[11]It is virtually impossible to exaggerate the political, sociological and emotional implications of this assertion. So Laban searched through all the tent, but did not find them. In essence, we exchange a conversation about God for an encounter with God. Smashing Jewish Idols | My Jewish Learning returned from his journey, he found his merchan- An event with significant import to the wider population that is never reported will end up being known by only a handful of people who witnessed it.[12]. Deuteronomy 12:3 - One Place for Worship - Bible Hub An ahistorical Torah is not subject to being disproven by archaeology or academic historical reconstructions. 2And Hezekiah appointed (B)the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, (C)for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to serve and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord. 50:2); 11 they entail the desolation of altars, the breaking of statues, the The worshipping of idols is forbidden under the word . These events are seennot without causeas being singular and special. New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. But the Lord inspired Abraham to leave there. Is it less true than a simple chronology of events describing the beginning of the world and of humankind? 1, pp. 15 And Terah his father was in those days, still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed strange gods. Rambams approach here applies to our case as well. Terah is a Biblical figure from the book of Genesis. 29 And Abram took the savory meat from his mother, and brought it before his fathers gods into the chamber; and he came nigh unto them that they might eat, and he placed it before them, and Abram sat before them all day, thinking perhaps they might eat. Note: This essay was translated and adapted by Rabbi Dr. Zev Farber, with the approval of Rabbi Dr. Kula, from the introduction to his book, Existential or Non-Essential. Discourse by President John Taylor, Duties of the SaintsThe Atonement, etc. [27] Putting this view forward before those who believed that God had a body probably caused those believers a crisis of faith. Abraham's father, Terah. These could now be understood as virtually physical expressions of the divine message. So he got a club, or some other weapon, and knocked off the heads of some, the arms and legs of others, and made a general wreck among the idols, but left the biggest untouched. Terah responded by saying that they are only statues and have no knowledge. To attempt an answer, I suggest that dry mechanical lists of rules, such as do not murder and do not steal, couldnt accomplish the transmission of lofty values to humankind. He was looking forward. Finally, Abraham is not punished . Haran is thrown into the fire, and is not saved by God. Deuteronomy 9:13-14, "Let me alone that I may destroy them." 13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall Terah exclaimed that such a thing was impossible, since idols could not quarrel or fight. 41 And Terahs anger was kindled against his son Abram, when he spoke this; and Terah said to Abram his son in his anger, What is this tale that thou hast told? Abraham, the Father of Faith | True Faith - JW.ORG In verse 7 God said the covenant He established with Abraham was to be everlasting and that He alone was to be God to Abraham and his offspring. The consequence was, his father and the idolatrous priests of that day sought to take his life. Its meaning is not dependent on external evidence; its narrative descriptions should not be characterized as reconstructions or preservation of past events. [20]For more discussion on this question, see the position of R. Mordechai Breuer as he expressed it first inDeot12 (Winter 5720): pp. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. which benefit does a community experience when its members have a high level of health literacy? [7]Doubtless, this claim reveals an important educational principle whose significance is beyond reproach. Save 15% for life on BibleGateway+ with code SPRINGSTUDY15. Nimrod and Abraham - The Two Rivals - Chabad.org Deepen your knowledge of Scripture for less than $5/mo. As I came to understand the Word of Wisdom, I wanted my parents to live that law. 44 And now surely it is not good for thee nor for the sons of men that are connected with thee, to do these things; are you so silly, so foolish or so short of understanding that you will serve wood and stone, and do after this manner? can they deliver thee from the hands of thy enemies, or will they fight thy battles for thee against thy enemies, that thou shouldst serve wood and stone which can neither speak nor hear? [24]See, for example, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman,The Bible Unearthed: Archaeologys New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts(Touchstone, 2002). President Nelson shared the following story last April: I adored my parents. Can those idols in which thou trustest deliver thee? This point can be expressed in two different ways. 17 And Abram said, As the Lord liveth these images shall not remain in my fathers house; so shall the Lord who created me do unto me if in three days time I do not break them all. Rijksmuseum 1 The Midrashic Abraham Rabbi Chiyya said: Terah was an idol worshiper. either making or worshiping idols or "other gods.". The ant says to the elephant, Just look at the dust-clouds were making!. 3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of . What are they if not dry historical descriptions? Exodus 23:13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. When a man would come to buy [an idol], [Abraham] would ask him: How old are you? The man would respond: Fifty. [Abraham] would reply: Whoa to this man, you are fifty years old and yet you bow to one who is only a day old! The man would then feel embarrassed and slink away. It is the Torah of God, turning its face to Torah students in every generation. 5As soon as the [c]order spread, the sons of Israel abundantly provided the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly (H)the tithe of everything. Over the years, the interpretive tradition has taken this statement far out of its original meaning, which refers to the way a person is to behave on the night of the 15thof Nissan, and turned it into a key phrase describing Jewish consciousness in general. Considering this, insofar as observance is concerned, is it important to defend the belief that all of the stories narrated in the book of Genesis actually happened? ), or adding matres lectionis (). Rambam, in contrast, uses this claim to explain why God commanded humans to act in certain ways and forbids them to act in others.) 53 And the king said to Abram, What is this that thou hast done to thy father and to his gods? In this story, he or she creates a new reality that never before existed, or, to be more precise, he or she describes a reality that bears a relationship with events that did occur in the past, but is not an exact replica of those events. 635-637 [Hebrew]). Abraham responds that wind pushes clouds. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. The commentary explains what happened to Abraham when he was a young boy working in his father's idol shop. Access 50+ premium resources. The Bible tells us the Lord said to him: Get thee up from thy fathers house, from the land wherein thou wast born, and go up to a land I will show unto thee, and which I will afterwards give unto thee for an inheritance. And we are told that he went up, not knowing whither he went. 4, It is said Abrahams father was an idolater, and that he had a number of gods in his house. I discuss this halacha in greater detail in the book. His analysis deals with how in modern times, Abraham came to be seen as the only monotheist. [17] Is it surprising that Gods narrative is the story of humanity writ large? [22], Getting accustomed to this kind of thinking about the Torah is required, in my opinion, if a person wishes to acquire the ability to raise his or her faith in Torah from a peripheral attachment to an essential attachment to its contents. His father came in and asked what he had been doing, what great sin this was that he had committed, why he was so sacrilegious in his feelings and so wicked as to seek to destroy these gods? [20] Moreover, even if the Torah had been written from one perspective only, in one clear and flowing style, that would not have proven that it came from God. Presenting the Torah as Gods narrative does not take away from its religious significance. Later, a woman walked into the store and wanted to make an offering to the idols. 16 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. Some critics of the Bible point to the story of Abraham, who laid his son Isaac on an altar and prepared to sacrifice him as directed by God (Genesis 22:1-14). father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. [19]InThe Guide of the Perplexed(3:31), Rambam sharply criticizes people who believe that it would be best not to ascribe positive human characteristics to God. Therefore I will prepare fresh savory meat to-morrow, better and more plentiful than this, that I may see what cometh therefrom. But the gods remained mute and without motion before the second offering of excellent savory meat as before the first offering, and the spirit of God came over Abraham, and he cried out, and said: Woe unto my father and his wicked generation, whose hearts are all inclined to vanity, who serve these idols of wood and stone, which cannot eat, nor smell, nor hear, nor speak, which have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, ears without hearing, hands without feeling, and legs without motion!, Abraham then took a hatchet in his hand, and broke all his fathers gods, and when he had done breaking them he placed the hatchet in the hand of the biggest god among them all, and he went out. Abraham and the Idol Shop - Wikipedia [5]A lot has been written about the principle of the slippery slope. See, for example, the essay by Yuval Cherlow, Halacha and the Slippery Slope,Akdamut23 (5769): 33-48 [Hebrew]. (Joshua 24:2), there is no Biblical record of him actually making Writing, especially in the above examples, allows people who were not witnesses to the events to meet the reality of the event in a mediated encounter. It is one that any person who wishes to renew his or her faithperhaps even to limit its horizons for a timeshould take to heart. [26]It would be wrong to simplify the dichotomy by trying to distinguish between the simple person, who would wish to hide from contradictions since answering them would be beyond this persons ability, and the learned person, who, ostensibly, can deal with such tensions. Abraham told him that the gods had had a quarrel among themselves, and, said he, here is the fellow, (pointing to the big one he had spared) that did it. Said the father: My son, why do you tell me such a thing. This is a false dichotomy. What Does the Bible Say About Abrahams Descendants? - OpenBible.info
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