In the past, Canaan and Phoenicia both practiced the worship of Baal, a false god. The worship of Baal became a part of Jewish religious life during the Judges era. The Jews began idolizing Baal beginning in the era of the Judges.
During Ahab’s rule, the practice of worshipping Baal expanded throughout Israel. More than any other Israelite ruler, he committed wickedness. For his people to worship, he built a temple for the worship of Baal.
Later, Judah also engaged in Baal worship. Baal was revered as a fertility deity who was responsible for assisting both human and animal reproduction.
People in Israel worshipped Baal in a variety of ways. He was revered and elevated in high places. This action caused Israel to suffer at the hands of their enemies’ kings, but when they turned back to their Lord, they were pardoned.
Judges 3:7(KJV) And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
1 Kings 19:18(KJV) Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
2 Kings 23:5(KJV) And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
1 Samuel 7:4(KJV) Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
Jeremiah 19:5(KJV) They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
Jeremiah 2:8(KJV) The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
2 Kings 17:16(KJV) And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
1 Kings 16:31(KJV) And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
Deuteronomy 4:3(KJV) Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
2 Kings 11:18(KJV) And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 33:3(KJV) For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
Judges 8:33(KJV) And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.
1 Kings 18:40(KJV) And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
Judges 9:4(KJV) And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.
Jeremiah 23:13(KJV) And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
Jeremiah 7:9(KJV) Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
Hosea 13:1(KJV) When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
Numbers 22:41(KJV) And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.
1 Kings 16:32(KJV) And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
2 Kings 3:2(KJV) And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
2 Kings 21:3(KJV) For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
1 Chronicles 4:33(KJV) And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and their genealogy.
Jeremiah 32:35(KJV) And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Jeremiah 2:23(KJV) How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
2 Kings 23:5(KJV) And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
1 Kings 18:18(KJV) And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.
Jeremiah 11:13(KJV) For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
2 Kings 23:4(KJV) And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
2 Chronicles 28:2(KJV) For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.
Elijah And The 450 Prophets Of Baal Verse
1 kings 18:22(KJV) Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
How Many Prophets Of Baal Were Killed
Because of their transgression, the kingdom of Israel continued to experience water shortages. To receive rain, King Ahab instructed the populace to worship the fictitious god Baal.
Elijah the prophet was sent by the Lord to meet Ahab and perform miracles in their land. To turn back to their Lord, whom they had abandoned, Elijah called everyone to the summit of a mountain. He challenged the king and his priests to a challenge to make them know whether their Lord Baal is the true God.
Elijah described how should do the challenge. He and the priests would offer a bull as a sacrifice on an altar, but they would not start a fire. The priests would instead invoke Baal to light a fire. Then Elijah would ask the Lord to light a fire in prayer. Elijah was aware that the fire could only be sparked by the genuine God.
From dawn to midday, the priests of Baal prayed to their deity, but nothing happened. With a smile, Elijah remarked that their god Baal must be dozing off.
The priests became enraged, leaped onto the altar, and yelled into the evening. Although they prayed for a response from their god, there is still no fire.
Elijah erected an altar to the Lord, excavated a trench around it, then prepared the offering.
Four barrels of water were to be filled and three times poured onto the wood of Elijah’s altar, he instructed the crowd. The wood and the altar were wet. It completely filled the ditch.
Elijah asked the Lord to demonstrate the power of the real God. Wood, stones, water, and the sacrifice were all burned by the Lord’s fire as it descended. The populace was aware that the God of Elijah was the real God. When Elijah begged for the rain to end the drought, the Lord responded.
Elijah instructed his followers to slaughter 450 of the Baal prophets after ordering them to be captured.
Why Did The Prophets Of Baal Cut Themselves
They cut themselves when they failed to burn the wood from their god Baal. They cried to the Baal from morning till noon and they did not get any voice from him. To impress him they cut themselves with knives.
