Hebrew God Essay

Theology was to the Hebrews a new endeavor, as their religion was simply that there was only one God, a concept that most other people at the time did not consider. The task that the Hebrews had to accomplish was figuring out who their God was, how he relates to his creation, and essentially defining their religion as a whole. This in itself is Theology; the study of God and religious belief. The God they describe in Genesis is creative and all powerful God, drawing his creation from nothingness by calling it into being. Contrasting to the Gods of other religions and creation stories such as the Enuma Elish, the Hebrew God is alone and in peace, creating only good things. At the end of this creation the Hebrews explain that there is a necessary day of rest hallowed
God bestowed mercy on Cain, Adam, and Eve even in their sin. He creates the option to commit Evil out of respect for the self awareness of Man. The Nature and purpose of Man therefore, is to be communal, till the soil to survive and maintain creation, while being inclined to sin, and to multiply and spread over the earth. The person he chooses is Noah, and his family, by whom the whole world would be repopulated. With Noah he makes the first covenant, the Covenant of the Rainbow, which states that he will not destroy humankind and infers that he will continue to be their God and bless the nations by His chosen people. His mercy is again shown to be full when Abraham discusses with God what would stop him from destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, where God promises that he will destroy them if there are but a few righteous people in the city. The theology present in these examples shows the Hebrews trying to explain who their God is in comparison to the rest of the world’s gods, as well as who they are as a people trying to worship this