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Yahweh Essay

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Throughout the OT, God showed immense grace in everything He did: electing His people, initiating a covenant, and establishing divine kingship, as well as sustaining all three. Grace played a significant part in the Israelite history, and we begin our short study of the topic with three important Hebrew words used for different “grace” contexts. Hānan is the root word, meaning “to be gracious.” From this verb stems the word hēn, used a total of sixty-nine times in the OT. This type of grace shows favor, or positive disposition toward someone; it often is used in the connotation of “in the eyes/sight of.” Hēn is purely underserved, cannot be requested or coerced, is given freely, and can be withheld; with God, it deepens into the action of forgiveness after one’s repentance. Hesed is the most prominent of the three, found 245 times as a characteristic of Yahweh (Kselman 1085). It is grace embodied in …show more content…

Though there is apparent grace throughout the OT story, the events are also saturated by laws of sacrifice and holiness. The answer to this debate lies in understanding the background behind the deities of the ANE. In the nations surrounding Israel, the deities were beings with whom it was not easy to communicate or understand. These gods were unpredictable, and righteousness was mainly a way to try to win the gods’ favor and avoid their wrath. God, however, creates a different train of thought by providing the Law of Moses. Through this Law, Israel need no speculate about what is to be done in order to be blessed or cursed. Instead, the Torah allows those within the covenant relationship to know how to live within the covenant. The consequences and rewards of actions performed while held in the covenant are clear and straightforward. Thus the giving of the law was in of itself an act of God’s grace. There is no conflict between the two (Hill and Walton

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