Could it be an error to call Yahweh the only god of the Hebrews? Actually, the Hebrews worshiped the same gods as their neighbors. Yahweh was only one of their many gods. The Old Testament tells the story from the perspective of the prophet's efforts to get their people to abandon their "false gods" for the worship of the "one true and living God of all the earth." Yahweh didn't evolve into an exclusive Jewish god until after the Exile. The list below shows that the ancient Hebrews were just as heathen as their neighbors.

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Your fathers lived of old beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. (Josh. 24:2)

As a result, we will find no attempt to discredit the existence of pagan gods. What we see instead, is that the priests, who wrote Old Testament, forbade the worship of other gods while mandating allegiance to their one territorial God, the God of Israel, who at times is described as the God of other gods. Full recognition of the existence of other gods is burned into the first of the Ten Commandments. In this context, Christ would qualify as an 'other' god.

"You shall have no other gods before me. (Ex. 20:3)

By examining the list below, we get a sense that it was commonplace for collective groups to subscribe to a god whom they thought was special to them. As Jeremiah tells us, every city had their gods.

But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah. (Jer. 2:28)

What is unique about the Jewish religion is its prohibition against making images of God. While the ancient Jews had no images of Yahweh, they weren't as diligent about making images with magical powers, as the passage below attests.

And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."
So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. (Num. 21:8-9)

Certainly, we Christians violated the Third Commandment against images by displaying Jesus dying on the cross.



Note: I am a christian and could become an ex christian