RAS SHAMRA: FROM BAAL TO CHRIST

Transcription

1 RAS SHAMRA: FROM BAAL TO CHRIST PRESENTED BY JONATHAN ESTERMAN SEPTEMBER 2009

2 Copyright 2012, Jonathan Esterman. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other - except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by Scripted Genius. Visit us online at scriptedgenius.com.

3 Introduction! 4 What are the Ras Shamra?! 4 Scripturally Speaking! 4 Lost in Translation! 5 Connecting the Dots! 6 Conclusion! 7 Bibliography! 8

4 Introduction The discovery of Ras Shamra is of huge importance to a fuller understanding of Old and New Testament theology. So much, in fact, that it enlightened me to how much the Old Testament truly is blood brothers with the New Testament. I assert, with confidence, that the Ras Shamra point to Christ being written throughout the scriptures in such a fashion that we cannot deny the deity of Jesus, thus being HaMashiach Y shua. To do this, we will need to examine what the Ras Shamra are, the relation to the Tanakh, and the illumination provided to help better understand the fullness of the historical records, Torah, and prophetic words that directly correlate to New Testament scriptures. What are the Ras Shamra?! What are the Ras Shamra? The Ras Shamra are tablets found in the city of Ras Shamra, formerly known as Ugarit. These tablets are of cuneiform writing, unfamiliar to translators at the time of uncovering in Through translation, we have come to know these tablets as covering the story of the Canaanites, with worship to Baal. 1 A few positives are noted: deeper understanding of who Baal is in relation to Elijah s encounters, better translation of scriptures, lending to Amos occupation being more complete. As with good, there are some negative aspects as well. However, my intent here is not to delve into the set of negatives, or even Amos, but rather this tale of Elijah. Scripturally Speaking! Welcome to Mount Carmel. G-d speaks to the prophet Elijah, and he listens. Approaching King Ahab, who has all but killed every other prophet of G-d, Elijah suggests a 1 Garry K. Brantley, "Pagan Mythology and the Bible" category=13&article=462.

5 showdown between the deities: YHWH versus Baal. Ahab agrees. Looking into 1 Kings 18, we see the following play out, Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God." And all the people answered, "It is well spoken." (1 Kings 18: 19-24) 2 How does this relate to the Ras Shamra tablets, though? It would seem we need to take a closer look at the situation. According to the tablets, Baal is not a god of fire. That presents an issue. Why would 850 prophets and a king agree to a challenge of which their god is not a god of? The Rash Shamra tablets label Baal as a god of fertility, (correlation to Spring here), rain, and storms. This is quite the opposite of fire. Unless could it be? Lost in Translation What if the modern translations we are following of the text translated fire differently? I wondered about this, and did some research. I found the same word for this fire in the following scriptures: 1 Kings 18:38, Lev 9:24, Judg 6:21, Judg 13:19-20, 1 Chr 21:26, 2 Chr 7:1. When researching those scriptures, they led me to more revelations, but let us work from here. This fire sprang from rocks, appeared and filled a temple, and came at almost any time. It could very well be a pillar of fire, like that of which guided the Israelites, but what if that pillar of fire wasn t a pillar of fire? Let me suggest something, that runs in-line with my reference could this 2 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.

6 fire be lightning? That would certainly clarify Psalm 97, with the clouds and thunder. In fact, that would make sense when G-d s voice is thunder, wouldn t it? Connecting the Dots Fire being lightning, that explains the issue with Baal. If Baal was the storm god, then he could summon the storm and lightning would consume the offering. It even runs in line with the idea of G-d being able to strike us down if He so chooses. Thus, the Ras Shamra tablets clarify this point. Which leads to even more for example, the seven thunder judgments in Revelation. If thunder is the voice of G-d, then could this lightning be involved? After all, thunder and lightning travel together. But it would seem that there is no specification, and we are left wondering the definition of thunder. In the Law and the Prophets, there is another item that sounds like thunder when played by the angels: the shofar. This long horn represents thunder in a sense. We also see in Ezek 1:24 that many waters is related to a thundering sound. The shofar, in Jewish marriage tradition, is played by the husband to suggest that he is pleased with his wife, as he goes out to marry her. This starts the union. The church is commonly viewed as the bride of Christ. With this concept in mind, what if the thunders in Revelation signify that Christ is coming for his bride? Could that be evidence for a pre-wrath (as in Bowl/Wrath judgments) rapture? It is possible, but let us go back to Ezekiel. Check out verses 27-27: And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (Ezekiel 1:27-28) Here, it would seem that this description matches the angel of the L-rd presenting the thunder judgments. This angel also appears in the earlier scriptures referenced. In fact, it seems that when this angel was interacting with the everyday folk in the earlier scriptures, the people

7 did not recognize the angelic glow until fire came, then it was almost as if they were enlightened Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face." (Judges 6:22) And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God." (Judges 13:20-22) And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. (1 Chronicles 21:16) Conclusion In each of these scriptures, I see Jesus. That s right, HaMashiach Y shua. It is only be seeing G-d that they would die, not just any ole angel. So if they were so fearful of death from this sight, it must have been The Angel. Would would correlate to the shofar in Revelation 10, would it not? Think on this. Pray on this. Do you see what I see here? It is Christ, present from beginning to end, Alpha and Omega. Salvation is written on every page of this text. He is here. He is now. He is available. Amen.

8 Bibliography Brantley, Garry K., "Pagan Mythology and the Bible" apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=462.