Asherah –Astarte– Ishtar–Ashteroth

Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA
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“This is what the LORD God of Israel says:
I AM going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hands and
give ten tribes to you. Solomon will have one tribe left because of
My servant David and Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all
the tribes of Israel.
I will do this because Solomon has abandoned Me and
worshiped A START E (the goddess of the Sidonians) [ A SHTEROTH ],
C HEMOSH (the god of Moab), and
M ILCOM (the god of Amm on) [M OLECH , M OLEK ].
Solomon has not followed My ways. He did not do what I consider
right or keep My laws and decrees as his father David did.”
1 Kings 11
Asherah – A starte–
Ishtar –Ashteroth
WHAt
is it?
Ashterah is the demonic name of the false supreme goddess of Canaan and the
female counterpart of Baal. Ashterah was also known as "She who walked the sea".
She was often pictured with a lion or
ibex on either side of a Canaanite ritual tree, or
grove.
The earliest traces of her cult are in the
Babylonian religions where Ishtar represented
the evening and morning stars. She was the
only goddess of Assyro-Bab fame that was
feared and followed as much as the male gods.
In Moab, on the “Moabite Stone”, Ishtar
is listed as being equal with Chemosh. And in
southern Arabia she was throught to be more
masculine, so they changed her name to Athtar.
On the other hand, the sex-crazed cult of the
Greek goddess, Aphrodite, was copied from highly
sexed Ashteroth worship.
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Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA
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H ow was this demon
pictured ?
In Babylonia and Assyria, IshtarAshteroth was the goddess of love and war.
The temples of this goddess at Nineveh were
dedicated to her mainly as the goddess of
war. The Philistines of Canaan elevated her
warlike attitude (1 Samuel 31:10).
Some ancients also called Ashterah by
the name of Naamah, “the delightful one”.
She was worshiped as the mother and
creatrix of mankind. Prostitution was
practiced in her name, both male and female
as well as bestiality. But most often she was
the moon-goddess sex-object for Baal. When
she and Baal would have sex, the planet
would give out riches and power.
Herodotus, an ancient historian, wrote
that this goddess was also worshipped under the name of Atar-gatis, as a woman with the
tail of a fish, and fish were accordingly sacred to her. In this she was the female reflection
of a Philistine god, Dagon.
In other places in ancient literature, a bird was Ashteroth’s sacred symbol. The Egg
was a sacred symbol of Astarte, representing fertility, new life and the great powers. The
Pomegranate, the "fruit bearing eggs", was part of Ashteroth’s rituals.
This demon was worshipped by the Phillistines, the Greeks, the Romans, the
Sicilians, as well as cults in many parts of Europe and Africa. The immoral worship rites of
Astarte in Babylonia transferred to Canaan (Deuteronomy 23:18) and formed part of the
cancerous idol worship.
In Judges 6, God’s judge, Gideon, cut down an Asherah Pole that was next to
Baal’s altar. The wood was used for a burnt offering. Deuteronomy 16 says the LORD
hates Asherim (another name for Asherah Poles). "Do not set up any Asherah pole beside
the altar you build to the LORD your God" or as living trees: " You shall not plant any tree
as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God which you shall make".
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Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA
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Asherah poles were not always living trees as seen shown in 1 Kings 14:23: "their
asherim, in addition to every luxuriant tree". Wicked King
Manasseh placed an Asherah Pole in the Holy Temple
(2 Kings 21:7). King Josiah's reforms in the late 7th
century BC included the destruction of many Asherah
poles (2 Kings 23). Exodus 34:13 states: "Break down
their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down
their Asherah poles”
There were as many Ashtoreths or Ashtaroth as
there were Baals. The gods claimed unique powers only
in certain places. (Judges 10:6; 1 Samuel 7:4; 12:10,
etc.). The number of places (groves and high-places)
indicated not only popularity but power-centers. Power
was also symbolized by the horns of an animal like a bull
or cow.
So deadly was this hellish teaching that the living
Lord God commanded the Israelites to surgically cut it out
of the culture. They did not. The result is that they and their children’s children were
devastated by their own disobedience to the LORD.
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Chemosh
What is it?
This demon was worshiped by the name Chemosh. Chemosh most likely
means "destroyer," "subduer," or "fish god." While this god is most readily
associated with the Moabites, according to Judges 11:24 it seems to
have been the national deity of the Ammonites as well.
In 2 Kings 3:27 we find that human sacrifice was part of the rites
of Chemosh. This was the same sort of god worshiped by the
Aztecs. This gruesome practice of sacrificing human life to make a
better life for the living was commonplace in the various
Canaanite cults. This death-culture included the Baals
and Moloch, Thammuz, and Baal-zebub. These were gods
all connected with worship of the sun. And like the sun,
they claimed to be fierce, inescapable, with consuming
powers. So be afraid.
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Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA
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Molech – Milcom – Molek
What is it?
“I, the LORD, will set My face against that man and
his family and will cut off from their people both him and
all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech” –
from the Bible, Leviticus 20; 1 Kings 11
Molek, Molech, or Milcom was the national god of
the Ammonites, he is known as "Milcom" (1 Kings 11:5,
7), or "Malkam" or "Malcan" (2 Samuel 12:30, 31;
Jeremiah 49:1, 3; Zechariah 1:5.) When I was growing
up, I always thought that the LORD was modern and the
gods and goddesses of Canaan were just ancient wimpy
things people worshipped. But the demons behind
these false gods were deceitful and powerfully hurt
people. This false worship destroyed whole generations.
The Hebrew word for Molech or Molak is “MLK ” . These are also the letters for
“ MELEK ” a word meaning “king”. But the Hebrew scribes who pronounced this word used
the vowels associated with a word that means shame, degradation.
Greek and Latin sources write of the horror of
offering of children by fire as sacrifices in the Punic
city of Carthage, a Phoenician colony. Cleitarchus,
Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch all mention burning
of children as an offering Ba‘al Hammon, also
known as Molek.
Plato wrote these words to describe how
Molech (also called Kronos) was worshiped: “There
stands in their midst a bronze statue of Kronos, its
hands extended over a bronze brazier, the flames
of which engulf the child.
When the flames fall upon the body, the
limbs contract and the open mouth seems almost
to be laughing until the contracted body slips
quietly into the brazier. The meaning of 'sardonic
smile' refers to the 'smile' worn by those infants
sacrificed by the Molek-worshipping people of Sardinia.
The children’s cries and grimaces of pain were said by the priests to be happy grins.
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Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA
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“There was in their city a bronze Moloch image extending its hands, palms up
and sloping toward the ground, so that each of the children when placed thereon rolled
down and fell into a sort of gaping pit filled with fire…the whole area before the statue
was filled with a loud noise of flutes and
drums so that the cries of wailing
should not reach the ears of the
people.
Diodorus writes that mothers
and families were forbidden to weep.
Once, when Carthage had been
defeated in a war, the remaining
Molak-worshiping nobles believed they
had displeased the gods by
substituting low-born children for their
own children.
To make amends, they
sacrificed 200 children of the best
families at once. History records that
in godless enthusiasm they actually
sacrificed 300 children.
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Proverbs 13:20 says,
“Those who walk with the
wise grow wise. But a
companion of fools
suffers harm.”
1 Rehoboam sought counsel
to make an important
decision (p. 194 of THE S TORY)
and so did Jeroboam (p. 196
of T HE S TORY). What standards
did each seem to use in
calculating the counsel of
others?
2 What makes for wise counsel from others?
3 What kind of advice are we to provide for each other? Explain.
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Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA
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4 Jeroboam “counterfeited worship” by turning
Israel’s attention away from the temple in Judah. He
mixed the lie of false gods together with the truth of
the LORD God. What did he gain from this?
5 What is the danger of counterfeit worship?
6 What do you feel happened that enabled the
people to choose “Plan B” (the idol of a golden calf) once again over the LORD?
7. Is there an overall pattern or theme that calls attention for us to reflect on? Explain.
8. Is there a standard that emerges from this section that defines a “good king”?
9. Reflecting on “the People of God,” both over 2,000 years ago and today , what way(s)
can we keep history from repeating its ungodly self? Explain.
10 The Word of the Lord found King Asa. The result is that King Asa stood out among his
peers as godly and wise. With such a leader, God’s people were blessed for over 40
years. What practical ways will do this for me? In other words, how can I keep and
increase my focus on Jesus and His
Words?
11 The first commandment protects
the pre-eminence of the LORD God.
“You shall have no other gods”. Dr.
Luther’s explanation is clear and to
the point: “We should fear, love and
trust in God above all things.” How
does my stewardship of the time God
gives me reflect my values?
12 The ‘BOAM BROS’ took their own way over-against God’s. They ignored and socialized
their rebellion. Jerry and Rebby hurt themselves and harmed thousands of others for
hundreds of years. We easily see the effects of sin in this section. Where is God’s grace
in this history of the Kingdom Torn in Two?
Personal homework:
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