Who IS Lord God?
Who IS Baal?
Almost every person in every single nation in this world today
worships God. Others look within themselves to find salvation,
but they will not find salvation within themselves. Some
even search the Holy Scriptures in order to find the way to
eternal life. But, if there are three different men teaching
three different doctrines, it is simple to see that all three
could be wrong, but all three could not be right.
Every one of the people in the Christian denominations
claims to follow the Holy Scriptures. They worship God, they
say, because that is in the Bible. However, the same Holy
Scriptures they claim to follow are the same Holy Scriptures
that say the whole world is deceived.
Revelation 12:9—
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the
Devil, and Satan, who deceives
the whole world. She was cast out
into the earth, and her angels were cast out with her.
Yes, the Holy Scriptures say that Satan has not just deceived just
a few; they say that she has deceived the whole world. Since
the whole world is most definitely deceived by Satan, will
worldly teachings bring us eternal life?
We can fully depend upon Yahweh, Who inspired His
scriptures to be written, to bring anyone who obeys what He
says through His Holy Scriptures to eternal life. It is very
easy to prove the reliability of Yahweh’s Word; but, what
about the changes which have been made in today’s translations
of the Bible? What will we do about the mistranslations,
the additions, and the deletions to the original Holy
Scriptures when the facts of the truth are brought to us?
The Covenant Of Yahweh
In the beginning, Yahweh made a covenant with Himself
and those whom He called out to be His own. The Holy
Scriptures tell us whom Yahweh has called out down through
the ages, who are the very ones who have been offered the
opportunity to take hold of His Covenant. We find that
Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Yaaqob, and
Yaaqob’s twelve sons, known as the Twelve Tribes, had all
come under Yahweh’s covenant. Yahweh’s covenant between
Himself and mankind, in a nutshell, is this, Mankind promises
to obey each and every word that has proceeded out of
the mouth of Yahweh, which is written in His inspired Holy
Scriptures, then Yahweh promises to take them for His own,
and to be their Heavenly Father.
Each of us should know about the exodus from Egypt;
but what most people do not know is the fact that the children
of Israyl were implicitly commanded not to worship the
Gods of Canaan when they entered the promised land.
Exodus 23:32-33—
32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods
(Elohim).
33 Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to
sin against Me; for if you worship their gods (Elohim), it will certainly
be a snare unto you.
Deuteronomy 12:29-32—
29 When Yahweh your Father cuts off the nations from in front
of you, and you displace them and live in their land,
30 Be careful not to be ensnared into following them by asking
about their gods (Elohim), saying: How did these nations serve
their gods (Elohim)? I also will do the same.
31 You must not worship Yahweh your Father in their way, for
every abomination to Yahweh, which He hates, they have done to
their gods (Elohim). They even burn their sons and daughters in
the fire as sacrifices to their gods (Elohim).
32 Whatsoever I command you, be careful to observe and do
it, you shall not add to it, nor take away from it.
Yahweh, most assuredly, warned His people what would
befall them if they ever turned from Him in order to serve
Gods and Lords.
Deuteronomy 30:17-20—
17 But if your heart turns away, and you are not obedient, and
you are drawn away to submit to gods (Elohim), to worship them
by serving them;
18 I declare to you this day that you will surely perish; you will
not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Yardan
to possess.
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day, that
I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Because
you are free agents to make your own choice of righteousness
and evil—therefore choose life, so both you and your children may
live;20 So you may love Yahweh your Father, by listening to Him,
and then obeying Him. Hold fast to Him, for He is your life. He
will also give you many years in the land He vowed to give to your
fathers; to Abraham, Isaac, and Yaaqob.
Again and again, Yahweh warned His people against the
worship of Gods; warning them that if they did such things,
punishment would come. We are told what this punishment
would be in the following scriptures.
Deuteronomy 8:19-20—
19 If you, by any means, ever forget Yahweh your Father, by following
hinder Gods (Elohim) to serve and worship them, I testify
and witness against you this day that you will surely perish.
20 You shall perish just like the nations Yahweh is destroying
in front of you, because you would not obey the voice of Yahweh
your Father.
Yahweh knew the hearts of His people. He knew they would
prostitute themselves to the Gods of the Canaanites, and
because of that very thing, break His covenant which He
had made with them. Yahweh knew these people would turn
from Him. He told this to Mosheh.
Deuteronomy 31:16-18—
16 And Yahweh said to Mosheh: Behold, you are going to rest
with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves
to the gods (Elohim) of the land which they are entering; they will
forsake Me, and break the covenant which I made with them.
17 On that day I will become angry with them, and I will forsake
them. I will hide My face from them, and they will be devoured.
Many evils and troubles will then befall them and on that day they
will ask; Have not these disasters come upon us because our Father
is not with us?
18 And I will surely hide My face in that day, because of all the
evil they have done by turning to hinder gods (Elohim).
It is a scriptural fact that these people, who were given the
covenant of Yahweh turned to the very Canaanite Gods
which they were warned against.
Judges 2:13—
They provoked Yahweh to anger because they forsook Him and
worshiped Baal; The Lord, and the Ashtoreth; the goddess Astarte
or Easter.
Who Is Baal?
In II Kings 17:16, we read that the people worshiped all
the host of heaven, and they worshiped Baal. We know that
the host of heaven was being worshiped during the time
of the kings of Israyl, for the scriptures say that they were.
The word translated host in this scripture is word #6635,
Tse-ba’ah, in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary and means mass of
persons, company, army.
Then in Isayah 65:11 of the King James Version we find
the word troop mentioned. The center reference shows us
what the word troop means...
God, The word troop means gad, which is a euphemism for God,
as Webster’s Deluxe Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition,
page 746, indicates...
The host of heaven that Yahweh condemned our fathers for
turning to was Gad, or the English equivalent, God.
I realize that many will ask, “Isn’t the word God a name for
the Creator?” Or they will ask, “Isn’t Lord a holy name?” The
The scriptural answer to these questions is a definite NO! If you
have a reliable Bible dictionary, you can research these words
for yourself. If you do not, you may go to your nearest library
where this Bible help is available and find the following
in Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger, Moody Press,
Chicago, IL, under the word Baal on page 413, which says:
Baal (bā´ăl), common Canaanite word for
“master, lord,” was one of the chief males
deities of the Canaanite pantheon, now well-known
from the religious epic literature discovered
at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit of the
Amarna Letters) from 1921-1937. Baal was
the son of El, the father of the gods and the
head of the Canaanite pantheon, according
to the tablets from Ugarit. he is also designated
as “the son of Dagon” (Heb. dagon,
“grain”), an ancient Canaanite and Mesopotamian
deity associated with agriculture. Baal
was thus the farm god who gave increase to
family and field, flocks and herds. He was
likewise identified with the storm-god Hadad
whose voice could be heard in the reverberating
the thunder that accompanied rain, which
was so necessary to the success of the crops,
Canaanite Worship. The inhabitants of Canaan.
were addicted to Baal worship, which was
conducted by priests in temples and in good
weather outdoors in fields and particularly on
hilltops called “high places.” The cult included
animals sacrifice, ritualistic meals, and
licentious dances. Near the rock altar was a
sacred pillar or massebah, and close by the
symbol of the asherah, both of which apparently
symbolized human fertility. High Places
had chambers for sacred prostitution by male prostitutes
(kedishim) and sacred harlots (kedeshoth)
(I Kings 14:23, 24; II Kings 23:7). The
gaiety and licentious character of Baal worship
always had a subtle attraction for the
austere Hebrews bound to serve a holy God
under a rigorous moral code. Baal Names. In
times of lapse Hebrews compounded the
names of their children with Baal—for example,
Jerubbaal (Judg. 7:1): Ishbaal (I
Chron. 8:33; 9:39), Meribbaal (I Chron.
8:34; 9:40) which in times of revival and return
to Yahwism were altered, the baal element
being replaced by “bosheth,” meaning
“shame.” Thus pious Israelites express their
horror of Baal worship; examples are Jerubbosheth
(for Jerubbaal) (II Sam. 11:21). Ishbosheth
(for Ishbaal) (II Sam. 2:8), Mephiboseth
(for Merribaal) (II Sam. 4:4; 9:6. 10).
On page 112 of Unger’s Bible Dictionary, we find this information:
Under the word Lord, on page 665 of this same dictionary,
we find:
As we have just read, the Name of the Creator is Yahweh,
and should have been retained in that form in the Holy
Scriptures. The words Lord and God are not righteous titles
and are not to be used as titles for Yahweh, since they are
the very titles for Baal, the host of heaven, or troop.
The troop, the host of heaven, or Baal that most of our
fathers turned to, and the modern Bible translators and
the modern churches are still following, is none other than
demons, whose titles are Lord and God.
Who Is Lord?
Most of us know that after King Solomon’s death, his kingdom
was divided. Ten tribes were allotted to Yeroboam, son
of Nebat, which was the Northern Kingdom, for there is great
significance to this fact, which will be discussed shortly. The
two remaining tribes then formed the Southern Kingdom
called Yahdah (Judah) under Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
At first, these two kingdoms were at war, but later in history,
we find they had become allies through marriage. In I
Kings 22:2 we find the kings of the two kingdoms discussing
waging war against the Arameans. Yahshaphat of Yahdah,
however, asked to first inquire of Yahweh about this joint
venture. We read in I Kings 22:4-7, KJV—
4 And he said unto Yahoshaphat,
Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth
Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said
to the king of Israel, *I am as thou
art, my people as they people, my horses
as thy horses.
5 And Yshoshaphat said unto the
king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at
the word of the Lord today.
6 Then the king of Israel gathered
the prophets together about four hundred
men, and said unto them, Shall I
goe against Ramoth Gilead to battle,
or shall I forbear? And they said, Go
up, for the Lord shall deliver it into
the hand of the king.
7 And Yahoshaphat said, Is there
not here a Prophet of the Lord besides,
that we might enquire of him?
What this deceived world does not see (because of this English
translation) is the fact that the prophets of Ahab (Israyl)
first inquired of Adonai (Lord), not Yahweh. At that point
Yahshaphat (Yahdah) then asked if there still remained a
prophet of Yahweh there. The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English
Old Testament, John R. Kohlenberger III, Zondervan Publishing,
Grand Rapids, MI, 49506, Volume 2, page 418, gives
us the word for word Hebrew translation of I Kings 22:5-7.
It shows us the difference between the word written as Lord
(Adonai) and as Lord (Yahweh) in the King James Version:
This also proves the fact that the Lord was being worshiped
in the Northern Kingdom while Yahweh was still being worshiped
in the Southern Kingdom. As Unger’s Bible Dictionary
on page 665 has previously informed us, Adonai is not a
proper title for Yahweh!
Who Is God?
The following excerpts, from The Encyclopedia Judaica,
Volume 7, pages 674-680, show us that the word God came
from the Canaanite words El and Elohim, and the word
Lord came from the Canaanite word Adon.
El. The oldest Semitic term for God is ’el (corresponding
to Akkadian ilu(m), Canaanite ’el or ’il, and Arabic ’el as an
element in personal names). The etymology of the word is
obscure. It is commonly thought that the term derived from
a root ’yl or ’wl, meaning ‘‘to be powerful’’ (cf. yesh le-el yadi,
‘‘It is in the power of my hand,’’ Gen. 31:29; cf. Deut. 28:32;
Micah 2:1). But the converse may be true; since power is an
essential element in the concept of deity, the term for deity
may have been used in the transferred sense of ‘‘power.’’
In Akkadian, ilu(m), and plural ilu and ilanu, is used in
reference to any individual god as well as to divine beings
in general; but it is not employed as the personal name of
any god. In Ugaritic Canaanite, however, il occurs much
more frequently as the personal name of the highest god el
than as the common noun ‘‘god’’ (pl., ilm; fem., ilt). In the
Ugaritic myths El is the head of the Canaanite pantheon,
the ancestor of the other gods and goddesses, and the creator
of the earth and its creatures; but he generally fades into the
background and plays a minor role in the preserved myths.
Like ’Elohim, el can be employed in reference to an ‘‘alien
god’’ (Deut. 32:12; Mal. 2:11) or a ‘‘strange god’’ (Ps. 44:21;
81:10).El ‘Elyon. The Hebrew word ‘elyon is an adjective meaning
‘‘higher, upper,’’ e.g., the ‘‘upper’’ pool (Isa. 7:3), the ‘‘upper’’
gate (II Kings 15:35), and ‘‘highest,’’ e.g., the ‘‘highest’’
of all the kings of the earth (Ps. 89:28). When used in reference
to God, the word can rightly be translated as ‘‘Most
High.’’ Since in reference to God ‘elyon is never preceded
by the article ha- (‘‘the’’), it must have been regarded as a
proper noun, a name of God. Thus, it can be used as a divine
name meaning ‘‘the Most High’’ (e.g., Deut. 32:8; Isa. 14:14;
Ps. 9:3) or in parallelism with YHWH (e.g., Ps. 18:14; 21:8;
83:18), El (Num. 24:16; Ps. 107:11), and Shaddai (Ps. 91:1).
Among the Canaanites, ’El and ‘Elyon were originally
distinct deities, the former attested by archaeological evidence
from Ugarit in Western Syria, the latter by evidence
from Phoenicia further south. Later, both terms were
combined to designate a single god ’El ‘Elyon. In the *Tell
el-Amarna Letters of the 15th-14th centuries B.C.E., the
Canaanites called El Elyon ‘‘the lord of the gods.’’
’Eloha, ’Elohim. The word ’eloha ‘‘God’’ and its plural,
’elohim, is apparently a lengthened form of ’El (cf. Aramaic
’elah, Arabic ’ilah).
More likely, however,
More likely, however, it came from Canaanite usage; the
early Israelites would have taken over ’elohim as a singular
noun just as they made their own the rest of the Canaanite
language. In the Tell-el-Amarna Letters Pharaoh is often
addressed as ‘‘my gods [ilani’ya] the sun-god.’’ In the ancient
Near East of the second half of the second millennium
B.C.E. there was a certain trend toward quasi-monotheism,
and any god could be given the attributes of any other god,
so that an individual god could be addressed as ’elohai, ‘‘my
gods’’ or ’adonai, ‘‘my lords.’’
The words El, Elohim (God) and Adon, Adonai (Lord)
were slowly, but surely, incorporated into the worship of the
Israylites.
Was Yahweh pleased with this worship? Well, as we
have read in Revelation 12:9, the whole world is deceived;
therefore, the worship of El (God) and Elohim (Gods) is
deception.
Deuteronomy 11:16—
Take heed and be very careful, or your heart will be deceived,
and you will turn away and serve hinder gods (elohim) and worship
them,
The word translated Gods in Deuteronomy 11:16 is word
#430, Elohim, in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary.
The word Elohim is the exact word that Yahweh condemns
us for serving and worshiping, and is the exact word from
which the English word God is translated in today’s modern
translations.
More on this subject in next sequence tomorrow...