The worship of Baal was popular in Egypt from the later New Kingdom in about 1400 bce to its end (1075 bce). 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. God's pattern is being established. This life-and-death struggle pitted the worship of Baal against the worship of Jehovah. Asherah, mother of the gods, was prevailed upon to intercede with El to gain permission for the building. But their carnality and their fear of men persuaded them to worship Baal, because they wanted to be friends with their fellow Israelites. Because of their self-absorption, God's "sudden" punishment will stun the people of the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and the other nations of modern Israel, including some members of the true church. Consequently, during this tumultuous time, most Jews kept their faith and identity outwardly but bowed to Baal when necessary to appease Jezebel as well as mainstream culture. You have a cuddly little Baal idol in your child's bedroom without even suspecting it. 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! 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. The name "Baal" shows up seven times in Hosea (2:8, 2:13, 2:16, 2:17 . Lastly, he replaced God with golden calves in Bethel and Dan. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In the Bible, the followers of the one true God encounter other gods, or previously worshipped idols themselves. 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. The only trouble is that people like to feel comfortable in moral mediocrity. 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. 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. Learn about the Canaanite-Phoenician deities who were called Baal, which means Lord. 106 a ). They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, And ate the sacrifices of the dead. 410; reconstructed text) which after the great "Weather-god, Lord of Mount azi" presents six other "weather-gods," numbered two through seven. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Despite having the power and support of the king of Israel and his . 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. Who were the Sidonians, and what do we know about their religion? 14:2, 9; Num. And that happened with the Canaanites and Baal. The Sidonians were the inhabitants of ancient Sidon, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea in modern Lebanon. Doumet-Serhal explains the significance of the handles iconography: The dragon epitomizes the most fundamental ancient mythical perception of the Mesopotamian storm god. The spectacular victory for Yahwism did not have a lasting effect. 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. 30 Verses to Reflect on in the Book of Hebrews. Today, some evangelicals attempt to prepare the people for what is to come, but their teaching is a mixture of right and wrong. In their spiritually unaware state, they will be incredulous at God's punishment for "such a little bit of sin." made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal" (verses 15-16). In the Old Testament, many of the kings and eventually the whole nation of Israel rebelled against God and chose opposing belief systems. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 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 practice of Baal worship was wide spread in Bible times and was very evil. Hosea exposes the problem between God and Israel. The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canonbut none more so than the Book of Kings, where they play a prominent role in assessing the performance of a king.Often referred to as "high places" in translations of the Bible, bamot were worship sites that usually contained an altar. That there were minor Baalim also at Ugarit is indicated by a god list in Akkadian (see Ugaritica, 5, p. 44 ll. 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. There was, therefore, continuity in Sidons population from the Bronze to the Iron Age. One such deity who gripped Israel for a period of time was Baal. Baal worship also included, at times, child sacrifice, which we see some Israelite kings engaging with later on. 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. 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). In the first encounter, Baal is invited to a banquet at which he is to be both guest and main course. The Spread of Baalism. Possibly even more treacherous than this was a parallel development: mixing the worship of Yahweh and Baal. (the Iron Age). BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Hermann, in: DDD, 13238; M.S. 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. A large part of this world's appeal is its offer of financial security. Koshar twice recommended that a window be installed and Baal twice vetoed the suggestion, although Koshar insisted that Baal would have to reconsider. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. 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. He is often accused of causing their pain. It seemed they couldnt border a single person who didnt try to destroy them or convince them to worship their own gods. As an example, notice Amos 2:6-7, where Amos chides the Israelites: ". . The conflict of Yahwism and Baalism reached a crisis with Elijah's challenge to Baal's prophets to settle the question whether it was Baal or YHWH who really supplied the rain (I Kings 18). Pagan Religious Practices. A general understanding about the bamah and . Ritual prostitution only served to erode the family, eventually leading to the destruction of the nation. The sequel to this action is furnished by the group of texts which recount Baal's confrontations with Mot. John W. Ritenbaugh Asherah, along with Astarte and Anath, was one of the three great goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon. Isai is music in Tamil and Vallavi means an expert. All through the Old Testament, the people of Israel fell into Baal and Asherah worship, and it is no different for us today. The god Baal was the heathen sun-god spoken of in the Old Testament. They too had blended the worship of the true God with outright paganism, utterly corrupting the relationship He had established with them. Thus, according to Sakkunyaton, Baal's natural father was Ouranos and Dagn became his foster-father, while El-Kronos effected the transfer. 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. We need to be reminded of it because it can have a detrimental effect on us. Hope Bolingeris an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, and the author 21+ books. It Is So Painful to Care: How Do I Conquer Apathy? He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. Asherah (Hebrew ), also spelled Ashera, was a major northwest Semitic mother goddess, appearing also in Akkadian sources as Ashratu, in Hittite as Asherdu and in Ugaritic as Athirat.She was the consort of the chief deity El and the mother of 70 other gods.. God sends a prophet to people who are cold in their relationship with Godspiritually freezing to deaththough they want to stay that way. This shows that the Egyptian Cleopatra had maritime connections with the ancient Kerala Tamils. 131; Sanh. How Is Harry Potter a Literary Christ Figure? that the southern kingdom of Judah ever had .just like her momma. As such, Baal designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. . 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. But God. However, it was not the religion God gave through Moses, but idolatry that flourished! In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baals epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. The handle displays an impression of a ship with the leonine dragon Uumgal, the storm god Adads attendant, next to it. Our god is what we give our lives over to. O. Eissfeldt, Beitraege zur Religionsgeschichte des Altertums I (1932); H.L. In others, they rejected Yahweh worship altogether and fully turned themselves over to the idols of Canaan (2 Kgs 17:14-17). ADD. What Is the Significance of Not the Letter but of the Spirit? To accommodate Baal ideology to Yahwism required some radical transformations. He awakens them to their spiritual and moral responsibilities. Thus, they developed a syncretic religious system, a blending of the truth of God and outright paganism. Discovered in a farmer's field in northeastern Egypt, this inscribed monument bears the name of one of the few pharaohs actually named in the Old . The combined letters o and e is joined to pronounce the sound ye. For seven days a fire burned inside the building, and when it subsided, the house was plated with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli. 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. But when heat is applied, and the blood begins rushing into the affected areas, pain immediately occurs. Some become discouraged with the church because we are always being toldto some measure anywaydisturbing things about ourselves. Asherah was a fertility goddess. Study the god Baal, Baal worship, and the presentation of Baal in the Bible. Adad roughly equates with the later Phoenician storm god Baal, the worship of whom is championed by the nefarious queen Jezebel in the Bible. "Whatever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). The latter name (Amarna, Addu) is to be related to Arabic hadda ("break," "crash") with reference to thunder. A complaint is made to Bull El, father of the gods, that Baal has no house like other gods. because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. In the mysterious tablets of Ugarit, discovered by Claude Schaeffer, Baal is the God of rain, thunder, and extraordinary bolts of lightning. The Name] instead of prouncing the YHWH word even though the Masoretes added the sheva below the Y and the Qamats below the W. His ministry took place about 150 years before Israel was to fall, becoming the Lost Ten Tribes, so God was beginning to make a powerful witness to them. Today Jezebel has built Baal altars in the name of 'church' and led many to Baal worship. After a textual gap, there is a report that Baal's corpse has been found. Baal was also worshipped by various communities as a local god. It will be far more terrible than anything ever seen on this earth! There are indications that Baal and other gods and goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon were associated in the minds of their worshipers with certain heavenly bodies. 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. Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/ggenova. Then stood up Phinehas, and exe Then they linked up with Baal Peor, attending funeral banquets and eating idol food. 3:10; cf. He sends someone long before the real crisis reaches its peak, while it is building. Through the window, a cleft in the clouds, Baal gave forth his holy voice which convulsed the earth and sent his enemies scurrying to the hills and woods. The basis of all immorality is selfishness, the exact opposite of what God is. What was the rationale behind this perverse, immoral act? 14:2). Israel's false religion, represented by the altars of Bethel, is at the root of her problems. Everything Joshua* (Yehoshua) did was in accordance with the TaNaKh, which is an acrostic for Torah (=Law/Instruction), Neviim (=Prophets), and Ketuvim (=Writings). The Aztec people used two calendars. He just goes to sleep as he is freezing to death. Paul, then, is letting the church know that it need not be concerned about missing the end time. 26:46). . 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. Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? They were not committed to the side that they were supposed to be on. But church is where we come to have our minds stretched and measured against Christ's standard. 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. He wanted people to like him, which is understandable. 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. 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. Baal persuaded Asherah to intercede with her husband El, the head of the pantheon, to authorize the construction of a palace. Sidons Phoenician Temple. Besides the names Baal and Haddu, the Ugaritic texts furnish a variety of other titles, such as "Mighty Baal" (aliyn bl) and "Prince, Lord of Earth" (zbl bl ars). 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). 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. But what was its real effect on the participants and the nation? One would think that, if altars increase during this period of prosperity, then religion is flourishing. 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). Sift through the storied history of ancient Israel. Today,. Ashtoreth was the fertility goddess consort of Molech. This is the crux of our salvation through Jesus Christ. This is no different from what Israel was doing when Amos wrote back in 760 BC. We are seeing the same thing today, but at times, it is harder to recognize because we are accustomed to it, and it is not happening overnight. They too had blended the worship of the true God with outright paganism, utterly corrupting the relationship He had established with them. The Hebrew scriptures speak frequently of the Baal of a given place or refers to Baalim in the plural, suggesting the evidence of local deities, or lords, of various locales. "like a bird in a tree. 1:21), would be catastrophic. None of the foolish practices of the heathen could bring the rains; only YHWH could and did (Jer. Two practices in particular are mentioned in Scripture. Recall the mention in Hosea 10:1 of increasing and embellishing altars just before Israel fell to Assyria. They were afraid of God, but they did not really change their way of life. Through the influence of the Aramaeans, who borrowed the Babylonian pronunciation Bel, the god ultimately became known as the Greek Belos, identified with Zeus. ; contact address: [emailprotected]. Ahaz fostered Baal worship (II Chron. He was considered superior to his father, El, the chief of the deities. (the Middle Bronze Age). This Bible History Daily Article was first published in 2017, British Museum Excavations at Sidon Expose Millennia of History, The Phoenician Alphabet in Archaeology by Josephine Quinn. The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel." In other words, prosperity turns people's heads. Given Jezebels religious fervor in the Bible, one would expect to find evidence of Baal worship at Sidon. In the parallel Ugaritic list, which is unfortunately very fragmentary, the "Weather-god, Lord of Mount azi" apparently corresponds to Baal apn, while those following are termed simply Baalim (blm). As we study the operation of the spirit of Baal in the Bible, one can see the fruit of its operation in the USA.. 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 Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (rev. 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. 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. 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. (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. The Bible tells us that there were dire consequences for Israel worshiping a false god (Judges 2). This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. These people, who became known as the Samaritans, feared the Lord but worshipped their own gods. Their reverence for Him was mere intellectual accommodation intended to appease Him. Child sacrifice was even practiced in the Valley of Hinnom just outside of Jerusalem. Asherah, another popular deity in Canaan, was the goddess of motherhood and fertility . What the Bible says about Baal Worship ( From Forerunner Commentary ) 1 Kings 12:26-33 The religion of Israel began with a man, Jeroboam I, who changed the true worship of God. At Shittim they attached themselves to Baal-Peor, ate sacrifices for the dead, and indulged in sacred sexual orgies (Num. Once Elijah began preaching, their conscience pricked them, and it encouraged them to worship the true God. The religion of Israel began with a man, Jeroboam I, who changed the true worship of God. 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. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have . 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. The judge Gideon was also named Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32), and King Saul had a son named Ishbaal (I Chronicles 8:33). (Iron Age) temple. El and Anath mourn violently, mutilating their faces and bodies. But who is Baal? Dated to c. 1750 B.C.E. In Tamil Nadu, the following words payachi paarai, Peyazhwar, payans, pai (meaning devil) are currently in use. The Macedonian Cleopatra planned to send her son to India through the Red Sea. Even now some ancient Jews (white and black) live in Cochin, Kerala, India. Can we stop with the Yahweh pronunciation once and for all? Sidon was well connected by trade by the traders of the Pandya kingdom of Tamil Nadu. Anyway she changed her mind and sent his son to Libya etc Ashtaroth is mentioned 12 times in the Old Testament. (verses 9-11). He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them (2 Kings 21:3). Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. 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. Most modern translations use "false," "deceitful," or "faithless," and none of these are wrong, including "divided." north of Ugarit. It was under the Sol Invictus cult that CHRISTIANITY as a religion BEGAN TO BE ACCEPTED AND GROW, but THERE WAS A BIG PRICE THE EARLY ROMAN CHURCH HAD TO PAY. Mot refused and boasted how he had mangled Baal. These soldiers would surrender themselves to the other side to be given a bit of favor and put into prison. Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. Ashtoreth is mentioned three times in scripture, in 1 Kings 11:5 & 33, 2 Kings 23:13. Kings Ahaz and Manasseh, So-called from Mount Peor, where this worship was celebrated, the Baal of Peor. Even as the Canaanite religion waned, Baal took on a new role as Zeus in the Ancient Greek pantheon. 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. Yet such fluidity in the use of the term baal did not prevent it from being attached to a god of distinct character. 7:1416). And one of the most famous instances of Israel going head to head with the prophets of Baal comes from 1 Kings 18. One was 260 days and was used for . Baal worship was the bane of the Ancient Israelites. The longest of the texts deals with the construction of Baal's house on top of Mount apn. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. 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. 2008 The Gale Group. We may not sacrifice our children on altars for everyone to see; instead, we sacrifice them behind closed doors at a doctor's . This is typical Israeliltish syncretism, but it will not work. The most prominent idol that they worshiped was Baal. In another room was a round base that likely supported a wooden pillar. What do we know about the religion surrounding this Canaanite deity, and how did it affect those in the Old Testament? 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). Their spiritual lethargy for the true God made them uncommitted. Yet if you asked most people who believe and follow this new morality, I suspect few would have ever heard of Baal. There was tremendous evil to overcome. 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." A series of bad years, which were apparently believed to come in seven-year cycles (cf. Baal Peor, or the Baal of Peor, was a local deity worshiped by the Moabites. Avot 5:11 on the connection between tithing and rain). Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Val is related to valimai in Tamil. This second, universal interpretation is a better fit because, when we look at the whole passage, the events and personalities are worldwide in scope. The Semitic word Baal means lord or master, and the ancient people believed he was in charge of all of nature and humans. Burning incense, worship of the sun, moon, astrology, and ancestor worship are all earmarks of the Baal religion. Ashtaroth is mentioned 12 times in the Old Testament. The bulk of the Ugaritic mythological texts is concerned with the activities of Baal. Anath then dismembered Mot, scattered and burned the pieces, and gave them to the birds. The king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. In those God calls outthose who, by faith, will voluntarily yield to HimHe is building character based on outgoing love. The Bible is full of colorful characters, from Noah to Moses to Jesus. The Septuagint (LXX) rendered Joshua, the son of Nun, in Greek as Iesous; the same was used for Christs name in the NT. 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 was a god of prosperity, god of harvest, sex and fertility. Since El and Dagn are distinct deities, this seeming confusion over Baal's paternity needs explanation. Most often, it condemns Baal worship. In the mythology of Canaan, Baal, the god of life and fertility, locked in mortal combat with Mot, the god of death and sterility. The Devil is behind a. 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. He may have replaced the Sabbath with Sunday worship. Prepare to Meet Your God! I prefer transliterating the sheva with [*] rather than any other English vowel letter, so I prefer Y*HWaH to YuHWaH or to YaHWeH, for that matter. 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." Horrendous and repulsive aspects of the worship sexual excesses and perversions (Isa. 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. 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. They clash violently until both are prostrate and the Sungoddess warns Mot not to fight with Baal lest El hear and overthrow him. Because Canaan depended on rain to grow crops and survive, he was numero uno. A religion with such a beginning was doomed to fail, bringing the nation down with it. Now that He has announced Israel's imminent calamity, God begins to show how His punishment would alter the lives of the people. And she has taken over many so-called churches. Baal was the title of the "god" worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. It was a corruption of that religion, for the Israelites syncretized that holy way with Baalism and other idolatries. 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. She gives life to 70 other gods in the Canaanite pantheon. 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. 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. 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. 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. Photo: Courtesy of Claude Doumet-Serhal. What will happen will affect the entire world, even though the world will not grasp the spiritual significance.
Illinois High School Wrestling,
Why Were Vietnam Veterans Called Baby Killers,
Openreach Values Personal, Simple Brilliant,
Elementary School Rating In San Jose,
Do You Capitalize The Name Of A Program,
Articles B