Baal Nature w orship in the Old Testam ent greased the skids for - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Baal Nature w orship in the  Old Testam ent greased the skids for both I srael & Judah to slide into their respective captivities into Assyria & Babylon. Daniel prophesies of future  horrors of tyrannical w ild kingdom s devouring God’s people I srael. Germ an Rom anticism boiled  up into Anti-Sem itic Nazi Nature w orship during the Holocaust.

God is Creator/ Ow ner of Nature ( Gen 1 ; Ps 5 0 ) . • Nature w as Made for Man to Rule, Guard & Cultivate Since He w as Made • in God’s I m age ( Gen 1 :2 6 -2 8 ; 2 :1 5 ; 9 :3 ; Ps 8 ) . The W orld is Designed to be Filled w ith Population ( Gen 1 :2 6 -2 8 ; 9 :1 ) . • Anim als are to be Saved & Cared for ( Gen 6 ; Prov 2 7 :2 3 ) . • Freedom Under the Rule of Law is Assum ed ( Exodus; Deuteronom y) . • The Natural W orld is to be Farm ed & Mined for Hum an Developm ent • ( Deut 8 :1 -2 0 ) . Agricultural & Financial Blessing Based on Disciplined Obedience to God • ( Deut 2 8 ; Proverbs) . Private Property is to be Protected by Redem ption Rights ( Lev 2 5 :2 3 -3 4 ; • Prov 2 3 :1 0 -1 1 ; Deut 2 3 :2 4 -2 5 ) . Mosaic Econom y Extolled the Virtues of Sm all Business ( Proverbs 3 1 :1 0 - • 3 1 ) . Making W ealth Provides Opportunity for Generosity ( Eccl 1 1 :2 ; Prov • 3 1 :2 0 ) . Credit Econom y & Debt w as Frow ned upon ( Lev 2 5 :1 -2 2 ; 3 5 -3 8 ; Deut • 2 3 :1 9 -2 3 ) . Biblical W isdom is Better than Riches ( Prov 2 0 :1 5 ; 2 3 :4 -5 ) . • Being Generous to the Poor w as not Governm ent W elfare – But w as • Expected of Private I ndividuals – Poor People had to W ork ( Lev 1 9 :1 0 ; 2 3 :2 2 ; I sa 5 8 :7 -1 2 ) . Do not be Partial to the Poor Sim ply Because they are Poor ( Ex 2 3 :3 ) . • Poverty is an Unfortunate Fact of Life ( Deut 1 5 :1 -1 1 ) . • Thorns & Thistles Result from Farm ing as Pollution is also a Natural By- • Product of Making W ealth ( Gen 3 :1 7 -1 9 ; Prov 1 4 :4 ) .

“Canaanites believed that Baal w as the storm & fertility god, w ho bestow ed upon m an and land the blessings of fecundity [ clim ate & econom y] . He sent forth lightning, fire, and rain. He gave corn, oil, and w ine. He could revive the dead, heal the sick, and bestow the blessing of progeny [ healthcare] .” Leah Bronner, The Stories of Elijah and Elisha

 The Northern Kingdom under Ahab & Jezebel w as an oppressive tim e of Global W arm ing & Eco-tyranny under the Nature W orship of Baal ( 1 Kings 1 6 :3 0 -1 7 :3 ; 1 8 :1 -5 ; 1 9 :1 -9 ; 2 1 :1 -1 6 ) .  The 6 0 ’s generation of the Northern Kingdom ( 8 6 0 ’s BC) w as a tim e of strict environm ental asceticism / raving & perverse sexuality w ith cult prostitution ( 1 8 :2 6 -2 9 ; 2 Kings 9 :2 2 ; Rev 2 :2 0 ) .

Hosea Com pares I srael’s Baalism as a Drunken • W hore House of Death by His Marriage to Gom er ( Hosea 1 :2 ; 2 :5 , 8 , 1 2 -1 3 ; 4 :1 1 -1 4 ) . I saiah Speaks of I srael’s Lack of Spiritual • Leadership/ Baalism w ith Child Sacrifice ( I sa 5 7 :1 -8 ) . 2 Kings Show cases Baalism as to Explain W hy • I srael W as Carried Captive to Assyria ( 2 Kings 1 7 :7 -2 3 ) . Jerem iah Com pares Baalism w ith Brute • I nstinctive Behavior w hich Ruined Judah ( 2 :2 0 -2 5 ; 3 :6 -1 1 ) . Ezekiel Predicts the Babylonian Captivity • Because of Judah’s Nature W orship ( Ezekiel 6 :8 -1 4 ) .

Facing the W ild Gentiles Beasts in the W ilderness of Prophecy Babylonian Empire Persian Empire Greek Empire Divided Greco-Roman Empire

His Nazi Party Membership Number was 555 – but later • changed it to No. 7 (Rev 13:18; 17:9-13). He was an Ascetic Vegetarian who was Planning to Make • Germany Vegan after the War (1 Timothy 4:3). His 1933 Animal Welfare Law Forbid Jewish Ritual • Slaughter & Passover (Daniel 9:27). He had Plans to Take Total Control of the Economy After • the War (Revelation 13:16-17). He Asserted that He will Become a Religious Figure & • Boasted that Some People already Pray to Him (2 Thess 2:4). He Defined Fascism as a “Spontaneous Return to the • Traditions of Rome (Dan 9:26-27).” He had Plans to Change the Judeo-Christian Calendar • (Daniel 7:25). He Believed in a ‘Green’ “Blood and Soil” 1000 Year • Millennial Reich for Germany in Contrast to I srael in the Promised Land.

Pioneer of the Germ an  Rom anticism – early form of Environm ental Science. Rom antics w anted to  redefine m an’s relationship w ith Nature against the dualistic-m echanistic New tonian Science of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Rom anticism becam e  fascinated w ith Biology because it could exem plify its belief in holism & organic interdependence. Goethe said, “Separateness is  the illusion/ One & m any are the sam e . ”

“The m icroscope has taught us that w e  are hem m ed in not only by the infinitely great – but also the by the infinitely sm all – m acrocosm & m icrocosm .” “W eather prediction is not a science  that can be learnt m echanically. W hat 6 th w e need are gifted m en w ith a sense, w ho live in nature and w ith nature – w hether or not they know anything about isotherm s & isobars.” “From now on, one m ay consider that  there is no gap betw een the organic and inorganic w orlds.” “I t’s by no m eans a result of chance  that am ongst ancient Egyptians no distinction w as draw n betw een m edicine and religion.”

The Oak Tree W as • Germ any’s Holy Tree He Gave an Oak Tree • Sapling to Every Gold Medal W inner of the 1 9 3 6 Olym pics He had Thousands of Oaks • Planted All Over the Reich & in W artim e Poland Oak Leaves & Acorns W ere • the Prim ary Sym bols of the SS

Hum boldt Deepened Goethe’s  Scientific Rom anticism . His Holism Quietly Excluded  Theism – Environm ent w as King. Synthesized Natural History w ith  Geography & Clim ate & Local Ecological Conditions. Laid Groundw ork for the Belief in  the Germ an Volk by Fusing Holism w ith Nationalism . Laid Groundw ork for Geopolitics  & Lebensraum doctrine in Mein Kam pf via Haeckel, Ratzel, Professor Haushofer & Rudolf Hess.

“We owe the animals not mercy but justice, and the debt often remains unpaid in Europe, the continent that is permeated with [Jews]. . . .I t is obviously high time in Europe that Jewish views on nature should be expelled from Europe” Schopenhauer Blamed the Jews & Genesis for Giving to Europe the Utilitarian Perspective on Nature: “the fault lies with the Jewish view that regards the animal as something manufactured for man’s use” “these are the effects of Genesis 1 and generally of the whole Jewish way of looking at nature”

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.“ And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

They Banned Jewish Ritual • Slaughter. They I nitially Tried to Ban • Vivisection Altogether – but Hitler’s Personal Doctor Talked Him out of Such a Draconian Measure. They Kept Updating the Animal • Rights Laws. Veterinarians Were Nazi • I nspectors of Slaughterhouses. Goering Threatened to Put • People Who Abuse Animals into Concentration Camps. Goering’s Hunting Law Was • Passed in 1934 which Forbid the Use of Painful Traps.

Hitler Could Quote Schopenhauer Verbatim . • Schopenhauer w as Dietrich Eckhart’s ( Hitler’s • ‘Spiritual’ Father) Favorite Philosopher. Richard W agner w as a Disciple of Schopenhauer. • Hitler Made Sure that the Jew s Paid The Debt • that Schopenhauer Prophesied in the 1 8 0 0 ’s. Jew s W ere Treated Like Abused & Experim ental • Anim als on Purpose.

Thoreau was the First American • Romantic ‘Hippy’ who Emphasized Holistic Empiricism in Natural Studies He Considered Plants & Animals • to be His ‘Neighbors.’ He Heavily Criticized the Puritans • for Destroying America’s Natural Environs. He Developed Pro-Nature Anti- • Human Attitudes, ‘in wildness is the preservation of the world.’ He Used Environmental Purity as • a Basis upon which to Judge Human Society.

God made man in His image so that even though • man is a created being – he is Therefore Above Nature (Gen 1:24-31; Psalm 8). The Genesis Mandate to Subdue & Fill the Earth • is an Abomination to the Romantics – leads to Utilitarian Views of Nature. Animal Sacrifice Means that Nature is Sacrificed • for Man – not Man for Nature. The Shepherd Motif where the Wolves are Killed • to Protect the Sheep is Another Abomination. Romantics Blamed the Dust Bowl on Puritan • Farming Mentality Combined with Modern Mechanical Farming. Forests & Mountains are More Holy than • Churches.