In my last post I mentioned today I was going to share some archaeological evidence that would prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the ancient Hebrews did indeed hold to ancestor worship beliefs and practices EVEN AFTER the revelation at Sinai.
Well, not being one to disappoint, I shall now fulfill on that promise.
The evidence is actually quite well-known and common actually.
Here’s what I’m talking about.
If you visit some of the ancient Hebrew grave sites that archeologists have uncovered, you will notice something peculiar.
You will see that some of these graves have holes in them that are actually small tubes or passageways stretching from the ground level all the way down to where the body lay.
What in the world were these carefully dug out holes leading directly down to where the corpse lay used for?
The answer is simple.
They were used to drop tiny morsels of food and even drinks down to the corpse.
BOOM!
There’s your evidence for ancestor worship among the Israelites.
Of course, how exactly ancestor worship was practiced varied depending on the culture.
Some folks actually worshipped their dead ancestors and even prayed to them as is common in many Asian cultures today.
In the case that I just mentioned, worship wasn’t offered up but it was believed that since some part or essence of the dead person continued to live on, he must still have a need to eat or may have had an ongoing need for items like perfume or incense.
Thus, the reason for the small diameter holes that were bored into their graves.
It was also believed that most of all, the dead were lonely and craved communication with the living.
This is why it was considered so critical that a person have children.
Because it was the children who would tend to one’s afterlife needs.
So here’s the complete and unvarnished truth and remember this blog is all about the truth, no matter how uncomfortable or politically incorrect or sexually explicit or whatever it may be.
During pretty much the whole period of the Biblical era, a significant (I’m ain’t saying a tiny number or a minority, I’m saying a significant!) portion of Israelite society practiced ancestor worship in one form or another EVEN after Sinai and evidence of this is all over the place in the Scriptures.
Alrighty, let’s close by connecting this information I just shared with you to Deuteronomy 26:14:
“I haven’t eaten any of this food when mourning, I haven’t put any of it aside when unclean, nor have I given any of it for the dead. I have listened to what Adonai my God has said, and I have done everything you ordered me to do.”
Can you see now why the worshipper had to swear to HASHEM why He had not given any of this food to the dead?
Again, this is just basic TORAH 101.
Here’s the thing.
It wasn’t that God necessarily forbade the common custom of giving food to the dead.
The REAL REASON why He couldn’t have His people participating in this practice is because any type of contact with a grave site whatsoever defies the worshipper!
In other words, if the food thrown down that hole to the corpse came from the Lord’s Holy Portion, what would happen is that the powerful and highly contagious UNCLEANNESS from the dead body would instantly render what the worshipper had set aside as his tithe as UNCLEAN and thus unfit to be given to the Lord.
Even Paul mentions how this works in his sermon to the Romans.
“Now if the hallah offered
as firstfruits is holy,
so is the whole loaf.
And if the root is holy,
so are the branches.”
-Romans 11:16
Leave a Reply