Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 1-2
1 The
Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, who therefore delivered
them into the power of Midian for seven years, 2 so that Midian held Israel subject. From
fear of Midian the Israelites made dens in the mountains, the caves, and the
strongholds.
Sometimes
I wonder if the administrators of this country’s government have the power of Midian; because many of us have
been hiding out in caves for the last seven years and have been reduced to
utter poverty.
However,
one does wonder; what was the evil that the Israelites did in the sight of the
Lord?
Answer: Baal was the
name of the supreme god worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. The practice
of Baal worship infiltrated Jewish religious life during the time of the Judges
(Judges 3:7), became widespread in Israel during the reign of Ahab (1 Kings
16:31-33) and also affected Judah (2 Chronicles 28:1-2). The word baal
means “lord”; the plural is baalim. In general, Baal was a fertility god
who was believed to enable the earth to produce crops and people to produce
children. Different regions worshiped Baal in different ways, and Baal proved
to be a highly adaptable god. Various locales emphasized one or another of his
attributes and developed special “denominations” of Baalism. Baal of Peor (Numbers
25:3) and Baal-Berith (Judges 8:33) are two examples of such localized deities.
According to Canaanite mythology, Baal was the son of El, the chief god, and Asherah, the goddess of the sea. Baal was considered the most powerful of all gods, eclipsing El, who was seen as rather weak and ineffective. In various battles Baal defeated Yamm, the god of the sea, and Mot, the god of death and the underworld. Baal’s sisters/consorts were Ashtoreth, a fertility goddess associated with the stars, and Anath, a goddess of love and war. The Canaanites worshiped Baal as the sun god and as the storm god—he is usually depicted holding a lightning bolt—who defeated enemies and produced crops. They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. At times, appeasing Baal required human sacrifice, usually the firstborn of the one making the sacrifice (Jeremiah 19:5). The priests of Baal appealed to their god in rites of wild abandon which included loud, ecstatic cries and self-inflicted injury (1 Kings 18:28).[1]
According to Canaanite mythology, Baal was the son of El, the chief god, and Asherah, the goddess of the sea. Baal was considered the most powerful of all gods, eclipsing El, who was seen as rather weak and ineffective. In various battles Baal defeated Yamm, the god of the sea, and Mot, the god of death and the underworld. Baal’s sisters/consorts were Ashtoreth, a fertility goddess associated with the stars, and Anath, a goddess of love and war. The Canaanites worshiped Baal as the sun god and as the storm god—he is usually depicted holding a lightning bolt—who defeated enemies and produced crops. They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. At times, appeasing Baal required human sacrifice, usually the firstborn of the one making the sacrifice (Jeremiah 19:5). The priests of Baal appealed to their god in rites of wild abandon which included loud, ecstatic cries and self-inflicted injury (1 Kings 18:28).[1]
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