Canaanites believed the entrance to the underworld was at Bashan. But both Milcom (Molech) and Chemosh, the national gods of Ammon and Moab, demanded child sacrifice. Venerating the dead and appeasing the gods of the dead through human sacrifice appear to have been the norm in this region east of the Dead Sea.Continue Reading
DAVID ASCENDS to the throne in Jerusalem, and we recount the history of Israel, including some startling examples of warfare in the unseen realm, in the psalms accompanying our study this week.Continue Reading
SODOM AND GOMORRAH come to mind when reading the last chapters of the Book of Judges.Continue Reading
GOD ORDERED the Israelites to take revenge on the people of Midian. This is hard to understand, since Moses was married to a Midianite woman—until you consider the context of the spiritual war being waged around the Israelites.
BALAAM WAS unable to curse Israel, but the people were lured into worshiping a god called Baal-Peor—with disastrous consequences.
JACOB WAS buried at the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. So, why did Joseph and his brothers take his body all the way around the other side of the Dead Sea and mourn for seven days at a threshing floor in the ruined city of Sodom?