The Spread of Baalism. This is typical Israeliltish syncretism, but it will not work. One of the rooms in this temple had a bench, where offerings would have been placed, and an altar made of . It disturbed them. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Baal's resurrection followed Mot's demise, the good news being transmitted through a dream of El: The fields were still parched from the drought and again Anath and Shapsh set out to find Baal. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. The bird cannot make up its mind where it wants to settle down, so it just keeps hopping around. Further, they "followed idols, became idolaters, and . What modern-day Baals have we worshipped in place of God? Baal is a Canaanite and Phoeniciandeity and the son of the chief god El. The Baal-worship so often alluded to and described in Holy Writ might, perhaps, be better styled Cid-worship, moon-worship, Melek ()-worship, or Hadad-worship, according to places and circumstances.Many of the practices mentioned were most probably common to the worship . 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. A frequent epithet is "Cloud Rider" (rkb rpt) which has an almost identical parallel in Psalms 68:5. Canaanite Religions and Baal Worship by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson Audio (12:51) Free E-mail Bible Study Grace: Favor for the Undeserving. The Assyrians deported the population en masse from its homeland in Canaan, transplanting it virtually in toto to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The worship of Baal in Syria-Palestine was inextricably bound to the economy of the land which depends on the regularity and adequacy of the rains. north of Ugarit. How Is Harry Potter a Literary Christ Figure? Psalm 68 may have been written, in part, as a polemic against Baal worship wherein it is indicated in verse 4 that YHWH is the one who rides the clouds. Asherah, mother of the gods, was prevailed upon to intercede with El to gain permission for the building. Elijah is quite instructive here. To accommodate Baal ideology to Yahwism required some radical transformations. Commentaries are at odds over what the Hebrew word translated divided means. Moffatt renders this, "They worshipped the Eternal, and they also served their own gods.". He replaced the Levitical priesthood with men of his own choosing. What the Bible says about Baal Worship ( From Forerunner Commentary ) 1 Kings 12:26-33 The religion of Israel began with a man, Jeroboam I, who changed the true worship of God. Anath then dismembered Mot, scattered and burned the pieces, and gave them to the birds. Pagan Religious Practices. If anyone could get an award for Having the Worst Neighbors, it would most likely go to the ancient Israelites. First was sexual orgies "under every green tree," where promiscuity and perverted sex acts were the norm. The myths also tell of Baals struggle to obtain a palace comparable in grandeur to those of other gods. Even as the Canaanite religion waned, Baal took on a new role as Zeus in the Ancient Greek pantheon. because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. Reuben Alcalay, a famous Hebrew lexicographer, stated that Yehoshua is closely related to Let there be So, lets be intellectually honest and start using the proper English translation: Joshua. The word bal, common Semitic for "owner, master, husband," became the usual designation of the great weather-god of the Western Semites. At one point in A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton, he deals with soldiers who left the service of their armyeither the Confederate army or the Union army. Jews nowadays say Ha-Shem [i.e. Even those who have vaguely heard of the name Baal in the Bible know it doesnt have a good connotation. Most of the information they gave turned out to be wrong, to be lies. Evil practices never go away. 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). Next both Mot and Baal appear reconstituted and reactivated and again in conflict. II Kings 17:7-17 catalogs the sins of Israel: Widespread idolatry. Revelation 2:14 "THE DOCTRINES OF . He is a loving Master who only is to be obeyed and servedand only on His terms. When the rain failed, it was inevitable that some would question YHWH's power and resort to Baal. 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. Despite Gods efforts to dissuade them, the Israelites engaged with the Canaanite culture a little too much and adopted their practices, including Baal worship. It indeed produces great material prosperity, but it is consumed through self-indulgent gorging. God sends a prophet to people who are cold in their relationship with Godspiritually freezing to deaththough they want to stay that way. Elijah was dealing with the same thing here, albeit spiritually. When religion is ungodly, its power is destructive, and every institution in the nation suffers. In other words, prosperity turns people's heads. . The spectacular victory for Yahwism did not have a lasting effect. In Hosea 10:2, God charges Israel with having a divided heart. Asherah, along with Astarte and Anath, was one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon. 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 (The suggestion that Jer. 3:23). The variant form Hadad (hdd) is attested to only once in Ugaritic. 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. Depending on the tradition, she was either Baal's mother, lover, or both. Blending the lies of this world with the truth of God produces a foul mixture called syncretism (James 3:10-13). Speech is completely original and produced exclusively by Grace Digital Network Music licensed through Artlist.io Footage licensed through Filmpac.com and S. 4:12; Hos. In Tamil Nadu, the following words payachi paarai, Peyazhwar, payans, pai (meaning devil) are currently in use. But church is where we come to have our minds stretched and measured against Christ's standard. . Some of Judah's kings spent years tearing down shrines and high places to foreign gods (II Chronicles 34:1-7). Baal remains silent during the exchange, whereas God showers a sopping-wet altar with fire. The Devil is behind a. A falling away is taking place right now. They were not committed to the side that they were supposed to be on. What made the very name Baal anathema to the Israelites was the program of Jezebel, in the 9th century bce, to introduce into Israel her Phoenician cult of Baal in opposition to the official worship of Yahweh (I Kings 18). In the Aztec religion, life existed before humans, and civilization was built after the destruction of the fourth sun. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baal-ancient-deity, McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Baal, Baal - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Molech was another such god. 26:46). This is not brand new, but it is picking up speed. The word bel can be transformed into vel or val. While much about Molech's nature and origin are uncertain, the Bible mentions Molech on eight occasions, providing some context regarding the problems associated with this ancient god. The lesson for us becomes clear, because Jesus says the same thing (Matthew 6:24; 12:25). The latter name (Amarna, Addu) is to be related to Arabic hadda ("break," "crash") with reference to thunder. 13:2) such as Baal himself performed in the Ugaritic myth are depicted in the prophetic tirades. The latest archaeological discoveries shed light on Biblical Sidon and provide a window into the Sidonians polytheistic religion and worship practices during the Bronze and Iron Ages. To become moral, we must kill our selfish egos through the use and guidance of God's Holy Spirit. El and Anath mourn violently, mutilating their faces and bodies. I prefer transliterating the sheva with [*] rather than any other English vowel letter, so I prefer Y*HWaH to YuHWaH or to YaHWeH, for that matter. 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. For those early Hebrews, Baal designated the Lord of Israel, just as Baal farther north designated the Lord of Lebanon or of Ugarit. 9:20 presents a parallel is mistaken since the Ugaritic text mentions the sea-god and not Death (Mot) in connection with the window.) So it was that, about 250 years after it was established, the ten-tribed northern kingdom became extinct as a sovereign nation. Now that He has announced Israel's imminent calamity, God begins to show how His punishment would alter the lives of the people. Sun worship came from the ancient pagan religion of Baal. Adad roughly equates with the later Phoenician storm god Baal, the worship of whom is championed by the nefarious queen Jezebel in the Bible. In the Bible, Jezebel is notorious for persecuting the worship of Yahweh and for demanding that the Israelites worship Baal. 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 (/ 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. 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. The first mention of Molech is in Leviticus 18:21 in which the . 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). The judge Gideon was also named Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32), and King Saul had a son named Ishbaal (I Chronicles 8:33). Various forms of Baal worship are still going on in the Catholic church; even though these pagan idols were incorporated into Catholicism centuries ago, the worship of the sun still exists to this day. Gen. 41; II Sam. The tablets, although closely attached to the worship of Baal at his local temple, probably represent Canaanite belief generally. Prepare to Meet Your God! (NASB). 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. 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. 1:4; Hab. The triumph of Baal recounted in the myths and perhaps reenacted in ritual drama gave assurance of help in the present and the future as in the past. 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! Ugaritic texts tell of other fertility aspects of Baal, such as his relations with Anath, his consort and sister, and also his siring a divine bull calf from a heifer. The Kingdom of Israel fell below the historian's radar. For those who think the baptism of John (Yochanan) was something new under the sun recall that he was a Levite as was his father Zechariah (Tsekharya). They believed in a Creator God, but they worshipped Him at the shrines they erected to the Baals. He just goes to sleep as he is freezing to death. 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. 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. . Required fields are marked *. This life-and-death struggle pitted the worship of Baal against the worship of Jehovah. This is God's way of showing that Israel abused its prosperity: It used its prosperity for the purposes of idolatry. While it is acceptable to say that it was in what is now Jordan, to point to a particular cave and say, This is it. is ridiculous. The Sidonians were the inhabitants of ancient Sidon, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea in modern Lebanon. 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. In the Hebrew Bible, Moloch is presented as a foreign deity who was at times illegitimately given a place in Israel's worship as a result of the syncretistic policies of certain apostate kings. Observing Christmas and Easter in the name of Christ is no different. Israel "walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel." In many cases, when the king or the nation had wandered from the way, the prophets were sent to correct them (e.g., II Samuel 12:1-15; I Kings 18:17-19; II Kings 21:10-15). It may be, however, that these extra Baalim are Baal's attendants, mentioned as the seven or eight lads whom Baal is ordered to take with him in his descent into the netherworld. Given Jezebels religious fervor in the Bible, one would expect to find evidence of Baal worship at Sidon. The Septuagint (LXX) referred to the latter as a stranger [in the land]. Avot 5:11 on the connection between tithing and rain). Child sacrifice was a fundamental aspect of Baal worship. Either you are going to be committed to Him or not. The violence and injustice in Israelite society ultimately stemmed from the false teaching proclaimed from the pulpits. 2:13) and *Asherah (Judg. 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. Scott Broberg Fig Tree Ministries. Some become discouraged with the church because we are always being toldto some measure anywaydisturbing things about ourselves. Further, in biblical usage when applied to the great weather-god, the singular regularly has the article, "the Baal," which suggests that the word was not regarded as a proper name. Whether it turns out to be the falling away remains to be seen. Christ warned the Pharisees: "For laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the traditions of men." They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. As a result of their sin, the men of Israel were judged by God. Combine a one-year tablet and print subscription to BAR with membership in the BAS Library to start your journey into the ancient past today! Elijah had to take drastic measures to prevent Baal worship from completely eradicating the worship of the true God (I Kings 18:20-40). Adad (the Canaanite Hadad, the Semitic Hadda, the Hurrian Teshub, the Egyptian Resheph, the Phoenician Baal/Bel, the Sumerian Ishkur) is the Mesopotamian storm god, who has special maritime, celestial and meteorological attributes important to the well-being of sailors. 57:310), perhaps including copulation with animals (Hos. A complaint is made to Bull El, father of the gods, that Baal has no house like other gods. You tricked me." God set up the Levites within Israel to function as the teachers of His way of life, and He sent the prophets as watchdogs on the Levites and civil leaders. Thus the basis of the Baal cult was the utter dependence of life on the rains which were regarded as Baal's bounty. Baal was also worshipped by various communities as a local god. Fertility was envisaged in terms of seven-year cycles. Whatever the case, there is no doubt about Elijah's intent: "How long will you keep shifting from one opinion to the other?" Baal worship is something I associated only with Old Testament Bible days. The latter title has a biblical echo in the corrupted form Baal-Zebub (II Kings 1:2ff. This connects with the curse of Laodiceanism because God shows in the Laodiceans what can happen spiritually as people increase materially. 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). Val is related to valimai in Tamil. Ahaz fostered Baal worship (II Chron. Horrendous and repulsive aspects of the worship sexual excesses and perversions (Isa. And she has taken over many so-called churches. This viewpoint was developed as the basic and final argument against Baalism. 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 eschatological traits were taken over with the Canaanite myths. The events leading up to the Day of the Lord will be unmistakable to those with eyes to see. They were primarily devoted to the worship of Baal and Asherah (or Asherim, Asheroth). With the help of wonder weapons supplied and blessed by the versatile Koshar (the craftsman god), Baal was able to defeat and rout the sea-god. The Israelites rejected the law of God and relied on the traditions of Gentile nations. As such, Baal designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. Baal Worship The Battle for the Israelites' Hearts For nearly a thousand years, a battle raged for the hearts of the Israelite nation. Ashtoreth is mentioned three times in scripture, in 1 Kings 11:5 & 33, 2 Kings 23:13. Asherah was a fertility goddess. . O. Eissfeldt, Beitraege zur Religionsgeschichte des Altertums I (1932); H.L. The Masoretic text has the 4 letters YHWH with a sheva under the Y, pronounced yuh, and a Qamats below the W, i.e. "Whatever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). In short, Scripture has nothing positive to say about Baal. This time, Baal puts up a fight and holds Mot off in battle. More than 1400 of her works have been featured in various publications. The Bible speaks of the destruction of Baal's temples and the idols associated with him. 10:25, 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18). Baal and Asherah were two giant stumbling blocks for the people of Israel. The Aztec people used two calendars. Some extraordinary discoveries from recent excavations have allowed us to partially reconstruct Sidonian religion during the Bronze and Iron Agesshowing that Baal worship at the site had deep roots. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Figs and grapes ripen during the dry season and the grain harvest also takes place before the rains resume. 7:1416). They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, And ate the sacrifices of the dead. Since you mentioned John baptizing Jesus. Well dive more into this in the historicity of Baal in a few sections. Today Jezebel has built Baal altars in the name of 'church' and led many to Baal worship. 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). The longest of the texts deals with the construction of Baal's house on top of Mount apn. As we study the operation of the spirit of Baal in the Bible, one can see the fruit of its operation in the USA.. (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. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. The Tetragrammaton should be rendered as Yahoah, with the vav being pronounced as the o in Torah, menorah, Eloah (singular form of Elohim), and Yehoshua (=Joshua, Christs REAL name). 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 ). Study the god Baal, Baal worship, and the presentation of Baal in the Bible. Or about Yahweh? Charles Whitaker This describes to a T what Israel did then and their descendants are continuing to do today. A major question about II Thessalonians 2 is the scope of the described events. Biblical Sidon is perhaps most infamously known as the birthplace of the Phoenician princess Jezebel (1 Kings 16:31), who became queen of the Israelites during King Ahabs reign in the ninth century B.C.E. With Baal's functions accredited to YHWH, it was natural and fitting that some of Baal's titles would also be taken over. In Hebrew, it is rendered Yehoshua, and in Aramaic, Yeshua. Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People. The Bible is full of colorful characters, from Noah to Moses to Jesus. Jesus says, "They are blind leaders of the blind. In this article, well discuss what Scripture has to say about Baal, what we know from history about Baal, and why this ultimately matters to us today. 19:5ff.). Baal worship also included, at times, child sacrifice, which we see some Israelite kings engaging with later on. Burning incense, worship of the sun, moon, astrology, and ancestor worship are all earmarks of the Baal religion. * Jesus is a transliteration of the Latin; it is NOT a translation! In an Akkadian catalogue of Ugaritic deities Baal apn is listed as dIM be-el hurn a-zi, "Storm-God, Lord of Mount azi" (see above; az [z] i being the Hurrian name of Mount apn which survives in the Greek and Latin Kasios/Casius as the name of the storied mountain of the gods). Corrections? However, God still holds them responsible because the truth is available. Omissions? Two practices in particular are mentioned in Scripture. No doubt, we cant cover the breadth of verses on Baal here, but we should note that Baal becomes a big player in the book of Judges and during the time of the kings when Israel appears to succumb most to the foreign pantheons. Most modern translations use "false," "deceitful," or "faithless," and none of these are wrong, including "divided." None of the foolish practices of the heathen could bring the rains; only YHWH could and did (Jer. What Is Coptic and Who Were the Copts in Ancient Egypt? In the Bible, Baal is spoken of in a negative light, as an idol and a false god, and is associated with idolatry and paganism. 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 .
