The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

157. Bacchus—As the Greek and Roman god of wine and drunkenness, his orgiastic worship is believed to be influenced by ancient oriental Baal worship. Wine and sometimes beer were consumed until intoxicated participants succumbed to revelry and orgies, referred to in Daniel 11:31. See Dionysus and Tavern. 158. Back—A) Departure, rejection, or refusal. B) The back speaks to negation or completion. C) In ancient times, the best way to revere an elder or prominent person was to back in and out of their presence. This was required of servants and slaves in particular. Today, the requirement is considered demeaning and reflects contempt for the person with whom one has audience. Sometimes to show the back is an act of protection on the part of someone who wishes to remain secret or anonymous. Genesis 9:23. The back is equated with strength and a wall of support. 159. Backward—The Bible uses this term, “backward,” to describe apostasy and its results. God classifies people as having gone backward when they return to their old ways and choose their former paths and resources in life. Today we would categorize this as backsliding. Isaiah 59:14; Jeremiah 7:24 and 15:6; Lamentations 1:8. 160. Balaam—An ancient pagan prophet who was hired to seduce the new nation of Israel to defect from Yahweh to the Moabite religion. Balak the king of Moab, paid Balaam to curse Israel using sorcery, divination, and other occultic powers. Jehovah intervened and compelled the prophet to bless His nation. Later, Balaam returned to Balak’s payroll and completed the job interrupted by the God of the Israelites. He seduced them to sin by indulging in orgiastic rituals with the Moabites in the worship of their god and was ultimately slain by Joshua’s army in Joshua 13:22. Deuteronomy 23:4–5; Numbers 24:1. 161. Bankruptcy—The state or condition of being financially, morally, ethically, physically, or spiritually destitute. Without funds, character, soul, emotional response, or sensitivity—spiritually void of all that makes for life, living, and prosperity. See Spiritual Bankruptcy. 1 Timothy 6:5; Matthew 5:3; Luke 12:21. 162. Baptism—A) A rite of initiation. B) Immersion of a person into a body of water as a figurative immersion into a body of knowledge to signify a novice’s awakening to the deity, worship, and doctrines of a cult or religion. The rite was performed to confirm an initiate’s absorption into a doctrine or perspective. Generally applied to religion, baptism was introduced as a Christian rite with the