When Nimrod’s tower enterprise fell apart at Babel in the land of Shinar, Asshur, a rebel son of Shem, hunts down the scattering nations to corral them back into the same general region in what became the Assyrian Empire,.
Shem, “the father of all the children of Eber”, ordains Eber to go out into the world to minister to the fleeing refugees.
That’s just a bit confusing. How is Shem the father of all the children of Eber?
In the same sense of spiritual regeneration, exactly what the more familiar Abraham “the father of all them that believe”, inherited as his Melchizedekian role.
- though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
- And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith…that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed…which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,)” (Romans 4:11-17)
“out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation [Thou] hast made us unto our God kings and priests / melchizedeks: and we shall reign on the [whole] earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)
Cultural historians confirm the biblical account that righteous Shem’s great-grandson Eber is the namesake founder of the Hebrews of whom Abraham “our father” is the first person identified as such.
“Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram; the same is Abraham.” (I Chronicles 1:24-17)
Eber was the first scion / offshoot who was in Shem’s likeness and capable of carrying out his righteous legacy of leading God’s people in the paths of righteousness.
“the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you…that God in all things may be glorified through YHVH’s Authorized King Of The World / Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (I Peter 4:1-11)
“The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved…as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!…Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world…Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.” (Romans 10:12-20)
Note – this is reported to have happened prior to even Isaiah’s era. So who were these preachers of the gospel whose sound went into all the earth, their words unto the ends of the world?
That would be the Hebrews.
“Little is known about the oldest eras of ancient Hebrew civilization because the culture was nomadic.”
And that would be because they were running for their lives.
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” (Revelation 12:13-15)
While that quote may be attributed to a specific historic event, there is no question that patterns of behaviors occur throughout the Bible.
Eber’s Hebrews are the classic “reserved remnant” God always keeps in a hostile and wicked world. As much as the following passage applies in history to the nation of Israel in 2000 AD and 50 AD and 850 BC as Paul encourages “all that be in Rome” (Romans 1:7), “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16), it applies to the handful of pre-Judaism faithful believers in 2000 BC.
“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid…Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God…saying…I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also [as in the past] there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Romans 11:1-5)
This remnant ensures the survival of humanity.
There is a logical reason why Eber is barely mentioned in the Bible despite his key role.
It’s his key role.
Names are meaningful. Names define attributes. Eber’s name means “regions beyond”. Pretty persuasive argument that, like Paul, Eber was constantly traveling to spread the Gospel to the migrating heathen nations.
“For the [Old Testament] scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed…the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him….
- For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
- How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
- and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
- and how shall they hear without a preacher?…as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” (Romans 10:11-18)
“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:16-20)
This establishes the fact that all people had the opportunity – despite dispersal away from headquarters at Jerusalem to know and worship the One True God of Creation through the evidence of Creation.
As people groups spread over the earth and coalesced into
- nations / ethnic groups differentiated by inbred genetics and/or climate-determined foods, domiciles, clothing and ways of life,
- states defined as centralized political organizations that impose and enforce laws over a population within a geographically defined territory
one’s religious identity could be maintained simultaneously yet separately. This is expressed in the African-American Nation of Islam, and biblically, in defining Abram as a Hebrew and also a member of the country / state of Chaldea.
Eber’s legacy of a religious institution – knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, and habits – can be discerned by its monotheism regardless of differences in languages and habitat-driven cultures throughout the world.
Culture consists of knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, and habits that defines and maintains the norms and expectations within a society for each individual’s social behavior. These are based on transcendent truths the people hold in common, which are are almost universally religious in nature.
Civilization is defined as a advanced state of culture in society in contrast to a savage state.
“The most distinct and long-lasting elements of ancient Hebrew civilization lay not in its architectural, artistic or diplomatic contributions but in the focus of the people on a monotheistic God who was radically different from the gods worshipped by most ancient peoples.” Our Oriental Heritage by Will Durant
Hebrew contribution was not of a material nature. There was no unique technology, tool, architecture, art, pottery technique or even alphabet unique to Hebrews. The contribution was…ideological… monotheism. But Monotheism is not just a quantitative issue (believing in one God as opposed to many). Hebrew monotheism separated humans from nature – by believing that God created humans in His image and made it ontologically different from other animals. That allows for a completely different relation of humans to their environment…
The “ethical monotheism” of the ancient Hebrews also established the equality of all men – in that they are all created in God’s image. When the American Declaration of Independence talks about “all men are created equal” it’s referring to that Hebrew concept. No wonder that Martin Luther King used biblical references all the time.
“by one Spirit are we all baptized / immersed into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit…Now ye are the [social] body / association / organization / of Christ / The Seed of the Woman.” (I Corinthians 12:13,27)
By creating the notion of a transcendental God, it also creates the idea of a supreme and transcendant moral reference: meaning, Good and Bad become absolute terms, and not what society or the king says it is, but what God says it is. That develops a moral conscience and a moral aspiration.
The ancient Hebrews also had – and gave to us – a different idea of time. For the pagan world, time was eternal or cyclical, for Hebrews is sequential. That opens a new different way of thinking about the future.
The Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (1353-1336 BCE) is often referred to as the first monotheist. During the Amarna Period, Akhenaten promoted the worship of Aten, the symbol of the sun, as the highest form of worship.
Zoroaster was a prophet (with dates anywhere from 1000-600 BCE) who promoted the worship of one supreme deity, Ahura Mazda, who was the creator of everything in the universe. The extreme opposite of Ahura Mazda was druj, or ‘chaos,’ personified as Angra Mainyu. Zoroastrians claim that they are the true originators of monotheism, as everything arose from ‘the one.’
Mesoamerican mythology provides evidence that knowledge of the One True God was carried throughout the world after the breakup into nations at the Tower of Babel in Mesopotamia.
In the beginning, all was darkness and nothing existed. Viracocha the Creator came forth from the watersof Lake Titicaca[the sea of space] and created the land and the sky [on Evening 1] before returning to the lake [darkness was upon the face of the deep during adversarial actions on Night 1). He also created a race of people – in some versions of the story they were giants / powerful immortals [aka angels]. [Some of ]These people and their leaders displeased Viracocha, so he came out of the lake again and flooded the world to destroy them. He also turned some of the men into stones. Then Viracocha created the Sun, Moon and stars on Day five.
Then Viracocha made men to populate the different areas and regions of the world…The Inca referred to the first men / angels as Vari Viracocharuna / Variation of Viracocha [same likeness, split off from the Singularity]. Viracocha then created another group of men, also called viracochas / [Same name as his – not just “like God” but exactly sons of God because made in his exact identity and delegated his exact uniquely identifying characteristic of dominion over the earth.]
Viracocha…sent one to the east to the region called Andesuyo and the other to the west to Condesuyo. Their mission, like the other viracochas, was as prophets and seers to awaken the people and tell them their histories past, purest and future…he went to the province of Cacha and awoke opened the eyes of the Canas people… They attacked him and he made it rain fire upon a nearby mountain. The Canas threw themselves at his feet and he forgave them.
Viracocha continued to Urcos, where he sat on the high mountain…Then Viracocha founded the city of Cuzco…Once that was done, he walked to the sea, awakening people as he went. When he reached the ocean, the other viracochas were waiting for him. Together they walked off across the ocean after giving his people one last word of advice: beware of false men who would come and claim that they were the returned [viracochas , sons of God].
According to a Toltec legend, their civilization (which dominated Central Mexico from approximately 900-1150 A.D.) was founded by a great hero, Ce Acatl Topiltzín Quetzalcoatl. According to Toltec and Maya accounts, Ce Acatl Topiltzín Quetzalcoatl lived in Tula for a while before a dispute with the warrior class over human sacrifice led to his departure. He headed east, eventually settling in Chichen Itza. The God Quetzalcoatl definitely has a link of some sort to this hero. It may be that the historical Ce Acatl Topiltzín Quetzalcoatl was deified into Quetzalcoatl the god…
If Western civilization can be said to have a clear beginning, the ancient Hebrews are it.
From these abstract religious concepts have developed a variety of practical and political arrangements…The idea of God’s transcendence, for example, establishes a higher law applicable to all men equally. This was a particularly unusual idea among peoples at the time, whose rulers tended more toward tyranny…
“Hebrews were the first to make people more important than physical property,” Kalthoff says, comparing [contrasting] their legal code to that of Hammurabi. “Hebrews regarded all people as equal before the law. This is a fundamental notion in the Western culture, the equality of people before the law, the dignity of the human person, the applicability of God’s moral truths to all men.”
The Hebrews also held a distinctive view about agreements between God and man, and between man and man…The “social compact” language Puritans and other early American colonists used politically was consciously derived from the Hebrew covenant…
It’s pretty easy to see here the beginnings of what we nowadays call “the rule of law” and “equality before the law,” ideas crucial to not only the U.S. Constitution but undergirding an entire infrastructure of U.S. and western law. But King Saul, as a man and not a god, couldn’t keep from breaking his promises both to God and his people. Saul soon directly disobeys God’s command in battle, which ultimately leads to revolt among his own children then among his people.
The Hebrew insight from personal stories with “universal application” like this…includes that…there’s a direct connection between the private morality of the leaders and the public success of the kingdom…”
Recognizing that men are typically too weak to wield much power impartially and for others’ service is a particularly Hebraic and influential cultural insight. America’s founders, for one, incorporated this insight into our form of government in “checks and balances” that limit leaders’ power…
“If the king is a good king, life will go well for the kingdom. If the king is disordered in his soul, his family might be disordered, and the decline of his family might be mirrored in the decline of his kingdom,” Kalthoff says of the ancient Hebrews’ understanding of the world. “This possibility is ever more prevalent in modern republics, when the people are kings. If they are disordered in their private lives, the challenge of self-government itself might fail, as well.
In sum, much of the way in which we think today derives from the ancient Hebrews, much of the religious landscape of the world as well and much of the ideas of liberal democracy are rooted in the Hebrews as well (Hebrew theology and Greek methodology).
Kingdom Come 