The worship of Baal was popular in Egypt from the later New Kingdom in about 1400 bce to its end (1075 bce). Recall God's prophecy in Deuteronomy 32:15, predicting that when Israel prospered, then it would rebel. Because such people are drunk through riches' deceptive promise, their judgment is in danger of being radically altered. 8. When a person is freezing to death, he feels a pleasant numbness that he does not want to end. 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. JezaBel can be respelLt as JezaVel ~ JezaVAl ~ IezaVAL ~ Isaval-lavi ~ an expert in music. They were afraid of God, but they did not really change their way of life. So the word Poeni can be rewritten as Peyeni or as Payani or as Payan. Even as the Canaanite religion waned, Baal took on a new role as Zeus in the Ancient Greek pantheon. Asherah, along with Astarte and Anath, was one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon. Despite Gods efforts to dissuade them, the Israelites engaged with the Canaanite culture a little too much and adopted their practices, including Baal worship. Asherah was a fertility goddess. When we see that our thoughts and ways are not His, we should reform and repent. They were Phoenicians. However, it was not the religion God gave through Moses, but idolatry that flourished! Join the BAS Library today. Corrections? Baal persuaded Asherah to intercede with her husband El, the head of the pantheon, to authorize the construction of a palace. 19 Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. The Semitic word "baal" (meaning '"Lord") was also used to refer to various deities of the Levant. Baal worship was the bane of the Ancient Israelites. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:14). Groves and high places were places of worship erected to Canaanite gods and goddesses. (The Book of Amos) (Part Two), Searching for Israel (Part Six): Israel Is Fallen, Is Fallen, He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true. Virtually all reference to Baal's consort, the violent "Virgin Anath" with whom Baal copulates by the thousand in one of the Ugaritic mythological fragments has been excluded from the Bible, but the goddesses Ashtart (Judg. 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. The Aztec people used two calendars. These soldiers would surrender themselves to the other side to be given a bit of favor and put into prison. Sun worship came from the ancient pagan religion of Baal. If you will not be committed to Him, you are going to die.". 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. Baal was considered the supreme. The word bel can be transformed into vel or val. 4:12; Hos. Isaiah 14:13 alludes to this divine abode as "the Mount of Assembly in the recesses of afon" (har moed be-yarkete afon), the latter phrase being the equivalent of Ugaritic mrym pn or rrt pn, the height or fastness of apn. Meaning of Jezebel: This word can be also pronounced as Isabel. The sequel to this action is furnished by the group of texts which recount Baal's confrontations with Mot. Prepare to Meet Your God! 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. . Paul, then, is letting the church know that it need not be concerned about missing the end time. For a while, both sidesthe Confederate and the Unionaccepted those turncoats and took their information. 6:30; II Kings 16:3233) are associated with him. It was this Israelite worship of Baal which was challenged by the Hebrew prophet Elijah in his famous conflict with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in I Kings 18, when he challenged the. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Elijah had to take drastic measures to prevent Baal worship from completely eradicating the worship of the true God (I Kings 18:20-40). 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." Sidons Storm God. During the summer months the rains cease, but the temporary drought is no threat unless it is abnormally prolonged. Scott Broberg Fig Tree Ministries. Pagan Religious Practices. Anath then dismembered Mot, scattered and burned the pieces, and gave them to the birds. The continued worship of Baal was given as one of the causes for the destruction of Judah (Jer. Did the Carthaginians Really Practice Infant Sacrifice? 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. BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Hermann, in: DDD, 13238; M.S. The Kingdom of Israel fell below the historian's radar. The name is more likely derived from the god Baal. In this regard, Elijah was a type of John the Baptist, and Elisha, a type of Christ. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: And the plague brake in upon them. When the rain failed, it was inevitable that some would question YHWH's power and resort to Baal. Child sacrifice was a fundamental aspect of Baal worship. Apparently in anticipation of developments the artisan god Koshar had cast furnishings of gold and silver. John W. Ritenbaugh 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. BAAL WORSHIP AND SEMITIC RACISM This term was used as a title and name of various local deities worshipped as guardians, heroes, and kings. What was the rationale behind this perverse, immoral act? 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). This is the crux of our salvation through Jesus Christ. 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. In daily life, they conformed to and reflected the Babylonish system just as Israel does today. The god of arts and crafts, Kothar, then proceeded to build for Baal the most beautiful of palaces which spread over an area of 10,000 acres. Some suppose Baal to correspond to the sun and Ashtoreth to the moon; others that Baal was Jupiter and Ashtoreth Venus. The name "Baal" shows up seven times in Hosea (2:8, 2:13, 2:16, 2:17 . The Canaanites often worshipped her via trees (Asherah poles) because of her association with the tree of life. 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. 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 . Baal was a god of prosperity, god of harvest, sex and fertility. Christ's purpose is to cure, not merely to comfort, so pain will be often involved when dealing with a prophet. The Devil is behind a. guilty of adopting the ghastly Canaanite practice of child sacrifice. 131; Sanh. With Baal's functions accredited to YHWH, it was natural and fitting that some of Baal's titles would also be taken over. Now another presentation that the Phoenicians who are also connected with the Canaanites had traded with the trading mariners of Kerala, India. Their reverence for Him was mere intellectual accommodation intended to appease Him. In their ignorance, the people do not realize the terrible calamity that is coming soon upon modern Israel. At the foundation of every community is a way of life that its people live and teach their children. The prophet Haggai attributed the drought and scarcity in his day to the failure to rebuild the Temple (Hag. For this reason, God shows that the preacher, not the civil authority, is the most vital part of the community. 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 word bal, common Semitic for "owner, master, husband," became the usual designation of the great weather-god of the Western Semites. Silapadikaram, a Tamil Classic, mentions more than 200 musical instruments. The events leading up to the Day of the Lord will be unmistakable to those with eyes to see. The Israelites displayed a pandemic failure to love their fellow man. Certainly not those of east Asia. He is a loving Master who only is to be obeyed and servedand only on His terms. The prize of the victory was kingship over the gods and the enthronement ritual guaranteed the natural order of life and the welfare of the society. Some become discouraged with the church because we are always being toldto some measure anywaydisturbing things about ourselves. The Septuagint (LXX) referred to the latter as a stranger [in the land]. Recall God's wrath when Aaron made a golden calf at the urging of the Israelites in the wilderness and proclaimed a feast to the Lord (Exodus 32:1-5). Valimai means strengh, or force or weight. 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." He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baal-ancient-deity, McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Baal, Baal - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Alternate titles: Baal Shamen, Baal Shemin, Baalim. Elijah's work was to reveal the true God to Israel in a time of growing national crisis. They too had blended the worship of the true God with outright paganism, utterly corrupting the relationship He had established with them. In the Old Testament, many of the kings and eventually the whole nation of Israel rebelled against God and chose opposing belief systems. 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 happens if a person, trying to establish a religion, mixes falsehood with the truth of God? 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. Baal rejoiced and celebrated with a banquet. 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. 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. Most of the information they gave turned out to be wrong, to be lies. This god also, apparently according to Canaanite lore, defeated El and had associations with the sun and thunder. Today, some evangelicals attempt to prepare the people for what is to come, but their teaching is a mixture of right and wrong. 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. 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. Yet such fluidity in the use of the term baal did not prevent it from being attached to a god of distinct character. Before descending to the realm of death, Baal copulates with a heifer and begets a male offspring. Verse 15 points out that the people "rejected [God's] statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them." 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 . Since El and Dagn are distinct deities, this seeming confusion over Baal's paternity needs explanation. He then merely floats, going through the motions, even feeling good about himself as he neglects so great salvation (Hebrews 2:3). 106 a ). Baal transformed into Zeus, who transformed into Jupiter, etc. 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 Hebrew word suggests "smoothness" or "flattering," describing people who "talk the talk" but do not "walk the walk.". A vivid description of theophany in a thunderstorm is found in Psalms 18:715 (= II Sam. Baal's house was constructed in an extraordinary fashion. Hosea exposes the problem between God and Israel. Baal's worshipers appeased him by offering sacrifices, usually animals such as sheep or bulls (1 Kings 18:23). God's difference from us is that He is holy; He is moral and we are immoral. Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. 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. Baal was also worshipped by various communities as a local god. Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/ggenova. He was the god that provided - food - for the people. Issuing a challenge to his enemy Mot (death), who presumed to rule gods and men, Baal dispatched his messengers to Mot's infernal, filthy abode, warning them not to get close to Mot's rapacious jaws. Today Jezebel has built Baal altars in the name of 'church' and led many to Baal worship. Drought and the Fall of the Hittite Empire. 14:13). Knowledge of Baals personality and functions derives chiefly from a number of tablets uncovered from 1929 onward at Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), in northern Syria, and dating to the middle of the 2nd millennium bce. Ashtaroth is mentioned 12 times in the Old Testament. 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 prophet turns the heat on, and they become angry with him when he is actually working to make them better. 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. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Isai is music in Tamil and Vallavi means an expert. In those God calls outthose who, by faith, will voluntarily yield to HimHe is building character based on outgoing love. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. At one point in A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton, he deals with soldiers who left the service of their armyeither the Confederate army or the Union army. If anyone could get an award for Having the Worst Neighbors, it would most likely go to the ancient Israelites. The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. 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. 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. Not only do the Jews have to deal with the abomination of Zeus and Antiochus Epiphanes IV (Daniel 8), but the Greek pantheon later gets repeated in the Roman pantheon, and practices from both the Greeks and Romans still exist today.