They think that what they are doing is right, but they are deceived. How many pagan ideas have we let seep in? This is a prophet's job, a hallmark of a prophet of God. Thus, according to Sakkunyaton, Baal's natural father was Ouranos and Dagn became his foster-father, while El-Kronos effected the transfer. (the Middle Bronze Age). FREE ebook: Israel: An Archaeological Journey. What Is the Significance of Not the Letter but of the Spirit? ADD. 10:1113; 14:22). These people, who became known as the Samaritans, feared the Lord but worshipped their own gods. Ashtaroth is mentioned 12 times in the Old Testament. Thus the basis of the Baal cult was the utter dependence of life on the rains which were regarded as Baal's bounty. Ashtoreth is mentioned three times in scripture, in 1 Kings 11:5 & 33, 2 Kings 23:13. So the word Jezebel finally means one who is a good musician. The king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. The Semitic original of this name has been recognized in one of Baal's names in Ugaritic: (The name is to be connected with the root dmr, "be strong, brave," and is probably the same as that of Abraham's son Zimrn (damarn), the -n afformative being preserved in the genitive case of the Greek form Demarountos). Baal was simply the title (literally, Lord) of the pagan god Molech. 18For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. The Masoretic text has the 4 letters YHWH with a sheva under the Y, pronounced yuh, and a Qamats below the W, i.e. When Ashtoreth is mentioned in scripture, she is linked to Molech, (also called Milcom in the Bible). Child sacrifice was a fundamental aspect of Baal worship. For example, Christmas and Easter are traditions of men, but they are lies. In Judah the murder of the queen mother, *Athaliah , and of Mattan, priest of Baal, and the smashing of the altars and cult images in the Baal temple (II Kings 11:18) did not wipe out the cult (II Kings 12:34). He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh. (the Iron Age). . 2:13) and *Asherah (Judg. Baal's objection to the window somehow concerned his three daughters and the sea-god (Yamm), but the text is broken at this point. But God. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have . Observing Christmas and Easter in the name of Christ is no different. In Hebrew, it is rendered Yehoshua, and in Aramaic, Yeshua. Who were the Sidonians of the Iron Age (c. 1200586 B.C.E.)? What was the rationale behind this perverse, immoral act? The Laodicean evaluates himself, saying, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing" (Revelation 3:17). The name "Baal" shows up seven times in Hosea (2:8, 2:13, 2:16, 2:17 . Today, music performers entice young and old in the practice of the worship of Baal-Peor There is no doubt that prosperity is good, but unless one is properly focused and disciplined, it can also be a demanding master because of its power to distract one into idolatry. All 450 prophets of Baal do not escape the slaughter that takes place after that. Now another presentation that the Phoenicians who are also connected with the Canaanites had traded with the trading mariners of Kerala, India. He is the king of the east and governs an army of 66 legions of demons." Did you catch that? BAAL WORSHIP AND SEMITIC RACISM This term was used as a title and name of various local deities worshipped as guardians, heroes, and kings. In the El-Amarna letters the logogram for the weather-god is conventionally read Addu, but that it is sometimes to be read Baluis indicated by the addition of the phonetic complement-lu, as well as by the names like Mut dIm written syllabically as mu-ut-ba-a-lum. In the books of Kings and Chronicles, we can read the record of a given king who turned away from God and served the Baals, and the foolishness sounds quick and casual because we are reading a summary. Adad roughly equates with the later Phoenician storm god Baal, the worship of whom is championed by the nefarious queen Jezebel in the Bible. . Study the god Baal, Baal worship, and the presentation of Baal in the Bible. His overall conduct may not be too bad, but his poor self-analysis persuades him that he has no urgent need to seek God any further. Baal was the god of agriculture and fertility in Canaan, becoming a fallen angel and a demon. He was also king of the gods, and, to achieve that position, he was portrayed as seizing the divine kingship from Yamm, the sea god. Learn more about Biblical Sidon and Sidonian religion in Claude Doumet-Serhals article SidonCanaans Firstborn in the July/August 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Like ancient Israel, we can easily fall back into our former ways. Nevertheless, despite the biblical tendency to avoid the use of the word as a proper name, it is now quite clear that by pre-Israelite times the term had become the usual name of the weather-god of Syria-Palestine. The Sovereign Creator is not a God who allows His favor to be bought with crumbs. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, which depend on irrigation, the Promised Land drinks water from the rain of heaven (Deut. 28:2); Hezekiah attempted to eliminate it; Manasseh his son again gave it royal support (II Kings 21:3); and Josiah in his turn purged the Temple of YHWH of the utensils made for Baal and Asherah (II Kings 23:4). The god Baal was the heathen sun-god spoken of in the Old Testament. Burning incense, worship of the sun, moon, astrology, and ancestor worship are all earmarks of the Baal religion. And Asherah and Baal led the way together (Judges 3:7, 1 Kings 18:19, 2 Kings 23:4). Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Their reverence for Him was mere intellectual accommodation intended to appease Him. The actual worship of Ba'al was carried out in terms of imitative magic whereby sexual acts by both male and female temple prostitutes were understood to arouse Ba'al who then brought rain to make Mother Earth fertile (in some forms of the myth, represented by a female consort, Asherah or Astarte). Elijah's work was to reveal the true God to Israel in a time of growing national crisis. The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). THIS IS A PROFILE OF PRACTICES, DOCTRINES, AND SYMBOLS OF BAAL WORSHIP . "Whatever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Further, they "followed idols, became idolaters, and . Baal transformed into Zeus, who transformed into Jupiter, etc. Who Was Baal? Because of their self-absorption, God's "sudden" punishment will stun the people of the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and the other nations of modern Israel, including some members of the true church. Baal was a god of prosperity, god of harvest, sex and fertility. Second was passing their babies through the fire. What do we know about the religion surrounding this Canaanite deity, and how did it affect those in the Old Testament? 27:1). When a person is freezing to death, he feels a pleasant numbness that he does not want to end. In Canaanite religion her primary role was that of mother goddess. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Before we explore what Scripture says about Baal, lets establish a brief depiction of the Canaanite deity. Some scholars believe that the Canaanites also sacrificed pigs and that God prohibited his people from eating pork in part to prevent this horrible cult from being established among them. When Elijah preached his message, it put the people in a bind because they knew their conscience was telling them that they had to commit themselves to God or to Baal. From Easton's Bible Dictionary:Baal-peor: lord of the opening, a god of the Moabites (Numbers 25:3; 31:16; Joshua 22:17), worshipped by obscene rites. Nyberg had restored it in Deuteronomy 33:12; I Samuel 2:10; II Samuel 23:1; Isaiah 59:18, 63:7; and Hosea 7:16. They believed in a Creator God, but they worshipped Him at the shrines they erected to the Baals. He takes something loathsome and vile, something that is a direct affront to almighty God, a pagan idol, and turns it into a cute little children's fairy tale, so that you can buy the book, see the movies, get the cuddly toy, and bingo! Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered!only to go on doing all these abominations? A complex religion with traditions and gods from all over the ancient Middle East, Baal worship offered something for everyone. In the parallel Ugaritic list, which is unfortunately very fragmentary, the "Weather-god, Lord of Mount azi" apparently corresponds to Baal apn, while those following are termed simply Baalim (blm). Dated to c. 1750 B.C.E., the handle pictures the storm god as a leonine dragon. One such deity who gripped Israel for a period of time was Baal. As a result of their sin, the men of Israel were judged by God. In their spiritually unaware state, they will be incredulous at God's punishment for "such a little bit of sin." Well dive more into this in the historicity of Baal in a few sections. There was tremendous evil to overcome. The Spread of Baalism. He then merely floats, going through the motions, even feeling good about himself as he neglects so great salvation (Hebrews 2:3). Most of the information they gave turned out to be wrong, to be lies. Given Sidons position on the coast, it is not surprising that the storm god is Sidons most important god. Join the BAS Library today. (II Kings 17:35-38). Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Scott Broberg Fig Tree Ministries. 4:12; Hos. Prophets and Prophecy (Part 1). The Semitic word "baal" (meaning '"Lord") was also used to refer to various deities of the Levant. Hope Bolingeris an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, and the author 21+ books. ; Job 3:8, 7:12, 9:13, 26:1213, 38:811, 40:25). Jehu's massacre of the Baal worshipers (II Kings 10:1828) did not eradicate bull worship (II Kings 10:31). Isaiah 14:13 alludes to this divine abode as "the Mount of Assembly in the recesses of afon" (har moed be-yarkete afon), the latter phrase being the equivalent of Ugaritic mrym pn or rrt pn, the height or fastness of apn. Theoretically, the Israelites did not believe in idols, but in reality, they did. For one to keep on coming to services and leaving, like a theatergoer, without his options, opinions, or decisions resolved but deferred, is an erosion of character. Can we stop with the Yahweh pronunciation once and for all? Baal rejoiced and celebrated with a banquet. This is typical Israeliltish syncretism, but it will not work. He sends someone long before the real crisis reaches its peak, while it is building. Asherah, another popular deity in Canaan, was the goddess of motherhood and fertility . "They built for themselves high places in all their cities . But not all years are good, and in a bad year, or a series of bad years, when the rains fail, the skies become like iron, the land like brass, and man's toil is futile for the earth will not yield its increase (Lev. (The Book of Amos) (Part Two), Searching for Israel (Part Six): Israel Is Fallen, Is Fallen, He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true. While they gave lip service to the Creator, they adopted most of the Canaanitish religion with its lewd immorality, and in actual practice, patterned their life after it. For instance, Amos 2:7 describes a deliberate act of ritual prostitution in a pagan temple: "A man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile My holy name." Commentaries are at odds over what the Hebrew word translated divided means. Baal remains silent during the exchange, whereas God showers a sopping-wet altar with fire. 4. The word is used as the name of a town in ancient Israel in Deuteronomy 1:4, Joshua . Most often, it condemns Baal worship. Why Did Pharaoh Tell Joseph to Enjoy the 'Fat of the Land'? 22:816). God's difference from us is that He is holy; He is moral and we are immoral. With Baal's functions accredited to YHWH, it was natural and fitting that some of Baal's titles would also be taken over. Your email address will not be published. 25:111; Ps. He views them as personally rejecting Him and His Word. In correlating the sequence of events, Baal's victory over the sea-god, Yamm, is probably to be placed near the beginning of the action, since it was presumably this exploit which gained him the dominant position among the gods, just as *Marduk achieved preeminence by defeating the sea-monster Tiamat. 14:13). That made God so angry that a plague spread through their ranks; Phinehas stood up and pled their case and the . One idea is that he means, "How long are you going to hop from branch to branch? They believed by their actions they could control and manipulate the Gods. Archaeologists at Sidon have uncovered a 12th11th-century B.C.E. 13:2) such as Baal himself performed in the Ugaritic myth are depicted in the prophetic tirades. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, And ate the sacrifices of the dead. . (verse 8). The prophet Haggai attributed the drought and scarcity in his day to the failure to rebuild the Temple (Hag. However, God shows there is a possible harmful, secondary effect: As people become financially secure, their attention is diverted from His purpose to vain and unimportant things. Molech was an ancient god worshiped by the people neighboring Israel during Old Testament times. Groves and high places were places of worship erected to Canaanite gods and goddesses. Isa. This is the crux of our salvation through Jesus Christ. In their ignorance, the people do not realize the terrible calamity that is coming soon upon modern Israel. They become "settled on their lees," as it says in Zephaniah 1:12. Elijah says disturbing things. 19Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. That there were minor Baalim also at Ugarit is indicated by a god list in Akkadian (see Ugaritica, 5, p. 44 ll. Because Baal was neither alive nor a moral force, his worshippers felt they could communicate with him only by ritual actions that portrayed what they were asking him to do. 33:7) has been made the basis of intriguing speculation by Eissfeldt. Anyway she changed her mind and sent his son to Libya etc He was overseeing a tevilah (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_washing_in_Judaism#Full-body_immersion_.28Tvilah.29) in a mikveh (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh). An example of Israel going after Baal leads to their loss of direction and, ultimately, scattering at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Dated to c. 1750 B.C.E. . Usually the storm god is illustrated as a striding human figure, but sometimes he is represented by one of his symbols, such as the bull or leonine dragon. Baal worship spread rapidly when the king of Israel, Ahab, married Jezebel, the princess of Tyre (1 Kings 16:31-32). Before descending to the realm of death, Baal copulates with a heifer and begets a male offspring. YHWH's victory over the waters is connected either with the rescue of Israel at the Exodus (Ps. Knowledge of Baals personality and functions derives chiefly from a number of tablets uncovered from 1929 onward at Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), in northern Syria, and dating to the middle of the 2nd millennium bce. 26:1920). Isaiah 29:13 clarifies what God means: "Therefore the LORD said: 'Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.'" The basis of all immorality is selfishness, the exact opposite of what God is. (Iron Age) temple. Since their rejection of the house of David under Jeroboam I, the Israelites had practiced a syncretistic religion (Amos 5:21-26; 8:14; I Kings 12:25-33). Baal Peor, or the Baal of Peor, was a local deity worshiped by the Moabites. Consequently, during this tumultuous time, most Jews kept their faith and identity outwardly but bowed to Baal when necessary to appease Jezebel as well as mainstream culture. No one answered; no one paid attention" (v. 29 ESV). The Septuagint (LXX) referred to the latter as a stranger [in the land]. Human-Ram Deity from Sidon. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.

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