Page 64 - Advanced OT Survey Student Textbook

JUDGES
Chronologically, the book Judges is a time after Joshua. The author
and the date are both unknown. Judges is a book which narrates the
decline in Israel’s leadership and spiritual condition. The themes
include: Sin cycle (sin, suffering, supplication, salvation); ‘Everyone
did what was right in their own eyes’ (17:6, 21:25).

The main message: Though Israel’s repeated rebellion and declining leadership resulted in defeat and
depravity, YHWH continued to be gracious and forgiving!

Outline:
1. Decline in Israel’s Leadership (1-16)
2. Spiritual Condition (17-21)

Israel Serving the Baals
Throughout the book of Judges, we will see that the people of Israel will turn away from serving God to
serving the God’s of the Canaanites or “the Baals.” (Judges 2:11-13). What Israel was doing is buying
into the mythological structure of the universe understood by the local culture. The gods of the
religious world of Syria-Palestine were formed into a four-level hierarchy not unlike a small, localized
bureaucracy.

The highest authorities of the Canaanite universe were the deities El and Asherah, the parents of all
other gods. They were actual rules of the universe and the final court of appeal for both gods and
humans. As highest rulers, they assigned each of their offspring (other gods) responsibilities for specific
tasks in governing the world. In Judges, Gideon will remove the poles dedicated to Asherah.

The second level of deities was an especially rowdy group. These gods were the powers behind the
forces of nature, the political fates of cities and empires, and even behind abstractions, such as justice.
Very powerful, they ordered the universe, promoted the welfare of their worshipers, and advanced
themselves against other deities. Most popular of these gods was Baal. He was considered a fertility
deity as well as the god who controlled the rain for watering crops and well as enabling people to bear
children. The word baal means “lord.”

Many Canaanites considered Baal as the most powerful of gods, even more powerful that El, who was
seen as rather weak and ineffective (past his prime). In various battles, Baal defeated Yamm, the god of
the sea, and Mot, the god of death and the underworld. Baal’s sisters were Ashtoreth, a fertility
goddess associated with 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 bold who defeated enemies
and produced crops. Worship of Baal was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in
temples created in his honor. At times, 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
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which included loud, ecstatic cries and self-inflicted injury (I Kings 18:28) In Matthew 12:27 Jesus calls
Satan “Beelzebub”, linking the devil to Baal-Zebub, a Philistine deity similar to the Canaanite Baal. The
Baalim of the Old Testament were nothing more than demons masquerading as gods. Worshipping
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them was nothing more than devil worship (I Corinthians 10:20). When Israel turned from God to
worshipping Baal, they were actually turning from God to worship Satan.

53 https://www.gotquestions.org/who-Baal.html
54 Ibid.
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