The name Baal probably stirs a great many images in your mind. Those images are likely dominated by Old Testament paganism and the foreign gods that the prophets railed against. The biblically astute reader may even think of “Baal” as a New Testament appellation for Satan: “But hearing this, the Pharisees said, ‘This fellow drives out demons only by beelzebul, the ruler of demons’” (Matthew 12:24). What most people probably don’t think of when they encounter the name “Baal” is the God of Israel. You might be surprised to discover that this name is not only directly attributed to God—it is one that God will refer to Himself by, as we shall see momentarily.

Let us start by looking at what the word Baal (בעל) means in Hebrew. The Hebrew lexicon Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) defines Baal like this: “This divine name is not used elsewhere in [the Torah and Joshua]. It probably originated from the sense of divine ownership, rather than sovereignty. It seems to have been used in Northern Israel = אדון [Adon] in the South. It was the special name of the God of the Canaanites, Philistines, etc.” So here we see the classic pagan meaning that many of us think of. However, BDB offers another definition for Baal: “to be master, have dominion (over), be husband, marry”—it is in this sense that Baal is particularly relevant to the God of Israel. Why? Because Jewish tradition holds that God married Israel at Sinai. Numerous passages of Scripture support this claim.

For your Maker is your husband [Baal / בעל]

—Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name—

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer.

He will be called God of all the earth.

“For Adonai has called you back

like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,

like a wife of one’s youth that is rejected,”

    says your God.

“For a brief moment I deserted you,

but I will regather you with great compassion. –Isaiah 54:5-7

And

“Behold, days are coming”

—it is a declaration of Adonai—

“when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah—

not like the covenant

I made with their fathers

in the day I took them by the hand

to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

For they broke My covenant,

though I was a husband [Baal / בעל] to them.”

it is a declaration of Adonai.

“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”

—it is a declaration of Adonai —

“I will put My Torah within them.

Yes, I will write it on their heart.

I will be their God

and they will be My people. (Jeremiah 31:30-32)

The biblical passages above have at least two things in common. First, they both use the word Baal (בעל) for “husband.” And secondly, both deal with the concept of rejection and return. As mentioned earlier, God married Israel at Sinai. But did you know that God also gave Israel a divorce? “I noted that when backsliding Israel committed adultery I sent her away and gave her a certificate of divorce” (Jeremiah 3:8). More on God’s commitment to Israel and Replacement Theology here. That’s right, the God who hates divorce is (in one sense) divorced! However, God also promised a return—a restoration and renewal of His redeemed people, with the Torah written on their hearts.

Throughout the biblical narrative, we see God’s commitment to establishing a covenantal people for Himself. This concept is not “Old Testament”—it’s the essence of God’s intention for humanity. For example, look at some excerpts from the Apostle’s instructions to believers in Ephesus:

• For the husband is head of the wife, as Messiah also is head of His community—Himself the Savior of the body.
• Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion in the word.
• Messiah did this so that He might present to Himself His glorious community—not having stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that she might be holy and blameless.

In this passage, we see some of the overtones of “Baal” as “divine husband” that we’ve highlighted. However, as with all things, Yeshua provides a unique twist. Instead of lordship from a position of dominance (typical in paganism), He embodies Lordship from a place of servitude and sacrifice. His work in us (often through His gifts, described in Ephesians 4) fashions and prepares for the culmination of history—life with Him in the Age to Come!

“Halleluyah!
For Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot reigns!
Let us rejoice and be glad
    and give the glory to Him!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
    and His bride has made herself ready,
She was given fine linen to wear, bright and clean!
For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the kedoshim.” –Revelation 19:6b-8

John’s Apocalypse reveals that on that last glorious day, when Heaven finally meets Earth, this marriage between God and His chosen people will be fully realized. Yeshua will then become the Baal (husband) of His people forever and always.

Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 127.

See Shaar HaKavvanot 89a

See also Malachi 2:16 and Matthew 5:31