This Belief in One God Is Called Monotheism

The Hebrews

Name: ______E. Napp

Date: ______Period _____

Monotheism

At the time of Abraham, people in Mesopotamia worshipped thousands of gods. People in Egypt worshiped many nature gods. The Egyptians also worshiped the sun and spirits and even their own kings. This belief in many gods and goddesses is called polytheism.

The ancient Israelites introduced a new idea. The Israelites or Hebrews came to believethat there was only one true God. The Israelites believed that their God was all-powerful, all-knowing and was present everywhere. The Israelites saw themselves as the chosen people of their God.

This belief in one God is called monotheism.

How does polytheism differ from monotheism? ______

Who came to believe in one God? How did these people view God? ______

Central to the religion of the ancient Israelites was the belief that they hadentered into a special relationship with their God, Yahweh. This relationshipwas called a covenant. According to this covenant, the Israelites were tofollow all the rules and regulations in the Torah (or first five books of the Bible). In return,their God promised to protect them, increase their population,and give them the land of Canaan as their homeland forever.

What is a covenant and what was the covenant between the Hebrews and their God? ______

The Torah

The story of how the Israelites developed as a people is found in the first five books of the Bible or Torah. The Torahcontains the basic laws of the Jewish religion and traces the historyof the Israelites through the 1200s B.C.

What is the Torah? ______

The Exodus

According to the Bible, many Hebrews had gone down into Egypt because there was a faminein Canaan and they had no food. Instead of returning home to Canaan, they stayed in Egyptfor a long time. The number of Hebrews living in Egypt grew very large.

This upset the Pharaohwho became afraid that the Hebrews would become powerful enough to upset his rule. To prevent this, he made the Hebrews(also called Israelites) into slaves.

Why did the Hebrews migrate to Egypt? ______

What happened to the Hebrews in Egypt? ______

Treatment of laborers in Egypt was cruel during the time of the Israelites' bondage. After more than 400 years of slavery, in the early 1200's B.C., Moses was born.

Although an Israelite, Moses was raised in the Pharaoh’s household. This Pharaohwas probably Ramses II. According to the Torah, God asked Moses to ask the Pharaohto let the Israelites leave Egypt. Pharaoh refused.

Who was Moses and why did he ask Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt? ______

God gave Moses miraculous powers, including the ability to cause outbreaks of disease and destruction called plagues. Each time a plague happened, Pharaohpromised to let the Israelites go, buteach time he changed his mind.

Finally, according to the Torah, a plague came in which the first-born child of all the Egyptians died - even Pharaoh’s son. After this terrible plague,Pharaoh finally let the Israelites leave Egypt.

Although Pharaoh initially refused to let the Israelites leave, he was eventually persuaded to let them go. Why? ______

The ancient Israelites adapted to theirenvironment as all successfulcivilizations must do to survive. Where there was only grass and rocks, shepherds tended their flocks of sheepand goats.

Where there was a body of water filled with fish,they worked as fishermen. While the men worked as shepherds or fishermen,the women did most of the household work includinggrinding grain, making garments and making cheese and butter. The women gathered water from wells.

Describe how the ancient Israelites adapted to their environment. ______