Literature that lasts is literature that connects. The works of literature that have survived for decades or centuries are those that readers relate to and connect with. Humans are built for connection in various ways, and this has important implications for how we read the Bible.

One of the most effective ways we establish connections with others is by being able to relate through shared experiences. However, this can make it harder to find connections with people who don’t share the same experiences. A daughter or son might have difficulty connecting with his or her dad due to age, lifestyle, and interests. Generally, it is those outside our own generation that we may have a harder time relating to.

When we read the Bible as competent readers, we need to try to connect with the ancient author and his ancient audience. If connecting with our parent who is 30 years older is difficult, how much more so is relating to an ancient Israelite from 4000 BC?

Translating an ancient, extinct Hebrew language into modern English is hard enough. Translating ancient culture into modern terms is nearly impossible. This is why the rise in popularity of ancient Near East (ANE) studies has been so vital to our understanding of Scripture (see John Walton, Paul Copan).

In reading John Walton’s Old Testament commentary alongside Genesis, I learned more about some common ANE worship practices involving their temples or ziggurats. This helped me see how ancient Israelites were not in a situation very different than what Christians in a post-Christian context are in today.

Zigurrats & the ANE Worldview

People in the ANE had a three-tier view of the universe. The underworld for the dead. The world for the living. And the heavens for the gods. If you lived in ancient Mesopotamia, you likely believed the reason you were created was to serve the gods. You’d fear punishment if you did not serve or please them correctly. Additionally, you’d try to make sure not disturb to disturb them too much ¹The noise of humans was the reason for the Great Flood in ancient Babylonian myth. In order to serve the gods, you would need to ascend closer to their level to offer them sacrifices of food, human life, or sex for their voyeuristic pleasure²Yes, this means the gods enjoyed watching worshippers have sex with prostitutes in the temple. Therefore, this was a prominent form of worship to show devotion to the gods. . The ziggurat was a temple that served this purpose. The structure was built with ladders on the side allowing people to ascend to the level of the gods, offer sacrifices, make requests, etc.

By the time the nation of Israel was forming from the line of Abraham, everyone was drinking the ANE Kool-Aid. Everyone agreed with the idea that if one wanted to commune with the gods, he had to ascend to the level of the gods and provide for them. God taught Israel that while their neighbors think they can ascend to the level of the gods, instead YHWH descends to the level of humans.

YHWH: The God of Descension

God’s relationship to humans has always been one of divine descension. Early in their “formative years”, God made Israel a nomadic people when everyone around them was building cities for their own glory (see Tower of Babel Gen 11:1-9). Additionally, the Israelite “temple” was not an elevated behemoth of a building, but instead a grounded tent. The lesson was clear, YHWH comes down to dwell with you, you do not make your way up to Him. It wouldn’t be until they had learned valuable lessons about God and their identity after coming out of Egypt that they would be able to inhabit a land devoted to God and then build a city (ie Jerusalem).

At God’s appointed time, He gave us the clearest depiction of Himself, His humility, and holiness. Jesus Christ was in the form of God since the beginning. Yet, He descended to earth and took the form of a servant. He obeyed the Father to the point of death and then was exalted in His Ascension. And it is at His name every knee will bow in all 3-tiers of the universe (Phil 2:6-11).

Today, God still shows himself to be the same God through the lives of His people. As new creations, we follow in Jesus’ steps. Disciples of Christ are to become like Him in His death (Phil 3:10). Our lives are to be marked by surrender (Luke 17:33) and sacrifice (Heb 13:12-13). Therefore, Christ’s descension and resurrection are continually lived out today through His church³(Paul E. Miller’s J-Curve describes this nature of the Christian life in depth, J-Curve by Paul E. Miller).

Israel and Us Today

Israel was chosen among a plethora of people groups to show the surrounding world what God is truly like. They were unique in their beliefs and faced a variety of challenges for holding them. Today, Christians find themselves in a similar scenario. Four other religions cover the far majority of the world’s population (ie Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism). While these 5 religions have many similar characteristics, they also have very important differences and each carries exclusive truth claims, the most important regarding salvation.

The Uniqueness of Christianity

Every major religion teaches about salvation and defines it in different ways. Christian theology uses the term salvation to describe the 3 part process of justification, sanctification, and glorification. Glorification is the culmination of a physical resurrection to eternal life with God in His renewed world. Other religions, such as Islam view salvation in terms of an afterlife, while others would define salvation as escaping the cycle of life and rebirth (eg Hinduism, Buddhism).

Not only do each of these religions define salvation differently, but there are also important differences among the 5 major world religions in how one obtains salvation. More accurately, Christianity alone flips the human paradigm of salvation. The human paradigm is simplified in this equation:

• do good = get good
• do bad = get bad.
• Those who do good works get closer to obtaining salvation, whereas those who do bad works get the unfavorable alternative.

Today, the distinguishing mark of Christianity among the 5 major world religions lies in the belief in how people obtain salvation. The other four religions discussed operate in a human paradigm. They require enough good works, meditation, or knowledge to achieve salvation. It is something you ascend to. Christianity stands alone as the only religion teaching that God descended to us for our salvation (Eph 2:8-9). And it is the Christian’s same descension in the death of Christ, that he finds his ascension and salvation in the resurrection of Christ.

Every other religion is about how you can make your way up to god, but Christianity is about how God comes down to you. God has been a God of Descension from the beginning, using what is foolishness to the world to shame the “wise” (1 Corinthians 1:20-25).

In Other Words

Everyone has an articulated or subconscious view of “salvation” and how one obtains it. Christianity is cut from a different cloth than the other major world religions. Only in Christianity do you find a God who does not fit the human paradigm. A God who is humble enough to take on flesh and descend to the level of His creation. A God who loves enough to suffer, give his own life and take it up again.

Today, we find solidarity with ancient Israel, standing out from the crowd in the midst of the unbelieving world. A world busy with climbing ziggurat ladders of success, good deeds, pilgrimage, or higher knowledge. To ancient Israel and us today, the world scoffs at the idea of a God of Descension. But we can stand in confidence knowing that this flipped human paradigm is evidence of a non-human source of truth. And may this truth transform all of us who believe it.