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. a little T-shaped mark that stands for the long-A vowel (like a in father). For this reason, God shows that the preacher, not the civil authority, is the most vital part of the community. "They built for themselves high places in all their cities . 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. Ahab accommodated his wife's idolatry to the point of building a . But what was its real effect on the participants and the nation? In the Judeo-Christian tradition Asherah is considered a false Canaanite deity and a major source of temptation to the Israelites. The Devil is behind a. 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. In this chapter, the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal have a show-down to prove the power of their God and gods. Who were the Sidonians of the Bronze Age (c. 30001200 B.C.E.)? However, even though their origins were Canaanite, the Phoenicians established their own distinct culture. Various forms of Baal worship are still going on in the Catholic church; even though these pagan idols were incorporated into Catholicism centuries ago, the worship of the sun still exists to this day. A vivid description of theophany in a thunderstorm is found in Psalms 18:715 (= II Sam. 2008 The Gale Group. 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. 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. 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. . Hope Bolingeris an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, and the author 21+ books. After we accept His calling, He commands us to become moral as He is. a deeper walk-What were the child sacrifices, high places and north of Ugarit. Thus in any year anxiety about the rainfall would be a continuing concern of the inhabitants which would suffice to give rise to rites to ensure the coming of the rains. 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 . Reuben Alcalay, a famous Hebrew lexicographer, stated that Yehoshua is closely related to Let there be So, lets be intellectually honest and start using the proper English translation: Joshua. In short, Scripture has nothing positive to say about Baal. . 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). It Is So Painful to Care: How Do I Conquer Apathy? Sometimes the leadership of the nation of Israel tolerated and embraced the deities of other nations. For a while, both sidesthe Confederate and the Unionaccepted those turncoats and took their information. This chapter reports on the behavior of the people placed in Israel after Israel's conquest and deportation by Assyria between 722-720 BC. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Baal was also worshipped by various communities as a local god. Study the god Baal, Baal worship, and the presentation of Baal in the Bible. 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. Apparently in anticipation of developments the artisan god Koshar had cast furnishings of gold and silver. He was considered superior to his father, El, the chief of the deities. The Israelites fell into the worship of this idol(Numbers 25:3,5,18; Deuteronomy 4:3; Psalm 106:28; Hosea 9:10). Child Sacrifice and Baal - Moloch - Anglican Orthodox Church El and Anath mourn violently, mutilating their faces and bodies. Adad roughly equates with the later Phoenician storm god Baal, the worship of whom is championed by the nefarious queen Jezebel in the Bible. Baal and Asherah - HoldToHope Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. Two practices in particular are mentioned in Scripture. Required fields are marked *. 19:5ff.). because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. The judge Gideon was also named Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32), and King Saul had a son named Ishbaal (I Chronicles 8:33). By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Koshar twice recommended that a window be installed and Baal twice vetoed the suggestion, although Koshar insisted that Baal would have to reconsider. (the Iron Age). Thus the basis of the Baal cult was the utter dependence of life on the rains which were regarded as Baal's bounty. Baal Worship is Alive and Well in the World! | The Bible Stop . They were afraid of God, but they did not really change their way of life. Indeed, religion flourished, as Amos, Hosea's contemporary, clearly reports (see Amos 5:21-27). Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. That there were minor Baalim also at Ugarit is indicated by a god list in Akkadian (see Ugaritica, 5, p. 44 ll. A large part of this world's appeal is its offer of financial security. Baal Worship was Blatant and in Your Face at the Commonwealth 2022 Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Corrections? 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. Baal Worship Top 10 Sacred Prostitutes - Listverse The contest on Mount Carmel was reported as demonstrating that Baal was an impotent non-entity and that the rain came only from YHWH. But when heat is applied, and the blood begins rushing into the affected areas, pain immediately occurs. Even those who have vaguely heard of the name Baal in the Bible know it doesnt have a good connotation. Molech was another such god. Baal persuaded Asherah to intercede with her husband El, the head of the pantheon, to authorize the construction of a palace. One would think that, if altars increase during this period of prosperity, then religion is flourishing. In the Bible, Jezebel is notorious for persecuting the worship of Yahweh and for demanding that the Israelites worship Baal. Perhaps the clearest example of this is Jeremiah, who moaned and complained to God, "This is more difficult than You ever told me it would be. 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.. Since their rejection of the house of David under Jeroboam I, the Israelites had practiced a syncretistic religion (Amos 5:21-26; 8:14; I Kings 12:25-33). Updated: 12/07/2022 Doumet-Serhal explains the significance of the handles iconography: The dragon epitomizes the most fundamental ancient mythical perception of the Mesopotamian storm god. 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. Their spiritual lethargy for the true God made them uncommitted. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. 33:7) has been made the basis of intriguing speculation by Eissfeldt. Dated to c. 1750 B.C.E., the handle pictures the storm god as a leonine dragon. This is the crux of our salvation through Jesus Christ. . The Cult of Moloch - Jewish Virtual Library In Psalms 48:23, Mount Zion is equated with "the recesses of afon" (the phrase quoted above from Isa. The right remedy, according to Israel's prophets, was to repudiate Baal completely and to seek and return to Israel's true God (Isa. This viewpoint was developed as the basic and final argument against Baalism. Nevertheless, he was still faithful, and he did his job. 4. you didnt even mention her horrible daughter Athaliah, the only killer queen The myth may refer in part to the construction of Baals own temple in the city of Ugarit. 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. Who was Baal? | GotQuestions.org 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. Take the word isabel; it can be split as isa bel or as isai bel. In mythological texts from the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550-1200 B.C.E) city-state of Ugarit, she is called "the creatress of the gods"; her consort at Ugarit, the god El, is . But church is where we come to have our minds stretched and measured against Christ's standard. This is God's way of showing that Israel abused its prosperity: It used its prosperity for the purposes of idolatry. BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Hermann, in: DDD, 13238; M.S. In some cases, they attempted to attach this practice to worship of the Lord (Ezek 23:39). The prophet turns the heat on, and they become angry with him when he is actually working to make them better. 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. Asherah was a fertility goddess. ADD. He then merely floats, going through the motions, even feeling good about himself as he neglects so great salvation (Hebrews 2:3). PDF WE ARE PRACTICING BAAL-PEOR WORSHIP LIKE ISRAEL OF OLD WE - Numbers1317 As an example, notice Amos 2:6-7, where Amos chides the Israelites: ". Like ancient Israel, we can easily fall back into our former ways. Christ warned the Pharisees: "For laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the traditions of men." But God. Baal was the god of rain, wind, and fertility. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, which depend on irrigation, the Promised Land drinks water from the rain of heaven (Deut. 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). Even now some ancient Jews (white and black) live in Cochin, Kerala, India. His overall conduct may not be too bad, but his poor self-analysis persuades him that he has no urgent need to seek God any further. 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. Then stood up Phinehas, and exe Then they linked up with Baal Peor, attending funeral banquets and eating idol food. (the Middle Bronze Age), this impressed handle depicts a ship and a leonine dragon, which is the symbol of the Mesopotamian storm god Adad. Lastly, he replaced God with golden calves in Bethel and Dan. Jun 2. Baal was a false god the feckless Jewish King Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel, attempted to force upon the nation of Israel during the time of Elijah the prophet (see 1 Kings 18). 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. 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. One such deity who gripped Israel for a period of time was Baal. The sequel to this action is furnished by the group of texts which recount Baal's confrontations with Mot. 27:1, 30:7, 51:910; Ezek. 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." 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. 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. Pagan Religious Practices. What the Bible says about Baal Worship - Bible Tools 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. 131; Sanh. The proposition for the concept is as follows: The Latins called the Phoenicians as Poeni. Moffatt renders this, "They worshipped the Eternal, and they also served their own gods.". He replaced the Levitical priesthood with men of his own choosing. 74:1314, 89:910, 93:1ff. In the Bible, the followers of the one true God encounter other gods, or previously worshipped idols themselves. Child Sacrifice, Transgender Issues and Baal Worship (the Middle Bronze Age). The spectacular victory for Yahwism did not have a lasting effect. The principal pillars of Baalism were child sacrifice, sexual immorality (both heterosexual and homosexual) and pantheism . In contrast, the church has had periods of strength and weakness all throughout its historyit goes through cycles of rallying around truth and then gradually letting it slip. 114) or with eschatological victory (Isa. Prepare to Meet Your God! The prophet Amos particularizes the epidemic of social injustice in the Kingdom of Israel. Baal's resurrection followed Mot's demise, the good news being transmitted through a dream of El: The fields were still parched from the drought and again Anath and Shapsh set out to find Baal. With Baal's functions accredited to YHWH, it was natural and fitting that some of Baal's titles would also be taken over. High Places, Altars and the Bamah - Biblical Archaeology Society He wanted people to like him, which is understandable. The Baal-worship so often alluded to and described in Holy Writ might, perhaps, be better styled Cid-worship, moon-worship, Melek ()-worship, or Hadad-worship, according to places and circumstances.Many of the practices mentioned were most probably common to the worship . They clash violently until both are prostrate and the Sungoddess warns Mot not to fight with Baal lest El hear and overthrow him. . As a result of their sin, the men of Israel were judged by God. He may have replaced the Sabbath with Sunday worship. A falling away is taking place right now. (The suggestion that Jer. And she has taken over many so-called churches. (II Kings 17:35-38). All this was part of his fertility role, which, when fulfilled, meant an abundance of crops and fertility for animals and mankind. Baal is also referred to about 12 times as "the Rider of the Clouds" which undoubtedly testifies to his control over the rain and storms. 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. John W. Ritenbaugh 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). What the Bible says about In another room was a round base that likely supported a wooden pillar. Adad (the Canaanite Hadad, the Semitic Hadda, the Hurrian Teshub, the Egyptian Resheph, the Phoenician Baal/Bel, the Sumerian Ishkur) is the Mesopotamian storm god, who has special maritime, celestial and meteorological attributes important to the well-being of sailors. Ritual prostitution only served to erode the family, eventually leading to the destruction of the nation. Learn about the Canaanite-Phoenician deities who were called Baal, which means Lord. Baal worship also included, at times, child sacrifice, which we see some Israelite kings engaging with later on. Of special interest is the designation Aliy (ly) which is twice applied to Baal in the Krt Epic: Before the discovery and recognition of this name in Ugaritic, H.S. Israel "feared other gods" (verse 7). Recall the mention in Hosea 10:1 of increasing and embellishing altars just before Israel fell to Assyria. However, before the war was over, both sides were summarily executing anybody who did this because those traitors could not be trusted. In the Old Testament, many of the kings and eventually the whole nation of Israel rebelled against God and chose opposing belief systems. She gives life to 70 other gods in the Canaanite pantheon. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 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. And Asherah and Baal led the way together (Judges 3:7, 1 Kings 18:19, 2 Kings 23:4). YHWH's victory over the waters is connected either with the rescue of Israel at the Exodus (Ps. Yet Sidon was a significant site before this period, too. (Jeremiah 7:8-10). 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. 7:1416). * Jesus is a transliteration of the Latin; it is NOT a translation! (From Forerunner Commentary). 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? Baal was a god of prosperity, god of harvest, sex and fertility. Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (rev. 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. Burning incense, worship of the sun, moon, astrology, and ancestor worship are all earmarks of the Baal religion. guilty of adopting the ghastly Canaanite practice of child sacrifice. 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. Either you are going to be committed to Him or not. This establishes the fact that the Cannanites (Phoenicians) has connections with the Tamil speaking ancient Kerala mariners. The word bel can be transformed into vel or val. *Romans 1:25 "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and WORSHIPPED AND SERVED THE CREATURE MORE THAN THE CREATOR". 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. The Aztec people used two calendars. 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. Certainly not those of east Asia. Your email address will not be published. Depending on the tradition, she was either Baal's mother, lover, or both. He began to prophesy in a time of immediate crisis, one that would become far worse before it ever improved. Sidons Phoenician Temple. One of the rooms in this temple had a bench, where offerings would have been placed, and an altar made of . I know the firstborn of Creation through and for Him everything was made would appreciate it! What Tamils are you speaking of? 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. One interpretation is that it is a localized occurrence, in the sense of it happening just within the little flockthe church. A god Baal apn was known from Egyptian and Akkadian sources before the discovery of the Ugaritic documents. So the word Jezebel finally means one who is a good musician. Such evil cunning. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. The Worship of Baal - Bible History Isai is music in Tamil and Vallavi means an expert. At Ras-Shamar, Baal was referred to as the son of Dagon, the Philistines chief god. The laws given to Moses by God expressly forbade the Jews to do what was done in Egypt or in Canaan. . The songs of His Temple would ordinarily be happy and joyous songs of praise to God, but He will turn the songs of their templesung to Baal in the name of the Lordto wailing, for the numbers of the dead will be unimaginable. ed., 1965); H.B. Baal is a Canaanite and Phoeniciandeity and the son of the chief god El. Drought and the Fall of the Hittite Empire. 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 prophet Haggai attributed the drought and scarcity in his day to the failure to rebuild the Temple (Hag. He is often accused of causing their pain. The Kingdom of Israel fell below the historian's radar. Baalism in Canaanite Religion and Its Relation to Selected Old - Bible 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. Baal's 450 prophets worked themselves into a frenzy, cutting themselves, dancing, and chanting to their god. Anyway she changed her mind and sent his son to Libya etc As such, Baal designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. Next both Mot and Baal appear reconstituted and reactivated and again in conflict. Superstitious fear and sexual rites on the one hand fought against faith and loyalty on the other. 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. 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! Elijah prepared the way for Elisha, who had a double portion of Elijah's spirit and did many more miracles. Aztec Religion Beliefs, Practices & Mythology | Religion of the Aztecs She's most famously the mother of Baal, another god who shows up throughout the Old Testament when the Israelites stray after other idols. In this regard, Elijah was a type of John the Baptist, and Elisha, a type of Christ. 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. Join the BAS Library today. Everything Joshua* (Yehoshua) did was in accordance with the TaNaKh, which is an acrostic for Torah (=Law/Instruction), Neviim (=Prophets), and Ketuvim (=Writings).