Let’s take a look at an interesting verse from the Torah that supports the entrenched belief system of “territorialism” in the Scriptures or the idea that the gods (including the one and only true God) only held power in a certain region or territory.
Take a look at Genesis Chapter 48:1-4.
“Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. Jacob said to Joseph, “EL SHADDAI appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’”
So we can see that even when Jacob, one of the Patriarchs was still in Egypt, God was still known only by the Canaanite name of EL.
Remember this conversation took place between Jacob (on his deathbed) and his son Joseph.
Are you catching the significance of this man?
If you are, then you can grasp why the Israelites didn’t believe EL SHADDAI could could help them while they were living in Egypt.
It’s because they believed His power stopped at the borders of Canaan.
That’s what the whole world believed at the time including the Hebrews.
Well, I know this article is short but that’s it for today folks.
The next time we meet , we’ll take a look at a verse from the Book of Exodus that shows how that perception changed.
You should also find this quite interesting.
See ya all next time!
Baruch ata Ehyeh.
You are the first to agree in the name of Ehyeh. But the tetragrammaton which is noted in the Hebrew column in the Tanakh is ALEF-HA-YOD-HA; EHYEH not yod-ha-wa-ha; the one that has lead to the artificial name; Jehovah.
Interesting. Didn’t know that.