Page 62 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

The Hebrew word for “calves” in the above passage suggests that the animal was a young bull, as was
used for sacrifices. Several small bull images have been found by archeologists, which demonstrate that
bulls were commonly worshipped. Calf worship was still prominent among the Israelites of the
Northern Kingdom when Hosea prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II. (So That’s Why Bible, p. 607).

To ensure that Jehovah would not be worshipped in Israel, Jeroboam even began a new priesthood.
Originally Moses commanded the Levites to become priests, but Jeroboam appointed non-Levitical
priests, causing the Levitical priests to flee to Judah (I Kings 12:31). He even set up separate feasts and
holy days. It is evident that Jeroboam’s plan in setting up a false worship system in Israel was to prevent
the people of Israel from returning to King Rehoboam and to the Lord.

The kings of Israel created “high places” of worship. High places, very simply, were places of worship
on elevated pieces of ground. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship (Numbers
33:52; Leviticus 26:30), especially among the Moabites (Isaiah 16:12). These shrines often included an
altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the
object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities). It seems that, at times, high
places were set up in a spot that had been artificially elevated; 2 Kings 16:4 seems to differentiate the
“high places” from the “hills.”

The Israelites, forever turning away from God, practiced Molech worship and built high places for Baal
(Jeremiah 32:35). Although Solomon built the temple of God in Jerusalem, he later established
idolatrous high places for his foreign wives outside of Jerusalem and worshiped with them, causing him
the loss of the kingdom (1 Kings 11:11). The people were still sacrificing at the pagan high places before
the temple was built, and Solomon joined them. After the Lord appeared to him in a dream at Gibeon,
the king returned to Jerusalem and sacrificed offerings; however, he continued to waver between the
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two places of worship.
Canaanite worship was often practiced in these high places. Certain persons were separated and
attached to these high places, and these persons were prostitutes, male and female, whose acts were
associated with the religious worship carried out in these sanctuaries. You can see why God, through
the prophet Hosea, used his wife, Gomer, as a type of Israel, describing her as a promiscuous woman, a
harlot or whore, who had prostituted herself against the Lord God.

Jezebel married Ahab and brought with her Baal worship to Israel. Athaliah, their daughter, married
Jehoram of Judah and introduced Baal worship there. Basically, Baal was the son god of El, the father of
all gods. He was the god of agriculture and was also responsible for not only the fertility of the field but
for human and animal reproduction. Baalath was Baal’s consort goddess. Baal means “lord” and
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Baalath means “lady.”

Social and Commercial background

The Kingdom of northern Israel enjoyed the location of being in the “breadbasket” of Israel. Large fields
of grain and vegetables were harvested in the Jezreel valley and northern Transjordan. She also had the
advantage of being located between Phoenecia and the major trade routes to the east and was able not

97 https://www.gotquestions.org/high-places.html).
98 Howard Frederic Vos, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Manners & Customs: How the People of the Bible Really Lived (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson
Publishers, 1999), 228..

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