The earliest ancestor’s of Israel worshipped a god named El (Gen 16:13, 17:1, 21:33, 31:13, 35:7, 11, 43:14, 58:3), El-Elohe-Israel (Gen 33:20), as well as the peace-loving god of vegetation in the Syro-Palestinian pantheon, Baal, and Asherah. The prevalence of their worship is evidenced by the numerous times such altars must be removed. Their altars existed alongside those of YHWH as evidenced by Gideon’s father, Joash, who had altars to Baal and Asherah (Judges 6:25). The fact that Gideon had to destroy his father’s “pagan” altars at night, and was almost executed for his act, further indicates the widespread acceptance of Baal and Asherah. YHWH was once viewed as a member of a pantheon ruled over by El. Deut 32:8-9 When the most High (El) divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9. For the LORD’s (YHWH’s) portion is his people: Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
YHWH seems to have achieved supremacy as Israel’s national god due his military prowess (“YHWH of the Armies”), while in times of peace, Baal would ensure fertility. YHWH, the national god of war for both Israel and Judah, seems to have originated in Edom and Midian in southern Canaan and may have been brought to Israel by the Kenites and Midianites. Worship of YHWH can be traced back to the time of Moses (Ex 6:3) and seems to be associated with the south of Palestine, for Moses first encounters him in Midian (Ex 18). Further Jael, a Kenite (southern) heroine in YHWH’s wars, is cited in Judg 5:24-30, and Deut 33:2 And he said, The LORD (YHWH) came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them. With the emergence of the monarchy, the kings promoted their family god, YHWH, as the god of the kingdom, but beyond the royal court, religion continued to be polytheistic. The major deities were not numerous - El, Asherah (spouse of El?), YHWH, and Baal. At an early stage El and YHWH became fused and Asherah worship ceased as a separate state cult, although she continued to be popular at the local level until Persian times. ~~~~~~~