The Ancient Tradition

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Music

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You’re listening to the Ancient Tradition. A Wonk Media Production. Music provided by Joseph McDade. He is your host, Dr. Jack Logan.

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Welcome to The Ancient Tradition. I’m your host, Jack Logan. It’s great to have you along with me today as we dive into the ancient tradition. If you’re new to the program, you’re in for the theological ride of your life. On this program, we take the writings and oral traditions of the ancients seriously, especially their claim that God revealed a pure, true religious tradition in the very beginning, from the very start of the human experience on earth, a religious tradition.

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which we refer to on this program as the ancient tradition. And we do this by identifying the themes or motifs that show up time and time again all over the globe. And then we focus on those themes that we can trace all the way back to deep antiquity. And that’s what we’re going to do today. If you’re a new listener, this podcast is progressive, which means that each new episode builds on the previous episode. You’re going to get a lot out of today’s episode as a standalone episode, but

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When you get a chance, be sure to catch up on the episodes you’ve missed so that you’re caught up to speed. You’ll get a much fuller picture of the ancient tradition. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about one of the most widespread motifs that we can find in the ancient world. In fact, this motif is not only the most widespread, it’s one of the most important. Wherever we find it in the ancient world, it represents the core central theme.

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around which all of the other themes revolve. It’s a theme that’s so ubiquitous and important that we find it in nearly all of the world’s greatest texts, whether those are ancient texts or modern texts. It’s the central literary motif in what are considered the world’s greatest texts. We can find this in the ancient Egyptian pyramid texts, we find it in the literature of ancient Mesopotamia.

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in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Enuma Elish and so many more which we’ve discussed. We find it in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. We find it in the great Indian epics like the Ramayana. We find it in Apollonius’s Jason and the Golden Fleece. We find it in the Finnish epic, the Kalevala. We find it in Britain’s national epic, Beowulf. We find it in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and in Shakespeare’s masterpiece.

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Hamlet. We see it in the West African epic, the Bayajita. We see it in the famous Tibetan epic, the epic of King Gesser and many, many more. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. In modern times, it shows up in masterpieces like the Lord of the Rings trilogy and in famous Japanese animated films like Spirited Away. It’s at the core of nearly every blockbuster film

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There are those in the literary community that argue that this motif constitutes the essential ingredient in all literature. The ingredient that without which there really is no great literature. So what is this essential ingredient? And where do we first find it? The answer is found in the title of today’s episode, the great primordial Theomache. Primordial means existing from the beginning.

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and theomachy which is the Greek, theo meaning gods and machy meaning battle, combat or war. So theomachy means battle against the gods. Together the great primordial theomachy refers to the great battle that took place amongst the gods in the beginning. The earliest writings we find in the human record tell us of a cosmic battle

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that took place in the heavens before the earth was ever created. A battle that continues today in both the cosmic and the earthly spheres. In the ancient texts, this battle is expressed symbolically in violent war-like physical terms where we get the rebellious god or beast who’s slain by a weapon like a sword or a blade or he’s shot with an arrow. Keep in mind though, that this imagery is symbolic.

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The ancients are using this to help us, you know, human beings, terrestrial types, understand something important about the nature of the spiritual realm. So in the ancient texts, they tell us when this battle took place, they tell us which gods in the council of the gods battled against each other. They tell us why the gods engaged in the battle in the first place. They tell us the outcome of the battle and they tell us how the battle was a necessary prerequisite.

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to the creation of the earth, which is why we’re talking about it here. This great primordial battle constitutes the fifth motif or the fifth pillar of creation that we find in the ancient record. This motif is widely known among historians, mythologists, authors, and screenwriters as the combat myth. Contemporary scholars like Joseph Campbell, who I’m sure most of you have heard of before, and Christopher Volger.

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a veteran Hollywood story consultant, took the combat myth and then they recoined it the hero’s journey. And they argue that all great literature as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is considered the earliest surviving written literature, right up to last week’s highly successful blockbuster film, follow the exact same literary template, the sequence of events outlined in ancient combat myths.

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What most writers may not realize is that according to the ancients, the so-called combat myth or heroes journey represents actual events that took place in the heavens before the earth was created. Christopher Volger, the Hollywood story consultant I just mentioned doesn’t seem to be aware of this. He doesn’t seem to know that the hero’s journey has its Genesis and events that took place in the divine world, but somehow

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Through his extensive background in screenwriting, he comes to the same conclusion. In his book, The Writer’s Journey, Mythic Structure for Writers, he says the following, quote, the hero’s journey is not an invention, but an observation. It is a recognition of a beautiful design, a set of principles that govern the conduct of life and the world of storytelling, the way physics and chemistry govern the physical world.

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It’s difficult to avoid the sensation that the hero’s journey exists somewhere, somehow as an eternal reality, a divine model. From this model, infinite and highly varied copies can be produced, each resonating with the essential spirit of the form. I love that. What he’s basically arguing is that

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The combat myth or the hero’s journey has a divine source that our greatest stories, our greatest literature, our greatest movies resonate with the human spirit precisely because they express an eternal reality, an eternal reality that I would argue from the ancient texts not only expresses actual events that took place before the earth was created, but that is also meant to serve as a divine model.

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like Volger argues, for our own lives. A divine model that represents the cosmic battle each of us face, the need for human beings to conquer the great enemy, the great sea monsters, the Leviathan, in order to reach our full potential. So in this light, the hero’s journey’s not just a writer’s template, it’s a cosmic template relevant to every single person who’s ever lived. In the ancient text,

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The combat myth is so widespread that it’s difficult to get a handle on it. And I’m going to try by giving you a quick survey of some of the major cosmic combats that we see to just kind of give you an idea. In the ancient texts, we see the battle in the Babylonian Labu myth. A hero battles a terrible dragon. In the Canaanite myth, the god Baal battles the god Yam, the sea enemy.

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In the Babylonian Enuma Elish, the god Marduk battles the god Tiamat, the sea serpent. In the Assyrian myth, the god Nunurta battles the Anso bird, a terrible thunderbird who can breathe fire like a dragon. In a parallel myth, the god Nunurta battles Azag, a hideous water demon. In ancient Egypt, the god Osiris battles the god Set, who’s an unidentifiable creature.

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resembles some of the features of a wild dog or hyena and jackal. He’s kind of a composite creature. In ancient Egypt, the god Ra battles the god Apophis, the terrible serpent who embodies darkness and disorder. In ancient Greece, the god Kronos battles the god Zeus, a usurper of the throne. In ancient Greece, in a massive battle, the older gods, the Titans, battle the Olympians,

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dominion over the universe. In Nordic mythology, the god Thor battles Yhormungandr, the world serpent. In the Bible, the god Jehovah battles Rahab, the awful Leviathan. In Hindu mythology, the 12 Adichas, which we talked about in a previous episode, led by the god Varuna, battle the divas, malevolent beings who are led by the god Vritra. If you want to see a depiction

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on the famous temple in Cambodia, Angkor Wat, that battle between the Adichas and the Divas. Among the Aztecs, the god, Tesla Kapotka, battles the crocodile-like sea demon, Sepakli, threatening the creation. In Japanese mythology, the god, Susanu, battles Yamada, the terrible eight-headed dragon. And I could go on and on and on. In ancient mythology, we see the battle between gods,

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move to a battle between the earthly king, who is the royal heir of the gods, and the enemy god, who the ancients symbolize as an awful monster or a sea serpent. For example, we see this in the Epic of Gilgamesh, where King Gilgamesh battles the awful monster Humbaba, who’s guarding the entrance to the cedar forest. In the Epic, Jason and the Argonauts, when Jason, the rightful heir

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guarding the tree on which the golden fleece hangs. In the epic story, Beowulf, the king of the Danes, battles Grendel, a creature of darkness, a destroyer and a devourer. And then from here, the battle between the earthly king and the enemy god moves to a battle between a flawed, unknown, unremarkable person, one who’s often depicted as despised, a real person.

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who’s called upon by Providence to battle the awful dragon. And this is where we see some pretty great stuff. We see this in Star Wars. This is the orphan Luke Skywalker who battles Darth Vader. In the Harry Potter series, this is the orphan Harry Potter who battles Voldemort. In the Hunger Games, this is the small town girl from District 12, Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to be tribute and who…

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ultimately battles the tyrannical Corleones snow. In the Lord of the Rings, this is the unheroic hobbit of the Shriner, Frodo Baggins, whose name actually means wise by experience, who battles the One Ring that was forged by the Dark Lord Saren to gain dominion over the free peoples of Middle

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of all of us. The one who tempts us to destroy, divide, demolish, and dominate. And therein lies the magic of the combat myth or the hero’s journey. Although it’s couched in symbolism of physical combat, it’s really a story about the royalty or possible destiny within each of us if we conquer the awful dragon.

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Mythologist Joseph Campbell, who I just mentioned, says it like this. The cosmogonic cycle is presented with astonishing consistency in the sacred writings of all the continents, and it gives to the adventure of the hero a new and interesting turn. For now it appears that the perilous journey was a labor not of attainment, but of re-attainment. Not discovery, but re-discovery.

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the godly powers sought and dangerously won are revealed to have been within the heart of the hero all the time. He is the king’s son who has come to know who he is and wherewith has entered into the exercise of his proper power, God’s son. From this point of view, the hero is symbolical of that divine

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creative and redemptive image which is hidden within all of us only waiting to be known and rendered into life in Other words Joseph Campbell’s arguing that all of us are royal children of the high God and That somehow we know this deep down inside But it’s the triumphant battle over the dragon that reveals this to us

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like enthronement of Marduk in the Enuma Elish. The combat myth teaches that all who conquer the dragon will be crowned kings and queens in God’s kingdom. And if you pay close attention to what’s going on in most princess movies, this is the exact message that’s being conveyed. In the modern fairy tale Cinderella, Cinderella is a nobody.

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She’s an unassuming scullery maid. Her life’s relegated to the scrubbing of floors by her cruel stepmother. But as the fairy tale progresses, she’s given supernatural help to battle her cruel stepmother. And in the end, she triumphs and is crowned a princess. If you watch a lot of princess movies, variations of this pattern show up in almost all of them. Sometimes they know they are princesses and sometimes they don’t.

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But in each of the films, the young damsel must battle someone or something before her royalty is fully realized. There’s a lot going on here theologically, so we’ll definitely revisit this in a future episode. You know, what Disney and Jake RR Tolkien and Suzanne Collins don’t realize is that the source of their stories is the great combat that the ancients tell us took.

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place before the earth was created. So let’s jump into the ancient texts and take a closer look at what the ancients tell us took place in the great primordial Theomache. By far and away, the Babylonian epic of creation, the Enuma Elish, gives us the best account. If you’re interested in listening to a full audio recording of the Enuma Elish, you can find that on our sister podcast, the ancient tradition, Audio Rit.

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I’ve gone over the enuma leash quite a bit in previous episodes. I’m not going to retell the story here. Instead, I’m going to lay out the basic sequence of events, the primary motifs we find in the battle between gods, wherever we find them in the ancient record. I may draw upon a few examples from the enuma leash here and there, but most of the examples will come from other texts. So we can get a feel for how widespread the primordial theomachy motif is in the ancient record.

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Alright, number one, the first thing that we see in the Divine Combat Accounts is that this battle takes place in the spiritual realm in the heavens. It’s a battle between gods. In the Enuma Elish, this battle takes place before the earth was created. And this aspect of the accounts really intriguing because it suggests that the battle was a necessary prerequisite to the formation of the earth, as well as a few other things that I’m going to mention in a couple of minutes.

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Now, not all of the ancient combat myths take place before the earth has been created. Many take place after. But I’m going to argue here that the original source for the combat myth, which we don’t have, and which appears to have been an important theological tenant of the ancient tradition, was an account of an important battle that took place before the earth was formed. And I have several reasons for this supposition, much of which comes from

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lingering evidence in the accounts, those stubborn bits, and I’ll get to those in a minute. Mullen, who I’ve mentioned before, who wrote The Divine Council in Canaanite and Early Hebrew Literature, which is not the most compelling title that you can find for a book, but man, it’s a fantastic book. It’s really hard to find, but you can find it on Brill.com, B-R-I-L-L.com, but you will pay a pretty penny, but it’s a fantastic book. He says this, quote,

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creation motifs must be seen as belonging together from the earliest time. So he too here is arguing that creation was an original context for the cosmic battle which means it had to take place before the earth was created. Number two, the second thing that we see in the divine combat accounts is that a divine government existed in the heavens before the earth was formed. A government

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of a number of gods, plural. Sometimes the texts refer to seven gods or 12 gods, 50 gods or 70 gods, but whatever the number, we get the impression that the heavens before the creation of the earth was occupied by a number of divine beings, both male and female. Number three, the third thing we see in the divine combat accounts is that the divine government follows a strict order.

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In particular, we learned that the heavens are governed by a high God, a God who reigns as a divine king over a council of 12 of his sons. And if you haven’t given episode number 18, the high council of 12, a lesson it’s worth a lesson in that episode, we cover the council in detail. And there’s a lot more to the divine government and how it’s structured, but I’ll have to save that for future episodes.

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The fourth thing that we see in the Divine Combat Accounts is that the battle that took place between gods was a battle between two gods who appear to have sat on the Divine Council of Twelve. Now I can’t say this for certainty, but there are enough hints in the ancient text to suggest that this was the case. What is clear from the text, however, is that regardless of whether they both sat on the

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were both understood to be gods, and they were both understood to be sons of the high god. And we see this, for example, in Cuneiform Tablet 3.3.35-36 in the Ugaritic literature. The god Yam, who is the enemy of the god Baal, is referred to as, quote, the beloved of El. As you’ll see as the podcast progresses, referring to one as beloved,

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is actually an epitaph for one who is known to be a son of God. It’s a title given to one who is exalted. This passage clearly indicates that the God who would become the enemy of the gods was first a son of El, but even more so he was understood to be a beloved son of the high God El, a God. As beloved, he must have been a very special son. In addition, in

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Cuneiform tablet 3.3.21 to 22, Yam is specifically referred to as a king. It reads, quote, indeed you are a king. And in Cuneiform tablet 2.1.17, he’s called Lord. Okay, this is really interesting. This reference to Yam as a king is intriguing considering in our last episode, we discussed how the high God divided his kingdom up.

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amongst 12 of his sons and he assigned each of them stewardship as a vassal king over one twelfth of his kingdom in the text Enki in the world order. Which reminds me I came across an interesting artifact this week among the Hittites who were ancient Indo-European people who lived in Anatolia which is near present-day Turkey. In the ancient city of Hatutza, the capital of the Hittite empire, there’s a carving in the temple.

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Yazlilikaya of 12 gods whom the Hittites identified as the Mesopotamian Anunnaki. Neil Forsyte in his amazing book published by Princeton University titled The Old Enemy Satan and the Combat Myth notes the same thing. He writes, quote, Yam, who’s the rebel god again, is regarded like Baal himself.

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as a son of El. Now, Forsyte’s insight is important because it stresses the point that in the Ugaritic account, the two gods who end up doing battle with one another are divine brothers. They are both beloved sons of the high god El. We see a similar thing to this in the ancient Egyptian account of the battle between the god Osiris and the enemy of Osiris, the god Set.

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In the ancient Egyptian pantheon, Osiris and Seth are both the offspring of the Egyptian gods Geb and Nut, which makes them divine brothers, just like we see in the Ugaritic account. Now, we don’t always find this characterization of the gods who do battle as divine brothers, but we do see that the hero god who does battle against the enemy god is universally depicted as the offspring of the high god.

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And keep in mind that the characterization of the enemy god as a terrible monster is symbolic. It’s symbolic of his profane nature. As we pointed out in our previous episode, the divine council in the Mesopotamian literature is referred to as the Anunnaki, which literally means the offspring of An, An being the chief god of the Mesopotamian pantheon.

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the Anunnaki show up in all over in the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian literature. In Enki and the world order, they are divine beings with immense power. According to the ancient texts, why do the gods battle each other? What provokes the battle between them? Why are they fighting each other? The answer to this leads me to number five. The fifth,

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thing we see in the Divine Combat accounts is a relatively consistent motive for why the battle takes place. Now in many accounts, the ancients provide no motive for why the adversary became the enemy in the first place. He’s just presented as the enemy. In some of the other accounts, we find a little bit of variation in the motive. But Dr. Forsyte, while he was doing his research for his book, The Old Enemy, he found that those accounts that do include a motive.

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that outright rebellion is the primary motive. He writes, quote, the question of motivation of how and why the adversary rebels was a part of the plot from its earliest form. He continues, in this rebel type, a quite explicit and elaborate motivation scene is often a part of the combat narrative says the combat consists in the act of rebellion itself, or its martial consequences.

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and the victory is the suppression of the rebellion. As one student put it, this rebellion is most often just a clear cut grab for power. For example, in the Assyrian text describing the battle between the god Nenurta and the god described as the Anzu bird, known as the Anzu bird myth, we read in Forsyte’s words about a quote, explicit rebellion among the gods.

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So let’s read some of that text. And this comes from the AK Grayson translation. Now, while I read, note in this text how Anzu is portrayed before he rebels. You’ll see that the high god Enlil really entrusts him by giving him really important jobs, like conveying his decrees to those in the heavens and guarding the entrance to Enlil’s temple. And interestingly,

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The authorical Jacobson, the Assyriologist who have mentioned in past episodes, he argues that the Anzu bird represents the earliest form of the god when the gods were represented in animal form. In terms of avian symbolism, this makes complete sense because as we’ve discussed on this program the gods are often portrayed as birds because birds have the ability to ascend to the highest heaven, the highest sphere of the celestial realm. So if Jacobson is correct.

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Then this, like we’ve seen by Ansoo’s epitaphs as Son of God, Beloved King and Lord, and the depiction of him as a bird tells us that Ansoo was a very trusted god of high celestial station before he rebelled, which is pretty clear in this text when we realize that Ansoo had full access to the high god Enlil and to his heavenly temple palace.

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Ansu’s greatest ambitions are tested. With access to the divine king Enlil and his temple palace, the emblems of Enlil’s royal power, the crown, the royal robes, and the tablet of destinies are constantly before Ansu’s eyes. And ultimately, the temptation to usurp power is too great for him. Let’s read.

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directed. To convey them, he dispatched Anzu and Lil entrusted to him the entrance to his shrine. The exercise of his Enlil ship his eyes view. So we’re talking about Anzu here. He’s seeing the Enlil ship, which is the kingship of Enlil. The crown of his sovereignty, the robe of his

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As he views constantly the father of the gods, the god of Duranki, which is the temple, the removal of Enlil’s ship, he conceives in his heart as Ansu views constantly the father of the gods, the god of the Duranki. So you can just envision this. Ansu is staring at the crown, the robes and the tablet, the emblems that represent supreme dominion over the heavens.

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And that’s when the text tells us that Ansu conceives a plan in his mind. Remember the heart was the mind in the ancient world. Quote, the removal of Enlil ship, he conceives in his heart. And Enlil ship is Enlil’s kingship. Like I just mentioned, Ansu conceives in his heart to still Enlil’s kingship so that he can have supreme dominion over the heavens. The usurpation of kingship, a clearly rebellious act.

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against the established order is a core theme we see wherever the battle amongst the gods is told. Let’s keep reading. The removal of enlil ship he conceives in his heart. I will take the divine tablet of destinies and the decrees of all the gods I will rule. I will make firm my throne and be the master of the norms.

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I will direct the totality of the Igigi. And the Igigi is the divine assembly. Pay close attention here, the first person pronoun in this text is pretty strong. Anzu says, I will rule. I will be the master. I will direct. And from these declarations, it’s pretty clear that ambition and envy and jealousy is what’s driving Anzu’s plan. He wants to be the one to rule the heavens and he’ll do whatever he needs to to get that power.

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Let’s keep reading and see what he does. His heart having thus plotted aggression at the entrance of the sanctuary, which he had been viewing, he awaits the start of the day. As Enlil was washing with water, his crown having been removed and deposited on the throne, he, Ansu, seized the tablet of destinies in his hands, taking away

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the Enlil ship. Wow, the high god Enlil, who is the rightful owner of the tablet of destinies, which we pointed out in a previous episode was envisioned as a clay tablet, which conferred supreme authority on its owner, lays the tablet down while he bathes. Anzu outright steals the tablet, in effect, stealing supreme authority.

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As that student said, this is a clear cut grab for power. And like I mentioned earlier, we see echoes of Ansoo’s rebellion today, some thousands of years later in some of our greatest literature and film. In the Star Wars series, Anakin Skywalker, before he rebelled, was the Chosen One. As a Jedi, he was devoted to the ways of the Jedi Order.

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He was exceptionally strong with the force and he was prophesied to destroy the Sith. I might also remind you that he sat on the Jedi High Council of Twelve. In Mesopotamian speak, he was a member of the Divine Council. So George Lucas must have done his homework. But then something happens.

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Anakin is not satisfied with his position on the Jedi Council. He wants to be made a Jedi Master, but the Council doesn’t feel he’s ready. Anakin misreads the Council’s decision, believing that they are jealous of his power. Ultimately, Anakin feels the Jedi High Council is holding him back. In the movie, he says, and this is a direct quote from the movie, he says, quote, I want more.

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and I know I shouldn’t. Ultimately, Anakin decides that the only way to get more is to rebel against the Jedi Order and turn to the dark side, which he does. Note too how like we see in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and all over the globe, the fallen God or Jedi in this case, then turns into a hideous monster. And George Lucas does the same thing with Anakin.

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When he falls into a molten pit of fire, his face burns beyond recognition. He’s a hideous monster. And note something else very interesting, how George Lucas gives Anakin a new name after he rebels, a name that reflects his new profane nature. He’s no longer Anakin, now he is Darth Vader, the Dark Lord.

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The fall of Ansu from the divine council in the Mesopotamian literature and the fall of Anakin Skywalker from the Jedi Council in modern cinema would really be akin to one of Christ’s twelve apostles rebelling or falling. Now wait a minute, that’s exactly what we see happen in the New Testament. In Matthew chapter 26 we learn that one of Christ’s twelve apostles, Judas Iscariot,

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for a bag of silver. Starting in verse 14, it reads, quote, then one of the 12 called Judas Iscariot went unto the chief priests and said unto them, what will you give me? And I will deliver him, Jesus, unto you. And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver. And from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him, which of course he does.

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In Luke chapter 22, starting in verse 47, it reads, and while he, Jesus, yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the 12, went before them and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? Things did not end well for this fallen apostle.

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In Matthew chapter 27 verse 5, we learn that Judas hangs himself. What’s really interesting about this story is that we’re told in both Luke and John that Judas was possessed by Satan. Luke 22 verse 3 reads, quote, then entered Satan into Judas, surname Iscariot, being of the number of the 12. I find this very compelling.

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because in the Judeo-Christian tradition and in books like the Book of the Holy Secrets of Enoch, Satan is the fallen one. The one that I argued earlier was probably a member of the Divine High Council of Twelve, the one who rebelled against the high god Elohim before the world was formed. And then here in the New Testament we’re told that this Satan entered one of the earthly

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to betray Jesus or rebel against him and the 12 apostles on earth. The parallel between Satan’s rebellion in the divine high council and Judas’ rebellion against Jesus and his council of 12 apostles is really striking. In biblical studies, this is called a type. In most cases, a biblical type foreshadows a future event. But in this case, it appears this type is repeating events.

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that occurred among the gods in the celestial realm before the earth was created. And I find this quite stunning. In most of the divine combat accounts that depict the enemy god as a rebel, the rebel god’s rebellion is directly tied to usurping the kingship from the rightful king. The rebel god is the great usurper. He wants to rule a kingdom that is not his to rule.

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He wants power and dominion and status that are not his. His rebellion is an act of open rebellion against the established civil order in the heavens. In the Canaanite text, known as the Bal-Mot cycle, the rebel god is actually called the rebel. In Cuneiform Tablet 6.1.55-65, in this passage, the rebel god goes up to the mountain temple and sits on the throne.

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the throne that is not his, he is sitting on the high God’s throne. And of course the throne does not fit him. And this is kind of like Cinderella, where only the rightful princess fits in the shoe. The shoe both identifies the rightful heir and exposes the usurpers of the throne. So listen to this. Aftar, the rebel, went up to the reaches of Zephon, which is the mountain temple.

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He sits enthroned on the throne of Ali-Yon-Bal. His feet did not reach the footstool. His head did not reach the top. And Ahthar, the rebel, said, I will not reign on the reaches of Zephon. Ahthar, the rebel, came down. And that moving down hints at a fall. We also see the rebel god in inarguably ancient Egypt’s most influential myth, the myth of Osiris.

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And we find elements of this myth go way, way back to the Egyptian pyramid texts that are dated to the 24th century BC. We find it in the middle kingdom in texts like the Ramsey and Papyrus. And we find it in later texts around the 12th century BC and the contendings of Horace and Set. And in this account, Osiris inherits the kingship from his ancestors, who he can trace all the way back to the creator God Ra and Atum. Osiris reigns in righteousness.

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and governs his kingdom according to the prescripts of Maat, which is justice and order and truth. Osiris’ brother, the ancient Egyptian god Set, is jealous of Osiris. He’s jealous of his power and his kingdom, so he designs a plot to kill him and take his throne, which according to the text, he successfully does. The rebel god Set is a god full of envy and hate and deceit.

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and he wants the throne that is not his. We see this same pattern of rebellion in the Bible in Isaiah chapter 14, starting in verse 13. And this is what it says of Lucifer’s motive for rebelling against God. It says, quote, “‘O Lucifer, son of the morning, for thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heaven, I.’

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will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. Note here are we getting the same emphasis on first person pronouns like we did in the Ansu bird account. Lucifer says, I will ascend, I will exalt my throne, I will ascend above the heights. And then in what’s quite a stunning statement,

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be like the Most High. In these verses, it’s all about Lucifer and what he wants. And what he wants is the high God’s throne. He wants the power that Elohim has to rule the heavens, even if that means he has to take it. Now that’s categorical rebellion. In the Yom-baal account, the rebel Yom’s desire to take El’s throne is particularly transparent when he explicitly instructs his messengers

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and cuneiform tablet 2.1.14-15, not to prostrate themselves or pay homage to El or to the members of the assembly. And this is what it says, and this is Yam talking to his messengers. Arise, lads, do not tarry, verily set face toward the appointed assembly, to the midst of Mount Lule, to the feet of El, do not fall. Do not fall.

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prostrate yourselves to the appointed assembly. Arise! Constantly stare. Yams messengers basically walk into the divine throne room, stand before the divine king, the god of the heavens, and refuse to pay homage. There’s no more clear rejection of the divine king and the established order of the heavens than this. It’s a contemptuous act of unambiguous rebellion.

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And imagine the temperature in the divine throne room at this point. The council of gods must have been thoroughly aghast. What did the high god do next? What did the members of the council do? Well, for the answer to those questions, unfortunately, we’re gonna have to wait until our next episode. Before I close out this episode though, I wanna stress that the ancient record attests that before the world was formed,

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A beloved member of the Divine Council rebelled against God and the established Order of the Heavens. And his rebellion, as we’ll see, will have widespread implications for both the celestial and the earthly realms. That’s a wrap for me. As always, I leave you with the words of William Shakespeare, Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. I’m Jack Logan.

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You’ve been listening to the Ancient Tradition. A Wonk Media Production.