In the first part of this article series, we deduced that “God” is not just a generic term for “deity” but that it is the name of a specific “mighty one” or false deity as the Bible would consider it. If you haven’t read Part 1, go back now
Here is what the research says about God:
Oh My God!
Question: How many times a day do you think you say “Oh my God!”? Two… three… ten times? It is a very common practice today across the world, and across cultures, not just in the U.S. If you think this was a habit coined by some teens in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California, you would be wrong. No, the use of this term runs far deeper than that. You may think then that it was popularized by followers of God. In that case, you would be correct, but not in the way that you may think. So how far back does the use of this term go?
The Bible records the use of the name “Gad” (pronounced “God”) as an exclamation or oath just like in the phrase “Oh my God!”, back in the time of the biblical patriarch Jacob, whose life spanned from 1836 – 1689 B.C. He was approximately 88 years old when his seventh son was born. Jacob’s wife Leah shouted it when she saw his seventh child born, as she was a follower of Gad. Jacob’s handmaiden, Zilpah, who gave birth to the child must have been a follower as well, because she proceeded to name the child Gad.
Jacob’s son, Gad, became the leader of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. His descendants, the Gaderenes, were later known as the Goths.
Note, the Gaderenes are mentioned in the Bible, in the story of the man from Gadera, who was possessed by demons and lived amongst tombs.
Wasn’t this one of the Lost Tribes of Israel?
The Tribe of Gad was never lost. Exiled from the area called Gadara near Israel in 700 BC by Assyria, they reestablished a new Gadara, or Gadir, in Spain in where is now known as Cadiz (Gadiz). YHSHA knew where they were, and it is recorded in the Bible in the Book of Luke. (Luke 8:26-39) This is the real site YHSHA sailed to, where the Gaderenes were, where the demon-possessed men were living in tombs, as the city is built on tombs, and where they are known for their Black Swine, all details key to the story in the Bible. Even today, the people in Cadiz do not call themselves Cadizians, but Gaditanos, and hold festivals where patrons dress up like the dead, which are the origins for “Carnivale” that are still practiced today.
Another group that is derived from these ancient Goths, of course, are the modern-day “Goths” which has been popularized recently as if just a fashion, but has in recent history had an undeniable death cult persona about it.
It is surprising to know that practices like these, that seem like they would be a new or modern invention are derived from such ancient sources. Due to these surprising details, it should be understood that these practices are not as innocent as some may have tried to lead you to believe.
With this and the facts that have been laid out, it is abundantly clear that “Gad” and “God” are the same entity.
But how did it get so widespread? I believe two pathways, one from the west and one from the east, contributed to the implementation of the name God in place of YHWH’s sacred Name.
The East: It is known that some of the Israelites took on practices and beliefs from their time in Babylonian captivity, despite the vehement warnings given to them from The Most High. They brought back a collection of writings that they call the “Oral Torah” or Babylonian Talmud (“teachings” in Akkadian), for which is the basis of Judaism today, and which replaced the written Torah (the first five books of the Bible) as the primary source of their beliefs. They even brought back a different language (Aramaic) and writing system/alphabet (square script), that replaced Paleo-Hebrew. It is almost as if there was an attempt to wipe out the ancient Hebrew language and beliefs by way of this replacement Talmudic religion. Oh, by the way, another term “talmudic” is “aggadic”.
As part of the Jews’ new beliefs, also came the introduction of the word “gadol” into their vernacular, which meant “great”, or “High” as in rank or status, or indicating profound knowledge. They used this term as a title for rabbinical priests and scholars, and is also a popular term used to mean something that is out of this world, superb, awesome, absurdly funny or hilarious. For example, upon hearing a funny joke one might interject “Gadol!”
But the biggest impact the Jews made to spread the use of the name “God” was to introduce the Ineffable Name Doctrine, which made the speaking of the Sacred Name of YHWH illegal and a sin, in an attempt to supposedly prevent it from being used in vain. So they replaced it’s use with other terms which included “Ha Shem” (literally means The Name), “Adonai” (“Master”), and Elohim (“The Most High”). But most of all, what the removal of the Sacred Name ultimately did was it gave a place to and created a vacuum for other terms to take the place of the Name of YHWH. Ironically history it seems has shown that this was what the Bible was referring to by taking the name in vain: being careless with its reverence, not remembering it in its rightful place.
Through The Catholic Church and Across The World
Looking at the west, when the early Catholic Church set out to convert pagans to Christianity, to ease the transition, they allowed The Goths to bring their pagan practices, including bringing the name of their deity into their practice of Christianity. In order to evangelize them, they made a version of the Bible in their Gothic language, and replaced nearly 7000 instances of “YHWH” and “Ilohim” with “God” and “Lord”. But the cult of Gad was so widespread that the Goth version of the Bible continued to be used until all Bibles had replaced the Name of YHWH with that of God. And from then on, the Bible was corrupted and the early Catholic Church corrupted the future of Christianity. Catholicism not only let in pagan corruptions to the Christian church, but they canonized them. And the vast reach that the Catholic Church had and still has on the Christian world today has caused the widespread adoption of the term “God” to be associated with The Most High One.
So from both sides, the Christian and the Hebrew, came corruptions that led the loss of the Most High’s Name.
But wait, we still haven’t determined how far back it goes.
Where Did “God” Come From?
We mentioned that Gad was a pan-Semitic deity, worshipped in the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is called the Cradle of Civilization because this is the place where the “city” as we know it was born: a place where a surge of unprecedented knowledge and advancement came about. The apocryphal text known as the Book of Enoch, considered the oldest extra-biblical writing that was included in the Bible canon through to the 1800s, says this surge of knowledge is due to the Fallen Angels having shared their knowledge with the people there, and as a result were worshipped as deities there. The oldest known city in Mesopotamia is Akkad, otherwise known as Agade. A-GAD-E.
So let’s think about this for a minute:
This would mean that the worship of God spans for at least 4000 years (even though technically half of that was accidental?) which makes it the longest running named cult known, and yet the average person does not know this. How could this be and what does it all mean?
Finally, what does the Bible say about what YHWH thought of those who worship Gad?
“But you who forsake YHWH, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Gad and fill cups of mixed wine for Meni (money?), I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.” (Isaiah 65:11-12)
“No man can serve two masters: for either he shall hate the one, and love the other, or else he shall lean to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve YHWH and Fortune” (Matt 6:24)
