Whence Gnosticism?

Why did Some Early Jews/Christians Turn Away from YHWH?

See: No Longer Jews

The Original Lie

Genesis 2 – Adam and the Forbidden Fruit

2:7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.
2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east;
and there he put the man whom he had formed.
2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight and good for food,
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . . .
2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

"You shall surely die" in 2:17, literally "to die you will die,"
is a Hebrew idiom that is very difficult to translate into English.
But what is certain is that it means that Adam will definitely die,
he will be dead, he will die by death, he will be completely, totally dead!
This is not a metaphor; this is not a spiritual death; this is real, final death.

Genesis 3 – Adam, Eve, and the Serpent

3:1  Now the serpent was more subtle (crafty, cunning)
than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, "Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?"
3:2 And the woman said to the serpent,
"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3:3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"
3:4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
3:5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

So God said that Adam would "surely die"
"on the day" that he ate of the forbidden fruit.
And the serpent said "You will not surely die
but you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

According to Genesis 5:5:
"Adam lived 930 years, and then he died."

So Who Told the Truth? The Lord God or The Serpent?

God seems to have been primarily concerned
that Adam and Eve NOT receive Knowledge, or Gnosis.
This was the first step from belief in YHWH as a benevolent God,
the creator of a good cosmos that was spoiled by Adam's transgression,
to the Gnostic concept of the evil Creator, or Demiurge, Ialdabaoth,
who created an inherently evil cosmos in which humans are trapped.
Gnostic salvation is enlightenment, or knowledge (Gnosis), of these facts.
According to this interpretation, the Creation Story is a polemic against Gnosis.
Why is knowledge the forbidden fruit?
Why is the serpent a cunning, crafty, smart animal?
Why is Eve punished for seeking to become wise?
Why are Adam and Eve both punished for acquiring knowledge?

More Broken Promises

Several of the covenants that God made are called "everlasting."

are all called everlasting.

Gen. 17:7-8 - The Covenant of the Land of Israel (see The Conquest of Canaan)

7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."  
But look what happened in 70 AD

Gen. 17:9-14 - The Covenant of Circumcision

9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
But what about Paul Galatians 2 - Philippians 3 - Acts 15 - Paul vs. the Apostles

Gen. 17:19-21 - The Covenant with Abraham's Descendents

19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
So why the Arab-Israeli Conflict?

Psalm 89:1-4 (Entire Psalm) - The Covenant with David

1 I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 3 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 4 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.' " 21 My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him.
70 AD

89:22-37 - David is God's "Son"

22 No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will oppress him. 23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries. 24 My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted. 25 I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers. 26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' 27 I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. 28 I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. 29 I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. 30 "If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, 31 if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, 32 I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; 33 but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. 34 I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. 35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness— and I will not lie to David- 36 that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; 37 it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." Selah

89:38-52 - God Renounces His Covenant with David

38 But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. 39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. 40 You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins. 41 All who pass by have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice. 43 You have turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle. 44 You have put an end to his splendor and cast his throne to the ground. 45 You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame. Selah 46 How long, O LORD ? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all men! 48 What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave ? Selah

49 O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? 50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations, 51 the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O LORD, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.

Psalm 105:8-11 (Entire Psalm)

8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. 10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: 11 "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit."

Exod. 31:16 - Covenant of the Sabbath Day

16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested. 
Revelation 1:10 - The Lord's Day?

Num. 18:19 - The Covenant of Salt

19 Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for both you and your offspring."

2 Chron. 13:4-5

4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, "Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! 5 Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

2 Sam. 23:5 from the Last Words of David - Messianic Covenant?

5 "Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part?

 Josiah the Messiah?

Ezekiel 37:21-28 - Return from Exile

And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Jeremiah 24: 3-7; 32: 36-41 - Israel the Good Figs

3 Then the LORD asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" "Figs," I answered. "The good ones are very good, but the poor ones are so bad they cannot be eaten."  4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

32:36 . . . this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

Jesus of Nazareth Abrogates the Covenant of YHWH

Mark 11:12-20 - Jesus Curses the Figs

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

12The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: " 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" 18The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

The Fig Tree is Withered

19 When evening came, they went out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

Mark 13:28-31 Jesus (mis)Predicts the End

13:28 "From the fig tree [cf. Mark 11:13, 20] learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 13:29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 13:30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Mark 13:28-31 in Synoptic Perspective

Paul Replaces the Abrahamic Circumcision Covenant with Faith

In 70 CE, The Romans Bring the Curtain Down - Another