. Yahwe was the national god, above all
the god of battle.... Altars made of earth or unhewn stone were erected
for him on mountains, hills or under green trees; next to the altar stood
either a stone column (Masseba) or a sacred tree (Ashera). In the temple
the image of Yahwe represented him in human form or, as in Dan or Bethel,
in that of a bull. Next to Yahwe were other gods: first, Baal, the supreme
lord of the world, who had a special temple in Jerusalem; secondly,
Astarte, to whom Solomon built an altar near Jerusalem.

"Solomon had also built altars to Kamosh, the god of the Moabites, to
Milkom, the god of the Ammonites and in his temple other gods beside Yahwe
were worshipped; amongst them a demi-god and a serpent of brass
(Neshushtan) which was abolished later on by Hiskia. All of these gods,
who were also worshipped by the neighbors of the enemies of Israel, became
secondary to the tribal god to whom Israel owed its greatness.

"Yahwe becomes the first and mightiest, and is identified with El, the
supreme god of the Semites, whose individuality is vague. On the other
hand 'the Baal,' the principal god of all neighboring people, especially
of the Phoenicians, possesses a marked individuality which excludes his
identification with other gods. He is worshipped in separate centres of
cult and becomes the rival of Yahwe...." The rivalry and the struggle for
religious and political supremacy between the priests, prophets and
followers of Yahwe, the god of heaven, and Baal, the lord of earth,
culminated in about B.C. 837, when the temple of the latter was destroyed
and his priesthood killed.

"It was not until about 750 B.C., however, that the national god Yahwe
became the acknowledged sole god of the universe next to whom all other
gods were as mere phantoms.... A remarkable transformation took place
about this time in the conception of a divinity and of morality; the moral
precepts of religion were developed and clearly formulated and the ten
commandments promulgated. As time progressed the voices of prophets and
priesthood became more and more loud in condemnation of the use of idols
and symbols of divinity. Hosea especially denounced the cult of Yahwe
under the form of a bull; Jeremias went so far as to disapprove of the
holy ark itself which stood in the temple of Jerusalem.

"Later on, when, about B.C. 621, one of the most important events in the
history of mankind had taken place and the book of the law, th