2 was the feminine principle of mother earth or the moon goddess, of darkness and the underworld. The raw power of the 1 god (the Alpha symbol in Greek) was formed and moulded within the womb (the Omega symbol in Greek) of the mother goddess 2 god to produce god number 3. The number 3 god was god the son who expressed himself as the god of all creation and life. This trinity was symbolized as a triangle. Much later the Pythagorean 345 triangle was seen as a perfect expression of this godhead. The vertical 3 of the triangle represented the sun fertilizing the mother earth goddess. Mother earth was the fallen plain and the passive principle of the horizontal line number 4. The hypotenuse of the triangle was number 5. The square of 3 and the square of 4 equalled the square of 5 (25) and this was symbolic of divine marriage and the deification of sex. The ultimate secret of all the mystery religions was that as a result of that mystical encounter between the first two members of the godhead that man too is, or can become, a god. The gods were given summary numbers. The summary number of the godhead was 6 because 1 plus 2 plus 3 was 6. The 6 ruled over the 3. 6 was also associated with the serpent and sex. The summary number of 6 was 21, and 2 plus 1 equalled 3. One of the most venerated and feared of the sacred numbers was 36, the product of 6 times 6. The zodiac was divided into 12 monthly houses, each of the houses was divided into 3 rooms giving 36 rooms in all. All of the gods and the souls of the dead lived within these houses. 36 was also a summary number of the number 8. The number 8 represents two circles of the zodiac. The top circle was the masculine principle of goodness and light and was represented by the odd numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7. The bottom circle was the feminine principle of evil and darkness and was represented by the numbers, 2, 4, 6 and 8. All of these added together give the number 36 and the number 8 represented the infinity of the double circle of zodiac. The summary number of the number 36 was the number 666 and it represented all of the gods of the cosmos both above and below the earth. All of these were a representation of the 1 god because they were considered to be “flesh of his flesh” and his flesh was fire. 666 was known as the grand number of the sun god and was called the “solar seal”. The ancients feared this number and it was commonly seen on charms and amulets, ideally in gold, as it gained the wearer protection from all evils, or so they were told. The people were taught that no god would every afflict or harm someone who was wearing that god’s sign, symbol or number.

The Gods of Terah and Nahor Abram’s Family

This was the religious culture of Terah, Abraham’s father, and Nahor his grandfather and their family. It was the culture that Abraham was born into but also chosen out of. God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12 and said:

And Yehovah saith unto Abram, “Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee. And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground“

Genesis 12:1-3

Many years later, this is what God said to Joshua about Terah and Nahor as the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan into the promised land:

…beyond the river your fathers dwelt of old – Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor – and they served other gods; and I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and caused him to go through all of the land of Canaan, and multiply his seed and brought your fathers out of Egypt…. to give you a land for which you have not laboured and cities that you have not build, and vineyards and olive trees which you have not planted….now fear Yehovah and serve Him, in perfection and truth, and turn away from the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt…

Joshua 24:2-3

The Golden Calf Gods

Joshua was chosen by God to lead the Israelites across the Jordan into the land of promise. There they were to rid the land of the pagan gods of Babylon and Egypt and instead establish the fatherhood of God. God had led the people out of Egypt but in their hearts they were still there – worshipping, valuing and honouring these gods. Moses went up Mount Sinai to get from God the Ten Commandments and while he was talking with God the people persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf which they bowed down to and worshipped. This worship was actually star worship, the calf represented the newly crowned Heavenly Bull – the ruler of the “hosts of heaven” or stars. In Babylon it was worshipped as Bel-Merodach or Marduk (the son of the storm god Enlil). In Canaan this deity was known as Baal, in Syria as Hadad, in Ammon known as Molech, and in Moab it was known as Chemosh. It was known as the “rider of the clouds” and was worshipped as the calf of the sun whose star was the planet Saturn. In the wilderness the Israelites professed to be carrying the glorious tabernacle of Yehovah but in their hearts they were carrying the most malignant and cruel of all the pagan deities. The worship of this god began with sacrifices and ritual prostitution and ultimately ended with the children born to this god being burnt to death in their sacred fires. The Prophet Amos said: “Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun (Saturn) your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Yehovah, whose name is The God of hosts.”

Jericho and Judgement of Their Gods

The first city that the new generation of Israelites encountered following their miraculous crossing over the Jordan was Jericho. The word Jericho in Hebrew probably meant “the place of the moon”. Canaan had been polluted and defiled by the idolatry and wickedness of the pagan religion seen on the plains of Shinar that the peoples brought with them when they were scattered by God’s judgement at Babel. Canaan was a much more primitive land and a vassal state of the highly civilized Babylon. Their religious culture was simpler but in essence the same. The pagan gods tended to morph into just a few, centred around Baal (often seen as the sun or the thunderstorm) and his consort Ashtoreth (Ishtar, Venus or the moon) often called the Queen of Heaven, the goddess of the double horns. Stone circles, standing pillars, high places and sacred trees were associated with the indwelling of divine breath as was sunlight and gold. On the pillars or Asherah poles were sometimes carved or engraved symbols of the sun and uplifted hands, or stars or gods, as a mark of ownership. The people also worshipped lesser gods or “baalim” that were seen as nature gods that indwelt sacred trees and holy rivers and mountains and high places. The people of Jericho would have considered Baal and his consort as their protectors so long as they were honoured by the correct incantations, charms and religious ceremonies and sacrifices. It was because of their sins and their cruelty in worshipping these pagan gods with things like ritualised prostitution and child sacrifice that the people of Jericho and the peoples of the other Canaanite cities were destroyed.

Israelites Choose Pagan Gods

Over time the Israelites who entered the promised land failed to establish in Canaan the culture of blessing that God had promised to Abraham and his seed or sons. Instead they rejected God as their reigning King, and asked for a man to reign over them instead. The kings established a hereditary monarchy which gradually turned the people back to the old pagan gods. The Israelites once again embraced the religious culture that Abraham and his seed had been called out of. These people refused to repent. Eventually God spoke again and said in 2 Kings 17: “And they forsake all the commands of Yehovah their God, and make to them a molten image – two calves, and make a shrine, and bow themselves to all the host of the heavens, and serve Baal, and cause their sons and their daughters to pass over through fire, and divine divinations, and use enchantments, and sell themselves to do the evil thing in the eyes of Yehovah, to provoke Him; that Yehovah sheweth himself very angry against Israel, and turneth them aside from his presence; none hath been left, only the tribe of Judah by itself.” The Israelites by their behaviour ultimately rejected their God, his ways and blessing, and so they themselves were rejected as his people. God left only the tribe of Judah, but even these people, because of their sins in worshipping these cruel pagan gods and murdering the prophets, suffered the humiliation of 70 years exile in Babylon. They had served the pagan gods of Babylon so it was fitting that they spent their exile there. Once they had returned to the land, in their hearts as a nation they still did not return to God. Instead they turned to slavish observance of the traditions of their fathers and legalistic self-righteousness.

Pharisees and Religious Leaders Reject God as King

During the time of the Judges, God was the King of the Israelites but they had asked for a man to reign instead of Him. It took a few hundred years but eventually God Himself came in person, as a man, Jesus the Chosen One. He came to reveal the true nature, character, love and fatherhood of the God of their father Abraham. The leaders saw the signs, wonders and miracles that he did, but hated him without reason. The Pharisees and Chief Priests who hated Jesus were not the true sons of Abraham. As sons of their fathers they built tombs for the prophets whom their fathers had killed and rejected their King again, this time as a man, even thought that is what their fathers had asked for all those years before. They crucified God on a cross and asked for Barabbas the murderer to be released to them instead of Jesus, and Caesar to be their King. The cross was one of the original signs and symbols of the sun god Shamash or Baal seen on the ancient cylinder seals found in the ruins of Babylon. It was also one of the symbols of the Roman god Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun worshipped throughout the Roman Empire, especially on Sun-day. Within the Early Church, the people chose a man named Stephen to hand out food to the widows in need. Stephen was a man who was described as being full of faith and the breath of the Holy One. He did great signs and wonders through the power of God’s breath that dwelt within him. However, the traditional religious establishment rose up against him and falsely accused him of blasphemy and speaking words against God and Moses. He was brought before the Chief Priests and leaders of the people who had condemned Jesus to death some months before. In his defence he repeated in Acts 7 to these leaders what God had said through Amos regarding Aaron and the Golden Calf:

Make to us gods who shall go on before us, for this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we have not known what hath happened to him. ‘And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands, and God did turn, and did give them up to do service to the host of the heaven, according as it hath been written in the scroll of the prophets: slain beasts and sacrifices did ye offer to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? and ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan – the figures that ye made to bow before them, and I will remove your dwelling beyond Babylon.

These leaders were the sons of their fathers who worshipped Molech in the wilderness and burnt their children to death in the promised land. The heart attitude of the High Priest Caiaphas who convened an unlawful trial and condemned Jesus to death, was just the same as those who in previous generations had burnt their sons and daughters to death in their sacred fires and killed the weakest and most vulnerable members of their community in order to obtain material gain and attempt to secure divine favour. Stephen went on to say to the Chief Priests and leaders:

Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers – also ye; which of the prophets did not your father’s persecute? and they killed those who declared before about the coming of the Righteous One, of whom now ye betrayers and murderers have become, who received the law by arrangement of messengers, and did not keep it .

When the leaders heard this they were cut to the heart and gnashed upon him with their teeth. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked into heaven and saw the glory of God and the glorified Jesus of Nazareth standing at the right hand of God. He said “Behold I see the heavens opened and the son of Man standing on the right hand of God”. The leaders were incensed with rage, covered their ears and shrieked “stone him”. He was dragged out and stoned. As the boulders of hatred and orthodox religious tradition rained down upon him his face shone like the face of an angel and he said “Lord do not lay the charge of this sin against them”. Stephen was living within the blessing of his father Abraham. Like his father Abraham, Stephen had a circumcised heart and ears and had crossed over from the darkness of traditional religious culture into the fatherhood of God. He loved as Jesus loved with the very same love and forgave just as Jesus had forgiven with the very same forgiveness. He had received the blessing of Abraham and the anointing of King David. Just like Jesus, he was a Son of God.

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