The Septuagint (LXX) referred to the latter as a stranger [in the land]. This viewpoint was developed as the basic and final argument against Baalism. Our god is what we give our lives over to. that the southern kingdom of Judah ever had .just like her momma. Baal was also worshipped by various communities as a local god. In their spiritually unaware state, they will be incredulous at God's punishment for "such a little bit of sin." 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. (the Middle Bronze Age), this impressed handle depicts a ship and a leonine dragon, which is the symbol of the Mesopotamian storm god Adad. No one answered; no one paid attention" (v. 29 ESV). Whatever the case, there is no doubt about Elijah's intent: "How long will you keep shifting from one opinion to the other?" The prophet Amos particularizes the epidemic of social injustice in the Kingdom of Israel. We need to be reminded of it because it can have a detrimental effect on us. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. Although they lived in Israel, Jezebel and her retainers were free to worship Baal. 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. 114) or with eschatological victory (Isa. Required fields are marked *. Figs and grapes ripen during the dry season and the grain harvest also takes place before the rains resume. For those early Hebrews, Baal designated the Lord of Israel, just as Baal farther north designated the Lord of Lebanon or of Ugarit. You tricked me." Anath then dismembered Mot, scattered and burned the pieces, and gave them to the birds. The Laodicean evaluates himself, saying, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing" (Revelation 3:17). He was the god that provided - food - for the people. This article is about Baal worship in the Bible. (Iron Age) temple. In the formative stages of Israels history, the presence of Baal names did not necessarily mean apostasy or even syncretism. Theoretically, the Israelites did not believe in idols, but in reality, they did. The myth may refer in part to the construction of Baals own temple in the city of Ugarit. Our nation has embraced the old ancient paganism that we read about in the Bible. In this chapter, the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal have a show-down to prove the power of their God and gods. 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. The word is used as the name of a town in ancient Israel in Deuteronomy 1:4, Joshua . He sends someone long before the real crisis reaches its peak, while it is building. 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. 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. Burning incense, worship of the sun, moon, astrology, and ancestor worship are all earmarks of the Baal religion. The Bible tells us that there were dire consequences for Israel worshiping a false god (Judges 2). What happens if a person, trying to establish a religion, mixes falsehood with the truth of God? As we study the operation of the spirit of Baal in the Bible, one can see the fruit of its operation in the USA.. Thus, they developed a syncretic religious system, a blending of the truth of God and outright paganism. Either you are going to be committed to Him or not. Elijah had to take drastic measures to prevent Baal worship from completely eradicating the worship of the true God (I Kings 18:20-40). And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. 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. That afon designated the "north" in Hebrew is presumably due to the fact that Mount Casius lies directly north of Palestine. When Ashtoreth is mentioned in scripture, she is linked to Molech, (also called Milcom in the Bible). Horrendous and repulsive aspects of the worship sexual excesses and perversions (Isa. 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. 27:1). l /), or Baal (Hebrew: baal), was a title and honorific meaning 'owner', 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity.From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. In Canaanite religion her primary role was that of mother goddess. People like to feel comfortable. 1:4; Hab. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. Hosea exposes the problem between God and Israel. It disturbed them. Join the BAS Library today. . 8. The beliefs and practices of the Canaanites were not only detestable, but they also . The ancient Tamils had connections with the Syrians and Sidon. The laws given to Moses by God expressly forbade the Jews to do what was done in Egypt or in Canaan. 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. In the Judeo-Christian tradition Asherah is considered a false Canaanite deity and a major source of temptation to the Israelites. 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. 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. Baal was the god of agriculture and fertility in Canaan, becoming a fallen angel and a demon. ), from an original Baal-Zebul, which is preserved in this form in the New Testament (Matt. 14:13). When we see that our thoughts and ways are not His, we should reform and repent. 14:2). Many of the practices mentioned were most probable common to the worship of all the Baals; a few others are certainly specific. The Septuagint (LXX) rendered Joshua, the son of Nun, in Greek as Iesous; the same was used for Christs name in the NT. 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. In Hebrew, it is rendered Yehoshua, and in Aramaic, Yeshua. The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. The judge Gideon was also named Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32), and King Saul had a son named Ishbaal (I Chronicles 8:33). Note the name of her father, King of the Sidoneans and apparently (Josephus) a priest of Baal as well. Molech was an ancient god worshiped by the people neighboring Israel during Old Testament times. 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). The continued worship of Baal was given as one of the causes for the destruction of Judah (Jer. God's pattern is being established. Israel "feared other gods" (verse 7). In this regard, Elijah was a type of John the Baptist, and Elisha, a type of Christ. What is so interesting is that, by verse 35, it is clear God is no longer addressing Himself to the Samaritans, but to Israel: [T]he LORD had made a covenant and charged [Israel], saying: "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; but the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. So the word Jezebel finally means one who is a good musician. It proved extremely hard for a monotheistic faith to compete against the Canaanite fertility cult. El is praised for his wisdom in granting the request since now it is insured that Baal will give his rain in season. There was tremendous evil to overcome. Now that He has announced Israel's imminent calamity, God begins to show how His punishment would alter the lives of the people. 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. He may have replaced the Sabbath with Sunday worship. Dated to c. 1750 B.C.E. O. Eissfeldt, Beitraege zur Religionsgeschichte des Altertums I (1932); H.L. The longest of the texts deals with the construction of Baal's house on top of Mount apn. They used the name of God frequently, saying they trusted Him, but they filled the nation with stealing, lying, and murder. And that happened with the Canaanites and Baal. Today, some evangelicals attempt to prepare the people for what is to come, but their teaching is a mixture of right and wrong. 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. It was a corruption of that religion, for the Israelites syncretized that holy way with Baalism and other idolatries. The Macedonian Cleopatra planned to send her son to India through the Red Sea. * Jesus is a transliteration of the Latin; it is NOT a translation! Paul, in: Biblica, 49 (1968), 3436; U. Oldenburg, The Conflict Between El and Bal in Canaanite Religion (1969). 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. "Christian" religions of this world have mixed the traditions of paganism with some of the truth of God's Word. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: And the plague brake in upon them. Because Canaan depended on rain to grow crops and survive, he was numero uno. 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. The Masoretic text has the 4 letters YHWH with a sheva under the Y, pronounced yuh, and a Qamats below the W, i.e. John W. Ritenbaugh Two practices in particular are mentioned in Scripture. In the Aztec religion, life existed before humans, and civilization was built after the destruction of the fourth sun. Indeed, throughout its history, the most important god at Sidon was the storm godknown during the Phoenician period as Baal or Bel. Next both Mot and Baal appear reconstituted and reactivated and again in conflict. God sends a prophet to people who are cold in their relationship with Godspiritually freezing to deaththough they want to stay that way. . As a result of their sin, the men of Israel were judged by God. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. But God. He replaced the Levitical priesthood with men of his own choosing. This is no different from what Israel was doing when Amos wrote back in 760 BC. 2:13) and *Asherah (Judg. Evil practices never go away. The worship of Baal extended in this region to the Jews, Canaanites and the Phoenicians. "like a bird in a tree. Jehu's massacre of the Baal worshipers (II Kings 10:1828) did not eradicate bull worship (II Kings 10:31). Baal & Asherah. You have a cuddly little Baal idol in your child's bedroom without even suspecting it. In the El-Amarna letters Canaanite clients addressed the Egyptian king as "My Baal, my Addu." (The Book of Amos) (Part Two). Take the word isabel; it can be split as isa bel or as isai bel. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. 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." In those God calls outthose who, by faith, will voluntarily yield to HimHe is building character based on outgoing love. In some cases, they attempted to attach this practice to worship of the Lord (Ezek 23:39). The Israelites rejected the law of God and relied on the traditions of Gentile nations. Ritual prostitution only served to erode the family, eventually leading to the destruction of the nation. Now another presentation that the Phoenicians who are also connected with the Canaanites had traded with the trading mariners of Kerala, India. 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. And of all the foreign gods the Israelites came into contact with, they appeared to struggle the most with worshipping this one. After a textual gap, there is a report that Baal's corpse has been found. They simply evolve. 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. II Kings 17:33 illustrates their worship: "They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods - according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away." II Kings 17:5-6 relates the ultimate consequence. 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. ed., 1965); H.B. 7:1416). Sidon is the birth place of Jezabel. The Hebrew scriptures speak frequently of the Baal of a given place or refers to Baalim in the plural, suggesting the evidence of local deities, or lords, of various locales. What Tamils are you speaking of? 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. Kings Ahaz and Manasseh, The eschatological traits were taken over with the Canaanite myths. (Iron Age) temple. Blending the lies of this world with the truth of God produces a foul mixture called syncretism (James 3:10-13). How many pagan ideas have we let seep in? 33:7) has been made the basis of intriguing speculation by Eissfeldt. Canaanite Religions and Baal Worship by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson Audio (12:51) Free E-mail Bible Study Grace: Favor for the Undeserving. Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? In other words, prosperity turns people's heads. Possibly even more treacherous than this was a parallel development: mixing the worship of Yahweh and Baal. 10:25, 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18). 57 Bull Baal. 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. 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. Second was passing their babies through the fire. Updated: 12/07/2022 Scott Broberg Fig Tree Ministries. Remember, this falling away sets the stage for the man of sin, who will have tremendous influence over humanity. More than 1400 of her works have been featured in various publications. Because of their self-procured wealth and affluence, they think they are being blessed with material things. He could, and did, withhold the rain from one city and lavish it on another (Amos 4:7). Sift through the storied history of ancient Israel. Tamil is connected with the Phoenician. For this reason, God shows that the preacher, not the civil authority, is the most vital part of the community. The Bible speaks of the destruction of Baal's temples and the idols associated with him. Isaiah 29:13 clarifies what God means: "Therefore the LORD said: 'Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.'" Or about Yahweh? The variant form Hadad (hdd) is attested to only once in Ugaritic. What Is the Significance of Not the Letter but of the Spirit? The combined letters o and e is joined to pronounce the sound ye. The Kingdom of Israel fell below the historian's radar. 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. Bible Study Hosea Old Testament. Even those who have vaguely heard of the name Baal in the Bible know it doesnt have a good connotation. Everything Joshua* (Yehoshua) did was in accordance with the TaNaKh, which is an acrostic for Torah (=Law/Instruction), Neviim (=Prophets), and Ketuvim (=Writings). Yet if you asked most people who believe and follow this new morality, I suspect few would have ever heard of Baal. 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. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. The prophet comes along and troubles people by awakening them to their sins, making them feel guilty about their relationships with God and each other. 6:30; II Kings 16:3233) are associated with him. In daily life, they conformed to and reflected the Babylonish system just as Israel does today. 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. Christ warned the Pharisees: "For laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the traditions of men." However, even though their origins were Canaanite, the Phoenicians established their own distinct culture. For a while, both sidesthe Confederate and the Unionaccepted those turncoats and took their information. One of the rooms in this temple had a bench, where offerings would have been placed, and an altar made of . Observing Christmas and Easter in the name of Christ is no different. Some scholars believe that the Canaanites also sacrificed pigs and that God prohibited his people from eating pork in part to prevent this horrible cult from being established among them. A religion with such a beginning was doomed to fail, bringing the nation down with it. And she has taken over many so-called churches. Baal transformed into Zeus, who transformed into Jupiter, etc. because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. 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 too had blended the worship of the true God with outright paganism, utterly corrupting the relationship He had established with them. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. When a person is freezing to death, he feels a pleasant numbness that he does not want to end. Biblical narrative incorporates tales of Baal worship into the traditions of the wilderness wandering, thus tracing Baal worship to the earliest period of Israel's existence. made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal" (verses 15-16). 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. 106 a ). 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. Baal and Asherah were two giant stumbling blocks for the people of Israel. Since the root tr in Arabic is connected with artificial irrigation, it is apparent that Ashtar's failure to measure up to Baal represents the inadequacy of irrigation as a substitute for natural rainfall. They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. Baal was different from his adherents merely in that he was above them. 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. Once Elijah began preaching, their conscience pricked them, and it encouraged them to worship the true God. Your email address will not be published. In the Bible, Jezebel is notorious for persecuting the worship of Yahweh and for demanding that the Israelites worship Baal. 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. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, which depend on irrigation, the Promised Land drinks water from the rain of heaven (Deut. Anyway she changed her mind and sent his son to Libya etc The Semitic word "baal" (meaning '"Lord") was also used to refer to various deities of the Levant. The word bal, common Semitic for "owner, master, husband," became the usual designation of the great weather-god of the Western Semites. 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. Today, music performers entice young and old in the practice of the worship of Baal-Peor 10:1113; 14:22). 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. Jun 2. Let's exemplify Baal doctrines as preached . Elijah was dealing with the same thing here, albeit spiritually. All 450 prophets of Baal do not escape the slaughter that takes place after that. Most modern translations use "false," "deceitful," or "faithless," and none of these are wrong, including "divided." The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel." 11:17; I Kings 8:3536; Jer. He views them as personally rejecting Him and His Word. Hope Bolingeris an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, and the author 21+ books. Indeed, religion flourished, as Amos, Hosea's contemporary, clearly reports (see Amos 5:21-27). ; Job 3:8, 7:12, 9:13, 26:1213, 38:811, 40:25). Depending on the tradition, she was either Baal's mother, lover, or both. When the Israelites, following Moses to the Promised Land, were in the vicinity of Peor, some of them fell into idolatry and worshiped Baal Peor. Baal persuaded Asherah to intercede with her husband El, the head of the pantheon, to authorize the construction of a palace. And Asherah and Baal led the way together (Judges 3:7, 1 Kings 18:19, 2 Kings 23:4). 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. By the time of the prophet Hosea (mid-8th century bce) the antagonism to Baalism was so strong that the use of the term Baal was often replaced by the contemptuous boshet (shame); in compound proper names, for example, Ishbosheth replaced the earlier Ishbaal. They were Phoenicians. Baal Worship 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. 4:12; Hos. He is deceived into thinking that his material prosperity proves that God approves of his conduct and attitudes. 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.. The events leading up to the Day of the Lord will be unmistakable to those with eyes to see. 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). The written form Moloch (in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament), or Molech (Hebrew), is the word Melech or king, transformed by interposing the vowels of bosheth or 'shameful thing'. 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. 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). Baal worship spread rapidly when the king of Israel, Ahab, married Jezebel, the princess of Tyre (1 Kings 16:31-32). The sequel to this action is furnished by the group of texts which recount Baal's confrontations with Mot. They become "settled on their lees," as it says in Zephaniah 1:12. . Baal was the god of rain, wind, and fertility. They clash violently until both are prostrate and the Sungoddess warns Mot not to fight with Baal lest El hear and overthrow him. El and Anath mourn violently, mutilating their faces and bodies. A biblical pharaoh's border monument.