The Lord of the Counterfeit Covenant
After the monumental victory of the prophet Elijah against the prophets of Baal, one might assume the worship of this false god was permanently eradicated from Israel. Sadly, the spirit of compromise lingered, manifesting in localized, insidious forms. One such form was the idol known as Baal-berith, a name whose very meaning reveals the depth of Israel’s spiritual betrayal: “Baal of the Covenant” or “Lord of the Covenant.”
This deity appears immediately after the death of Gideon, a great judge who had delivered Israel from the Midianites, demonstrating how quickly a people can forget divine deliverance and break faith with God.
The Breach of Faith at Shechem
The worship of Baal-berith is specifically tied to the city of Shechem, a place of immense symbolic importance where God’s covenant with Abraham was first affirmed (Genesis 12:6-7) and where Joshua gathered Israel to renew the covenant with the LORD (Joshua 24). To erect an idol named “Lord of the Covenant” in the very place where the true Covenant was established was the ultimate spiritual provocation.
The Bible records the nation’s rapid relapse into apostasy following Gideon’s death:
Judges 8:33 (KJV): “And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.”
The term “going a whoring” emphasizes the marital fidelity expected by the LORD, equating their turning to Baal-berith with a profound act of spiritual adultery and breach of their wedding vow to God.
The Deity of Worldly Agreements
Baal-berith was likely considered the god who presided over treaties, agreements, and civic loyalty—the spiritual guarantor of human contracts. This was precisely the trap: instead of relying on the LORD, the true Covenant-keeping God, for the stability of their society and commercial arrangements, the Israelites sought a local, pagan deity to validate their worldly engagements with the Canaanites.
This syncretistic worship—merging the true God’s name or function with a pagan idol—is revealed when the same deity is referred to simply as “the god Berith” (Berith meaning covenant):
Judges 9:46 (KJV): “And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.”
The temple of Baal-berith served not only as a place of worship but also as a treasury, from which Abimelech, the murderous son of Gideon, drew silver to hire mercenaries and establish a self-made kingdom. The false covenant god was thus directly financing moral disintegration and civil strife.
Judges 9:4 (KJV): “And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.”
The Defence of the True Covenant
The story of Baal-berith stands as a stark warning to believers today. The “lord of the covenant” is the ultimate counterfeit. He represents the temptation to substitute human agreements, political expediency, or civic loyalty for the absolute, exclusive, and eternal Covenant of the LORD.
Those who wait for the Lord’s Return must remain vigilant against any idol that promises earthly security or validation outside of Christ. Our true covenant is secured not by a temporary Baal of Shechem, but by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who is the “Mediator of the new testament” (Hebrews 9:15, KJV), and whose return will usher in the perfect covenant forever.