Let me
introduce you to Michael Heiser. Heiser is a treasure of biblical scholarship,
and what is best is that he was a Baptist. I say was because he has recently passed
away. This is a terrible loss for the church, but we still have the legacy of
his ministry. He is now with the Lord, and we can still learn from his writings.
Here is a short
article written by him from a study bible on the gates of hell. I have included
the article in its full, with full credit to Michael. This fleshes out for us
one of the most famous passages in the Bible, where Peter declares that Jesus
is the Christ, the son of the living God. Bless you, I hope this article is an encouragement
for you,
“Bashan and the Gates of Hell (area of Caesarea Philipi)
In Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
The
region known in the OT as Bashan was located east of the Jordan River (the
Transjordan). Specifically, it refers to the upper Transjordan east and
northeast of the Sea of Galilee, extending north to and including Mount Hermon.
Through the collective efforts of the tribes of Gad, Asher, and the half-tribe
of Manasseh, the Israelites conquered this region in the days of Moses and
Joshua. The territory then became the tribal inheritance of the half-tribe of
Manasseh. (The other half of Manasseh settled west of the Jordan, in Canaan;
see Num 32; Josh 19).
Before
Israel conquered it, Bashan was an Amorite stronghold ruled by two kings, Sihon
and Og, both of whom descended from the giant clans known as the Rephaim and
Anakim (Deut 2:10–11, 20–21; 3:11–13; Josh 12:4; 13:12; compare Num 13:26–33;
Amos 2:9 10). Its two capital cities were Ashtaroth and Edrei (Num 21:33; Deut
1:4; 3:10; Josh 9:10; 12:4; 13:12, 31). The name “Ashtaroth” is the plural form
of “Ashtoreth,” a Canaanite goddess more commonly known as Astarte. Israelite
idol worship frequently involved “the Baals and Ashtaroth,” which were, among
other things, sexual fertility cults.
Bashan
and its two capital cities also had an ominous reputation in the wider
Canaanite world. Mythological and ritual texts from Ugarit describe Ashtaroth
and Edrei as the abode of the god mlk (Milku or Molech; KTU 1.108:1–3), a long
dead (and deified) king. Molech’s name appears in a series of snake charms
associated with Ashtaroth (KTU 1.100:41; 1.107:17); he was also connected to
child sacrifice in the OT (1 Kgs 11:7; Lev 20:1–5; 18:21). Furthermore, the
plural form of the name mlk (mlkm) means “kings.” As result, the cities of
Ashtaroth and Edrei (and, more broadly, all of Bashan) came to be associated
with the broader Underworld population of deified ancestors and ancient
warrior-kings, such as the Rephaim. Canaanite (Ugaritic) peoples, then,
literally believed Bashan to be the gateway to the Underworld—the dwelling
place of the dead. More broadly, Akkadian god lists from the Old Babylonian
period onward associate a deity named Malik, and its plural, maliku (“beings”;
the Igigi and Anunnaki gods), with the Underworld cult of dead ancestors.
The
Israelites understandably viewed Ashtaroth and Edrei, and thus all of Bashan,
as domains of other foreign gods (see Deut 32:8–9). Like the people of Ugarit,
however, Israelites considered the Rephaim to be great warriors but identified
them as giants. This connection first appears in Gen 6:4, in which the
warrior-kings or heroes (gibborim in Hebrew) are related to (and perhaps
called) “Nephilim,” a group of giants who could have been spawned by the sons
of God (Gen 6:1–4). Elsewhere, the OT connects the Rephaim to the Anakim (Deut
2:11)—descendants of the Nephilim (Num 13:33; compare Deut 2:10–11, 20 21;
3:11–13). According to Jewish theology of the Second Temple period (from books
like 1 Enoch), the sons of God (called “watchers”) of Gen 6:1–4 descended to
Mount Hermon in Bashan before carrying out the deeds described in Gen 6:1–4.
Bashan and Hermon thus had sinister reputations.
Even
after Israel subdued Bashan and its Amorite giant clans, the people in the
region continued to associate it with the worship of fallen gods. Following the
death of Solomon and the split of the kingdom (1 Kgs 12:25 31; 2 Kgs 10:29),
the wicked Jeroboam set up a cult center for the northern kingdom at the city
of Dan, which was very close to the foot of Mount Hermon. However, the
Assyrians destroyed the city of Dan in 734 BC and took the northern kingdom of
Israel into captivity in 722 BC. During the Hellenistic period, new inhabitants
of the region reestablished a new city and cult center a few miles east of the
ancient Dan cult center. The location, which had formerly been known as
Baal-Gad and Baal-Hermon, was named Paneas (also called Banyas and Banias). The
cult center was devoted to the god Pan, the half-man half-goat god of fright
(or “panic”). The site features a cave grotto and carved niches for the statues
of deities. Beginning in the third century BC, worshipers cast sacrifices into
the cave as offerings to Pan.
By
Jesus’ day, the name of Banias had been changed to Caesarea-Philippi—the
location of Peter’s confession (Matt 16:13–20) and, shortly thereafter, the
transfiguration. The latter likely occurred somewhere on Mount Hermon. (The
Bible does not indicate that the transfiguration took place at Mount Tabor;
that tradition did not appear until the fifth century AD.) So when Jesus tells
Peter that it is “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades
will not overpower it” (Matt 16:18), He and the disciples are literally
standing at the place known in ancient times as the gates of Hades/the
Underworld. Jesus is saying, in other words, that He will conquer the forces of
darkness associated with the Underworld—and that the power of the Church will
overcome them. In Paul’s words, Christ “disarmed the rulers and the
authorities, he made a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it”
(Col 2:15) and “Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to
men” (Eph 4:8). This line from Ephesians 4:8 is made even more powerful with
the knowledge that Paul is quoting Psalm 68:18; in Psalm 68 the mountain God
ascends and conquers is none other than Mount Bashan (Psa 68:15).
MICHAEL
S. HEISER Heiser, M. S. (2012, 2016). Bashan and the Gates of Hell. In
Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.”[1]
List of
References
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