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Chemosh (A Demon, Worshiped by Ancient Moabites)
Meaning
Chemosh was a false god worshipped by the ancient Moabites. The Moabites were a group of people descended from Moab. Moab was the son of Lot, born to his oldest daughter. After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah from which Lot and his two daughters escaped, the daughters thought they were the only people left. They determined to get their father Lot intoxicated, then go into him in order to have heirs to carry on the family name. And it is from this incident we get the people of Moab. The Moabites and the Ammonites populated what is today the country of Jordan on the east side of the Jordan river.
Chemosh was the national deity of the Moabites. Most often he is depicted as either a seated bull with arms outstretched or some type of fish-bull combination. The name Chemosh means “destroyer” or “subduer.” Also, there is some evidence that Chemosh may have also been worshiped by the ancient Ammonites as the false god “Moloch” or “Molech.” The worship of this false god often involves placing a fire within or underneath a statue with the arms outstretched. And when the arms were hot enough, they would place a human (infant) sacrifice on the outstretched arms. There has been extrabiblical evidence regarding Chemosh. It was found on artifact called the Moabite Stone. This is a Stella stone commemorating the Moabite king Mesha’s victory of Israel. The stone is dated to the ninth-century BC.
“Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.” (Book of 1st Kings 11:2)
“Because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.” (Book of 1st Kings 11:33)
“Then the king destroyed the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon.” (Book of 2nd Kings 23:13)