What do you think of when you hear the word, God?
Is it an old man with a long beard sitting up on a throne doling out punishment?
For the majority of people, this image is permanently embedded into their deepest psyche, and it leads to so many different reactions.
Some are repulsed by the very word, and chose adamantly not to believe or they change the word to something more pleasant, like universe. On the other end of the spectrum, some go to great extents to try to please this angry old curmudgeon, never feeling the satisfaction of a job well done.
It is intriguing that today one can view online an actual 4000 year old carving of the patron god of Abraham’s birthplace. The god was known as Nanna, the moon god, and is depicted as an old man with a long beard sitting on a throne.
And, by studying the culture of Ur, it can be deduced that Nanna was not easy to pacify.
The archeologist, Sir Leonard Woolley, who excavated in Ur for a decade was aghast when he uncovered the altar to the ziggurat of Ur.
The soot level was exceedingly deep, representing an unthinkable number of blood sacrifices offered up to Nanna with attempts to appease the god.
What has kept this image thriving through the ages?
The answer is simple—religion.
The Judeo-Christian religions have kept the image of the old man alive, and, more importantly, the belief that this entity requires blood.
So, did Abram bring this concept of God with him from Ur?
Abraham is written about in ancient Hebrew manuscripts that originate thousands of years ago. It is recorded that Abraham communicated with an invisible entity that he called the Most High God.
During his communication with this unseen being, it is recorded that Abraham received several promises, and today we can witness their fulfillment.
His descendants do inhabit Israel, the land that Abraham believed God promised to him. Abraham is the spiritual father of billions of people upon the planet, and his name certainly has been made great. Who doesn’t know Abraham?
Pretty astounding when you really think about it.
Besides his fame, there are several other interesting features about Abraham. He demonstrated a spiritual relationship with an invisible entity that cared about his future and well being. He was instructed to come out of a highly religious civilization. And, he was asked to leave that culture behind.
And, therein lies the problem.
He did the will of God to walk away. However, in studying his life, he was never able to shed the culture from where he emerged and it affects our world today.
It has been four thousand years and our mental image of God and our beliefs about God’s ritualistic desires are still patterned after the Gods of Mesopotamia.
One would think that the amazing example that Christ set by his actions and words would have changed it all for good.
It was Jesus who introduced God as a loving entity who knows how many hairs are on your head, who will feed you like the birds, and clothe you like the flowers.
Christ did so much in his short time to show us the true nature of a loving presence that he called, God the Father.
His healing words were like soothing ointment to a wound. He was wonderful, he was marvelous, he was a counselor. He was the chosen one to teach the true way (Isaiah 42, Hebrew Bible).
However, his example of a loving God was quickly erased and his words were left in the sepulcher when he was brutally murdered.
His truth was replaced by tales of the angry old man with the long beard sitting on a throne who had to kill his own son because of his insane need for blood.
And here we are today, even more damaged by religious confusion as to who and if God really is.