Baal was formerly a god of fertility, promoter of the birth of children and of abundance in crops. He was also the supreme god of the ancient Phenicia and Canaan, but very different religions worshiped this god in various ways.
The ancient Baal rituals contained various debaucheries . There was ritual prostitution, as well as screams, injuries and human sacrifice. Before the arrival of the Israelites to the promised land, God warned against the worship of the gods of Canaan.
Who was the god Baal?
The word Baal means se or . According to Cananea mythology, he was the son of El, the chief god, and of Asherah, the goddess of the sea. His sisters and consorts were Anat, the goddess of love and war, and Astoret, the goddess of fertility associated with the stars.
Baal finally eclipsed his father, for he was considered the most powerful god. He defeated Yamm in the battle with the god of the sea and Mot, the god of death and the underworld.
Baal worship was prevalent in Jewish religious life in Judah, during the time of the judges and during the reign of Ahab. Subsequently, focusing on each of its attributes, other denominations were developed for this god, such as Baal-worse and Baal-berit. In the Bible, Jesus calls Satan Beelzeb (Baal-zebub).
Profane rituals to the god Baal
The rituals that worshiped Baal contained ritual prostitution in temples and human sacrifices . Generally, families sacrificed the firstborn son to appease the wrath of God.
The priests appealed to unbridled rites, which included euphoric screams, self-injury, sexual rituals and death.
Before the Jews arrived in the promised land, God warned against the worship of the gods of Canaan, but the population surrendered anyway to idolatry. This is how God showed that it was he who controlled the rain, sending a drought that lasted 3 years.
Elijah was the prophet who confronted Baal worship and asked his prophets for a confrontation on Mount Carmel to determine who the true God was. For a whole day, 450 prophets of the pagan god asked Baal to send fire from heaven, which got no response.
After surrendering the worshipers, Elijah offered a prayer to God, who responded with fire from heaven. Given this evidence, the Israelites prostrated themselves and exclaimed: " Jehovah is the God, Jehovah is the God !"
Baal and Belcebú
Jesus calls Satan "Beelzebu" in Matthew 12:27, linking the devil to Baal-zebub, a Philistine deity (Baal Sebaoth, deity of the armies in Hebrew).
It is believed that Belcebú comes from "Ba'al Zvuv" which means "The Lord of the Flies", a name that was given to Baal, since its temples, where the meat of the sacrifices were left unsafe, were infested with flies. However, in Hebrew it sounds like "tsebal, " meaning "abode, " which would have the meaning of Great Abode (the underworld).
Belcebú is one of the 7 princes of hell and was in the past an angel of the order of the cherubs. However, he is considered one of the three greats in the infernal triumvirate, along with Lucifer and Leviathan, although for the occultists he forms the "False Trinity" with Lucifer and Astaroth.
According to Johann Weyer, Belcebú led a rebellion against Satan and became the second in command in hell, along with Lucifer.
In ancient demonology he was depicted as a human or an animal (dog, cat or frog), but in Collin de Plancy's "Infernal Dictionnaire" he appeared as a creature with three heads (a human with a crown, a cat and a frog ) and spider body.
Seen in GotQuestions, by Pedro, editor of the White Brotherhood
https://www.gotquestions.org/ Espanol / who-baal.html
