Notes:
Story two is The story of Old Testament Worship.
you can read about this in the book of Leviticus if you want.
When the children of Israel were camping in the dessert, God, through Moses,
gave them a form of worship that was distinct from that of all the nations around them.
He told them to build a Tabernacle that looked roughly like this: draw the Tabernacle.
Inside: Ark of the Covenant, covered by the “Mercy Seat”. God’s presence lived there.
Outside: the Altar of Sacrifice, for the forgiveness of sins.
For the Jews, worship consisted of two things: praise and sacrifice.
When they moved into the land of Israel, they found out that their form of worship
was distinctly different from that of the Canaanites and other nations around them, because
the nations around them worshiped not just one God, but all kinds of gods. And because
they were agrarian societies, these cultures were primarily concerned with the gods who
controlled their crops.
So everywhere around the Middle East at that time were shrines and Temples to
the male fertility god, who often went by the name “Baal.” And the female fertility god,
who went by a variety of related names, from Ashtorath to Astarte to Ishtar to Isis
to Artemis to Diana.
Seems a little strange, doesn’t it. But do you understand what was going on?
This is important because for the Israelites, this practice was repulsive.
God condemned it and urged the Israelites not to participate in Temple prostitution.
Several OT prophets spoke about this.
Payne : P.196/7