baal worship practices in the bible
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). The religion of Israel began with a man, Jeroboam I, who changed the true worship of God (I Kings 12:26-33). Kings Ahaz and Manasseh, Asherah/Asherim: Bible | Jewish Women's Archive But God has a different perspective; He says they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). In artistic depictions and archeological finds, Baal took the shape of a bull or ram and had associations with fertility. 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. 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. Baal's response to Mot's invitation to come and be devoured is abject surrender: "Thy slave am I, thine eternal." Ashtaroth is mentioned 12 times in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word suggests "smoothness" or "flattering," describing people who "talk the talk" but do not "walk the walk.". Prepare to Meet Your God! 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 prophet turns the heat on, and they become angry with him when he is actually working to make them better. Baal Worship Baal-Berith Berbers Bet (Ha)-Midrash Bet Din Bethar Bibliophiles Bloodletting Chronicles of Kings of Israel Episcopus Judaeorum Essenes Exile Fable Flood Forced Baptism Garden of Eden Glass Golden Calf Goliath Great Revolt Great Synagogue Hannah and her Seven Sons Hasmoneans/Maccabees Hebrew Printing Hekdesh Herod Herodian Dynasty That there were minor Baalim also at Ugarit is indicated by a god list in Akkadian (see Ugaritica, 5, p. 44 ll. This is a prophet's job, a hallmark of a prophet of God. God set up the Levites within Israel to function as the teachers of His way of life, and He sent the prophets as watchdogs on the Levites and civil leaders. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Their spiritual lethargy for the true God made them uncommitted. 57 Bull Baal. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. The Jews of Christ's day clearly recognized this putrid blend and despised the Samaritans for it. 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. 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. Nevertheless, he was still faithful, and he did his job. It was a corruption of that religion, for the Israelites syncretized that holy way with Baalism and other idolatries. Fertility was envisaged in terms of seven-year cycles. II Kings 17:7-17 catalogs the sins of Israel: Widespread idolatry. Elijah is quite instructive here. 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. He takes something loathsome and vile, something that is a direct affront to almighty God, a pagan idol, and turns it into a cute little children's fairy tale, so that you can buy the book, see the movies, get the cuddly toy, and bingo!