The Watchtower Society and John and Morton Edgar - A2Z.org

out drink oflerings llrlio her, as we have done, we, andour fatllers, our ki~~gs, and our princes, in the cities ofJudah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: tor then had .we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.But since we left of'f to burn incense to the queen ofheaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, wehave wanted all things, and have been consumed bythe sword and by the iamine. A,?d when we burnedincense to the queen of heaven, etc. See also Jer.7 :17, 19--"Seest thou not what they do in the citiesof Judah and jn inhe streets of Jerusalem? The childrengat.her wood, and the fathers kindle the Are, and thewomen kneed their dough, to make cakes to tlle queenof heaven, and they pour out {lrink offerings 111ito othergods, that they may pro\-ol;~ me to anger."\I'll0 was this " Queen of I~eaven" ill whoin the erringJews had such implicit rbonfidence?In Ji~rlges 2 : 11-13 is ~ecorrlcd another falling awayof the Isnaelites : " And they forsook the Loi'(I God oftheir f.?thcrs, which bro~~gllt them out or the land ofEgypt, and followed otltr~~ gods, of the gods of thepenple that were round about them, and bowed them->el\-es 1ult.o them, and provoked the Lord unto anger.And tl~ey,,forsool~ the Lord, and served Baal andAsl~taroth.\\Xo was Baal? W1-lo was Ashtaroth?.45 all are aware, the Bible contains many referencesfo Raal ; yet it does not disclose the identity of thisgod, nor explain why the faithless Jews and otherpeoples so consistently rendered him obeisance. It ishere that we are aided by klYthoIOg~, the study ofwhich reveals the fact that the god Baal, and the goddessthe Queen of heaven, were unilrersally worshippedunder lrarjous names and titles. While this is recognisedby students of ~ythology, it is not SO generally