No Other Gods: Asherah by James R. Coggins | Christians Read Christians Read Read. Write. Grow. Skip to content AUTHORS Vicki Hinze Tara Randel Hannah Alexander Julie Arduini Nancy J. Farrier Yvonne Lehman Bridget A. Thomas Jim Denney Elizabeth Goddard Honored Alumni Maureen Lang James L. Rubart Kristen Heitzmann Mary Alford Kathi Macias Louise M. Gouge Sarah Goebel Jennifer Slattery Judith Miller Lynette Sowell Yvonne Ortega Camy Tang Susan May Warren Events RECENT BOOKS Who We Are and Our Mission Q & A Book Store Book Club ← “An Intensely Written Novel” by James R. Coggins New Address, New Wineskin by Julie Arduini → No Other Gods: Asherah by James R. Coggins Posted on September 13, 2022 by jrcoggins Fourth in a series In the Ten Commandments, God (who identified Himself as Yahweh or “I am”) commanded the Israelites not to worship any gods but Him. Yet the Israelites were tempted to worship the gods of the peoples around them. Several times before they entered the Promised Land, God warned the Israelites to get rid of the Asherah poles that the Canaanites were worshiping (Exodus 34:13, Deuteronomy 7:5, 12:3, 16:21). But, of course, the Israelites did precisely the opposite, setting up their own Asherah poles. An evil king of Judah named Manasseh even erected an Asherah pole in the temple of the true God, Yahweh, in Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:7). We are not given much information about what this worship entailed. Two words are used. “Asherah” seems to be related to a word meaning “straight,” and “Ashtoreth” seems to be related to a word meaning “increase.” The first is often translated “Asherah pole” and the second just “Asherah.” Most of the biblical references are commands to destroy these. Interestingly, the Israelites were almost always told to tear down pagan altars and to “burn” the Asherah poles. This suggests that they were poles or statues/idols made of wood. The King James Version translates the word as “groves.” The worship seems to have had something to do with the natural world or fertility. Asherah worship was often carried out outdoors “on every high hill and under every spreading tree” (2 Kings 17:10 NIV). 2 Kings 23:7 suggests women wove something for use in this worship and suggests Asherah worship might possibly involve male shrine prostitutes. From other sources, we know that Ashtoreth was the goddess of love and increase worshiped by Phoenicians and other Middle Eastern peoples. She was a fertility goddess like the Greeks’ Aphrodite and the Romans’ Venus. Ashtoreth worship was intended to bring the worshipers fertility (both sexual and agricultural), prosperity, and pleasure (including sex) and was thus connected to Baal worship. Modern people do not erect Asherah poles or worship a goddess named Asherah. Yet, there are many in our society who pursue fertility, prosperity, pleasure, and sex as their highest good. The apostle Paul warned in Ephesians 5:5: “No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” There are also an increasing number of people in the Western world who turn Nature into a god, worshipping (valuing above all else) the natural world, God’s creation. Thanks for Sharing: Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) More Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Like this: Like Loading... Related About jrcoggins James R. Coggins is a professional writer and editor based in British Columbia, Canada. He wrote his first novel in high school, but, fortunately for his later reputation as a writer, it was never published. He briefly served as a Christian magazine editor (for just over 20 years). He has written everything from scholarly and encyclopedia articles to jokes in Reader’s Digest (the jokes paid better). His six and a half published books include four John Smyth murder mysteries and one other, stand-alone novel. In his spare time, he operates Mill Lake Books, a small publishing imprint. His website is www.coggins.ca View all posts by jrcoggins → This entry was posted in James R. Coggins and tagged Creation, false worship, fertility goddess, idolatry, nature, sex, Ten Commandments. Bookmark the permalink. ← “An Intensely Written Novel” by James R. Coggins New Address, New Wineskin by Julie Arduini → Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here... Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Email (required) (Address never made public) Name (required) Website You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change ) You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change ) You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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