(NASB). A complaint is made to Bull El, father of the gods, that Baal has no house like other gods. 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. As a Semitic common noun baal (Hebrew baal) meant owner or lord, although it could be used more generally; for example, a baal of wings was a winged creature, and, in the plural, baalim of arrows indicated archers. Ahab accommodated his wife's idolatry to the point of building a . 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. He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh. 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 worship of Baal was popular in Egypt from the later New Kingdom in about 1400 bce to its end (1075 bce). Pagan Religious Practices. They were Phoenicians. Extra-biblical evidence for the flourishing Baal cult at Samaria in the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.E. 410; reconstructed text) which after the great "Weather-god, Lord of Mount azi" presents six other "weather-gods," numbered two through seven. 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! Baal was the god of rain, wind, and fertility. These soldiers would surrender themselves to the other side to be given a bit of favor and put into prison. It was a corruption of that religion, for the Israelites syncretized that holy way with Baalism and other idolatries. In others, they rejected Yahweh worship altogether and fully turned themselves over to the idols of Canaan (2 Kgs 17:14-17). Theoretically, the Israelites did not believe in idols, but in reality, they did. Today Jezebel has built Baal altars in the name of 'church' and led many to Baal worship. Assyria, a kingdom known as much for its innovative weapons as for their brutal implementation, conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 718 BC. The religion of Israel began with a man, Jeroboam I, who changed the true worship of God. 9:20 presents a parallel is mistaken since the Ugaritic text mentions the sea-god and not Death (Mot) in connection with the window.) He just goes to sleep as he is freezing to death. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: And the plague brake in upon them. Avot 5:11 on the connection between tithing and rain). California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The events leading up to the Day of the Lord will be unmistakable to those with eyes to see. "But there was no voice. Israel's false religion, represented by the altars of Bethel, is at the root of her problems. 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. 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. The ancient Tamils had connections with the Syrians and Sidon. Your email address will not be published. What Is the Significance of Not the Letter but of the Spirit? In daily life, they conformed to and reflected the Babylonish system just as Israel does today. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. This is typical Israeliltish syncretism, but it will not work. The most prominent idol that they worshiped was Baal. (verse 8). Meaning of Jezebel: This word can be also pronounced as Isabel. Their spiritual lethargy for the true God made them uncommitted. Its prosperity played a part in corrupting the Israelites' hearts, which is why Hosea mentions the divided or disloyal heart in context with its bountiful fruit. 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. 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 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. Not a BAS Library member yet? Today,. His ministry took place about 150 years before Israel was to fall, becoming the Lost Ten Tribes, so God was beginning to make a powerful witness to them. We need to be reminded of it because it can have a detrimental effect on us. Baal remains silent during the exchange, whereas God showers a sopping-wet altar with fire. 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. And one of the most famous instances of Israel going head to head with the prophets of Baal comes from 1 Kings 18. 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. 3:23). And Asherah and Baal led the way together (Judges 3:7, 1 Kings 18:19, 2 Kings 23:4). Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People. Baal worship spread rapidly when the king of Israel, Ahab, married Jezebel, the princess of Tyre (1 Kings 16:31-32). 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. The summer drought did not mean that YHWH had died (like Baal), nor did the return of the rains signal the resurrection. All Rights Reserved. Notice the dramatic change of attitude in the people. Now the word isai, simply means music in Tamil. This describes to a T what Israel did then and their descendants are continuing to do today. COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. He is the king of the east and governs an army of 66 legions of demons." Did you catch that? 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. 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). (From Forerunner Commentary). In the Bible, Baal (also rendered Baal) was an important Canaanite god, often portrayed as the primary enemy of the Hebrew God Yahweh. God's first command to destroy any forms of idol worship came early in the Bible in Exodus 34:13. . El and Anath mourn violently, mutilating their faces and bodies. Commentaries are at odds over what the Hebrew word translated divided means. And that happened with the Canaanites and Baal. God's difference from us is that He is holy; He is moral and we are immoral. 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 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. Possibly even more treacherous than this was a parallel development: mixing the worship of Yahweh and Baal. He did not like the position God put him in. Asherah, another popular deity in Canaan, was the goddess of motherhood and fertility . The Sidonians were the inhabitants of ancient Sidon, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea in modern Lebanon. The cosmic character of afon leads to its use as a synonym for "sky" in Job 26:7: "who stretched out afon on emptiness who suspended earth on naught." Certainly not those of east Asia. 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. 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. If you will not be committed to Him, you are going to die.". In Phoenician he was called Baal Shamen, Lord of the Heavens. . A second interpretation is that since the falling away contains the definite article, it refers to a unique event in man's history, far greater than anything that has happened before. They used the name of God frequently, saying they trusted Him, but they filled the nation with stealing, lying, and murder. 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. Baal was considered the supreme. 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. Baal's 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. The longest of the texts deals with the construction of Baal's house on top of Mount apn. But Jezebels religion is not Jewish whereas the religion of the Tamils is more like that of the Jews. He views them as personally rejecting Him and His Word. He replaced the Levitical priesthood with men of his own choosing. (Iron Age) temple. None of the foolish practices of the heathen could bring the rains; only YHWH could and did (Jer. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. Ashtoreth is mentioned three times in scripture, in 1 Kings 11:5 & 33, 2 Kings 23:13. It proved extremely hard for a monotheistic faith to compete against the Canaanite fertility cult. The prophet Haggai attributed the drought and scarcity in his day to the failure to rebuild the Temple (Hag. In this chapter, the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal have a show-down to prove the power of their God and gods. All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel fell into Baal and Asherah worship, and it is no different for us today. A religion with such a beginning was doomed to fail, bringing the nation down with it. 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. Or about Yahweh? 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. Baal Worship The Jews of Christ's day clearly recognized this putrid blend and despised the Samaritans for it. 11:1011). This establishes the fact that the Cannanites (Phoenicians) has connections with the Tamil speaking ancient Kerala mariners. 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! What Is Coptic and Who Were the Copts in Ancient Egypt? *Romans 1:25 "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and WORSHIPPED AND SERVED THE CREATURE MORE THAN THE CREATOR". Like ancient Israel, we can easily fall back into our former ways. Now that He has announced Israel's imminent calamity, God begins to show how His punishment would alter the lives of the people. l, b . Some become discouraged with the church because we are always being toldto some measure anywaydisturbing things about ourselves. A complex religion with traditions and gods from all over the ancient Middle East, Baal worship offered something for everyone. Sidons Storm God. Baal Peor, or the Baal of Peor, was a local deity worshiped by the Moabites. It may seem easy to point the finger at the ancient Israelites and say, How could you let a bull statue into Israel? 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. In Tamil Nadu, the following words payachi paarai, Peyazhwar, payans, pai (meaning devil) are currently in use. Sidon's Phoenician Temple. 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. After a textual gap, there is a report that Baal's corpse has been found. For those early Hebrews, Baal designated the Lord of Israel, just as Baal farther north designated the Lord of Lebanon or of Ugarit. This is God's way of showing that Israel abused its prosperity: It used its prosperity for the purposes of idolatry. They clash violently until both are prostrate and the Sungoddess warns Mot not to fight with Baal lest El hear and overthrow him. Because such people are drunk through riches' deceptive promise, their judgment is in danger of being radically altered. Ginsberg, Kitvei Ugarit (1936); J. Oberman, Ugaritic Mythology (1948); A.S. Kapelrud, Baal in the Ras Shamra Texts (1952); M. Dahood, in: Studi Semitici, 1 (1958), 7578; N. Habel, Yahweh Versus Baal: A Conflict of Religious Cultures (1964); J. because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. Corrections? The lesson for us becomes clear, because Jesus says the same thing (Matthew 6:24; 12:25). The Sovereign Creator is not a God who allows His favor to be bought with crumbs. They were not committed to the side that they were supposed to be on. 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). 1:4; Hab. Sun worship came from the ancient pagan religion of Baal. Most modern translations use "false," "deceitful," or "faithless," and none of these are wrong, including "divided." Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (rev. 6:30; II Kings 16:3233) are associated with him. 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. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. 1:711). . The Septuagint (LXX) rendered Joshua, the son of Nun, in Greek as Iesous; the same was used for Christs name in the NT. Who Was Baal? 19 Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. One would think that, if altars increase during this period of prosperity, then religion is flourishing. 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. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Groves and high places were places of worship erected to Canaanite gods and goddesses. The basis of all immorality is selfishness, the exact opposite of what God is. Does that way of life conform to the God of the Bible, or does it spring from the mind of men? Although Baal is mentioned almost 100 times in the Bible, he is best known from the narratives of I and II Kings which include the story of the Phoenician princess Jezebel (d. c. 842 BCE), who encouraged his worship, and her struggle with the prophet Elijah, champion of the cult of Yahweh. Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. Molech was an ancient god worshiped by the people neighboring Israel during Old Testament times. Because Baal was neither alive nor a moral force, his worshippers felt they could communicate with him only by ritual actions that portrayed what they were asking him to do. 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. But church is where we come to have our minds stretched and measured against Christ's standard. A third is that he is describing somebody teetering on a tightrope and trying to maintain his balance. There was, therefore, continuity in Sidons population from the Bronze to the Iron Age. ; Job 3:8, 7:12, 9:13, 26:1213, 38:811, 40:25). Baal persuaded Asherah to intercede with her husband El, the head of the pantheon, to authorize the construction of a palace. In their spiritually unaware state, they will be incredulous at God's punishment for "such a little bit of sin." This life-and-death struggle pitted the worship of Baal against the worship of Jehovah. was furnished by Harvard University excavations in the form of personal names containing Baal as the theophorous element, such as bybl, "Baal is my father," bl zmr, "Baal sings" or "Baalis strong," bl zkr, "Baal remembers," bl mny, "Baal is my answer," etc. They simply evolve. This chapter reports on the behavior of the people placed in Israel after Israel's conquest and deportation by Assyria between 722-720 BC. After we accept His calling, He commands us to become moral as He is. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 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 . The Bible is full of colorful characters, from Noah to Moses to Jesus. 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. Fertility was envisaged in terms of seven-year cycles. The name Baal in the Bible is most commonly associated with the Canaanite and Phoenician god of fertility, the rain, the sun, and the storm. Christ's purpose is to cure, not merely to comfort, so pain will be often involved when dealing with a prophet. 114) or with eschatological victory (Isa. 4:12; Hos. Elijah's work was to reveal the true God to Israel in a time of growing national crisis. 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. In Hosea 10:2, God charges Israel with having a divided heart. Whatever the case, there is no doubt about Elijah's intent: "How long will you keep shifting from one opinion to the other?" Baal is said to be one of the first of Solomon's 72 demons. Despite Gods efforts to dissuade them, the Israelites engaged with the Canaanite culture a little too much and adopted their practices, including Baal worship. What will happen will affect the entire world, even though the world will not grasp the spiritual significance. The handle displays an impression of a ship with the leonine dragon Uumgal, the storm god Adads attendant, next to it. Worship of Baal was also carried out right on the housetops of the people, from where sacrificial smoke to their god was frequently seen to rise. In Canaanite religion her primary role was that of mother goddess. The combined letters o and e is joined to pronounce the sound ye. This article is about Baal worship in the Bible. El is praised for his wisdom in granting the request since now it is insured that Baal will give his rain in season. They too had blended the worship of the true God with outright paganism, utterly corrupting the relationship He had established with them. Remember, this falling away sets the stage for the man of sin, who will have tremendous influence over humanity. 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. 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. Required fields are marked *. But who is Baal? One interpretation is that it is a localized occurrence, in the sense of it happening just within the little flockthe church. So it was that, about 250 years after it was established, the ten-tribed northern kingdom became extinct as a sovereign nation. Immorality lies in the desire of men to live self-centered lives independent of God, as when Adam and Eve took of the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:1-19). The bird cannot make up its mind where it wants to settle down, so it just keeps hopping around. 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.). Indeed, religion flourished, as Amos, Hosea's contemporary, clearly reports (see Amos 5:21-27). you didnt even mention her horrible daughter Athaliah, the only killer queen 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. Archeological excavations have dated information about Baal back as far as the second millennium BC, and the spread of Baal worship caught fire in Egypt in 1400 BC. Even now some ancient Jews (white and black) live in Cochin, Kerala, India. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. 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.

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