Brother Michel Lankford
No He is not. People of the sinful world desperately want to believe and try to pretend that, because if that propaganda against God were true, it would invalidate YHWH Almighty God’s Authority. That’s why so many who hate God, try to push such an agenda.
If you read the Old Testament very carefully, the ENTIRE point is that YHWH Almighty God is HOLY; [Meaning to be SEPARATED OUT; UNIQUE; fully SET APART] from all other entities who pose as, and pretend to be ‘gods,’ but they are in fact demons and NOT ‘gods’ at all.
As it is Written:
“No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:20 NASB)
If you don’t understand that, you missed the entire point of the Old Testament. You missed the entire point of Covenant relationship with the Almighty Creator.
That is WHY the mixing together of pagan worship customs and practices, with the worshiping of YHWH Almighty is entirely FORBIDDEN, and so severely punished throughout the Old Testament; because in so doing, you are mixing the worship of demons with the worship of YHWH the Almighty Creator. To get an idea of just how terribly OFFENSIVE that behavior is, all you need to do is read and study Exodus 32:1–10. Just pay attention to how YHWH reacted when Israel attempted to use common Egyptian worship practices, and THEY called what they were doing a celebration of worship to YHWH. Was God honored and pleased with what they did?
As it is Written:
“These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord , the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 12:1-4 NASB)
“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; (Deuteronomy 12:8 NASB)
You see, it is not about what something means to us. It’s all about what something means to YHWH that matters.
As it is Written:
“Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God. “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it. (Deuteronomy 12:28-32 NASB; cf. Leviticus 18:1–5; Jeremiah 10:1–2).
If YHWH was merely an amalgamation of former gods that people worshiped, then there would not be repeated warnings against mixing the worship of YHWH with pagan practices throughout the Old Testament. The whole point is that YHWH is different.