God is a scrapper

Nahum 1:14
King of Assyria, the Lord gave this command about you: “You will not have any descendants to wear your name. I will destroy your carved idols and metal statues that are in the temple of your gods. I am preparing your grave, because your end is coming soon!”

"The Bible describes YHWH as glowing (kabod), and YHWH’s heat as melting mountains, imagery connected with volcano gods, the divine patrons of metalworkers such as the Kenites, who lived in the Negev region. Indeed, the description of Israel’s encounter with YHWH at Sinai portrays a volcanic eruption, with smoke “as if from a furnace” (Exodus 19:18)."

1. Geographical origin: The mention of YHWH as coming from the south (Hab 3:3) and, more specifically, from the mountains of Seir (Judg 5:4; Deut 33:2), Paran (Deut 33:2; Hab 3:3), and Sinai (Deut 3:3; Judg 5:5) links the origin of his worship with areas where copper was produced between the fourth and the first millennia BCE. Zechariah confirms the metallurgical nature of the regions of YHWH’s origin by describing YHWH as dwelling in “mountains of copper” (Zech 6:1–5). It is also reflected by the mention of the country given by YHWH to the Israelites as “a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper” (Deut 8:9). Considering the absence of iron and copper ores in the territory of the tribes of Israel, this description reflects, primarily, a theological attempt to transform the Promised Land into a giant metallurgical area in order to authorize YHWH's presence among the Israelites. YHWH’s essential relation with mining and metallurgy is confirmed in Isaiah 45:1, where the deity intends to disclose his identity to Cyrus by revealing to him the site of mineral treasures.

2. Celestial furnace: Ezekiel's opening vision (Ezekiel 1) describes the existence, in the firmament, of a celestial throne amid an intense bright fire (v. 4) with burning coals (vv. 13–14). The metallurgical nature of this celestial fire is suggested by the radiant material positioned among the coals and defined by the prophet as ḥašmal (v. 4). This term is sometimes construed as amber but can hardly be understood as such here because this resin does not radiate any light once brought to high temperature. The other designation of ḥašmal, as a yellow metallic alloy, is more appropriate. And if this ḥašmal is positioned amid glowing coals, we may deduce that it denotes the radiance that emanates from molten metal.[5] Combined with the vision of an intense blast of wind produced by the wings of the surrounding “animals” (Ezek 1:13, 24), this account transforms the celestial universe into a giant furnace. This conclusion is not so surprising because the sun was approached in ancient Near East as a giant disc of molten metal that radiates light and heat. The celestial furnace in Ezekiel 1 is probably a representation of the divine reality that lies at the source of this solar activity.

3. Volcanic theophany: The Bible views volcanism as an unavoidable consequence of the divine presence on the earth. The psalmist expresses this clearly when uttering: “Bow your heavens, YHWH, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!” (Ps 144:5).[6] Overwhelming volcanic activity is also expected on “the day of YHWH” expected to come, not only to punish and destroy sinners but also to reveal YHWH before the eyes of the nations (e.g., Ps 97:5–6; Isa 44:4–5). It is not surprising, therefore, that the theophany of YHWH at Sinai is envisioned as a volcanic event both of its renderings, in Ex 19: 16–19 and in Deut 4:11–12.[7] This volcanic dimension has puzzled generations of scholars because Sinai has shown no volcanic activity for millions of years. For this reason, volcanism is generally interpreted as being introduced for literary purposes only, in order to set this unique event within an impressive decor. Alternately, scholars have suggested displacing the Sinai volcanic event to one of the volcanic fields of the Arabian Peninsula. But a simpler solution exists: in antiquity, metallurgy was the only activity that could cause stone to melt. For this reason, volcanism was approached as a specific marker of the presence and/or activity of the god who patronized the metallurgical act. The homonymy between Vulcan, the Roman god of metallurgy, and volcano attests to this, as does Hephaestus’ residence in Mount Etna as Greek mythology attests. Exactly as in the representation of the Promised Land as a gigantic mining area, the volcanic theophany at Sinai reflects a theological purpose: a way to ensure and demonstrate that it is YHWH himself, and not any of his emissaries, who have concluded a covenant with the Israelites.[8]

4. Kabod-YHWH: Kabod-YHWH, a term generally translated as the glory of YHWH, is intimately associated with intense light, heat, and radiance. Devoid of all shape, it is assimilated as an all-consuming heavy fiery liquid. The account of kabod-YHWH being visible at the top of Mount Sinai, which is identified as a volcano (Ex 24:16–17), invites us to conflate it with molten lava and, by extension, with molten slag and metal generated in a furnace.[9]

5. Furnace re-melting: In the Bible, qnʾ (קנא) is mentioned as an essential attribute of YHWH (Ex 34:14), one that is even equated with his entire holiness (Jos 24:19). The denotation of this word as jealousy, in a human context, implies that jealousy is one of YHWH’s most critical qualities. In the divine context, however, qnʾ expresses a mode of action that induces not only total destruction by fire but also the subsequent emergence of an improved reality. This duality, together with the metallurgical connotations of the root qnʾ, including that of rust, suggests that this term associates YHWH with the process of recycling metal by furnace re-melting, a process in which the raw metal is entirely rejuvenated without any loss of matter.[10] This mode of rejuvenation, attained through the fiery destruction of shape as is typically associated with copper metallurgy, reveals how metallurgy conditions not only YHWY’s essential properties but also his modus operandi.

These observations, once brought together, reveal the existence of a metallurgical background in the Israelite theology. This background not only conditions the founding event of this theology but also illuminates the divine modus operandi, influenced several elements of Israelite legislation and worship, and even shaped eschatological developments.

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