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Utterance of the unpronounceable Name of God in the Old Testament is considered a sin of blasphemy. For this reason, use of the tetragramatron YHWH in the place of God's name is mandated throughout the Old Testament. Certain modern Christian sects aproximate interpretations, not of the Name Itself but of the tetragramatron YHWH, such as Yahweh or Jehova.
When the 'burning bush' was asked by Moses how he (i.e. Moses) should respond when Pharroh asked who this god was, the Hebrew deity simply instructed Moses to say, "I AM."
Later, when the Pharroh asked Moses who this god of his was, Moses replied, as instructed, "I AM."
It was quite an appropriate response at the time and remains so today for any follower of the Jewish faith, whether of true Hebrew descent or not. It is, in fact, pure Pantheism for all of the followers of any given sect to respond to a querie as to who their god is by saying, "I AM."
For anyone to respond to a querie as to who their god is by saying, "I AM" is professing Pantheism, even if they never realize it! This is a wonderful joke for the burning bush to have played upon all monotheists, whether Jewish, Christian, Islamic or Satanic.
When the Lawgiver Moses presented the Hebrew People with an abridged version of the Babylonian laws inscribed on the Steele of Hammurabi, a conspicous addition had been made. Among the Ten Commandments that the god I AM dictated to the Hebrews, only one was not from the more ancient Babylonian Code and it was intended and worded precicely for the Hebrew People alone. It was also prioritized and is known today as;
"the First Commandment." ""I AM," [is] the Lord your god, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before "ME"."
Most modern versions of the Bible include a footnote for the word "before" that reads, "besides." As any schoolchild who has stood in line knows, however, "before" means in front of, while "beside" means next to.
Second-guessing the Divine so as to prohibit the worship of other gods in addition to the god I AM rather than merely prohibiting the worship of other gods prior to the worship of the god I AM, in no way denies the existance of "other gods." In fact, the mere mention of other gods by the primary divinity of Judaism lends credence to their existance.
Here is a brief list of only a few of the many gods other than the god I AM who are mentioned by name and described as "gods" in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures:
Astroloth - Judges 2:13, Samuel 7:3-4
Baal - 2 Samuel 2:8; 1 Kings 17:1, 18:17-19; 2 Kings 1:2-5; Jeremiah 9:13-16; Hoseah2:2-13, 14-22
Baal-zebul - 2 Kings 1:2-5
Bel - Isaiah 46:1-4 (also in apochraphal chapters removed from Daniel)
Beelzebul - Mark 3:22
Chemosh - Numbers 21:29, Judges 11:24
"Day Star" and Dawn - Isaiah 14:12-15
Hadad-rimmon - Zechariah 12:11
Ishtar - Jeremiah 44:15-28
Marduk - Jeremiah 50:2-3
Milkom - 2 Samuel 12:30
Nabu - Isaiah 46:1-4
Sakkuth and Kaiwan - Amos 5:26
Tammuz - Isaiah 17:9-11; Ezekiel 8:14-18; Daniel 11:36-39
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Copyright © 2000 by
Benjamin Robert "Bob God" Taylor
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Chino Valley,
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