Articles
The God Who Thunders: Yahweh against Baal
One of the unfortunate realities of reading the Old Testament in the modern age is the unfamiliarity with Ancient Near Eastern culture that would have been assumed of ancient readers. Wordplay in the Hebrew language, structural elements like chiasm and merism, and even geographic references are often lost in the translations, and these missed nuances often lead to modern readers having limited or no understanding of some Old Testament texts. One of the cultural elements that is often missing from modern readers is the knowledge of the various pagan gods and mythologies of the nations surrounding Israel, which ancient readers would have been well familiar with. Many stories and texts of the Old Testament serve as polemics (a strong verbal or written attack against someone) against deities like Molech, Chemosh, and Astarte, and serve to show the complete superiority of Yahweh compared to these pagan gods. Two of the more common opponents of Yahweh, and gods that were often worshipped by Israel in their syncretic religions that blended Yahweh-worship with other deities, were the Canaanite deity Baal and the Philistine deity Dagon. Baal was a god of storms and fertility, and was considered a very important god in the Canaanite religion due to his control over both birth of children and the growth of crops. Dagon, who was noted by several Ugaritic texts as Baal’s father, served similar roles as a god of fertility and vegetation. Starting in the Book of Judges, there is a consistent thread of Yahweh being proclaimed as the one true God over Baal and Dagon that runs throughout the Deuteronomic History.
The introduction of Judges notes that the cyclical sins of Israel were started by Israel’s decision to follow “the Baals and the Ashtaroth,” which likely denotes the rampant idolatry of Israel in setting up multiple statues and shrines to Baal and his consort Astarte (Judges 2:11-13). Yet when the Israelites fight against Canaan in the saga of Deborah and Barak a song is composed that commemorates Yahweh as the master of the storm, the very principality of Baal: “Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the field of Edom, the earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, even the clouds dripped water. The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord, this Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel,” (Judges 5:4-5). The defeat of Sisera and his Canaanite armies is not just a physical victory for Israel, but a clear indication that Baal’s power is nothing compared to Yahweh. Similar anti-Baal sentiments appear in the story of Gideon when Gideon tears down his father’s altar of Baal and the Asherah under the cover of darkness. While the men of the town want to kill Gideon after discovering his secret deeds, Gideon’s father Joash (who, remember, actually owned the altar!) delivers a powerful anti-Baal polemic when he says “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? …If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar,” (Judges 6:31). While Yahweh has shown Himself throughout Judges as a powerful deity who overcomes entire nations on behalf of His people, Baal is revealed as powerless to stop the abuse of his own shrines! Despite these powerful polemics, however, it is noted in Judges 8:33 and 10:6-10 that Israel returned to Baal worship after the death of Gideon and his descendants.
With the story of Samson, Yahweh’s contention shifts to Baal’s father Dagon. Samson’s foes are the Philistines, and amidst his numerous character flaws and poor decisions Yahweh’s superiority over Dagon is repeatedly demonstrated. Samson’s burning of the Philistine grain is a fit of vengeance for Samson’s perceived slights, but it is also an indictment of Dagon’s power: Dagon is a god of vegetation and fertility (indeed, the Ugaritic word for grain is daganu), and his inability to protect his people’s most important crop is a sign of his weakness before Yahweh (Judges 15:1-8). While Dagon seems to gain the upper hand against Samson after his capture, blinding, and humiliation, the destruction of his temple at the hands of a Spirit-empowered Samson again shows the power of Yahweh dwarfing that of Dagon.
The narrative thread of Yahweh vs. Baal and Dagon is picked up again in the first several chapters of 1 Samuel, beginning with the song of Hannah. As noted, Baal worship was very common in Israel throughout this period of time. Hannah, with her struggles with fertility, might have been tempted to turn to Baal in her time of weakness to try and gain the child that she had been denied to this point. Instead, however, she turns to Yahweh and His power in her plea for healing rather than ascribe to the common culture. Her faithfulness in Yahweh is vindicated with the birth of Samuel, and she sings an incredible song of praise in the second chapter of the book. This song serves as an introduction to a lot of the themes in the book of Samuel, but it also continues the anti-Baal/Dagon polemics of Judges that will run through Samuel. In 1 Samuel 2:2, Hannah sings, “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.” For context, Baal and Dagon were the national deities of the Canaanites and Philistines, respectively, but they were part of a broader pantheon of gods that was headed by a deity called El. According to Ugaritic myth, this assembly of gods was often called “sons of the Holy One,” and Baal in particular held a high position in this assembly as “our king, our judge, over whom there is none.” Hannah’s declaration of Yahweh’s unique holiness is a direct counter to the idea of multiple comparable deities, and affirms Yahweh’s supremacy and incomparability to the false gods.
Verse 6 has Hannah sing, “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.” One of the myths of Baal, which was recorded in the Ugaritic library’s texts, has the storm god fighting against Mot, the god of death. Baal actually loses this initial fight and is killed, much to the mourning of the pantheon. Ball eventually returns to life and defeats Mot, although the myth alludes to the fight being far from over. This myth was utilized to explain how crops and the proper cycles were sometimes interrupted by drought and starvation; when Mot defeated Baal, it was drought overcoming fertility. In contrast to Baal, Yahweh is portrayed in the song as being unconquered by death; in fact, He is the one truly in control of life and death! Finally, the song has Hannah sing in verse 10 that, “those who contend with the Lord will be shattered; against them He will thunder in the heavens.” Again, Yahweh is portrayed in direct opposition to the storm God Baal, and He is the one in control of the storm.
The book continues the anti-idol polemics in chapter 5: while Yahweh judges Israel harshly for their use of the Ark of the Covenant as some sort of magic totem that guarantees them victory, it does not mean that Yahweh has been defeated by Dagon. Israel’s defeats have been an indictment against their sinful behavior rather than proof that Yahweh is a weak deity. When the Ark is placed in the temple of Dagon in 1 Samuel 5:1-3, the idol of Dagon falls to the ground; the language is indicative of collapsing in fear and trembling (Genesis 44:14; Joshua 5:14). In verse 4, Dagon falls again to the ground; this time, however, he is clearly defeated as his head and hands are removed in customary signs of military defeat. While Dagon’s hands are removed from him, Yahweh’s “hand was heavy” against the Philistine cities as they are struck with plague and accursed for their sins against the Lord. Israel’s defeat does not mean that Yahweh is powerless, and He is directly proving his superiority to his pagan foes.
This theme comes to a resounding conclusion in 1 Samuel 7. With the return of the Ark, Samuel exhorts Israel to, “return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hands of the Philistines,” (1 Samuel 7:3). Amazingly, Israel actually complies! They put away the Baals and Ashtaroths, and serve Yahweh alone; in fact, Israel is not recorded as serving Baal again until the days of King Ahab nearly 200 years later. With this repentance against Baal worship, Israel is delivered from their Philistine oppressors. Israel gathers at Mizpah to atone for their sins, and the Philistines gather to destroy them there. For once, Israel recognizes their inadequacy to win this conflict without Yahweh; they plead with Samuel to cry to Yahweh on their behalf, and Samuel does so. Before the Israelites even raise their weapons, “the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel. The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car,” (1 Samuel 7:10-11). One commentator, Robert Chisholm, writes that “the Lord’s self-revelation in the storm is particularly significant and appropriate here because the Israelites…have just thrown away their Baal idols and renewed their commitment to the Lord. As if to confirm the wisdom of their decision, the Lord reveals himself in a Baal-like manner, proving that He, not the Canaanite storm-god, controls nature and possesses the capacity to bless Israel with fertility.”
The story of God’s thunder does not end there, however. Hannah and her son Samuel have both attested to God being the true voice behind thunder rather than Baal, but Hannah also prophesied in her song that “those who contend with the Lord will be shattered; against them He will thunder in the heavens, the Lord will judge the ends of the earth; and He will give strength to His king, and will exalt the horn of His anointed,” (1 Samuel 2:10). Not only is Yahweh the one who thunders, but He was also going to raise up a king to fight against His enemies. This prophesied king, David, writes multiple songs that glorify Yahweh as the thundering warrior of Israel: Psalm 29:3 reads that, “the voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders,” and Psalm 18:13 states that “the Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.” In this use of “thunder” we see a connection between Hannah and Samuel’s prophesies and the kingship of David; all of their successes are due to their trust in the power of the One True God rather than that of Baal, Dagon, or any of the other pagan deities.
What to make of all of this focus on anti-Dagon/Baal polemics? It seems clear that the Old Testament treats Yahweh’s uniqueness as God differently than we sometimes do in modern Western traditions: the Old Testament does not deny the existence of other spiritual beings. Instead, the Old Testament makes it clear that these other spiritual beings are completely inferior to Yahweh. Yahweh is not the greatest of many deities, but rather the only true God, Creator, and Ruler of all creation. These other spiritual beings (or demons, to use Moses’ terminology) are but fallen and craven creations that have attempted to usurp Yahweh’s rightful rule. In these episodes in Judges and Samuel, however, it becomes quickly clear that they are pitiful pretenders compared to the might and greatness of Yahweh. It is little wonder, then, that Paul tells the Ephesians that, “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places,” (Ephesians 6:12). Christians must understand that there are wicked and powerful spiritual foes that would seek to deceive and enslave us just as they have countless people through the ages, and that they are difficult enemies for a mortal man to face. Against the Most High Lord, however, these demonic forces are utterly powerless. The victory of Jesus has broken them, and their strength cannot overcome those saved by the blood of the Lamb. Praise God, then, that He has thundered against our enemies and scattered them! May we all place our trust in Yahweh, the only true source of peace and grace, rather than the evil powers and rulers of the world.
