Page 47 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Student Textbook

The name “Jebus” is not mentioned in any source outside of the Bible. The city’s Hebrew name,
Jerusalem, is found in the Egyptian Execration Texts and in the documents from Tell el-Amarna in Egypt.
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Such evidence suggests that the city’s name had been Jerusalem for several centuries.

Worshiping Your Neighbors’ gods

In the laws of Deuteronomy the Israelites were forbidden to worship the gods of the neighboring
peoples (Deut. 6:14,15). That is given as one reason to destroy the inhabitants of the land so that this
would not happen. Yet, as they settled in the new land, they disobeyed and intermingled with the
people of the land. Soon the Israelites took up the worship of the local deities such as the Baals and
Ashtoreths (Judges 10:6). The singular names “Baal” and “Ashtoreth” referred to widely revered deities.
However, the plural “Baals” would seem to point generally to the many various local male deities.
Similarly, the plural “Ashtoreths” would signify all the local goddesses.

The popular belief of the ancient Near East was that particular deities owned particular sections of the
land. When people moved from one area to another, they were expected to worship the gods of their
new area. They had to respect the local deity in order to be blessed by that deity.

By worshiping the Baals and Ashtoreths of Canaan, the Israelites were following the normal religious
traditions of their day. Since the Israelites worshipped the Lord, they did not have to deny Him. They
just added these other gods to their list of deities they worshipped. Such is the case with Solomon, who
“added” other deities to his worship of Jehovah. He even built temples for these false gods in which to
worship. The Israelites learned from the indigenous population that these gods were the owners of the
land and needed to be worshiped in order to prosper there. Thus the culture of the time made it
difficult for many Israelites to ignore the gods of their new locality.

The Baals and Ashtoreths are only two examples of Israel turning away from the Lord God to the local
deities. They are reported to have followed after gods of many areas, including Syria, Sidon, Moab,
Ammon, and Philistia (Judges 10:6). When eventually they cried, “we have forsaken our God (10:10),
possibly they realized that they were His people no matter where they existed, and their obedience was
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to be toward Him alone. They must “put away the foreign gods” (10:16).

Many Christians today, while claiming the Jesus Christ is their sole God, have many other lesser gods in
their lives. As ancient Israelites added these deities to their worship of the Lord, so have many believers
added other gods to their lives. Wealth and what it can buy has secured a large portion of the hearts of
many believers. Pride and position and status occupy others. The quest for entertainment has captured
many believers into its grasp. As we look back and judge the Israelites for their wandering away from
the Lord, we need to carefully look within at what other gods have captured our hearts. Is the Lord God
your only God?

Towers of Safety (Judges 8:9, 17)

Towers were a standard feature of ancient cities. Often a city wall would be punctuated with regularly
placed towers. Such towers were widened spaces in the wall where a larger number of defenders could
withstand attackers attempting to gain entry. Towers allowed city residents to watch the outer parts of

86 So That’s Why Bible, Thomas Nelson Publisher, 1997, p.289.
87 Ibid, p. 319.

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