Other Gods and YHWY Terrorism

Today is the 2,900th anniversary of the alter massacres. In honor of all the priests of Baal, we remember the victims of this blatant act of terrorism.

Here’s a quick summary of Elijah and the 450 priest of Baal. Elijah summons them all to gather around the alter for a little friendly God competition. If you all win, we worship Baal, if I win, we worship the LORD. Each team puts a bullock on the alter. First, the priests of Baal try to call down fire from heaven to burn their offering and nothing happens. Then Elijah digs trenches around his alter, soaks all the wood with sixteen barrels of “water“, And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.”1 Kings‬ ‭18:35‬ ‭

Then the fire of (the Lord) fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”1 Kings‬ ‭18:35, 38‬ ‭KJV‬‬ -parenthesis added.

This explosion sounds more like a total set up of a terrorist plot using militarized chemicals of the day, and could have easily been performed. 9th century BCE, had plenty of war developed technology with the use of oils, lime and sulfur and others were known in the region to light water on fire .

My guess is water in the pit with some “special” religious seasonings added to it, then a flaming arrow from afar, But no matter, the victors write the history, and after the alter was consumed they rounded up the 450 priests and murdered them (leave no witnesses) 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.” More deceit and double speak, as they all bowed down to worship THE LORD, they were rounded up and slaughtered (1Kings 18:39) So much for peace treaties. Sounds like a reenactment of a Native American surrender or from a scene in Outlaw Josie Wales, or a chapter out of Columbus’ treatment of the Caribs in the 15th century. The Bible account is a historic template for abrahamic foreign and domestic terrorist policy. 1 Kings‬ ‭18 KJV‬‬

Author: jimoeba

Alternatives to big box religions and dogmas

70 thoughts on “Other Gods and YHWY Terrorism”

  1. Considering how bloodthirsty the people of that time were, and how bloodthirsty the God of the OT was, they may have just slaughtered everyone and then made up the rest to suite themselves. Dang have to watch your morals around that OT god, he will tarnish them fast if your not careful. Hugs

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  3. Don’t you know that the Hebrews were Canaanites? They just rewrote the history…

    As for the priests of Ba’al, they went underground, and are still here. Tess Dawson wrote “Whisper of Stone” and “The Horned Altar” detailing her Canaanite Polytheism.

    Also, there are multiple Ba’als. I do believe that the Ba’al in reference is Ba’al Hadad, who brought the beneficial rains keeping the sea and the desert at bay.

    And what Elijah did was to set up the idea that the other Gods were just fiction, and only a figment of one’s imagination. Little did he know that that could be extended to his God as well.

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      1. Yes, I was just thinking about the fact that this story has the priests dumping 16 barrels of water on an altar when they are in the middle of a three-year drought. Whose drinking water was that?

        In the NT Jesus only turned water into wine. In the OT, apparently Elijah could turn water into grain alcohol!

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    1. Yes. And with some hairsplitting apologetics you can show that this was all because of gods love and justify it. BTW, one law for us, and one law for them, has an eerie resemblance to Jim Crow laws in America. Craziness.

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  5. True story, Yahweh did actually set that altar on fire. This is because he was still alive at the time. You know, before he sacrificed himself on a cross. He knew there’s no coming back from death, but he was drunk on power at the time.

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      1. Yeah. I guess that’s why the church got rid of that verse in Mark which quoted Jesus’s actual last words before getting up on his cross: “Hey, someone hold my beer. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

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          1. Oh no, they’d switched to the Roman jiffy by then. At least, that’s what it says in my handy dandy B.L.Z. Bub Bible Concordance & Recipe Book.

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  6. A blogging friend, Club, challenged Bill Keller, of Bill Keller Ministries, to the alter challenge a few years ago.

    This is also a superb verse to present when an apologist says Yhwh will never (doesn’t have to) prove himself.

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  7. Haven’t read this lovely bible story. Oh, the LOVE! The JOY! The EMPATHY! How can one NOT want to ben’ on over and kiss the arse of God? HOW, I ask you?! HOW?!! Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are some followers of Thor I need to go kill cause they don’t love God. See ya!

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    2. AHEM!
      It’s considered polite to make an appointment before you come offering express tickets to Valhalla! Also, we need to make sure you have the proper equipment (swords, axes) – have you any idea how embarrassing it is to explain to the Allfather that you died bravely in battle against a foaming mad god’s follower, but he used a mid-sized Sedan (and not even a Volvo!!)?

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  9. Jim!!!!! STOP IT!!! You are not cherry-picking the correct passages, or verses, or HELL… not even the right book!!! It’s the New Testament you need to concern yourself with not the Old. Dontcha kno, Christ came to fulfill AND CHANGE the old!!! 😇🤪

    $$Amen$$

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    1. This from JZ last week. I know your being funny, but here is a truth. “I know a theologian (David McDonnough) who says the OT stands and every Christian has got it all wrong. This is from his post: “Can Christians Carry Concealed Weapons?”

      What Christians most often forget is how to read the whole Bible as the complete Word of God. For some, there is a misunderstanding that the Old Testament no longer applies to Christians. That would be a mistaken understanding because Jesus came to fulfill the “Law and the Prophets” (the Old Testament), but not to change a “jot or tittle” of it. Jesus did change some of the incorrect ways that the Jews were practicing the Law, but did not change the Law itself.

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        1. There are many key pieces they leave out of their own argument that would benefit them as well. There are arguments I could make in their behalf that they are too clueless to make for themselves.

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        2. PT … you know and I know … the “Christians” pick out what rings their bell and the rest is … well … it’s just “OLD” stuff that isn’t really meant for today.

          And let me add … the same is true when you look at the “NEW” stuff. If it works for me and my personal beliefs/preferences/style of living/etc. … then it’s from GOD. Absolutely no doubt about it.

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          2. Nan, you are absolutely correct! And yet, someone like Pastor Mel (or EXACTLY like him!) says “subjectivism is the worse kind of world-view EVER!” He labels subjectivism total incoherence. 🤔 Hahahahaha!

            (scratching his head)

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            4. My guess Jeff is that Mel probably thinks he knows more than he actually does. But when I try to probe for that vastness of “objective” objectivism, at least in his library of knowledge… God’s word — via his specific FourSquare Church and his PCCNA — and his/their hermaneutics/exegesis… is all he needs. In his mind there’s no reason whatsoever to consider anything opposing his world-view and reality. Doing so is falling for Satan’s tricks. 🙄😩

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            5. Yeah, that sounds right. You know what the toughest words are for guys like Mel to say? “I don’t know.” “How did the universe come to be, Mel, and what does it all mean?” “Well, I’ve some personal ideas on it, but, when push comes to shove, I must admit to the one truth that exists on the issue: I don’t know.” Instead, guys like him ALWAYS say they know. I find such a stance to be morally repugnant.

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            6. True. I see him using another word more than “I don’t know” but in my head means the same thing: FAITH. But it is not blind Faith Jeff!!! 🤣

              Hmmm, okay. Then is it ignorant/naive Faith? Faith that because God knows and I don’t… is more solid, is more intelligent Faith? Where does it come from Mel? “The heart. Intuition. Backed up by the Bible” Oh! Now THERE’S reliable, verifiable sources for pure objectivism! 🤪 “But it’s more too.” Ahhhh, of course it is. 😵🤯

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            7. Faith = “I don’t really know. But no matter because what I say is true because I say and believe it is, and if you can’t see the inerrant, undeniable truth in this, well, then, that’s a character flaw in you, not me.” Or, as my great uncle, Bubba Berstein used to say, “Faith? Ya’ I knew ‘er. Dated ‘er in college. She cheated on me and screwed me over more times ‘n I kin remember, and I heard she’d done the same ta’ many udder people,too. In udder wurds, don’t trust ‘er. It she ain’t wurt yer time.”

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        2. Well John Z, I have to give the man (McDonnough) some credit theologically for doing EXACTLY what most all Christians SHOULD be doing: checking Scripture with ALL of Scripture. The technique was used by Jews and by Jesus — looking to Holy Scriptures for help/answers. It is also what the Catechisms do, which most Christians have no clue about. In my freak-years of Christology we used the Westminster Shorter Catechisms. 🤪

          However, in my right mind and in reality, all of it is based on one huge fallacy: an Abrahamic God, a Savior, and a Hell or eternal punishment. LOL Whoops. Now what do we do!? 🤣

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    2. Whaddya mean not the right book? DJ Zay said:

      “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

      You calling him a liar?

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        1. In all seriousness, I can’t understand how Christians convince themselves into believing the words coming from a man who claimed God instructed him to prophecy naked should be taken seriously. How does one overlook this absurdity?

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        2. The other thing that occurred to me is that after this dramatic episode, the rest of the chapter acts as though this never happened. It was sort of inserted in or dropped in without context. Everyone still went about doing whatever they were doing before all this hoorah happened – still worshiping Ba’al,.

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          1. Well, maybe since they broke the deal and killed off all the priests that were there, they said screw you. I think it’s just an old children’s game. The Philistines didn’t serve israel after david killed Goliath either. They ran off after more fighting.

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    1. He’s is good. Just ask him. Lol. I wonder, since god blew up the alter, why didn’t he kill the priests? He had them do all his dirty work. Sounds presumptuous.

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            1. Let me be the judge of that. How does he know if he can’t comprehend the ways of god. That’s a lame answer.

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