The most obvious story of the Canaanite cult proving it was being adhered to by the Israelites may be the story of the seven lean years and the seven fat years. This takes place during the reign of the Hyksos in Egypt. Joseph was another Canaanite in Egypt during the reign of the Hyksos. The Hyksos were Canaanite and so were the Israelites. The story has more to say about the rise to power of the Hyksos from within than the tradition we read in the Bible.
When Baal, the God of the fertility of the land, defeats Mot, the God of death, seven fat years ensue. When the God Mot defeats Baal, seven lean years ensue. Only one God could predict the outcome of these sabbatical battles and that was the Canaanite god El. Joseph, being close to the God El, would have had no problem interpreting the dream of the Pharaoh (Gen. 41:1-37).
The obvious links to the Canaanite fertility religion have been known for ages, but the impact of the connection was first obvious after the discoveries of the Canaanite tablets found at Ugarit. The Biblical record was not finalized until after the Israelites returned to Israel under the rule of the Iranian emperor Darius 1. Under heavy influence of the Zoroastrian religion after 550 B.C., the Israelites returned and rewrote their traditions and, these were then colored by certain aspects of Zoroastrianism. The literature was not finished then, and is still being rewritten now 2,500 years later to agree with the minds of today.
In Ugarit, the traditions of the Israelites were written down 1,000 years before they were written down by the Israelites. The connections between the two cultures are not incidental. The Canaanite documents are a more original tradition depicting all of Genesis and the religions of the fathers of the Church. For us to look at all of it would be too much. The need is not there, for those who would like to see the material, the books are available. But some aspects might be interesting enough to include. We could also touch upon a few of the discoveries of ancient Ebla and Mari while we are at it. This is not to be mean. It is not mean to expose lies unless they are commented on by the liars, lies in regards to the most important aspect of all, our spiritual well being, are the most devious of all. Such deceptions would no one try to bring upon us, and the only reason someone would not desire to look at this would be because these lies might be discovered. I trust those are extremely few.
Father of Man in the Ugarit documents was the same as the Hebrew God of Abraham. His name was El. Gen. 1:6 is where a firmament is created between Heaven and Earth the Canaanite god El was credited with the separating of Heaven and Earth. This is also reflected in the Koran XVIII:61. Psalm 29:10 states: "The lord sitted upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth king forever" is identical to Canaanite passages. The tree of death came from Canaan and became called the Tree of Life. Death was the result of the eating of it's fruit in Genesis. See Gen. 2:17; 3:19. 4Q458 is a document from the caves at Qumran where the Israelites also refers to this tree and calls it the tree of evil. The garden of Eden is in the same location among the people of Ugarit and the Israelites.
Horunu was the Canaanite Cain. Their location was the same, their role as the murderer was the same. They also invoked the saviors of old which are first seen in Gen. 6:4, and are later virtually littered through the Old Testament. After the influence of Zoroastrianism it should be mentioned the worship of these dead ancestors became an abomination. The legend of Aqhat and the legend of Abraham is very reminiscent of each other when it comes to the God El promising offsprings. Also, the renaming of Abram to Abraham was often done by the followers of El in Ugarit.
In Hosea 9:10-16, Hosea mocks the followers of Baal for being unable to provide his followers with offsprings. This is a direct parallel to the way the followers of El would mock the followers of Baal at Ugarit. At Ugarit, these people had the same religion. Some followed Baal and others followed El. It was an individual choice and most worshipped both. When the Israelites lifted up their eyes to their lord, the Canaanites did exactly the same to Baal. (Gen. 13:10, "And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld the plain of Jordan. That it was well watered every where..." 13:14, "And the Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him. Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place..." 18:2, "And he lifted up his eyes and looked and lo, three men stood beside him." 33:1, "And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred Men..." Here are just a few examples. This Canaanite expression is very well attested to in the OT There may also be some who are not aware that the Lord here referred to is the exact same Lord of the Canaanites and the El which is often mentioned is also the same Canaanite deity.
The Biblical scholars have for centuries attempted to play down the parallel names but to no avail any longer. When it is not only the names which match but the stories themselves are pretty well identical, they are borrowing. When one story is written a few centuries and here over a thousand years before the Biblical tale, there cannot be any question about who borrowed from whom.
Baal's epithet was " Rider on the clouds. Psalm 68:4 states: "Sing unto Baal, sing praises to his name; extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him." (see also Psalm 104:3). Isa. 19:1 states: "The burden of Egypt. Behold, the lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt..." These references and many more are identical to the Canaanite passages.
Baal was in later times called just the almighty. When we read of the almighty in the Bible, it is most probable we are reading tales which reflect Baal. Sometimes however, we will be reading about the God Yammu. The God Baal rescued the Canaanite worshippers from Yammu every time he was resurrected from the underworld. "Baal lives" was used several thousand years prior to "Jesus lives" was heard by any of his followers. "Baal lives" indicated Baal was resurrected. The evil God Yammu was no longer king of the Earth Baal the savior had removed his yoke from their presence.
YHWH, and his battle with the sea is better explained by the documents from Ugarit. Here, the battle was by the god Baal. YHWH did no battle with the sea. It was Baal who battled YHWH/Yammu when he was resurrected. Yammu, son of El, was a sea dragon, an evil God who recruited people for his nether domain among Man. Oppose war on Earth, was a theme from Baal. The bloodthirsty Yammu of the Bible was not in opposition to war. When war is depicted as evil in the OT, you could be sure Baal was alive.
Baal was the champion of exorcists which is why the Pharisees said Jesus is Beelzebub. Matt. 12:24 states: "But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doeth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of devils." Baal was not Beelzebub. Beelzebub was the Hebrew God Yammu. The Pharisees of this time had forgotten their own heritage. They are here however intending to call Baal Beelzebub, for Baal was the God who cast out demons. Beelzebub was the one who sent the demons to recruit human victims and to make life for Man a misery. Savior the eternal king, is an epithet for Baal and the deified kings (rp'um). Shepherd is another of the epithets of Baal. A virgin was a woman who had not had a son, e.g. Anatu, Baal's wife. She was known of as the harlot of the world and pursued relatives to get offsprings just like we see the wives in the Old Testament do when they had no son by their husband and he died. The same thought is the basis behind Gen. 24:16, "And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin. Neither had any man known her..." She was a virgin is one point. Another point is the fact that no man has known her. To us a virgin is a woman no man has known. Here, it is amply indicated that a virgin and a woman no man has known are not identical.
David could have been the sweet voice of Baal. The Psalms of David while reflecting Sumerian thought, strongly depict Canaanite philosophies. It should be noted that the Psalms are Sumerian thought modified by Canaanite religion. This in turn got monotheized by the Hebrews after their encounter with the Persians. The Psalms are credited to David which is not impossible. If it is true however, David was a Sumerian figure who lived more than two thousand years before Christ. However, since the name David comes from Ebla, that would mean he was an Eblaite singing Sumerian hymns and these were adopted by the Canaanites and modified by the Hebrews to reflect a monotheistic religion 2,000 years after they were written. It is quite possible the way material changed hands, was modified and was assigned to all sorts of different people. The way Gods changed hands and personalities were assigned in the area, nothing would be impossible. About the only thing impossible is that there was one line of people which uniformly worshipped any one deity totally apart from the rest of the people. That is impossible and we have seen that the Bible affirms this. With our knowledge, we know the Deities worshipped were the Archons. The name was irrelevant. The intent was the suppression of Man and trapping of the Spirit of Man in a Hell known as the P.U.
From the time Baal was slain until he was resurrected, his wife Anatu had to pursue the nearest male relative for marriage and sex. She was thus referred to as a wanton woman. A direct parallel is Eze. 23:8,21. Here the Hebrew Deity is speaking with contempt about the Israelites, about their whoredoms and how he delivered them. These exact sentiments are spoken by the Canaanites about the wife of Baal. When the Israelites rewrote their tales after the Persian encounter, they would have rewritten more than was called for. Isa. 60:16 is also Canaanite. Here it is Baal who talks to Anatu saying she will know he is the Bull, the savior and redeemer. Rev 17:2 is also a tale regarding the unfaithful promiscuous Anatu, wife of Baal, and it is stated that the peoples of Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Many more examples of Anatu and her promiscuous behavior survived in the Bible. Most are slightly altered but easy to pick out.
The hands of Baal shook when Mot, the favorite son of El, and theGod of death arrives. Isa. 10:32 states: "... He shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem." 11:15 is where he shakes his fist at the Egyptians instead. What the original states we may be able to find out if the Qumran manuscripts are released which deals with Isaiah. Baal was called the living god, probably referred to when he was resurrected. "Baal lives!" All's well. Because Baal was resurrected, the land would flow with milk and honey. Exo. 3:8 is where the God has come to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey (the Hyksos). Jer. 11:5 states: "That I may perform the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey." Eze. 20:6, "... into a land that I had espied (the lord has to act as a spy?) for them, flowing with milk and honey." Etc.
The Canaanites would shout. "Where is Baal the almighty? Where is his highness, the Lord of the Earth? Israelites and Canaanites got their festival of booths from the Sumerians. Lower ranked gods had to be content with a place under the tables according to Canaanite tradition. This, as all other Canaanite traditions are also featured in the Bible.
Baal was seated as immovable as a mountain. Psalm 125:1, "They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." This should reflect those that believe in Baal, as he is the God which is talked about here. Baal's temple which El had built for him has innumerable parallels to the temple built at Jerusalem. The fact that El gave the same temple to Yammu/YHWH when Baal was in the nether world would only have made sense to the ancients. The only problem with Yammu the Dragon taking over Baals temple was that he was too large. Psalm 9:11 sing praises to the Lord (Baal) which dwelleth in Zion. Haddu (Baal) rested like the ocean on his mountain, the divine Sapanu, on the mountain of victory. There are far too many parallels in the Bible to Ugarit. It is not even possible they both came from the same source. They did believed in the same rituals, held the same practices and most important of all, they must have had the same doctrine. Binding was what evil spirits did to Man. Mark 5:3, "Who had his dwelling place among the tombs; and no man could bind him..."
Here it is a bit confused unless Man is referred to as the evil spirit unable to bind. This is quite unlikely at the time of Christ, but possible later. Jesus never bound any evil spirits. He was supposed to be bound by the Pharisees who thought of Jesus as an evil spirit. But they were never able to. The binding of evil spirits by Jesus was another addition by Christianized Jews who desired for Christ some of the supernatural abilities which in reality came from the ancient Canaanite religion and the worship of Baal.
In Ugarit the Canaanites called on "The Savior" which was a magical incantation for driving away the evil demons. Many more resemblance's exist between the Hebrew and Canaanite religions. Before touching on just a few more, I would like to clarify the misunderstood Exodus. This was where the Israelites supposedly met YHWH and we will also clarify who he was in the ancient religions.