Blog

by Nathan Buck

My Asherah... what's an Asherah? Well, I am glad you asked. And I am going to ask up front that you please read through all the details in the next couple paragraphs, in order to understand the point of this blog post. Thanks.

Asherah is technically a "who," and she was the goddess of fertility in ancient cultic worship. Cults of this sort practiced "sympathetic magic," which means the people would act out what they wanted a god or goddess to do, in hopes of convincing the mythical deity to take action. In the case of fertility goddesses like Asherah, the goal was a great harvest or multiplication of the animal herds, so the people would have ritualistic sex orgies to arouse Asherah to provide fertile fields and animals. (For more in depth knowledge about Asherah please check out this site.)

According to the Bible, we should be tearing down anything in our life that is aligned with that religion or ideology. And while we may initially think that should be easy, a brief look at how many times God had to correct and even punish Israel for Asherah worship should get our attention. Obviously, there was something attractive about worshipping this mythic deity. Maybe it was the addictive quality of the pornographic ritualistic sex? Maybe it was the feeling of some sort of power or control over the deity? Maybe it was fear mixed with a feeling of “covering all the bases to ensure a good harvest,” just in case there really were other gods out there?

Whatever the reason, in ancient Israel we see God consistently having to deal with Asherah poles being lifted up and worshipped alongside of His alter. God is clear in expressing the heart of the issue every time He corrects Israel - there is only ONE God and He is not Asherah, He is not a mate to Asherah, nor does Asherah have any power beyond what humans imagine she does.

The motivation of Israel in worshipping Asherah and other false gods was always carnal, always about self or selfish desires. Take a moment and read Micah 5. In that short chapter, there is a prophecy about Jesus being born, and how God's people will be rescued and strengthened in Him as He leads us to victory over those who would destroy the good God has intended. It goes on to say that God will bring accountability and justice for those who reject Him and reject His ways, and He will purify the nations of the weapons of war and of the ideologies/worship of false gods, because they will no longer be needed. (Asherah, of course, is one of those false religions.)

No weapon or ritual designed to satisfy selfish ambition or desires or to quench fears will ever be needed again. Why? Because God will show (and did show through Jesus) that HE is ALL that we need, the ONLY living and all powerful God, and the only one worthy of our trust.

Ok, so what? How does that apply today? Look at the political and racial tensions running rampant across our nation. Look at the sexual festival of our culture, using personal gratification to make a mockery of anything moral. Look at how legitimate biological and social challenges are being morally subverted with the ideology of “do or be what feels right to you.” Look at all the separate self-focused choices, narratives, and ideologies that have been lifted up in our culture demanding validation. And now look at how people are using "sympathetic magic" to get what they want.

There is an endless stream of personal justification for just about every immoral behavior. From business profit margins, to personal ecstasy, to political power, there are deeply emotional stories designed to influence and provoke others to experience, experiment, and validate a false narrative and with it a false god made in the likeness of human desires.

So, I ask you, when you are listening to what is happening in our culture, when you are relating to other people, when you are considering your election options for the next president of the U.S., and when you make your daily choices moment to moment - how many other ideologies have invaded your perspective? Are you mixing the stories and the false narratives into your thinking and coming up with some tepid pseudo-tolerant, pseudo-spiritual lifestyle that makes you happy and tries to make sure everyone clicks "like" on your Facebook posts? Or are you doing the hard work of breaking through to the Truth behind all the stories, laying aside selfish desire, and pursuing God's ways with all of your heart?

Laying aside our expectations and our desire for gratification is one of the hardest things we could ever do. And I think it is one reason why Asherah was such a hard lie to shake. After all, no one wants to believe that God would ever ruin our comfort and safety, or bring a drought, in order to wake us up.

I challenge you to seek out and tear down every untruth that you have allowed to become part of your life. Examine your desires and motives carefully, always lifting them up next to Jesus' example. Ask God to show you every place where you have stepped away from Him, and how you can get back in step with Him. Because we have a promise that HE Himself is the satisfaction of all of our desires, and because of that we can surrender all the selfish mechanisms and false ideologies that tempt us to take things into our own hands.

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