All Rights Reserved. Who Was Baal? It is not known to what extent the Canaanites considered those various Baalim identical, but the Baal of Ugarit does not seem to have confined his activities to one city, and doubtless other communities agreed in giving him cosmic scope. A complex religion with traditions and gods from all over the ancient Middle East, Baal worship offered something for everyone. Silapadikaram, a Tamil Classic, mentions more than 200 musical instruments. He is deceived into thinking that his material prosperity proves that God approves of his conduct and attitudes. Thus the basis of the Baal cult was the utter dependence of life on the rains which were regarded as Baal's bounty. Omissions? 410; reconstructed text) which after the great "Weather-god, Lord of Mount azi" presents six other "weather-gods," numbered two through seven. Observing Christmas and Easter in the name of Christ is no different. 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). 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. 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. 13:2) such as Baal himself performed in the Ugaritic myth are depicted in the prophetic tirades. These people, who became known as the Samaritans, feared the Lord but worshipped their own gods. 33:7) has been made the basis of intriguing speculation by Eissfeldt. What Is the Meaning of Psalm 91 and Why Is it Popular? The religion of Israel began with a man, Jeroboam I, who changed the true worship of God. (NASB). 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. 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). The prophet Haggai attributed the drought and scarcity in his day to the failure to rebuild the Temple (Hag. Elijah had to take drastic measures to prevent Baal worship from completely eradicating the worship of the true God (I Kings 18:20-40). THIS IS A PROFILE OF PRACTICES, DOCTRINES, AND SYMBOLS OF BAAL WORSHIP . Sometimes the leadership of the nation of Israel tolerated and embraced the deities of other nations. The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. 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. This time, Baal puts up a fight and holds Mot off in battle. The rains were fully controlled by YHWH who called them from the sea and poured them out on the surface of the earth (Amos 5:8b; 9:6b). 6:30; II Kings 16:3233) are associated with him. Some become discouraged with the church because we are always being toldto some measure anywaydisturbing things about ourselves. Sacred sex was a key component. II Kings 17:7-17 catalogs the sins of Israel: Widespread idolatry. Tamil is connected with the Phoenician. 26:46). Given Sidons position on the coast, it is not surprising that the storm god is Sidons most important god. 4. 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. Another idea is that it pictures a person shifting his weight from one foot to the other, indicating a degree of lameness. Israel "feared other gods" (verse 7). In Hosea 10:2, God charges Israel with having a divided heart. It will be far more terrible than anything ever seen on this earth! The longest of the texts deals with the construction of Baal's house on top of Mount apn. 26:1920). "They built for themselves high places in all their cities . Most of the information they gave turned out to be wrong, to be lies. He may have replaced the Sabbath with Sunday worship. A common designation of Baal in the Ugaritic myths is bn-dgn "son of Dagn"; but Baal is also considered the son of El who is called "Bull El his [i.e., Baal's] father; El King who begot him [Baal]" (tr il abh; il mlk dyknnh). Human-Ram Deity from Sidon. The worship of Moloch, which was practiced at a special site (outside the walls of Jerusalem in the valley of Ben-Hinnom) called Topheth, became firmly established in the time of King Manasseh, his son Amon, and at the beginning of Josiah's reign. To become moral, we must kill our selfish egos through the use and guidance of God's Holy Spirit. "But there was no voice. Revelation 2:14 "THE DOCTRINES OF . Its is right up there with the thought that we know where Jesus was born, or that one can see a descendant of the original burning bush, etc.. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. "Whatever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. 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. They too had blended the worship of the true God with outright paganism, utterly corrupting the relationship He had established with them. Matthew 5:17Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 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 latter title has a biblical echo in the corrupted form Baal-Zebub (II Kings 1:2ff. El and Anath mourn violently, mutilating their faces and bodies. One was 260 days and was used for . 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. 1:21), would be catastrophic. As such, Baal designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. None of the foolish practices of the heathen could bring the rains; only YHWH could and did (Jer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_washing_in_Judaism#Full-body_immersion_.28Tvilah.29, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_River, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Judaism. 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). God's difference from us is that He is holy; He is moral and we are immoral. 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! The laws given to Moses by God expressly forbade the Jews to do what was done in Egypt or in Canaan. He describes Israel as a luxuriant grape vine sending runners in every direction, indicating a bountiful crop. The Septuagint (LXX) referred to the latter as a stranger [in the land]. Sidons Storm God. For Constantine, the acceptance of Christianity was done solely TO UNIFY TERRITORY, RELIGIONS, AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. The continued worship of Baal was given as one of the causes for the destruction of Judah (Jer. 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. Alternate titles: Baal Shamen, Baal Shemin, Baalim. Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. The summer drought did not mean that YHWH had died (like Baal), nor did the return of the rains signal the resurrection. The right remedy, according to Israel's prophets, was to repudiate Baal completely and to seek and return to Israel's true God (Isa. . 2008 The Gale Group. 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. In others, they rejected Yahweh worship altogether and fully turned themselves over to the idols of Canaan (2 Kgs 17:14-17). 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). A general understanding about the bamah and . 14:2, 9; Num. Evil practices never go away. 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. So the word Jezebel finally means one who is a good musician. The Name] instead of prouncing the YHWH word even though the Masoretes added the sheva below the Y and the Qamats below the W. The god Baal was the heathen sun-god spoken of in the Old Testament. The practice of Baal worship was wide spread in Bible times and was very evil. One of the rooms in this temple had a bench, where offerings would have been placed, and an altar made of piled and unhewn stones, which recalls the Biblical command to make altars of uncut stones (see Exodus 20:25). Since Baal was, like almost all ancient deities, a fertility god, the human act of intercourse demonstrated that they wanted Baal to prosper 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. In the mythology of Canaan, Baal, the god of life and fertility, locked in mortal combat with Mot, the god of death and sterility. They believed by their actions they could control and manipulate the Gods. Because Canaan depended on rain to grow crops and survive, he was numero uno. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. 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. Avot 5:11 on the connection between tithing and rain). Baal Worship It Is So Painful to Care: How Do I Conquer Apathy? A vivid description of theophany in a thunderstorm is found in Psalms 18:715 (= II Sam. Doumet-Serhal explains the significance of the handles iconography: The dragon epitomizes the most fundamental ancient mythical perception of the Mesopotamian storm god. This shows that the Egyptian Cleopatra had maritime connections with the ancient Kerala Tamils. If Baal triumphed, a seven-year cycle of fertility would ensue; but, if he were vanquished by Mot, seven years of drought and famine would ensue. 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? Thus, according to Sakkunyaton, Baal's natural father was Ouranos and Dagn became his foster-father, while El-Kronos effected the transfer. This describes to a T what Israel did then and their descendants are continuing to do today. 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). Next both Mot and Baal appear reconstituted and reactivated and again in conflict. 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. Baal's 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. God's first command to destroy any forms of idol worship came early in the Bible in Exodus 34:13. . 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. Ashtoreth is mentioned three times in scripture, in 1 Kings 11:5 & 33, 2 Kings 23:13. One such deity who gripped Israel for a period of time was Baal. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. After a textual gap, there is a report that Baal's corpse has been found. They simply evolve. And one of the most famous instances of Israel going head to head with the prophets of Baal comes from 1 Kings 18. It is urgent that we understand what is involved here because it reveals the cause of God's anger that led to Israel's defeat and scattering. But when heat is applied, and the blood begins rushing into the affected areas, pain immediately occurs. In artistic depictions and archeological finds, Baal took the shape of a bull or ram and had associations with fertility. That there were minor Baalim also at Ugarit is indicated by a god list in Akkadian (see Ugaritica, 5, p. 44 ll. Their spiritual lethargy for the true God made them uncommitted. l, b . The only trouble is that people like to feel comfortable in moral mediocrity. The Canaanites worshiped Baal as the sun god and as the storm godhe is usually depicted holding a lightning boltwho defeated enemies and produced crops. God's pattern is being established. This article is about Baal worship in the Bible. The name is more likely derived from the god Baal. To accommodate Baal ideology to Yahwism required some radical transformations. At Shittim they attached themselves to Baal-Peor, ate sacrifices for the dead, and indulged in sacred sexual orgies (Num. Once Elijah began preaching, their conscience pricked them, and it encouraged them to worship the true God. 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. They believed in a Creator God, but they worshipped Him at the shrines they erected to the Baals. Baal worship is something I associated only with Old Testament Bible days. 106 a ). 1:711). Blending the lies of this world with the truth of God produces a foul mixture called syncretism (James 3:10-13). 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. Baal is said to be one of the first of Solomon's 72 demons. 19 Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. People like to feel comfortable. The worship of this idol consisted in exposing that part of the body which all persons usually take the utmost care to conceal. This viewpoint was developed as the basic and final argument against Baalism. 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 . Elijah prepared the way for Elisha, who had a double portion of Elijah's spirit and did many more miracles. A biblical pharaoh's border monument. Lastly, he replaced God with golden calves in Bethel and Dan. Valimai means strengh, or force or weight. The Israelites rejected the law of God and relied on the traditions of Gentile nations. 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. But God has a different perspective; He says they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). 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. 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). Asherah (Hebrew ), also spelled Ashera, was a major northwest Semitic mother goddess, appearing also in Akkadian sources as Ashratu, in Hittite as Asherdu and in Ugaritic as Athirat.She was the consort of the chief deity El and the mother of 70 other gods.. El is praised for his wisdom in granting the request since now it is insured that Baal will give his rain in season. 25:111; Ps. Today Baal churches preach and teach Baal doctrines; prosperity, harvest, sex and fertility. All 450 prophets of Baal do not escape the slaughter that takes place after that. 55:613; Jer. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. The Baal-worship so often alluded to and described in Holy Writ might, perhaps, be better styled, id-worship, moon-worship, Melek (Moloch)-worship, or Hadad-worship, according to places and circumstances. 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! Thus it is clear that Baal, representing the life-giving rains, fluctuates in his ability to withstand the power of Mot, who represents drought, sterility, and death. A large part of this world's appeal is its offer of financial security. BAAL WORSHIP AND SEMITIC RACISM This term was used as a title and name of various local deities worshipped as guardians, heroes, and kings. O. Eissfeldt, Beitraege zur Religionsgeschichte des Altertums I (1932); H.L. Portions of ancient Baal liturgy were adapted to the praise of Israel's God, as the Ugaritic poems have shown. Who were the Sidonians of the Bronze Age (c. 30001200 B.C.E.)? When religion is ungodly, its power is destructive, and every institution in the nation suffers. Christ warned the Pharisees: "For laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the traditions of men." Asherah, another popular deity in Canaan, was the goddess of motherhood and fertility . . He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh. All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel fell into Baal and Asherah worship, and it is no different for us today. Baal's response to Mot's invitation to come and be devoured is abject surrender: "Thy slave am I, thine eternal." 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." The contest on Mount Carmel was reported as demonstrating that Baal was an impotent non-entity and that the rain came only from YHWH. Before descending to the realm of death, Baal copulates with a heifer and begets a male offspring. 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. But it could have existed long before that, when God established the law, including laws against eating pork, since pig slaughter and sacrifice were a hallmark of Baal worship. 2:11; 3:7; 8:33), while the singular of the word in combination with other terms apparently designated minor or local gods, such as Baal-Berith, Baal-Gad, Baal-Hamon, Baal-Hazor, Baal-Hermon, or, in the feminine form, a goddess, Baalat-Beer, Baalat-Gebal. All this was part of his fertility role, which, when fulfilled, meant an abundance of crops and fertility for animals and mankind. Kings Ahaz and Manasseh, Certainly not those of east Asia. Such evil cunning. Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People. 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. He replaced the Levitical priesthood with men of his own choosing. (Iron Age) temple. A series of bad years, which were apparently believed to come in seven-year cycles (cf. The proposition for the concept is as follows: The Latins called the Phoenicians as Poeni. Because such people are drunk through riches' deceptive promise, their judgment is in danger of being radically altered. 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 myths also tell of Baals struggle to obtain a palace comparable in grandeur to those of other gods. Baal persuaded Asherah to intercede with her husband El, the head of the pantheon, to authorize the construction of a palace. 14:2). Prophets and Prophecy (Part 1). 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). Canaanite Religions and Baal Worship by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson Audio (12:51) Free E-mail Bible Study Grace: Favor for the Undeserving. There are several ideas as to exactly what Elijah meant by "How long will you falter between two opinions?" 57 Bull Baal. Elijah says disturbing things. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. For this reason, God shows that the preacher, not the civil authority, is the most vital part of the community. The eschatological traits were taken over with the Canaanite myths. Baal transformed into Zeus, who transformed into Jupiter, etc. 8. He was considered superior to his father, El, the chief of the deities. Sidons Phoenician Temple. This is the crux of our salvation through Jesus Christ. "like a bird in a tree. Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? We are seeing the same thing today, but at times, it is harder to recognize because we are accustomed to it, and it is not happening overnight. The worship of Baal extended in this region to the Jews, Canaanites and the Phoenicians. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The name "Baal" shows up seven times in Hosea (2:8, 2:13, 2:16, 2:17 . The building materials, gold, silver, and lapis lazuli, were procured and the architect-builder Koshar was invited to dinner and consultation. In distress some would naturally revert to the old ways of reviving or reactivating the rain-god prayer, mourning, self-laceration, dancing, and water-pouring (I Kings 18:2628; Hos. The ancient Tamils had connections with the Syrians and Sidon. In this regard, Elijah was a type of John the Baptist, and Elisha, a type of Christ. The Bible tells us that there were dire consequences for Israel worshiping a false god (Judges 2). Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (rev. 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. Whoever is missing shall not live.". Because of their self-procured wealth and affluence, they think they are being blessed with material things. Since you mentioned John baptizing Jesus. 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. A solution has been supplied by a tradition ascribed to the ancient Phoenician priest Sakkunyaton (Greek Sanchuniathn) that when El-Kronos defeated Ouranos, he captured in the battle Ouranos' pregnant concubine and gave her to Dagn. But God. 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. Yet, he was in trouble his whole life, from his teenage years on. Some of Judah's kings spent years tearing down shrines and high places to foreign gods (II Chronicles 34:1-7). Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, which depend on irrigation, the Promised Land drinks water from the rain of heaven (Deut. This is no different from what Israel was doing when Amos wrote back in 760 BC. 2:13) and *Asherah (Judg. For seven days a fire burned inside the building, and when it subsided, the house was plated with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli. In Psalms 48:23, Mount Zion is equated with "the recesses of afon" (the phrase quoted above from Isa. 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. The Lord calls for the worship of him and his idols to be uprooted and destroyed, and for the people to turn away from his false . He is a loving Master who only is to be obeyed and servedand only on His terms. For example, Christmas and Easter are traditions of men, but they are lies. (The suggestion that Jer. Fertility was envisaged in terms of seven-year cycles. 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. But who is Baal? In Phoenician he was called Baal Shamen, Lord of the Heavens. A major question about II Thessalonians 2 is the scope of the described events. Bible Study Hosea Old Testament. The sequel to this action is furnished by the group of texts which recount Baal's confrontations with Mot. But their carnality and their fear of men persuaded them to worship Baal, because they wanted to be friends with their fellow Israelites. Baal was also worshipped by various communities as a local god. In their ignorance, the people do not realize the terrible calamity that is coming soon upon modern Israel. He began to prophesy in a time of immediate crisis, one that would become far worse before it ever improved. Lastly, he replaced God with golden calves in Bethel and Dan. A prophet's life is not a happy situation. . What modern-day Baals have we worshipped in place of God?
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