Jacob’s Opinion Concerning His Agreement and God

There is controversy as to where the early Israelites settled, whether it was Mesopotamia or Canaan, but there was no doubt that their religion began with practicing polytheism. This was the practice of worshipping more than one God. As time passed, they were encouraged to practice monotheism by Abraham, who was said to have an encounter with Yahweh. This encounter consisted of creating a covenant between God and the Israelites, which included rules, laws, and restrictions that both parties had to abide by. Yahweh’s pact with the Israelites was that if they worshipped only him as their God, he will make of them a great nation. A nation is consisted of many components that come together, including geography, culture, religion, and ethnicity. The covenant was a successful way to ensure that the Israelites practiced monotheism, created unity and structure within the community, and help build personal connections with God.

Being semi-nomadic, there is no way for us to tell where the early Israelites first lived, but we know that it was somewhere in the Middle East in modern day Iraq/Israel. They began their religious practices with polytheism, where temples were the homes of idols for each God that was being worshipped. Abraham, the son of the priest of the temple, viewed polytheism and the idea of worshipping idols as preposterous. Abraham believed that God does not have a face and cannot be made into a statue to be worshipped. Polytheism also created no sense of harmony between the people because religious views and culture was not structured or specified. Abraham began the movement of monotheism after God reveals himself to him and proposes the idea of the covenant. It is noted that “The LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you (Novak 180).’” Ordered by Yahweh, Abraham leads the Israelites to Canaan, where if they abided by the rules of the covenant, they would be treasured by God and begin their great nation.

When the Hebrew’s decide to move to Egypt, they become prisoners of the land for roughly 400 years. During the Exodus, Yahweh re-establishes the covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai in order to remind his people of their previous vows to God. According to Fisher, “God also gave a set of social norms, prescribed religious feasts, and details instructions for the construction of a tabernacle with a holy ark, the Ark of the Covenant, in which to keep the stone tablets on which God inscribed the commandments (Fisher 139).” This gives the people a sense that Judaism was slowly starting to become a religion, with its own set of rules, laws, and beliefs. In return for compliance from the Israelites, Yahweh casted upon the Egyptians 10 plagues where after Moses leads the people back to Canaan. This is when they become a “United Monarchy” under the ruling of one king.

The covenant was a way to ensure that the Israelites practiced monotheism and worshipped only Yahweh in order to get what they wanted. What they wanted was to become a united people with the same religious views in order to create a community and to be protected by God. Monotheism and the covenant brought about a sense of “do’s” and “don’ts” within their community which was not there before. Fisher explains that, “It was to be a permanent home for the Ark, which was housed in the innermost sanctum, and a place for making the burned offerings of animals, grain, and oil to the divine (Fisher 140).” In other words, the sacred Temple of Jerusalem is another major component of the unification of the Israelites. This is where the Israelites came together to worship and perform sacrifices in God’s honor in return for his protection.

The Israelites viewed the covenant as a way to gain unity within their people. They believed that only good could come out of this if they upheld their end. The idea of a “Great Nation” promised by God incorporated different aspects from geography, religion, ethnicity, and culture in order to create it. They viewed the land of Canaan to be their primary land where that Yahweh had given to them, but the terms of the covenant were to be abided regardless of where the Israelites were. Religion had to be practice by all Israelites, which included worshipping God consistently and regularly, and obeying the laws. Some of these laws included circumcision of a male new born, keeping shabbat, halting the belief of idols, acting in accordance to the 10 commandments, etc. In terms of ethnicity, all people that were considered Jewish must be a blood descendant of Abraham/his 12 sons. The Israelites understood that culture played a role in achieving a sense of harmony, which meant that they must be semitic people.

This covenant deemed to be important because it allowed for personal connections with God. The Israelites were religious people who benefited from this covenant in a numerous amount of ways. It was understood by the people that if they did good things and kept their end of the pact, good things will come to them and God will uphold his end of the pact. God pledges just as the people do, that he will make of the Israelites a great nation just as long as they follow the rules. If they do, then nothing unexpected is to come from God, which gave the people a “sense of control.”

The Hebrews encountered much success by upholding their end of the covenant, but many problems arose from it as well. As time passed and the Hebrews were put under different cultures control, the nation that had been initially created was somewhat changing. For example, the 10 tribes of Israel were conquered by the Assyrians, forced to relocate, and assimilate into different cultures. This broke apart the nation, and left just 2 tribes from Judah continuing to practice the Jewish religion. Another issue is that people had to constantly be reminded by the prophets of the consequences that could arise if they did not do what they were supposed to do.