Biblical “Children of Belial”: Do We Have Any Today?
Posted: Friday, December 09, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
Even when people read the bible on a regular basis, far too often we are inclined to accept some term without knowing fully what it means. I am guilty of doing that. I know that for many years I thought the “children of Belial” was referring to some undesirable people in the sight of God. It is that of course, but the exact type of person referred to is much more specific. The term is found in Deuteronomy 13:13, and the rendering of it in the King James version says this:
The verse is self explanatory, yet it does not precisely explain what children of Belial means. A reading of the previous and following verses helps to understand the nature of the people God is referring to. Let’s consume the few minutes in reading them before we attempt to tie down the exact meaning of Belial.
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 KJV)
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. (Deuteronomy 13:6-11 KJV)
If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. and there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God. (Deuteronomy 13:12-18 KJV)
The subject here is the single one most often spoken of and condemned in the era of the Israelite nation. It was perhaps the greatest abomination to God, that of deserting Him and following after something else, be it an idol or an imaginary god, or even self, it was firmly and seriously condemned to the children of Israel and eventually caused their total destruction as a nation.
The word Belial is derived, by some translators, from and the combination of the words beli and al whose Arabic meanings were “not” and “over”. In plain English, it meant someone whose pride rejected anyone over or superior to themselves.
Others interpreted it to be from beli and ol which means “not” and “yoke” meaning a lawless or ungovernable person.
And still others interpreted it as from beli and yaal meaning "not" and "profit", referring to a worthless person, good for nothing to himself or others, and capable of nothing but mischief.
Exactly which one of these interpretations are most accurate is questionable, but for sure, they were objectionable to God. And unfortunately, regardless of which one you choose, you will find a multitude of people today in that category.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)As for Christians' "new covenant", allowing them to eat pigs, that's where religious logic fails and dissipates.
It wasn't "God", but philosophizing Neo-Christians who dictated and resolved this weird "new covenant"; I submit that a "covenant"'adjusted', must indeed originate only from "God" and not from firebrand followers, however seemingly 'devout'...
In keeping with the horrid original spirit of "God's" penalties,
those who disagree "MUST SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH"...
Affection,
Paul.....It is not that you are ignorant Paul, it is only that you know so much that isn't so. You don't have a clue as to why He didn't give those people who lived before the Law of Moses, a law not to eat pork. There is more evidence of inspiration of God in the books of the New Testament than there is in the Pentateuch. The inspiration of all the scriptures originated with God.
Also, how can you say I must surely be put to death and then say "Affection"?
You need to study more without your closed mind. And forget about those little green men. Why would God torment you with them? You are a great fellow, all you need to learn is that you don't know what you are saying.
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