The Bible In A Year
1 Samuel – 2 Kings
Week 3 of 8
Readings for the Week
October 1-6, 2018
Theme of the week: The rise and fall of kings
- Monday 2 -Samuel chapters 7, 8, 9 & 10, Psalms 60, 76, 91
- Tuesday -Leviticus chapter 20, 2 Samuel chapters 11, 12, & 13
- Wednesday -2 Samuel chapters 14, 15, 16 & 17,Psalm 3
- Thursday -2 Samuel chapters 18, 19 & 20
- Friday -2 Samuel chapters 21, 22, 23, & 24, Psalms 25, 49 & 82
- Saturday -Psalms 118 & 61, 1 Kings chapters 1 & 2
The Bible In A Year
1 Samuel – 2 Kings Week 3 of 8
A Framework for UnderstandingBa’al
Throughout the stories of conquest and the rise and fall of kings we read of the Canaanite worship of Ba’al, and the ways this drew the Israelites away from worshipping Yahweh. The word Ba’al means “lord” and was used as an honorific title as well as a designation of their god. In the Canaanite understanding there was a head of all the gods known as ba’al, and every community and tribe had a lesser “ba’al” as well.
Ba’al was considered to be male. One element of the worship of ba’al involved human sacrifice on altars established on the highest area of land in the area. Idols of the ba’als could be found in temples, homes, by city gates, in shrines by the side of the road, and so on. Worship of Yahweh forbade idols, so in times of crisis the Hebrew people prayed to nothing that was apparent, while the Canaanites prayed to a god that was could be seen and touched.
The female counterpart of ba’al was Ashtart. Often a pole to Ashtart accompanied the altar of ba’al. A worship component often practiced was fertility rites, such as sexual orgies. The religious leaders with responsibility for leading these rituals were labeled as “temple prostitutes” by the Hebrews. Should an Israelite desire to stray to worship Ashtart, circumcision, the sign of the covenant with Yahweh, would be a constant reminder of who their true God really is.
There was a time when Yehweh was referred to by the Israelites as Ba’al. Reading in Judges, particularly, we read of people whose names include “baal,” and Israelite cities whose names include “baal.” Reading the Bible in Hebrew, there is a period when Yahweh was referred to as “the ba’al of the covenant.”