Jezebel - Her Life And Times

Jezebel - Her Life And Times

BAAL WORSHIP

Jezebel. Her name is synonymous with wickedness. Of all the beautiful biblical names used for children today, you won’t find one Jezebel.

The daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, Jezebel was raised and trained in Baal worship. She spent the years of her reign not only worshiping Baal but forcing Baal worship on her subjects. Statues of Baal showed him standing straight and tall wearing a helmet topped with bull’s horns, a sign of power and fertility. In one hand he held a spear entwined with leaves, possibly symbolizing lightning and plant growth. His other hand held a club, which may have symbolized strength or thunder.

Baal worship involved the use of incense and sacrifice so common in the forms of worship of that day. The sacrifice at times involved innocent humans (Jeremiah 19:5). Also, since the main function of the god Baal was to make the land and animals and people fertile, fertility rites formed the chief part of Baal worship. Male and female attendants performed sexual acts in order to induce Baal to lavish fertility on the land.

When the Israelites wandered from their faith in the one true God, they often became attracted to worshiping the false god Baal. They worshiped this god during the time of Barak and Balaam (Numbers 22:41) as well as during the time of the judges (Judges 2:13; 6:28 – 32). Even after Elijah’s triumph over Baal on Mount Carmel and the death of 450 priests of Baal that day (1 Kings 18:16 – 40), Baal worship continued off and on all during the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah.

The worship of any false god is, of course, hateful to the true God. We know that. To us, Baal worship seems like a disgusting and foolish practice. We are far too sophisticated to understand its appeal. But aren’t false gods just as prevalent today as in Jezebel’s day? Consider the way we worship sports heroes, movie stars, and multimillionaires. Ours is a society that often bows to gods of money, sex, and power. We would do well to remember that anything, no matter how good, that supplants God’s place in our lives can become an idol if we let it.