They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree; and there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations had done whom the LORD had carried away before them." "like a bird in a tree. (the Middle Bronze Age), this impressed handle depicts a ship and a leonine dragon, which is the symbol of the Mesopotamian storm god Adad. The continued worship of Baal was given as one of the causes for the destruction of Judah (Jer. BAAL-WORSHIP AMONG THE GENTILES.The evidence is hardly of such weight as to justify us in speaking of a worship of Baal. Besides the names Baal and Haddu, the Ugaritic texts furnish a variety of other titles, such as "Mighty Baal" (aliyn bl) and "Prince, Lord of Earth" (zbl bl ars). Elijah's work was to reveal the true God to Israel in a time of growing national crisis. For Constantine, the acceptance of Christianity was done solely TO UNIFY TERRITORY, RELIGIONS, AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. Jesus says, "They are blind leaders of the blind. How Is Harry Potter a Literary Christ Figure? The Bible speaks of the destruction of Baal's temples and the idols associated with him. Most of them were just saving themselves and making themselves comfortable in their situation. These Israelites were lethargic in terms of true, spiritual matters. Who were the Sidonians, and what do we know about their religion? Gen. 41; II Sam. The worship of Baal penetrated Jewish religious life during the period of the Judges (Judges 3:7), became common in Israel during the rule of Ahab (1 Kings 16:31-33), and also influenced Judah (2 Chronicles 28:1-2). Paul, in: Biblica, 49 (1968), 3436; U. Oldenburg, The Conflict Between El and Bal in Canaanite Religion (1969). Baal Worship Baal-Berith Berbers Bet (Ha)-Midrash Bet Din Bethar Bibliophiles Bloodletting Chronicles of Kings of Israel Episcopus Judaeorum Essenes Exile Fable Flood Forced Baptism Garden of Eden Glass Golden Calf Goliath Great Revolt Great Synagogue Hannah and her Seven Sons Hasmoneans/Maccabees Hebrew Printing Hekdesh Herod Herodian Dynasty Thus, IF one is to pronounce the Tetragrammaton according to the masoretic vowel-markings, then it should probably be pronounced something like yuh-WAH or yuh-HWAH. 27:1). This corrupt blending of a holy God with a pagan goddess became part of everyday religious practice, which is why evil king Manasseh put an Asherah pole . When the rain failed, it was inevitable that some would question YHWH's power and resort to Baal. 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. 4. All Rights Reserved. In Canaan, however, when the solar theology had absorbed the older beliefs, Baal, passing into a sun-god and the goddess who stood at his side becoming a representative of the moon--the pale reflection, as it were, of the sun- -Ashtoreth came to be regarded as the consort of Baal and took the place of the solar goddesses of Babylonia. But God. Thus the basis of the Baal cult was the utter dependence of life on the rains which were regarded as Baal's bounty. They were not committed to the side that they were supposed to be on. The Sidonians were the inhabitants of ancient Sidon, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea in modern Lebanon. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have . Virtually all reference to Baal's consort, the violent "Virgin Anath" with whom Baal copulates by the thousand in one of the Ugaritic mythological fragments has been excluded from the Bible, but the goddesses Ashtart (Judg. Assyria, a kingdom known as much for its innovative weapons as for their brutal implementation, conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 718 BC. Baal worship is something I associated only with Old Testament Bible days. Today Jezebel has built Baal altars in the name of 'church' and led many to Baal worship. When Ashtoreth is mentioned in scripture, she is linked to Molech, (also called Milcom in the Bible). Those familiar with the Biblical text will recall that Sidon was an influential, wealthy Phoenician city when the kings of Israel and Judah ruled during the Iron Age. Required fields are marked *. In addition to Baal still influencing religions and pagan practices today, we must take note of what happened to the Israelites and vigilantly watch our churches. . The Macedonian Cleopatra planned to send her son to India through the Red Sea. In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baals epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. 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). JezaBel can be respelLt as JezaVel ~ JezaVAl ~ IezaVAL ~ Isaval-lavi ~ an expert in music. ed., 1965); H.B. Let's exemplify Baal doctrines as preached . Baal was the god of rain, wind, and fertility. 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. Who were the Sidonians of the Iron Age (c. 1200586 B.C.E.)? Despite having the power and support of the king of Israel and his . Rejection of God's Law. 114) or with eschatological victory (Isa. In Phoenician he was called Baal Shamen, Lord of the Heavens. Elijah was sent by God, and he was fulfilling the responsibility of a prophet, to prod the people to whom he was sent to their responsibilities. After a sortie against the sea-god, Baal returned to his house and ordered Koshar to install a window; Koshar laughed, reminded Baal of the debate, and complied. Since the root tr in Arabic is connected with artificial irrigation, it is apparent that Ashtar's failure to measure up to Baal represents the inadequacy of irrigation as a substitute for natural rainfall. "They built for themselves high places in all their cities . Despite Gods efforts to dissuade them, the Israelites engaged with the Canaanite culture a little too much and adopted their practices, including Baal worship. He was the god that provided - food - for the people. Yet such fluidity in the use of the term baal did not prevent it from being attached to a god of distinct character. Sidon was well connected by trade by the traders of the Pandya kingdom of Tamil Nadu. Elijah is quite instructive here. A biblical pharaoh's border monument. Recall God's wrath when Aaron made a golden calf at the urging of the Israelites in the wilderness and proclaimed a feast to the Lord (Exodus 32:1-5). 29:35, 32:26; Nah. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Some suppose Baal to correspond to the sun and Ashtoreth to the moon; others that Baal was Jupiter and Ashtoreth Venus. The Jordan River (Nahar ha-Yarden) qualified as a mikveh as its flowing living waters originated from a natural spring (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_River). Anyway she changed her mind and sent his son to Libya etc This connects with the curse of Laodiceanism because God shows in the Laodiceans what can happen spiritually as people increase materially. A general understanding about the bamah and . 57 Bull Baal. Right now, though, we are witnessing a steady defection from the basic principles of the Bible, away from what we call the Judeo-Christian ethic. Who Was Baal? . In Psalms 48:23, Mount Zion is equated with "the recesses of afon" (the phrase quoted above from Isa. For instance, Hezekiahs son rebuilds the shrines of Baal and the Canaanite goddess Asherah that Hezekiah had torn down: He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. Today, music performers entice young and old in the practice of the worship of Baal-Peor Thus in any year anxiety about the rainfall would be a continuing concern of the inhabitants which would suffice to give rise to rites to ensure the coming of the rains. In artistic depictions and archeological finds, Baal took the shape of a bull or ram and had associations with fertility. The Hebrew scriptures speak frequently of the Baal of a given place or refers to Baalim in the plural, suggesting the evidence of local deities, or lords, of various locales. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them (2 Kings 21:3). Baal rejoiced and celebrated with a banquet. Now another presentation that the Phoenicians who are also connected with the Canaanites had traded with the trading mariners of Kerala, India. Paul, then, is letting the church know that it need not be concerned about missing the end time. In other words, God is saying that He was driven to defeat and scatter Israel because they were guilty of exactly the same sin as the Samaritans! Notice the dramatic change of attitude in the people. The Semitic word "baal" (meaning '"Lord") was also used to refer to various deities of the Levant. She gives life to 70 other gods in the Canaanite pantheon. If you will not be committed to Him, you are going to die.". This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Looking at these two definitions we can say . First was sexual orgies "under every green tree," where promiscuity and perverted sex acts were the norm. 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). The only trouble is that people like to feel comfortable in moral mediocrity. If the rains failed and drought and death came upon the land and people, it was not because Mot had mangled Baal and made the glowing sun-goddess destructive; it was rather YHWH's way of meting out merited punishment to a faithless and sinful people (Deut. He sends someone long before the real crisis reaches its peak, while it is building. Once Elijah began preaching, their conscience pricked them, and it encouraged them to worship the true God. Thus, according to Sakkunyaton, Baal's natural father was Ouranos and Dagn became his foster-father, while El-Kronos effected the transfer. Indeed, religion flourished, as Amos, Hosea's contemporary, clearly reports (see Amos 5:21-27). Elijah was dealing with the same thing here, albeit spiritually. *Romans 1:25 "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and WORSHIPPED AND SERVED THE CREATURE MORE THAN THE CREATOR". A frequent epithet is "Cloud Rider" (rkb rpt) which has an almost identical parallel in Psalms 68:5. a little T-shaped mark that stands for the long-A vowel (like a in father). He awakens them to their spiritual and moral responsibilities. Through the window, a cleft in the clouds, Baal gave forth his holy voice which convulsed the earth and sent his enemies scurrying to the hills and woods. The Devil is behind a. The god of arts and crafts, Kothar, then proceeded to build for Baal the most beautiful of palaces which spread over an area of 10,000 acres. His opinion of his holiness as compared with God's judgment is so far off base, it causes Jesus Christ to regurgitate him from His body. As such, Baal designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? Isai is music in Tamil and Vallavi means an expert. Moffatt renders this, "They worshipped the Eternal, and they also served their own gods.". 106 a ). In Psalms 89:13 afon and yamin, in parellelism with Tabor and Hermon, hardly designate the directions north and south; yamin is almost certainly a corruption of Amana, the southern portion of the Taurus mountains, the alteration of amanah to yamin being occasioned by the misunderstanding of afon as the direction rather than the name of the holy mountain. Baal, god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon. Child sacrifice was a fundamental aspect of Baal worship. Asherah, another popular deity in Canaan, was the goddess of motherhood and fertility . Discovered in a farmer's field in northeastern Egypt, this inscribed monument bears the name of one of the few pharaohs actually named in the Old . In Hosea 10:2, God charges Israel with having a divided heart. According to the Bible, centers of worship for Canaanite gods such as Molech and the Baal's were set up in Judah and Israel by apostate kings. Baal worship is and has always been pagan; today it is replacing the laws and beliefs based upon Judaeo-Christian roots, which honours the GOD of the Bible, His laws and His ways. 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. A major question about II Thessalonians 2 is the scope of the described events. What Is Coptic and Who Were the Copts in Ancient Egypt? Christ's purpose is to cure, not merely to comfort, so pain will be often involved when dealing with a prophet. The first mention of Molech is in Leviticus 18:21 in which the . This describes to a T what Israel did then and their descendants are continuing to do today. 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. The Largest Baal Worship Service on the Planet is in America August 27, 2017 by Andy Roman "They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." Daniel 5:4. II Kings 17:7-17 catalogs the sins of Israel: Widespread idolatry. However, it was not the religion God gave through Moses, but idolatry that flourished! Paul is not writing about apostasy in a small group of people that will give rise to an international personality, but an event on the world scene that creates the right environment to catapult this figure, backed by the power of Satan, to the heights of power. The basis of all immorality is selfishness, the exact opposite of what God is. The myths also tell of Baals struggle to obtain a palace comparable in grandeur to those of other gods. The Israelites rejected the law of God and relied on the traditions of Gentile nations. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, And ate the sacrifices of the dead. 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. Charles Whitaker (From Forerunner Commentary). Baal, of course, could not talk to them, but if he could, he would probably have said basically the same thing, so the people were in a very uncomfortable situation. In short, Scripture has nothing positive to say about Baal. Dated to c. 1750 B.C.E., the handle pictures the storm god as a leonine dragon. This is exactly what God warns us to flee, and the only way to come out of it is by developing and maturing in our relationship with God. A large part of this world's appeal is its offer of financial security. Check out her books at hopebolinger.comfor clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. To accommodate Baal ideology to Yahwism required some radical transformations. 410; reconstructed text) which after the great "Weather-god, Lord of Mount azi" presents six other "weather-gods," numbered two through seven. They simply evolve. One interpretation is that it is a localized occurrence, in the sense of it happening just within the little flockthe church. 55:613; Jer. Jer 32:29. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. l /), or Baal (Hebrew: baal), was a title and honorific meaning 'owner', 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity.From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. (Jeremiah 7:8-10). The Israelites "caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger" (verse 17). Baal was a fertility and earth god of the ancient cultures and was later exported to Egypt where he was worshipped as the storm god. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. 18 Then Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. In their ignorance, the people do not realize the terrible calamity that is coming soon upon modern Israel. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1998 - 2023 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. They too had blended the worship of the true God with outright paganism, utterly corrupting the relationship He had established with them. He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh. 74:1314, 89:910, 93:1ff. Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. In those God calls outthose who, by faith, will voluntarily yield to HimHe is building character based on outgoing love. Hosea exposes the problem between God and Israel. In the Bible, Jezebel is notorious for persecuting the worship of Yahweh and for demanding that the Israelites worship Baal. 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. The sequel to this action is furnished by the group of texts which recount Baal's confrontations with Mot. Near Baals temple was that of Dagon, given in the tablets as Baals father. God sends a prophet to people who are cold in their relationship with Godspiritually freezing to deaththough they want to stay that way. BAAL WORSHIP AND SEMITIC RACISM This term was used as a title and name of various local deities worshipped as guardians, heroes, and kings. He is deceived into thinking that his material prosperity proves that God approves of his conduct and attitudes. The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This article is about Baal worship in the Bible. When we see that our thoughts and ways are not His, we should reform and repent. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). They believed by their actions they could control and manipulate the Gods. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. In others, they rejected Yahweh worship altogether and fully turned themselves over to the idols of Canaan (2 Kgs 17:14-17). As an example, notice Amos 2:6-7, where Amos chides the Israelites: ". Baal worship spread rapidly when the king of Israel, Ahab, married Jezebel, the princess of Tyre (1 Kings 16:31-32). In Tamil Nadu, the following words payachi paarai, Peyazhwar, payans, pai (meaning devil) are currently in use. . A religion with such a beginning was doomed to fail, bringing the nation down with it. Most often, it condemns Baal worship. 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. Scott Broberg Fig Tree Ministries. They were primarily devoted to the worship of Baal and Asherah (or Asherim, Asheroth). 14:2). That Baal appears to be a relative newcomer in the Ugaritic pantheon has been generally recognized, and it may be that Sakkhunyaton's story about Baal's paternity reflects a mythologizing of the process by which Baal was integrated into the family of El. Huffmon, Amorite Personal Names in the Mari Texts (1965), 174; W.F. The beliefs and practices of the Canaanites were not only detestable, but they also . It has been suggested that this clash was indirectly a conflict between Baal and El, with Yamm serving as champion for the venerable El, as the Titans fought on behalf of Kronos in the Greek version of the myth and the stone colossus Ulikummi for Kumarbi in the Hurrian-Hittite version which is roughly contemporary with the Ugaritic texts. This chapter reports on the behavior of the people placed in Israel after Israel's conquest and deportation by Assyria between 722-720 BC. Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. However, before the war was over, both sides were summarily executing anybody who did this because those traitors could not be trusted. The divine child was named Demarous, one of the cognomens of Zeus-Baal-Hadad. In contrast, the church has had periods of strength and weakness all throughout its historyit goes through cycles of rallying around truth and then gradually letting it slip. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. 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 Masoretic text has the 4 letters YHWH with a sheva under the Y, pronounced yuh, and a Qamats below the W, i.e. One of the rooms in this temple had a bench, where offerings would have been placed, and an altar made of . With Baal's functions accredited to YHWH, it was natural and fitting that some of Baal's titles would also be taken over. None of the foolish practices of the heathen could bring the rains; only YHWH could and did (Jer. (Iron Age) temple. They were Canaanites and shared numerous similarities, including many of the same gods, with their close neighbors in the southern Levantwho were also predominantly Canaanite. Because Canaan depended on rain to grow crops and survive, he was numero uno. The Name] instead of prouncing the YHWH word even though the Masoretes added the sheva below the Y and the Qamats below the W. Doumet-Serhal explains the significance of the handles iconography: The dragon epitomizes the most fundamental ancient mythical perception of the Mesopotamian storm god. This is the crux of our salvation through Jesus Christ. What the Bible says about ; contact address: [emailprotected]. Baal is said to be one of the first of Solomon's 72 demons. Whoever is missing shall not live.". The worship of Baal was popular in Egypt from the later New Kingdom in about 1400 bce to its end (1075 bce). The worship of this idol consisted in exposing that part of the body which all persons usually take the utmost care to conceal. In the mysterious tablets of Ugarit, discovered by Claude Schaeffer, Baal is the God of rain, thunder, and extraordinary bolts of lightning. 9:20 presents a parallel is mistaken since the Ugaritic text mentions the sea-god and not Death (Mot) in connection with the window.) She's most famously the mother of Baal, another god who shows up throughout the Old Testament when the Israelites stray after other idols. I appreciate your consideration, and Im sure the Most High does as well! Baal worship was the bane of the Ancient Israelites. O. Eissfeldt, Beitraege zur Religionsgeschichte des Altertums I (1932); H.L. One was 260 days and was used for . He is a loving Master who only is to be obeyed and servedand only on His terms. This is no different from what Israel was doing when Amos wrote back in 760 BC. The second major background factor that we need to grasp somewhat to read Hosea well is the worship of the Canaanite god Baal (s). The worship of Baal penetrated Jewish religious life during the period of the Judges ( Judges 3:7 ), became common in Israel during the rule of Ahab ( 1 Kings 16:31-33 ), and also influenced Judah ( 2 Chronicles 28:1-2 ). Sometimes the leadership of the nation of Israel tolerated and embraced the deities of other nations. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Then stood up Phinehas, and exe Then they linked up with Baal Peor, attending funeral banquets and eating idol food. Baal (/ b e. Issuing a challenge to his enemy Mot (death), who presumed to rule gods and men, Baal dispatched his messengers to Mot's infernal, filthy abode, warning them not to get close to Mot's rapacious jaws. Recall the mention in Hosea 10:1 of increasing and embellishing altars just before Israel fell to Assyria. The biblical allusions to YHWH's victory over the sea preserve echoes of the older exploit of Baal (cf. Apostasy is a defection from trutha forsaking of one spiritual approach in favor of another. Given Sidons position on the coast, it is not surprising that the storm god is Sidons most important god. He may have replaced the Sabbath with Sunday worship. Either you are going to be committed to Him or not. Even as the Canaanite religion waned, Baal took on a new role as Zeus in the Ancient Greek pantheon. To become moral, we must kill our selfish egos through the use and guidance of God's Holy Spirit. Baal in Smith's Bible Dictionary Baal (2) the supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations, as Ashtoreth was their supreme female divinity. Nevertheless, he was still faithful, and he did his job. Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel fell into Baal and Asherah worship, and it is no different for us today. Second was passing their babies through the fire. 106:28). Lastly, he replaced God with golden calves in Bethel and Dan. When religion is ungodly, its power is destructive, and every institution in the nation suffers.