Christian Idolatry

Then and Now:

The Asherah Pole

Author: Pierre Dungee

www.getyouranswersonline.com
In this short book, we are going to look at the Asherah pole. Just so we have a working
knowledge of idolatry, let’s look at what and idol is:

With that being said, an idol is defined as:

noun
1. a material object, esp a carved image, that is worshipped as a god
2. Christianity Judaism any being (other than the one God) to which divine honour is
paid
3. a person who is revered, admired, or highly loved

We also have the origin of this word, so let’s take a look at it here:

o mid-13c., "image of a deity as an object of (pagan) worship,"

o from Old French idole "idol, graven image, pagan god,"
o from Late Latin idolum "image (mental or physical), form," used in Church Latin for
"false god,"
o from Greek eidolon "appearance, reflection in water or a mirror," later "mental
image, apparition, phantom,"also "material image, statue," from eidos "form" (see -
oid).
o Figurative sense of "something idolized" is first recorded 1560s (in Middle English
the figurative sense was "someone who is false or untrustworthy"). Meaning"a
person so adored" is from 1590s.

From the origins of the word, you see the words ‘pagan’, ‘false god’, ‘statue’, so we can
correctly infer that and idol is NOT a good thing that a Christian should be looking at or
dealing with. The Lord has given strict instructions about idols as you can see in scripture
here:

Leviticus 26:1 - Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a
standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow
down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 5:9 - Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for
I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,

The devil knows this, so he sets up idols so the worship will go to HIM, as this is what he
wanted from the time when iniquity was found in him. Worship means that much to the
devil, and he will do anything he can to get those creations of the Lord to give HIM their
worship.

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So what is worship?

Worship is a public show of deep respect and devotion towards someone or

something that you are in awe of/have full admiration for that you show profound,
intense love and honour to in recognition of the qualities of holiness, excellence and
wisdom.

As you already know, the Lord is not sharing his worship with anyone, and the sole
purpose of an idol is to get people, who are built to worship the Lord, to worship a
substitute. The devil puts idols around everyone because he knows that human beings
will worship anything.

With that being said, let’s find out who Asherah was, so
let’s take a look at Wikipedia to find out:

Asherah (/ˈæʃərə/),[a] in ancient Semitic religion, is a

mother goddess who appears in a number of ancient
sources. She appears in Akkadian writings by the name
of Ašratu(m), and in Hittite as Aserdu(s) or Asertu(s).
Asherah is generally considered identical with the
Ugaritic goddess ʼAṯirat.

The word Asherah is translated in Greek as alsos, grove,

or alse, groves, or occasionally by dendra, trees; Vulgate
in Latin provided lucus or nemus, a grove or a wood
(thus KJV Bible uses grove or groves with the
consequent loss of Asherah's name and knowledge of
her existence to English language readers of the Bible
over some 400 years). The association of Asherah with
trees in the Hebrew Bible is very strong. For example,
she is found under trees (1K 14:23; 2K 17:10) and is
made of wood by human beings (1K 14:15, 2K 16:3-4). Trees described as being an
asherah or part of an asherah include grapevines, pomegranates, walnuts, myrtles,
and willows (Danby:1933:90,176).

Some scholars have found an early link between Asherah and Eve, based upon the
coincidence of their common title as "the mother of all living" in Genesis 3:20
through the identification with the Hurrian mother goddess Hebat Asherah was also
given the title Chawat from which the name Hawwah in Aramaic and the biblical
name Eve are derived.[29][page needed]

Asherah poles, which were sacred trees or poles, are mentioned many times in the
Hebrew Bible. The Asherah pole was prohibited by the Deuteronomic Code which
commanded "You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord
your God".

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In the dictionary, this is the definition of Asherah:

1. an ancient Semitic goddess, sometimes identified with Ashtoreth and Astarte, worshipe
d by the Phoenicians and Canaanites.
2. any of various upright wooden objects serving as a sacred symbol of Asherah.

Since we have been led to it, let’s find out what an Asherah pole is, again from Wikipedia:

An Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to
honor the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah, consort of El. The relation of the literary
references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has
engendered a literature of debate.

The asherim were also cult objects

related to the worship of the fertility
goddess Asherah, the consort of either
Ba'al or, as inscriptions from Kuntillet
‘Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom attest,
Yahweh, and thus objects of contention
among competing cults. In translations
that render the Hebrew asherim into
English as "Asherah poles," the insertion
of "pole" begs the question by setting up
unwarranted expectations for such a
wooden object: "we are never told
exactly what it was", observes John Day.

Though there was certainly a movement

against goddess-worship at the
Jerusalem Temple in the time of King
Josiah, (2 Chronicles 34:3) it did not
long survive his reign, as the following
four kings "did what was evil in the eyes
of The Lord" (2 Kings 23:32, 37; 24:9,
19). Further exhortations came from
Jeremiah. The traditional interpretation
of the Biblical text is that the Israelites
imported pagan elements such as the
Asherah poles from the surrounding Canaanites. In light of archeological finds, however,
modern scholars now theorize that the Israelite folk religion was Canaanite in its inception
and always polytheistic, and it was the prophets and priests who denounced the Asherah
poles who were the innovators; such theories inspire ongoing debate.

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 An Asherah pole then… And an Asherah pole now

As you can see, the devil has upgraded his filth for the human race to worship. Today’s
stripper or pole dancer is the devil’s answer to the Asherah pole. The pole is still there,
but instead of a graven image of a woman in a tree or a small statue, you have a living,
breathing image of a woman that is dancing in front of you. The worship of the vagina is
still there, as that has never changed.

How many guys (and now lesbian women) do you know that absolutely worship the
female form? This is the master plan of the devil – it is to keep you focused on that
gyrating body in front of you and to turn away from the Lord Jesus Christ and your work to
become sanctified so you will be able to realize your salvation.

How many hundreds of dollars do people spend so they can be mesmerized by a gyrating
woman? I guess the upside of this is that today, a person can get sex from a woman
instead of trying to have sex with a tree that looks like a woman.

As the Bible tells us:

Ecclesiastes 1:9 - The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which
is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

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The Lord absolutely HATED this idol, as you can see in scripture. As an aside, in the KJV
Version of the Bible, Asherah poles are referred to as ‘groves’. As you can see in the
Old Testament, the LORD God CONSTANTLY had to deal with the Israelites as they
continuously built groves and high places:
1 Kings 14:15 - For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water,
and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and
shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves,
provoking the LORD to anger.
1 Kings 14:21-23 - And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.
Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the
tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an
Ammonitess. And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to
jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had
done. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high
hill, and under every green tree.
2 Chronicles 24:17-18 - Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah,
and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left
the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath
came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
Why did the Children of Israel disobey?

It was their nature to, and as you can see, they would ALWAYS build more altars to Baal
in the High Places and build groves (Asherah poles). You see, the Children of Israel did
NOT trust the Lord of Hosts, and even though He would punish them for their trespasses,
they would go right back to worshipping idols and building groves. They HAD TO KNOW
that what they were doing would anger the Lord because they did it multiple times.
This is why the Lord of hosts got fed up with the Children of Israel and divorced Himself
from them, and did not talk to them at all for 416 years.
Fast forward to today, and we see nothing has changed. There are many men today that
hang out at the strip club, idolizing the women there, paying them money to gyrate in front
of them. The Lord Jesus Christ HATES these places because the strip club is a temple of
death and destruction for all whom enter. Like the Israelites, men will CONSTANTLY go
to the strip club just like the Israelites would CONSTANTLY build groves and idols to
worship.
What will keep men away from the strip clubs?
Becoming Born Again, as Jesus freeing them men will be the only way they can get free
and stay free of the allure of the strip club.

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As always, take NOTHING that you have seen here in this book as the truth. It is
YOUR responsibility to study and check out everything that you see and hear, and
you have an advocate in the Lord Jesus Christ who will help you if you would just ask Him.
Take this upon yourself, Christian, as YOU need to get YOUR Bible, YOUR concordance,
YOUR dictionary, YOUR pens/pencils, YOUR notepad and then YOU need to seek out
the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to help YOU so YOU can make it into His Kingdom,
since it will be YOU standing alone in front of Jesus when YOU are being judged.
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure YOU are in the faith and that YOU have completed
YOUR sanctification during the sanctification process and YOU have gotten YOUR
forgiveness and YOU have repented of all of YOUR sins before YOU are judged by Jesus.
Scripture tells us that hell will enlarge itself to accommodate all of the people who will be
sent there because of idols like the pope, as you can see in scripture here:
Isaiah 5:14 - Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without
measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth,
shall descend into it.
Take this as a warning, Christian, as the Lord Jesus Christ is NOT desperate for people,
as there were only 8 people who got on the ark before the flood, and only 2 people from
the Hebrews from Egypt made it into the Promised Land.
Be wise, and stay IN Jesus so you are not lost.

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 Here is Our Challenge to all of you:
We challenge you to go to Jesus directly RIGHT NOW and ask Him if what is shown here
is true. Use this as a means to start a conversation with The Lord Jesus Christ and sit with
Him and ask Him questions. Start with (asking out loud):

“Jesus, is what I just read true?”

He will answer you, Christian; use this as an opportunity to start the conversation with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Keep talking with Him. Get to know Him and He will start to reveal
Himself to you.

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You need to find out for yourself if what you support or believe is true, and what better way
to find out than to ask the Lord Himself? You need to find out for yourself and work
out YOUR salvation for YOU, as the scriptures tell us to.