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.. At Ras-Shamar, Baal was referred to as the son of Dagon, the Philistines chief god. 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. . 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). 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. The religion of Israel began with a man, Jeroboam I, who changed the true worship of God. 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. Baal was a god of prosperity, god of harvest, sex and fertility. 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. The divine child was named Demarous, one of the cognomens of Zeus-Baal-Hadad. THIS IS A PROFILE OF PRACTICES, DOCTRINES, AND SYMBOLS OF BAAL WORSHIP . Yet such fluidity in the use of the term baal did not prevent it from being attached to a god of distinct character. 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. Smith, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle (1994). (NASB). There was tremendous evil to overcome. In another room was a round base that likely supported a wooden pillar. Israel "walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel." 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! In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baal's epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. If you will not be committed to Him, you are going to die.". Asherah - New World Encyclopedia What Is an Asherah Pole? - Christianity.com Koshar twice recommended that a window be installed and Baal twice vetoed the suggestion, although Koshar insisted that Baal would have to reconsider. All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel fell into Baal and Asherah worship, and it is no different for us today. One idea is that he means, "How long are you going to hop from branch to branch? 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. Kings Ahaz and Manasseh, He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. Worshipers of Baal Killed. One of the rooms in this temple had a bench, where offerings would have been placed, and an altar made of piled and unhewn stones, which recalls the Biblical command to make altars of uncut stones (see Exodus 20:25). In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baals epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. 3:8; Ps. Jer 32:29. The Septuagint (LXX) referred to the latter as a stranger [in the land]. 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. 27:1, 30:7, 51:910; Ezek. He was considered superior to his father, El, the chief of the deities. 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. Historical Background of HoseaBaal and Idolatry. The summer drought did not mean that YHWH had died (like Baal), nor did the return of the rains signal the resurrection. Ashtar the Awful (ttrr) was then nominated to replace Baal, but when he ascended the throne, his feet did not reach the footstool nor his head the top and so he declined to reign on the heights of apn and descended from Baal's throne, but ruled over all El's earth. As we study the operation of the spirit of Baal in the Bible, one can see the fruit of its operation in the USA.. After we accept His calling, He commands us to become moral as He is. Most modern translations use "false," "deceitful," or "faithless," and none of these are wrong, including "divided." Extra-biblical evidence for the flourishing Baal cult at Samaria in the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.E. Well dive more into this in the historicity of Baal in a few sections. 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. Baal (or Baalim) | Catholic Answers Required fields are marked *. Notably, an impressed handle found near a Canaanite grave at the site depicts Sidons storm god and a ship. What the Bible says about Baal Worship - Bible Tools 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). Horrendous and repulsive aspects of the worship sexual excesses and perversions (Isa. In Canaan, however, when the solar theology had absorbed the older beliefs, Baal, passing into a sun-god and the goddess who stood at his side becoming a representative of the moon--the pale reflection, as it were, of the sun- -Ashtoreth came to be regarded as the consort of Baal and took the place of the solar goddesses of Babylonia. Charles Whitaker Their spiritual lethargy for the true God made them uncommitted. 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. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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. O. Eissfeldt, Beitraege zur Religionsgeschichte des Altertums I (1932); H.L. Yet Sidon was a significant site before this period, too. 2008 The Gale Group. A religion with such a beginning was doomed to fail, bringing the nation down with it. Elijah was dealing with the same thing here, albeit spiritually. It was a corruption of that religion, for the Israelites syncretized that holy way with Baalism and other idolatries. The Septuagint (LXX) rendered Joshua, the son of Nun, in Greek as Iesous; the same was used for Christs name in the NT. 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. Observing Christmas and Easter in the name of Christ is no different. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. Baalism in Canaanite Religion and Its Relation to Selected Old - Bible Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 55:613; Jer. The principal pillars of Baalism were child sacrifice, sexual immorality (both heterosexual and homosexual) and pantheism . you didnt even mention her horrible daughter Athaliah, the only killer queen Baal Worship Idolatry Part 2 - YouTube Prophets and Prophecy (Part 1). But their carnality and their fear of men persuaded them to worship Baal, because they wanted to be friends with their fellow Israelites. When the rain failed, it was inevitable that some would question YHWH's power and resort to Baal. These Israelites were lethargic in terms of true, spiritual matters. But God. Baal remains silent during the exchange, whereas God showers a sopping-wet altar with fire. 11:1011). 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. 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. Baal's response to Mot's invitation to come and be devoured is abject surrender: "Thy slave am I, thine eternal." The Real Reason Israel Worshiped Baal (It Wasn't Just a Pretty Statue) This god also, apparently according to Canaanite lore, defeated El and had associations with the sun and thunder. But when a falling away happens around us, perhaps even beginning before we were born, it is easy for our minds to adjust to the point that we almost forget the continuing rebellion against God and His way. For Constantine, the acceptance of Christianity was done solely TO UNIFY TERRITORY, RELIGIONS, AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. He then merely floats, going through the motions, even feeling good about himself as he neglects so great salvation (Hebrews 2:3). Though it hurts, the pain is indicative of rescue and cure. Who Is Baal in the Bible - History and Mythology - Crosswalk.com "Whatever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Baal is said to be one of the first of Solomon's 72 spirits. He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh. However, it was not the religion God gave through Moses, but idolatry that flourished! These soldiers would surrender themselves to the other side to be given a bit of favor and put into prison. Baal was the god of rain, wind, and fertility. Moffatt renders this, "They worshipped the Eternal, and they also served their own gods.". A vivid description of theophany in a thunderstorm is found in Psalms 18:715 (= II Sam. For example, Christmas and Easter are traditions of men, but they are lies. The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). The worship of this idol consisted in exposing that part of the body which all persons usually take the utmost care to conceal. Let's exemplify Baal doctrines as preached . 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. What was Baal Peor in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. For those early Hebrews, Baal designated the Lord of Israel, just as Baal farther north designated the Lord of Lebanon or of Ugarit. Prepare to Meet Your God! When religion is ungodly, its power is destructive, and every institution in the nation suffers. 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. Fertility was envisaged in terms of seven-year cycles. 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." He could, and did, withhold the rain from one city and lavish it on another (Amos 4:7). Baal's abode was Mount apn, identified as Jebel el-Aqra ("Mount Baldy") some 30 mi. The Israelites fell into the worship of this idol(Numbers 25:3,5,18; Deuteronomy 4:3; Psalm 106:28; Hosea 9:10). Baal is a Canaanite and Phoeniciandeity and the son of the chief god El. During the summer months the rains cease, but the temporary drought is no threat unless it is abnormally prolonged. For one to keep on coming to services and leaving, like a theatergoer, without his options, opinions, or decisions resolved but deferred, is an erosion of character. Dated to c. 1750 B.C.E., the handle pictures the storm god as a leonine dragon. Near Baals temple was that of Dagon, given in the tablets as Baals father. Because such people are drunk through riches' deceptive promise, their judgment is in danger of being radically altered. Baal - Wikipedia 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. Two practices in particular are mentioned in Scripture. This describes to a T what Israel did then and their descendants are continuing to do today. In Hosea 10:2, God charges Israel with having a divided heart. 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. 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. north of Ugarit. (From Forerunner Commentary). Asherah was a fertility goddess. Archaeologists at Sidon have uncovered a 12th-11th-century B.C.E. The Macedonian Cleopatra planned to send her son to India through the Red Sea. But who is Baal? Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have . God's first command to destroy any forms of idol worship came early in the Bible in Exodus 34:13. . That there were minor Baalim also at Ugarit is indicated by a god list in Akkadian (see Ugaritica, 5, p. 44 ll. Your email address will not be published. What Is the Meaning of Psalm 91 and Why Is it Popular? Jews nowadays say Ha-Shem [i.e. YHWH's victory over the waters is connected either with the rescue of Israel at the Exodus (Ps. Baal was a fertility and earth god of the ancient cultures and was later exported to Egypt where he was worshipped as the storm 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. II Kings 17:5-6 relates the ultimate consequence. Note the name of her father, King of the Sidoneans and apparently (Josephus) a priest of Baal as well. 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. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. (the Iron Age). Despite Gods efforts to dissuade them, the Israelites engaged with the Canaanite culture a little too much and adopted their practices, including Baal worship. This is no different from what Israel was doing when Amos wrote back in 760 BC. 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. The eschatological traits were taken over with the Canaanite myths. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. The word "Baal" derives from the Semitic stem "bel", meaning "lord". Most often, it condemns Baal worship. You have a cuddly little Baal idol in your child's bedroom without even suspecting it. So the word Poeni can be rewritten as Peyeni or as Payani or as Payan. Hosea exposes the problem between God and Israel. Given Jezebels religious fervor in the Bible, one would expect to find evidence of Baal worship at Sidon. Baal, god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon. Now the word isai, simply means music in Tamil. 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 Laodicean evaluates himself, saying, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing" (Revelation 3:17). Paul, in: Biblica, 49 (1968), 3436; U. Oldenburg, The Conflict Between El and Bal in Canaanite Religion (1969). JezaBel can be respelLt as JezaVel ~ JezaVAl ~ IezaVAL ~ Isaval-lavi ~ an expert in music. 7:1416). In Psalms 48:23, Mount Zion is equated with "the recesses of afon" (the phrase quoted above from Isa. 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. In some cases, they attempted to attach this practice to worship of the Lord (Ezek 23:39). Baal Worship In The Bible - Kingdomgist In the El-Amarna letters Canaanite clients addressed the Egyptian king as "My Baal, my Addu." . Baal Worship When Ashtoreth is mentioned in scripture, she is linked to Molech, (also called Milcom in the Bible). 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. What would be considered Baal worship today? - eBible 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.