Lost Books of the Bible (150 page)

               We find within the Israelite religion two variations of the same high god. These different versions of Elism (the belief in a god called El) show that this god was variously worshipped depending upon location. Locations north of Palestine would have brought the worship of Yahweh in contact with Canaanite religion and that may explain its distinctly Canaanite quality.

               Continuing the relationship between El and his sons, Psalm 82 has El stripping all his sons of authority and condemning them to mortality.

               From this viewpoint, the Aramean god, El, seems to be related Canaanite mythology. Both likely descended from a Mesopotamian religion.     Yet now, after being failed and disappointed by all others gods, whom we presume are his sons, El is forced to rule alone. Now we have the pathway set between polytheism and monotheism.

               This last steps between the idea of a ruling court of gods and the singular god, El, can be seen clearly in the following translation and study by John Gray, Near Eastern Mythology:

"God has taken His place in the assembly of the gods (lit. ‘sons of El”),

He declares His judgment among the gods: “

How long will you give crooked judgment,

and favor the wicked?

You ought to sustain the case of the weak and the orphan;

You ought to vindicate the destitute and down-trodden

You ought to rescue the weak and the poor,

To deliver them from the power of the wicked

You (Hebrew “they”) walk in darkness

While all earth’s foundations are giving away.

I declare “Gods you may be,

Sons of the Most high, all of you;

Yet you will die as men,

You will fall as one of the bright ones."

                   Psalm 82:1-7

               “In the final line we read sharim for sarim (“princes”), from which it is indistinguishable in the Hebrew manuscripts, and find another reference to the fall of Athtar, the bright Venus star in Isaiah 14:12 ff and in the myth of Baal.”  (John Gray,
Near Eastern Mythology
)

               Now, having introduced the cast of characters and set the historical and theological stage, let us proceed to the “Apocalypse of Abraham.”

Chapter 1

1. I was standing guard one day over the gods of my father Terah and my brother Nahor.

2. While I was testing them to find out which god was really the strongest and I was completing the services, I, Abraham, received my chance.

3. My father Terah was sacrificing to his gods of wood, stone, gold,  silver, copper, and of iron and I entered their temple for the service, and found a god named Marumath, carved from stone, which had fallen at the feet of the iron god, Nakhin.

4. At that point my heart was perplexed (troubled) and I thought that I could not put it back in its place by myself because of its weight, since it was made of large stones.

5. So, I went and told my father, and he came in with me. When we both lifted it to put it in its place, its head fell off while I was holding it by its head.

6. Then when my father saw that the head of his god Marumath had fallen.

7. He yelled at me, saying, "Abraham!”

8. And I said, "Here I am!" And he told me to bring me the axes and chisels from the house. So, I brought them to him from the house.

9. Then he cut another Marumath without a head from another stone. He then smashed the head that had fallen off Marumath. He then crushed the rest of that (broken) Marumath.

Chapter 2

1. He created five more gods and  gave them to me. He ordered me to sell them outside on the road to town.

2. I saddled my father’s ass and loaded the gods on it and went out on the highway to sell them.

3. The merchants from Phandana of Syria were coming with their camels, on their way to Egypt to buy kokonil from the Nile.

4. I  questioned them and they answered me. I walked along with them and talked with them. Then, one of their camels screamed and the ass was frightened and fled, throwing off the gods. Three of them were broken and two remained intact.

5. Then the Syrians saw that I had gods, they said to me: "Why did you not tell us that you had gods? We would have bought them before the ass. heard the camel’s cry. You would  had lost nothing.”

6. Then they said, “Give us the gods that remain and we will give you a suitable price."

7. I considered this and grieved.  But they paid both for the smashed gods and the gods which remained. I had been worried how I would bring payment to my father.

8. I threw the three broken gods into the water of the river Gur, which was in this place. And they sank deeply into the river Gur and were not seen again.

Chapter 3

1. As I was still walking on the road, my heart was disturbed and my mind was distracted.

2. I thought, "What is this deed of inequality my father is doing?

3. Is it not he who is god because his gods come into being through his sculpting, planning, and his skill (workmanship)?

4. They ought to honor my father because the gods are his work. What reward does my father received for his works?

5.  Marumath fell and could not stand up in his (own)  sanctuary, and could not I lift him myself until my father came and we stood him up (together). Even then we were not able to do it and his head fell off of him.

7. Then he put another stone on it from another god, which he (my father) had made without a head.  The other five gods which got smashed when they fell from the ass could not save themselves. They did not harm the ass (to avenge themselves) because it smashed them. Nor did their broken pieces come up out of the river.

8. And I thought to myself, "If this is so, how can my father’s god Marumath, which has the head of one stone and is made from another stone, save a man, or hear a man’s prayer, or grant him any gift?"

Chapter 4

1. Thinking this way, I came to my father’s house. I watered the ass and fed the ass with hay. I took out the silver and placed it in my father Terah’s hand.

2. And when he saw it, he was happy, and he said, "You are blessed, Abraham, by the god of my gods, since you have brought me the price for the gods, so that my labor was not empty (for nothing)."

3.  I answered and said to him, "Listen, father Terah!  In you is the blessing of your gods,  because you are the god of them, since you created them because their blessing is their hell and their power is empty.

4.  They did not help themselves; how then can they help you or bless me?

5. I did well for you in this transaction,  because through my good sense I brought you the silver for the broken gods."

6. When he heard what I had to say he became violently angry with me, since I had spoken words harshly contrary to his gods.

Chapter 5

1.  Having thought about my father’s anger, I left.

2. And afterward when I had left, he called me saying, "Abraham!"  I answered, "Here I am!"

3. He said, " Gather these wood chips.  I was making gods from fir before you came.

4. I will use the chips to cook food when I prepared my midday meal."

5. Then, when I was picking up the wooden chips, I found a small god among them which would fit in my left hand.

6. On its forehead was written: god Barisat. Then, I put the chips on the fire in to prepare food for my father, and went out to ask him about the food,  I put Barisat near the kindling for the fire.

7. I spoke to him as if to threaten him. I said, "Barisat, watch that the fire does not go out before I come back!

8. If the fire goes out, blow on it so it flares up." I went out and said nothing of this to anyone.

9. When I returned I found Barisat fallen on his back. His feet were enveloped by fire and burning fiercely. 

10. When I saw it, I laughed and I said to myself, "Barisat, truly you know how to light a fire and cook food!"

11. Then, while saying this in my laughter, I saw that he had burned up slowly with fire and turned to ashes.

12. I carried the food to my father to eat.

13. I gave him wine and milk, and he drank and he enjoyed himself and he thanked and spoke praise to Marumath his god.

14. Then I said to him, "Father Terah, do not bless Marumath your god, do not praise him!

15 Instead, praise your god Barisat,  because he loved you enough that he threw himself into the fire in order to cook your food."

16. Then my father said to me said,  "Where is he now?" And I said, "He has burned in the flames of the fire and become dust." And he said, "Great is the power of Barisat! I will make another today, and tomorrow he will prepare my food."

Chapter 6

1. When I, Abraham, heard these words from my father, I laughed to myself and I groaned from the disgust and anger in my heart.

2. I said, "How can a piece of a body made (by Terah) help my father, Terah?

3. How can he have enslaved his body to his soul (will or desire), and allowed his soul (will or desire) to be enslaved by a spirit (not his spirit but “a” spirit),  when the spirit is stupid and ignorant?"

4. And I said, "It is only proper to withstand this evil that I may compel my mind toward purity. I will lay my thoughts out before him clearly.

5. " I answered and said, "Father Terah, no matter which of these gods you praise, your thoughts err.

6. Don’t you see that the gods of my brother Nahor which stand in the holy sanctuary are more worthy than yours?

7. Look!  Zouchaios, my brother Nahor’s god is more worthy than your god Marumath  because he is made of gold, which is valued by man.

8. And if Zouchaios grows old with time, he will be remolded, whereas, if Marumath deteriorates or is broken, he will not be renewed,  because he is made of stone.

9. What about Ioav, the other god who stands with Zouchaios? He is also more worthy than the god Barisat.

10.  He, Ioay, is carved from wood and then forged from silver; because he too is made of something that is given with love (comparison), and is valued by man according to their outward experience.

11. But Barisat, your god, is rooted in the earth. When he was large (great) it is a wonder because he had branches and flowers and was worth praise when he was still not carved.