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. II Kings 17:5-6 relates the ultimate consequence. So the word Poeni can be rewritten as Peyeni or as Payani or as Payan. 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. The Israelites displayed a pandemic failure to love their fellow man. Our god is what we give our lives over to. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. linked to Molech (also called Milcom in the Bible). To become moral, we must kill our selfish egos through the use and guidance of God's Holy Spirit. In another room was a round base that likely supported a wooden pillar. Baal worship was the bane of the Ancient Israelites. Baal Worship was Blatant and in Your Face at the Commonwealth 2022 BAAL Worship: Mass Satanic Ritual at the 2022 Commonwealth Games If you will not be committed to Him, you are going to die.". Who were the Sidonians of the Bronze Age (c. 30001200 B.C.E.)? Some suppose Baal to correspond to the sun and Ashtoreth to the moon; others that Baal was Jupiter and Ashtoreth Venus. The Hebrew word suggests "smoothness" or "flattering," describing people who "talk the talk" but do not "walk the walk.". 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 Is an Asherah Pole? - Christianity.com The prophet Haggai attributed the drought and scarcity in his day to the failure to rebuild the Temple (Hag. He replaced the Levitical priesthood with men of his own choosing. A falling away is taking place right now. From Easton's Bible Dictionary:Baal-peor: lord of the opening, a god of the Moabites (Numbers 25:3; 31:16; Joshua 22:17), worshipped by obscene rites. (II Kings 17:35-38). In many cases, when the king or the nation had wandered from the way, the prophets were sent to correct them (e.g., II Samuel 12:1-15; I Kings 18:17-19; II Kings 21:10-15). The variant form Hadad (hdd) is attested to only once in Ugaritic. Baal Worship In The Bible - Kingdomgist The spectacular victory for Yahwism did not have a lasting effect. After we accept His calling, He commands us to become moral as He is. 19 Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Ashtoreth is mentioned three times in scripture, in 1 Kings 11:5 & 33, 2 Kings 23:13. The longest of the texts deals with the construction of Baal's house on top of Mount apn. Matthew 5:17Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. Aztec Religion Beliefs, Practices & Mythology | Religion of the Aztecs Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. 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. Pagan Religious Practices. 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. This is not brand new, but it is picking up speed. 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. Baal Worship The Battle for the Israelites' Hearts "Christian" religions of this world have mixed the traditions of paganism with some of the truth of God's Word. Baal & Asherah. 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). These Israelites were lethargic in terms of true, spiritual matters. Baal - the pagan idol in your garden. By Pat Franklin The Semitic word Baal means lord or master, and the ancient people believed he was in charge of all of nature and humans. 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. that the southern kingdom of Judah ever had .just like her momma. All rights reserved. What do we know about the religion surrounding this Canaanite deity, and how did it affect those in the Old Testament? All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel fell into Baal and Asherah worship, and it is no different for us today. 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. He may have replaced the Sabbath with Sunday worship. This second, universal interpretation is a better fit because, when we look at the whole passage, the events and personalities are worldwide in scope. Because Canaan depended on rain to grow crops and survive, he was numero uno. Further, in biblical usage when applied to the great weather-god, the singular regularly has the article, "the Baal," which suggests that the word was not regarded as a proper name. north of Ugarit. 11:1011). This time, Baal puts up a fight and holds Mot off in battle. 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. The worship of Baal penetrated Jewish religious life during the period of the Judges ( Judges 3:7 ), became common in Israel during the rule of Ahab ( 1 Kings 16:31-33 ), and also influenced Judah ( 2 Chronicles 28:1-2 ). Baal Peor, or the Baal of Peor, was a local deity worshiped by the Moabites. 11:17; I Kings 8:3536; Jer. A DSS fragment has it spelled Iaw in Greek (iota-alpha-omega), which is consistent with Yahoah; see ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/lxxjewpap/4QLevB.jpg. 25:111; Ps. 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. She gives life to 70 other gods in the Canaanite pantheon. The worship of Baal penetrated Jewish religious life during the period of the Judges (Judges 3:7), became common in Israel during the rule of Ahab (1 Kings 16:31-33), and also influenced Judah (2 Chronicles 28:1-2). John W. Ritenbaugh California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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. Historical Background of HoseaBaal and Idolatry He established a feast in the eighth month to replace the true Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh. Avot 5:11 on the connection between tithing and rain). Baal transformed into Zeus, who transformed into Jupiter, etc. They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. 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. 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. John W. Ritenbaugh 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. l, b . 8. 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. Baal was also worshipped by various communities as a local god. 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. Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. That Baal appears to be a relative newcomer in the Ugaritic pantheon has been generally recognized, and it may be that Sakkhunyaton's story about Baal's paternity reflects a mythologizing of the process by which Baal was integrated into the family of El. The judge Gideon was also named Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32), and King Saul had a son named Ishbaal (I Chronicles 8:33). This is no different from what Israel was doing when Amos wrote back in 760 BC. 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. 4:12; Hos. A large part of this world's appeal is its offer of financial security. 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. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. Sidon is the birth place of Jezabel. Thus it is clear that Baal, representing the life-giving rains, fluctuates in his ability to withstand the power of Mot, who represents drought, sterility, and death. Elijah's work was to reveal the true God to Israel in a time of growing national crisis. The sequel to this action is furnished by the group of texts which recount Baal's confrontations with Mot. 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? Some extraordinary discoveries from recent excavations have allowed us to partially reconstruct Sidonian religion during the Bronze and Iron Agesshowing that Baal worship at the site had deep roots. 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. 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.