Egyptian expressions concerning their one god concept include:
- God is One and alone, none other exists with Him; God is the One, the One Who has made all things.
- God is from the beginning and He has been from the beginning; He has existed from of old and was when nothing else had been. He existed when nothing else had existed, and what exists He created after He had come into being. He is the Father of beginnings.
- God is the eternal One, He is eternal and infinite; and endures forever and aye; He has endured for countless ages, and He shall endure to all eternity.
- God is life, and through Him only man lives. He gives life to man, and he breaths the breath of life into his nostrils. (Source)
1,492 B.C.
The mythical Biblical Joshua likely dates to 1492-1467 B.C. The authors of Joshua claims to have destroyed the city of Ai (about 2400 B.C.) and the city of Jericho (about 1400 B.C.). The Joshua myth is likely a composite of all known traditions of middle east cultures being embellished and claimed to support their own evolving religious beliefs. The Biblical Joshua (1492-1467 B.C.) son Nun could not have conquered Jericho and likely fabricated the story of Jericho based on others folklore.
The Semites of the north continued to worship the Canaan Gods of Baal, Asherah, Anat and the High God El ( God of the Mountain) who is also the God El Shaddai of Abraham. Biblical Joshua (1492-1467) the successor of Moses (ca. 1612-1492 B.C.) would attempt to impose the new God Yahweh on the Israelites. Abraham, Isaac (1818-1638 B.C.) and Jacob see their God El as providing friendly advice, guiding their wanderings, advising them who to marry and speaks to them in dreams. Occasionally appearing in human form. The God of Moses is a jealous, war like and angry God who is aloof from the people. Isaac however depicts a Fear God and Jacob a Mighty God displaying a shifting image of God. It is noteworthy that Isaac (1818-1638 B.C.), Joseph, Jacob and Moses are not historically mentioned outside scriptures. They all appear to originate from Egyptian mythology. (Source)
The mythical Biblical Joshua likely dates to 1492-1467 B.C. The authors of Joshua claims to have destroyed the city of Ai (about 2400 B.C.) and the city of Jericho (about 1400 B.C.). The Joshua myth is likely a composite of all known traditions of middle east cultures being embellished and claimed to support their own evolving religious beliefs. The Biblical Joshua (1492-1467 B.C.) son Nun could not have conquered Jericho and likely fabricated the story of Jericho based on others folklore.
The Semites of the north continued to worship the Canaan Gods of Baal, Asherah, Anat and the High God El ( God of the Mountain) who is also the God El Shaddai of Abraham. Biblical Joshua (1492-1467) the successor of Moses (ca. 1612-1492 B.C.) would attempt to impose the new God Yahweh on the Israelites. Abraham, Isaac (1818-1638 B.C.) and Jacob see their God El as providing friendly advice, guiding their wanderings, advising them who to marry and speaks to them in dreams. Occasionally appearing in human form. The God of Moses is a jealous, war like and angry God who is aloof from the people. Isaac however depicts a Fear God and Jacob a Mighty God displaying a shifting image of God. It is noteworthy that Isaac (1818-1638 B.C.), Joseph, Jacob and Moses are not historically mentioned outside scriptures. They all appear to originate from Egyptian mythology. (Source)
-I don't know but this really sounds like an argument against the Bible. And a statement like this one, "The God of Moses is a jealous, war like and angry God who is aloof from the people," really shows how hands off from the Bible the article is in relation to the Bible. That is just my feeling about the article, which you are also welcome to read. Obviously, to say that the story of the walls falling down is a fabrication is to call God a liar.
Jericho practiced the Canaanite religion. The Canaanite religion was strongly influenced by their more powerful and populous neighbours, and shows clear influence of Mesopotamian and Egyptian religious practices. Like other people of the Ancient Near East Canaanite religious beliefs were polytheistic, with families typically focusing worship on ancestral household gods and goddesses while acknowledging the existence of other deities such as Baal and El. Kings also played an important religious role and in certain ceremonies, such as the sacred marriage of the New Year Festival may have been revered as gods. "At the center of Canaanite religion was royal concern for religious and political legitimacy and the imposition of a divinely ordained legal structure, as well as peasant emphasis on fertility of the crops, flocks, and humans." (Source)
Joshua 6:1-27
Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."
So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."
When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.
Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."
When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates."
So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."
So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."
When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.
Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."
When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates."
So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
-Now the reason for all the history before coming to the scripture was to really come to what Rahab was thinking and believing.
"Ba'al" can refer to any god and even to human officials; in some texts it is used as a substitute for Hadad, a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name Hadad, Ba'al was used commonly. Nevertheless, few if any Biblical uses of "Ba'al" refer to Hadad, the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven, but rather refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called ba'al and regarded by the writers of the Hebrew Bible in that context as a false god. (Source)
Rahab worshiped a god of harvest. More or less, a god who took care of the harvest, like bringing rain and taking care of the fruits and plants and such. And here comes these Isrealites who part the Red Sea and part the Jordan river. Do you think she noticed? Most definitely. I am sure a great deal of the city of Jericho noticed. Rahab was the only one to do something about it. She loved her family. And even though she was a prostitute, she took care of the spies, not because of her love for Ba'al, but because of her love for God and her love for her family. Sometimes being loving is going out of your comfort zone, going out on faith, even though it feels weird at the time. Johnny Out.
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