Olu, El and Elah: What Happened to the Gods of the Ancient World?

L is God.

L = Lamed and means Ox Goad in Hebrew

L = The Justice Card in the Tarot

An ox goad is a stick with a pointed end used to herd cattle, sometimes called a cattle prod.  This is how the ancients saw God.

God is the One who gathers and controls and is Most High [El Shaddai].  He oversees the other angEls [El] or Orisa [Olu] and is One God [Elah].

How did the Idea of Kingdom Building Come Into Play in Spirituality?

It existed from the beginning, but was likely sealed in 312 AD when Emperors Constantine, converted to Christianity and Christians quickly went from being persecuted to accepted.  The Council of Nicea was called after the Emperors conversion to Christianity, and Bishops were tasked with determining who Jesus really was and what was his relationship to El [Exodus 6:3].  They voted that he was of the nature of God and they condemned other early church groups who expressed differences regarding the nature of Jesus the Christ.  


Who Is God? (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology): Key Moments of Biblical Revelation

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Keep in mind that a 'Christ' is a title for a Priest King, the Kristos, the Anointed One, the Messiah. It is similar to the role of the Pope in the Vatican. The Pope serves as the High Priest and the King of Vatican City.  

The Messiah was mentioned by Daniel who was in captivity in Babylon and prophesied that someone would free and reunify the 12 tribes of Israel.  The Messiah or Priest King or Anointed one was suppose to do the following:

  1. Come from the line of David.
  2. Reunify the 12 Tribes of Israel.
  3. Rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem.
  4. Restore Israel to its glorious status.
The Messiah is a regal man, likely a warrior or great spiritual person who was suppose to be born to do these physical tasks.

With the separation of church and state in the west, this concept of 'Priest King' leadership seems antiquated to many and has been deemed to be something that is spiritual only.  Read here to understand more about the nature of Priest Kings.

How Did Monolatrism Became Monotheism?

In ancient times, particularly the times of ancient Canaan, the pantheon consisted of El, his wife Asherah and their 77 or so sons who were the Elohim.  Each of the sons of El had a geographic dominion and a group of people.  Each group of people was to serve their god only, though they understood that other gods did exist.  Based on recent archaeological findings, various trinkets and spiritual items proved that many people dabbled with various dieties while at the same time publicly serving their chief diety.  

As the written scripture developed, mainly after the Babylonian captivity, God took on the roll of a single ruler of the world moreso than just the ruler of his own people.  To make a very long story short, as peoples were conquered and came together in one location via war, trade, migration, etc., gods like L, El, Yam, YHVH, Qos, etc., eventually combined or were syncretised to be known as YHWH.

The domains of Ba'al, Chemosh, Molech, Dagon and the other 77 sons of El and Asherah were mostly forgotten.

Where Did the Elohim Come From?

From the beginning, each group of people had their own domains and deities.  Gods or deities derived from many sources to include:

  1. Alleged extraterrestrial visitors
  2. Great Wise or Warrior-type Ancestors
  3. Nature Deities [Trees, Fire, Weather, Water, Earth, Air]
  4. Astrology [Stars, Planets, Moon, Sun]
  5. Animal Totems or Iconography
Syncretism happens when nations or tribes come together and merge customs, languages and how they see deity.  Most ancient spiritual systems were shamanic in nature worshipping the same type elements and with similar cosmologies and stories, but under different names.  However, the idea of Kingdom has expanded in the past few thousand years and now there are two main deities, God and Satan.  

Satan being a god or the god of this world [vs One of the Sons of God] is basically a Christian concept, because even though there were gods of the underworld, they were not seen as evil, only as overseers of domains that existed.

Question:  What do you think happened to the Elohim of the ancient world?