Can you imagine God as a joyrider? That is exactly what the Psalm 104 hints when it speaks about God (YHWH) riding “the cloud chariot”.
You might think, what a lovely and playful metaphor! And it also makes good sense: divine realm is in the heavens and at that time (in Ancient times from Middle Bronze Age onward) chariots were the most advanced and truly aristocratic mode of transportation (for hunts and wars).
But there is a problem. The “Charioteer of the Clouds” was a standard and well established title of the Canaanite god Baal. This Baal’s title appears countless times in the Canaanite mythology. It was so common that it designated Baal without even naming him.
We know, that the Biblical religion grew out of this Canaanite polytheistic milieu and as it grew ever more monotheistic and also centralized, the god Baal was attacked and suppressed. In this process, many of Baal’s important functions, characteristics and titles were taken over and adopted by god YHWH. (I talked about this process of monotheisation in one of my lectures and earlier blogs under the name How many gods made up God?)
Charioteer of the Clouds is one such function and a title. It was a beautiful Canaanite polytheistic metaphor, which was adopted and thankfully preserved in the Bible. Thus, God in the Bible is, indeed, riding a confiscated or even car-jacked heavenly vehicle.
And that is something you might not know about the Bible.
Join us this Pentecost Sunday when we return to Psalm 104 this time for its beautiful and differently surprising Pentecostal message.
You might think, what a lovely and playful metaphor! And it also makes good sense: divine realm is in the heavens and at that time (in Ancient times from Middle Bronze Age onward) chariots were the most advanced and truly aristocratic mode of transportation (for hunts and wars).
But there is a problem. The “Charioteer of the Clouds” was a standard and well established title of the Canaanite god Baal. This Baal’s title appears countless times in the Canaanite mythology. It was so common that it designated Baal without even naming him.
We know, that the Biblical religion grew out of this Canaanite polytheistic milieu and as it grew ever more monotheistic and also centralized, the god Baal was attacked and suppressed. In this process, many of Baal’s important functions, characteristics and titles were taken over and adopted by god YHWH. (I talked about this process of monotheisation in one of my lectures and earlier blogs under the name How many gods made up God?)
Charioteer of the Clouds is one such function and a title. It was a beautiful Canaanite polytheistic metaphor, which was adopted and thankfully preserved in the Bible. Thus, God in the Bible is, indeed, riding a confiscated or even car-jacked heavenly vehicle.
And that is something you might not know about the Bible.
Join us this Pentecost Sunday when we return to Psalm 104 this time for its beautiful and differently surprising Pentecostal message.
 |
| A Late Bronze Age depiction of the chariot hunt on a gold bowl from Ugarit |
No comments:
Post a Comment