There’s Nothing New Under The Sun; Baal Worship Anciently and Modernly, Could This Be True?
There’s nothing new under the sun, “Baal worship”, anciently, and modernly, could this be true?
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, there’s nothing new under the sun. Like so many sayings, it comes right from the bible. Eccl. 1:9. This is so very true and can be proven many times over on various subjects in man’s history anciently, and modernly. Perhaps you’ve heard the term Baal worshippers. It’s very common in Old Testament books referring to Israel. It has also started to become a more common term in our modern age, or as the bible refers to our time as, “the latter days”. This article will shed light on what Baal worship was, and still is. If you’re thinking “still is”, then yes, like other things that fall into the category of, “there’s nothing new under the sun”, I believe it can be proven to be true in this case as well. It is a subject that spans the whole time that man has been on this earth from the garden of Eden to these latter days. It is a subject that God has spoken many times on, revealing its origin, and its offensiveness to Him, and how cunning the evil one has been in promoting it, and advancing it. But, where to begin on this subject is a curious question to consider, because it is no small subject, but surprising for many to discover, is quite expansive, and in some ways very complex. I think I will begin by reiterating something I have said before, which is imperative to understand. That is that God’s Word speaks to us in figurative language. This is a fact which can be seen over and over and over, all throughout the bible. To understand His intended meaning we must interpret the many figures of speech, metaphors, analogies, riddles, similes, parables, allegories, and any other methods that God purposefully uses in speaking. Methods like earlier and latter fulfillments of prophetic things, earlier and latter types and antitypes of events and actors; actually persons. And then there’s parallel events. Also, many things are either inferred , or implied in scripture. Does that sound hard to accept? Is God so different in communicating with us that we are allowed to infer and imply with our words, but He is not? Is every word in the bible to be taken literally? Why do we get to ask people a question like, “what are you implying with those words”, but God is not allowed to imply? And since God deliberately keeps certain things covered up until He uncovers them, would He not use many tools of expression to do it? Consider a key expression of God found in many places in the bible. Isaiah 6:9, 10. And He said, “Go and tell this people: keep on hearing but do not understand; keep on seeing but do not perceive“. Also Isaiah 43:8, Jer. 5:21, 6:10, Ez. 12:2, Mark 4:12, Matt. 13:14, John 12:40, Acts 28:26, Rom. 11:8, and there are likely more references. With this said, it seems only reasonable that God’s, so often used, “figure of speech” language, is not likely to be interpretable by the masses. Christ said as much in Mark 4: 11-12, where He said that it has been granted for some to see, that is, to understand, but for most, it has not been granted. (But I have found that even those who it has been granted to see, only see dimly or partially, and this is by God’s decree also). Another thing to appreciate is this, Christ is the Word of God, The Spokesperson for God The Father. He is the One who spoke all the Old Testament words and used the figurative language I’m talking about. And the New Testament, so replete with all His parables, proves that He did not change His usage of, “figure of speech” language, or methodology, that we see everywhere in the Old Testament. And thus the intended meaning of many of His words remained unclear to the average reader. So, it is not a simple task to interpret God’s figurative language. There is a lot of potential for error. We humans have our ideas etc. The real answer to this potential problem is really a matter of faith. What I mean by this, is that the correct interpretation of God’s intended meaning, is more a matter of revelation, than it is human intellect or reason. It does take a great deal of study, meditation, earnest prayer, patience and time on the part of the one pursuing the truthful understanding, of not only the prophetic word, but God’s true intentions in what, and how He speaks. And then there is one other major consideration, and that is this; if God does not provide the revelation, then no matter how earnest is our prayer, His response might as well be received as, no, not at this time. Like His expression to Daniel, when He said go your way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Or, no, you’re not one of those that it has been granted to understand at this time. God is so full of purpose, and we must submit to this and wait on Him. We must also be ever so careful not to instill into our hearts that we are someone special, especially chosen by God to have special understandings revealed to us. Many individuals have already fallen prey to this and have ended up spreading falsities, half truths, and versions of the truth. And yet, for all intents and purposes, God does instill, or reveal into the hearts of selected individuals, subjects such as His will, His intended meaning, and His intended purpose. But it is His prerogative to do, not ours. In fact, He chooses most of the actors that will in some way carry out or advance His purpose, most often before they are born, whether they are a so-called “good guy”, or a so-called “bad guy”, or an apparent nobody. This fact can be hard to accept, by both a disbelieving intellectual secular society, but also by a believing God devoted society. It can happen even to those closest to God, who are in possession of a good amount of “the truth”, and even by Christ’s own ministry. If that seems hard to accept, you need only review the gospels, where the Jewish priesthood, (the ministry in Christ’s time), would not, could not, believe Him, even though He was God The Word, changed from Holy Spirit to flesh, for a short time and purpose. So, is it any surprise that we will find ourselves at least sceptical when someone comes along with ideas and concepts such as are the subject of this article. So with all this said, and since God has granted us all free moral agency, and the right to choose, then if God has opened our minds, then have an open mind, or, have a closed mind if you choose. I feel like I’m still at where to begin though, but I feel that it is important to re-emphasize that God speaks to us in figurative language. Please have your bible open to each scripture reference even if you know your bible expertly, because as I said, (and will show), many things are implied, and can be easily missed by a quicker, or literal only, read of scripture.