l, b . ; Job 3:8, 7:12, 9:13, 26:1213, 38:811, 40:25). Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. 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. Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. 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. 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. Adad roughly equates with the later Phoenician storm god Baal, the worship of whom is championed by the nefarious queen Jezebel in the Bible. The Laodicean evaluates himself, saying, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing" (Revelation 3:17). Our nation has embraced the old ancient paganism that we read about in the Bible. 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. Let's exemplify Baal doctrines as preached . 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. Molech was an ancient god worshiped by the people neighboring Israel during Old Testament times. El and Anath mourn violently, mutilating their faces and bodies. In the Aztec religion, life existed before humans, and civilization was built after the destruction of the fourth sun. With the help of the sun-goddess Shapsh, Anath locates the dead Baal, carries him to the height of apn, and weeping buries him with funerary sacrifices. Baal was simply the title (literally, Lord) of the pagan god Molech. Canaanite Religions and Baal Worship by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson Audio (12:51) Free E-mail Bible Study Grace: Favor for the Undeserving. Baal's objection to the window somehow concerned his three daughters and the sea-god (Yamm), but the text is broken at this point. The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canonbut none more so than the Book of Kings, where they play a prominent role in assessing the performance of a king.Often referred to as "high places" in translations of the Bible, bamot were worship sites that usually contained an altar. 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). 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. Historical Background of HoseaBaal and Idolatry. In their ignorance, the people do not realize the terrible calamity that is coming soon upon modern Israel. It was under the Sol Invictus cult that CHRISTIANITY as a religion BEGAN TO BE ACCEPTED AND GROW, but THERE WAS A BIG PRICE THE EARLY ROMAN CHURCH HAD TO PAY. Check out her books at hopebolinger.comfor clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. 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! 14:13). We need to be reminded of it because it can have a detrimental effect on us. 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. Baal is said to be one of the first of Solomon's 72 spirits. 4:12; Hos. That there were minor Baalim also at Ugarit is indicated by a god list in Akkadian (see Ugaritica, 5, p. 44 ll. It is related that on one occasion a strange ruler came to the place where Peor was worshiped, to sacrifice to him; but when he heard of this silly practise, he caused his soldiers to attack and kill the worshipers of the god (Sifre, Num. Such evil cunning. In the mythology of Canaan, Baal, the god of life and fertility, locked in mortal combat with Mot, the god of death and sterility. Yet Sidon was a significant site before this period, too. 114) or with eschatological victory (Isa. (verses 9-11). 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. 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). These soldiers would surrender themselves to the other side to be given a bit of favor and put into prison. 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 the Bible, Baal (also rendered Baal) was an important Canaanite god, often portrayed as the primary enemy of the Hebrew God Yahweh. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. 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). One of the rooms in this temple had a bench, where offerings would have been placed, and an altar made of . that the southern kingdom of Judah ever had .just like her momma. Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baal's epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. The worship of Baal was popular in Egypt from the later New Kingdom in about 1400 bce to its end (1075 bce). Before we explore what Scripture says about Baal, lets establish a brief depiction of the Canaanite deity. a little T-shaped mark that stands for the long-A vowel (like a in father). 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). 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). And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. YHWH's victory over the waters is connected either with the rescue of Israel at the Exodus (Ps. 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. Asherah was a fertility goddess. 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. The basis for this view was the fact that in biblical usage the plural of the term, with the article, "the Baalim," appears to designate minor local gods (Judg. 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. In Psalms 48:23, Mount Zion is equated with "the recesses of afon" (the phrase quoted above from Isa. Baal is a Canaanite and Phoeniciandeity and the son of the chief god El. The Sovereign Creator is not a God who allows His favor to be bought with crumbs. This is the crux of our salvation through Jesus Christ. Child sacrifice was even practiced in the Valley of Hinnom just outside of Jerusalem. Isai is music in Tamil and Vallavi means an expert. They think that what they are doing is right, but they are deceived. Baal and Asherah were two giant stumbling blocks for the people of Israel. 1:711). Payment of the full tithe to the food stores of the Temple, some thought, would guarantee that YHWH would open the windows of heaven and pour down overflowing blessings (Mal. The first mention of Molech is in Leviticus 18:21 in which the . Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. It disturbed them. In the Bible, Jezebel is notorious for persecuting the worship of Yahweh and for demanding that the Israelites worship Baal. For those early Hebrews, Baal designated the Lord of Israel, just as Baal farther north designated the Lord of Lebanon or of Ugarit. How Is Harry Potter a Literary Christ Figure? Alternate titles: Baal Shamen, Baal Shemin, Baalim. ed., 1965); H.B. All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel fell into Baal and Asherah worship, and it is no different for us today. Sidon was well connected by trade by the traders of the Pandya kingdom of Tamil Nadu. Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (rev. Since the Ugaritic verified the antiquity and authenticity of this divine name, additional instances have been alleged in the Psalter and in Job. You tricked me." Bible Study Hosea Old Testament. A frequent epithet is "Cloud Rider" (rkb rpt) which has an almost identical parallel in Psalms 68:5. Apparently in anticipation of developments the artisan god Koshar had cast furnishings of gold and silver. 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). Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. 13:2) such as Baal himself performed in the Ugaritic myth are depicted in the prophetic tirades. Extra-biblical evidence for the flourishing Baal cult at Samaria in the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.E. 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.. Sidon's Phoenician Temple. One would think that, if altars increase during this period of prosperity, then religion is flourishing. 14:2). The myths also tell of Baals struggle to obtain a palace comparable in grandeur to those of other gods. However, even though their origins were Canaanite, the Phoenicians established their own distinct culture. . * Jesus is a transliteration of the Latin; it is NOT a translation! This full-body immersion was required for converts (giyur) to the sect called The Way (HaDerech) in Acts whether a Pharisaic/Saddusaic Jew or a Gentile proselyte (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Judaism). They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Paul, then, is letting the church know that it need not be concerned about missing the end time. He began to prophesy in a time of immediate crisis, one that would become far worse before it ever improved. 8. They become "settled on their lees," as it says in Zephaniah 1:12. This article is about Baal worship in the Bible. Prophets and Prophecy (Part 1). People like to feel comfortable. He was considered superior to his father, El, the chief of the deities. That afon designated the "north" in Hebrew is presumably due to the fact that Mount Casius lies directly north of Palestine. Notably, an impressed handle found near a Canaanite grave at the site depicts Sidons storm god and a ship. They were straddling the fence in a precarious state of imbalance, attempting to combine the worship of God with the more popular worship of Baal and Asherah. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. Superstitious fear and sexual rites on the one hand fought against faith and loyalty on the other. 4. Hope Bolingeris an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, and the author 21+ books. 1:4; Hab. Did the Carthaginians Really Practice Infant Sacrifice? 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. 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. All 450 prophets of Baal do not escape the slaughter that takes place after that. 3:8; Ps. Mot refused and boasted how he had mangled Baal. Actually, there were two gods which were essentially worshiped the same way, Baal and Ashtoreth. In the formative stages of Israels history, the presence of Baal names did not necessarily mean apostasy or even syncretism. 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. Jews nowadays say Ha-Shem [i.e. Required fields are marked *. Elijah was dealing with the same thing here, albeit spiritually. Most often, it condemns Baal worship. There are indications that Baal and other gods and goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon were associated in the minds of their worshipers with certain heavenly bodies. If anyone could get an award for Having the Worst Neighbors, it would most likely go to the ancient Israelites. Omissions? Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baals epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. Ahab accommodated his wife's idolatry to the point of building a . 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. 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. 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. The heyday of Baal worship in Israel came in the days of Elijah, when the Phoenician princess Jezebel launched a massive campaign to promote Baal. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have . 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. He was to be an aid in getting them from their state of being merely "churched" to that of being truly religious and servants of the Most High God. 19:5ff.). Essentially, the Phoenicians were the Canaanites who survived from the Bronze Age into the Iron Age and who were not supplanted by new people groups (Philistines, Israelites, etc.). What Is Coptic and Who Were the Copts in Ancient Egypt? As we study the operation of the spirit of Baal in the Bible, one can see the fruit of its operation in the USA.. Baal & Asherah. But Baal was not exclusively a fertility god. Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. The prophet Haggai attributed the drought and scarcity in his day to the failure to rebuild the Temple (Hag. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. 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. Today Baal churches preach and teach Baal doctrines; prosperity, harvest, sex and fertility. A complex religion with traditions and gods from all over the ancient Middle East, Baal worship offered something for everyone. (The Book of Amos) (Part Two). This is God's way of showing that Israel abused its prosperity: It used its prosperity for the purposes of idolatry. The worship of Baal extended in this region to the Jews, Canaanites and the Phoenicians. Gen. 41; II Sam. Now another presentation that the Phoenicians who are also connected with the Canaanites had traded with the trading mariners of Kerala, India. El is praised for his wisdom in granting the request since now it is insured that Baal will give his rain in season. How could you worship Baal? But if we dont exercise extreme discernment, we may find ourselves doing the same with modern-day baals. Tamil is connected with the Phoenician. Baal worship was the bane of the Ancient Israelites. 57 Bull Baal. With human features as well as the eyebrows, nose and horns of a ram, this painted limestone figurine represents a deity and dates to c. 1650 B.C.E. And she has taken over many so-called churches. 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. 18 Then Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. What was the rationale behind this perverse, immoral act? Baal worship also included, at times, child sacrifice, which we see some Israelite kings engaging with later on. 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. No doubt, we cant cover the breadth of verses on Baal here, but we should make a 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. Yet if you asked most people who believe and follow this new morality, I suspect few would have ever heard of Baal. 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. Charles Whitaker Join the BAS Library today. Well dive more into this in the historicity of Baal in a few sections. 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. 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 . One such deity who gripped Israel for a period of time was Baal. Val is related to valimai in Tamil. The Hebrew word suggests "smoothness" or "flattering," describing people who "talk the talk" but do not "walk the walk.". Claude Doumet-Serhal of the British Museum details recent excavations at Sidon in her article SidonCanaans Firstborn, published in the July/August 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Because such people are drunk through riches' deceptive promise, their judgment is in danger of being radically altered. But God. Prepare to Meet Your God! BAAL WORSHIP AND SEMITIC RACISM This term was used as a title and name of various local deities worshipped as guardians, heroes, and kings. Lastly, he replaced God with golden calves in Bethel and Dan. Asherah, another popular deity in Canaan, was the goddess of motherhood and fertility . The eschatological traits were taken over with the Canaanite myths. They believed in a Creator God, but they worshipped Him at the shrines they erected to the Baals. BAAL-WORSHIP AMONG THE GENTILES.The evidence is hardly of such weight as to justify us in speaking of a worship of Baal. John W. Ritenbaugh In short, Scripture has nothing positive to say about Baal. In the Hebrew language, Baal as a noun means "lord or possessor." As a verb, it means "to have dominion over or be lord over." Additionally, the local deity (near Israel) "Baal," was a god of rain and fertility. Murder and sexual immorality was a part of Baal worship. But what was its real effect on the participants and the nation? When we see that our thoughts and ways are not His, we should reform and repent. 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. Next both Mot and Baal appear reconstituted and reactivated and again in conflict. When religion is ungodly, its power is destructive, and every institution in the nation suffers. The Spread of Baalism. But who is Baal? 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. Lastly, he replaced God with golden calves in Bethel and Dan. In the El-Amarna letters Canaanite clients addressed the Egyptian king as "My Baal, my Addu." Does that way of life conform to the God of the Bible, or does it spring from the mind of men? The name is more likely derived from the god Baal. 3:23). THIS IS A PROFILE OF PRACTICES, DOCTRINES, AND SYMBOLS OF BAAL WORSHIP .
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