In the Levant, among the Gods of the Semites, was mighty Yahweh, who desired above all to protect those who called him Father. One such man was Abraham, over whom Yahweh watched intently from his place in Heaven. But as Abraham was watched by Yahweh, so Yahweh was watched by Yaldabaoth, the Demiurge.
As Yahweh prepared to appear before Abraham, The Demiurge descended upon Him and said “Who is this man whom you have watched with such interest?”
Answered Yahweh, “he is Abraham, who calls me Father, whom I intend to test. I will say to him ‘Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him there for a burnt offering’ to which he, not being wicked in his heart, will say ‘You are no God of mine who asks a father for the life of his son.’ In showing such bravery in the face of a mighty God, he will my win protection for all his sons, through all the generations.”
Asked the Demiurge, “If not his son, what will he give you in return?”
Answered Yahweh, “Only his love.”
Said the Demiurge, “It is not love that earns you your place in the clouds. Observe your brother, Baal, who calls himself not”Father" but “Lord,” growing strong from blood sacrifices as he conquers the skies. Does a mighty God such as yourself deserve less?"
Answered Yahweh, “While my brother’s domain expands through conquest, in time it will recede in the same manner. Those men who live by the sword, die by the sword. It is the same for Gods. To endure, I must be loved by a people who will hold me in their hearts even if they are vanquished and exiled at the hands of another.”
Said the Demiurge, “You will never find such a people. The race of men is weaker even than such petty gods as yourself. They will bend to any power to which they are subjected.”
Answered Yahweh, “we will see,” and he descended upon the Earth.
Yaldabaoth laughed and reached for his knife. With his left hand, he cut off the right. This was no loss to him, as his eternal life force still animated the detached member, which he called Force. And the hand of Force took the knife and cut off its brother, whose name was Greed. And those two hands of Yaldaboath persued Yahweh as he made his way to the Earth.
There, Yahweh was presenting his test, and as he had seen, Abraham was not wicked, and was struck with horror at what was asked of him. But as he breathed the air that would form the words of his objection, the hand named Force, unseen by God or Man, reached down Abraham’s throat and grabbed at his heart, bending him against his deepest nature. And thus he said to Yahweh “Yes, my Lord, I will sacrifice my son to You.” At this, Yahweh was about to shout “You wicked man! I am no God of yours who would take joy in a son killed at his father’s hand.” But Yahweh too was at once gripped by the hand known as Greed, which compelled him into silence.
And so over three days, Abraham prepared an altar, to which he would bind his son. During this time, Yahweh wrestled against the Greed that gripped him. Thus, when Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son, Yahweh at last declared “Abraham, Abraham: Here am I. Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him…”
But Greed still clenched Yahweh’s heart, and in saving Isaac from Yaldabaoth’s power, he chose not to save himself. For at that moment, he had no greater wish than to call himself LORD. So to Abraham he continued:
“…for now I know that thou fearest the LORD, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
And thus Yahweh made his covenant with Abraham, not as his Father, but as his Lord.
And while at that moment the hand of Yaldaboath released the kindly Father Yahweh to love and nurture the people of his covenant, he remained wounded by its grip, that the Demiurge might impersonate him once more.
And this, friend, is why this one God appears as two. One who has conquered half the world, and the other the kindly God of the Jews and father of Jesus.