HOW OUR RELIGION BEGAN (Part 2)

The early Hebrews, like the other Semites, knew very little about religion and life as we know it today. They were wrong in some things that they believed, as, for instance, when they thought that the wind was made by some spirit blowing hard. When a stream flowed gently they said the spirit was asleep and when the stream was disturbed they said the spirit was angry. They could only think of things happening in nature because of something that was alive and doing these things. They knew nothing about the laws of nature.

These ancient Hebrews had the terrible custom of sacrificing children as offerings to their gods. The Old Testament mentions this in several places: II Kings 17:31, II Kings 3:27, Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 20:2.

The Hebrews worshipped their god by giving their first-born children as a sacrifice to the god. They followed this custom for many hundreds of years. Probably it was not until after the exile that it entirely ceased. See Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 19:5, Ezekiel 20:25, II Kings 3:27. If a sacrifice was required, it was the first-born child who was chosen. Probably this first child was thought the most sacred one (Genesis 40:3). In some of the very oldest laws of the Hebrews it says that god Yahweh wanted their first-born sons as a sacrifice. Read Exodus 23:9. On very special occasions, adults were offered as a sacrifice to Yahweh (Judges 11:31, 39).

The Bible story of Abraham preparing to kill his son Isaac as an offering to his god is told to the later Hebrews to prove that Yahweh no longer required human sacrifices to be made (Genesis 22:1-17). Perhaps this is why Abraham is given credit for starting the new Hebrew religion—even though Moses is given credit for being the first to write laws for the “Children of Israel." Following is a copy of the Biblical story of how this horrible ritual (of sacrificing human beings) changed (to merely sacrificing other animals) with the story of Abraham and his first-born son, Isaac:

1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.


2And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.