-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of George Brooks
Sent: 19 August 2002 03:27
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: orion-list Enochian Sects: Samaritan vs. Judah-ite
George wrote in response to my previous qestions:
The deity that is archaeologically attested to the Rechabite lifestyle is
the Aramaean Shai al' Qaum,
who is traditionally translated as "Companion/Protector of the Caravan".
But it could also be a pun on the term "Qaum", and
mean BOTH "Caravan" and "stone". In anycase, there seems to be close
congruence between the
Rechabites and the peoples that were devoted to Shai al Qaum.While the
Hellenized version of this anti-wine
God would eventually become Lycurgus, there seems to be strong evidence (per
Diodorus's famous texts about Nabataeans), that
devotees of Shai settled in the land of Edom and were known as Nabataeans.
And LONG before there was a people we would call Essenes,
the Nabataeans themselves had undergone a transition from "tent dwelling
mavericks" to agriculturally supported people
living in urbanized centers.
***********
George, it puzzles me why one has to have an anti-wine god that is not the
God of Israel in order to explain the Rechabite abstention from alcohol.
What I say next is simplistic (as usual). Just suppose a group (a 'tribe'
say) of Israelites had a bad experience that caused a large number of them
to be wiped-out. Could such an experience affect their view of God and what
his commands are for them? Do people's experiences form their views of
their god, at least to some extent. I can well imagine that if the tribe
was having a party one day and alot of them were the worse for wear when
they were attacked and defeated, that such an experience would be seen as
punishment from god for their excess, and that god was telling them to
abstain for ever. There were surely possibilities of diversities arising
among the 'tribes' of Israel according to their different experiences.
More interestingly for me, if Rechabites believed in an anti-wine god, did
they also believe in a pro-tent god -- one who didn't dwell in a building
made by men such as a temple? I wonder if an experience formed that view?
Sincerely,
Geoff
For private reply, e-mail to "Geoff Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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