Moses and Polytheism

Remember Rule #1 in our Basic Training Manual?

  1. Believe in the Only True God (Monotheism)

Monotheism was not a primary worldview in the time of Moses. People believed in ‘multiple gods’ – known as ‘polytheism.’ Moses grew up in the palace of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Egyptians believed in lots of different gods, so Moses would have been very familiar with them. He may have even ‘believed’ in them as did his adopted mother (Pharaoh’s daughter) and other Egyptians.

Moses married the daughter of ‘the priest of Midian.’ Midianites also believed in the existence of many ‘gods,’ even though they came from the lineage of Abraham through the son he had with his wife Keturah. He married her after the death of Sarah.

Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.

Moses, marrying into a Midianite priest’s family, may have also ‘believed’ in some of their gods as well. That would not have unusual in ancient times. It’s important to remember that Abraham (Abram) was a polytheist before God called him to leave his father’s house and go to the land of Canaan. Abraham grew up in Ur of the Chaldeans before moving with his father and family to Haran. They believed in multiple ‘gods.’ Though God trained Abraham to believe in Him, the One True God, many in Abraham’s family still believed in multiple gods – especially those who continued to live in Haran (e.g. Laban, Rachel, and others). Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, had to tell his wife and family to –

Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments … So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem. Genesis 35:2, 4

Polytheism would continue to be a stumbling block to Abraham’s family for many generations to come.

Ancient polytheists, those who believed in many gods, had a variety of ideas about the origin of life. I spent years researching the history of polytheism for my book, A History of Man’s Quest for Immorality, and found the belief in multiple gods went back as far in written history as I could find writings on stones, wall carvings, etc. Cave drawings from pre-historic times also indicates a belief in multiple ‘gods’ and ‘supernatural’ forces.

Christians know that the devil planted the idea for polytheism in the Garden of Eden when he deceived Eve –

For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5

The idea of being ‘like God, knowing good and evil’ opened the door for people to think of themselves as being ‘little gods,’ which turned into some people thinking of themselves as ‘bigger gods.’ It’s quite possible that Noah’s great-grandson Nimrod viewed himself as a ‘god’ as he built his ‘kingdom’ in Mesopotamia (Genesis 10:8-12). He may have even been part of the leadership that led Noah’s family from Mt. Ararat to ‘a plain in the land of Shinar’ to build a city and tower ‘whose top is in the heavens’ (Genesis 11). God saw that effort as evil and confused the language of humanity so that people couldn’t understand each other and scattered across the world – which was God’s earlier command for humanity to – ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’ (Genesis 1:18).

Nimrod and his family remained in Babel to build a city, which is one reason I think he was the primary leader of the protest against God’s plan for humanity – ‘let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth’ (Genesis 11). Nimrod expanded his kingdom from Babel to Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar, and Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah in the land of Assyria (Genesis 10). By the time Nimrod finished building his kingdom, he controlled most of ancient Mesopotamia (Sumeria).

In the famous passage about Israel’s Messiah being born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), God referenced the Assyrian enemies of His people being from ‘the land of Nimrod’ (Micah 5:6). As we study the ancient city-states that Nimrod founded and his successors ruled over, we find them filled with multiple ‘gods.’ Nimrod or some semblance of him may have been a ‘god’ that people worshiped. Some historians believe that the Babylonian ‘god’ Marduk may have been based on the life of Nimrod. Others believe that the ‘part god and part man’ Gilgamesh was also based on the life of Nimrod. Legends about kings grew from generation to generation, so some of these theories are difficult to accept with certainty.

This is the world that Moses was born and raised – a world filled with ‘gods’ and superstitions about how those ‘gods’ impacted their lives on earth and in the afterlife. That is why God revealed Himself to Moses as He did in a ‘burning bush’ that did not burn up. That is why God told Moses to take off his sandals because he was standing on ‘holy ground.’ That is why God told Moses, ‘I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ That is why Moses ‘hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God’ (Genesis 3). God had to begin at the beginning with Moses and train him to understand Rule #1 – to ‘Believe in the Only True God.’ Yes, there were many ‘gods’ made of wood and stone in ancient times, but there was only One True God, and Moses was speaking directly to Him.

Moses and Monotheism

The conversation between God and Moses was an important part of preparing Moses for the ‘mission’ God had for him – to free the children of Israel from slavery and lead them into the ‘promised land.’ In order for Moses to convince the elders of Israel to follow him out of Egypt, Moses had to first be convinced himself.

When Moses asked God what he would say when the elders of Israel asked him the ‘name’ of the ‘God of your fathers’ who had sent him to them, God answered – ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations’ (Exodus 3).

As I mentioned in a previous study, Moses was hesitant to do what God had told him to do. Moses still had to learn Rule #2 of ‘Basic Training’ as a child of God – ‘Fear God and Obey Him.’ Moses was definitely afraid of God, but he did not yet truly ‘fear God.’ The ‘fear of God’ is the ‘beginning of knowledge’ and the ‘beginning of wisdom’ (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). Moses wasn’t there yet. So, how did God teach Moses about Rule #2? He demonstrated just a small amount of His ‘power’ – power that He would share with Moses for his upcoming ‘mission’ in Egypt –

So the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A rod.’ And He said, ‘Cast it on the ground.’ So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail’ (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.’ Furthermore the Lord said to him, ‘Now put your hand in your bosom.’ And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. And He said, ‘Put your hand in your bosom again.’ So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. ‘Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land. Exodus 4:2-9

These were no parlor tricks that God was playing with Moses on the side of the mountain. God demonstrated that He had the ability to give Moses all the ‘supernatural tools’ necessary to free Israel from slavery to Egypt.

Moses returned to Jethro his father-in-law and asked permission to ‘return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive’ (Exodus 4). Jethro gave his permission. God told Moses that all of the people in Egypt who had sought to kill him were dead. Moses left Midian for Egypt with his wife and sons, along with the ‘rod of God’ in his hand.

The Lord spoke to Moses’ older brother Aaron, who still lived in Egypt, and told him to go into the wilderness to meet Moses. Moses told Aaron everything God had said to him, plus details about the signs God had shown him. Moses and Aaron gathered together the elders of Israel and Aaron told the people what God had told Moses. The people’s response? ‘So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped’ (Exodus 4:31). That’s Rule #3 – Worship God and Serve Him. The training of Israel had begun.

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Next Time

Moses is ready. Aaron is ready. The people of Israel are ready. The next step in God’s plan was to get Pharaoh ready. However, what God did to Pharaoh and the people of Egypt had a purpose that went well beyond just freeing Israel from slavery. God was about to ‘rock the world’ with one of the greatest displays of power ever seen by humanity. We’ll look at that in the next part of our series – Train to Reign.

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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