who was Ashira as torith in the Bible Ashira or as torith is a name of a pagan fertility goddess and the wooden cult object devoted to her in the Bible Ashira is almost always referred to as a sacred pole erected in honor of the fertility goddess scripture also references carved images of ashirah he made a carved image of the goddess ashirah and set it up in the house Temple of which the Lord said to David and it was son Solomon in this house and in Jerusalem in the tribe of Judah which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel I will put my name forever second Kings chapter 21 verse 7. the name Ashira means she who enriches ugaritic literature she was called Lady ashirah of the sea she was believed to be worshiped in ancient Syria phenicia and Kanan she was worshiped by the Phoenicians as astarti the Assyrians as Ishtar and the Philistines as ashirah first Samuel chapter 31 verse 10. and they put Saul's weapons and armor in the temple of the ashtoreth female goddesses and they fasten his body to the wall of Beth Shan as soon as Joshua died ashara worship plagued Israel new to Israel's incomplete conquest of Canaan Judges chapter 2 verse 13.
so they abandoned the Lord and served Baal the Pagan god of the Canaanites and the ashtoreth the nation of Israel was in a state of compromise in judges 1. initially they had fought the Pagan culture of the Canaanites then they feared it and then they coexisted with it peacefully some might say that this was only a little Disobedience compared to everything God had commanded still God does not consider minor Disobedience regarding his precise commands God commanded his people for their good and he wanted complete obedience what would motivate them to compromise and disobey God's clear commands judges too gives the reason every generation faces either degeneration or regeneration we must pay attention to this message Our Generation and the next must consider this question will the generation degenerate or regenerate judges too discusses ashirah the first five verses of Judges 2 reveal the Lord lovingly confronting his people about their compromise despite Israel's unfaithfulness the Lord affirmed his faithfulness God is faithful to keep his promises to us when we desert the Lord and are unfaithful to him second Timothy chapter 2 verse 13. if we are faithless he remains faithful true to his word and his righteous character for he could not deny himself people are always called to be different by God it was God's standard for Israel to be different from the Nations around them but they had not obeyed sin always hurts it always shackles Joshua had faith in God and believed in his promises because of the leadership of Joshua his generation knew the Lord however Generations come and go the new generation didn't know God the nation began with incomplete obedience and compromise instead of driving out the Canaanites they were affected by that he the nation's perverse Pagan worship Baal was the Harvest God and as torth was the fertility goddess Canaan hide religion was tolerant and had no problem with some worshiping their gods and the Lord God of Israel but the Lord said he alone was to be worshiped Exodus chapter 20 verse 3.
you shall have no other gods before me the people had a choice in time Israel caved God eventually stopped driving the judged Nations out of the land and left them to test his people Ashira was characterized by a limbless tree trunk planted in the ground the trunk was typically carved into a symbolic representation of the goddess as a result of the connection with carved trees the places of Ashira worship were commonly called Groves he placed the carved Ashira pole he had made in the temple among King manasseh's evil Acts second Kings chapter 21 verse 7. considered the moon goddess Ashira was often presented as a consort of Baal the sun god Judges chapter 6 verse 28. early the next morning when the men of the city got up they discovered that the altar of Baal was torn down and the Ashira which was beside it was cut down and the second Bull was offered on the altar which hadn't been built Judges chapter 10 verse 6.
then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord they served the Bales the ash Taurus female deities the gods of arum Syria the gods of sidon the gods of Moab the gods of the ammonites and the gods of the Philistines they abandoned the Lord and did not serve him Ashira was also worshiped as a goddess of Love and War and was sometimes linked with anath another Canaanite goddess [Music] The Cult of Ashira was Notorious for its sensuality and involved ritual prostitution in addition to this divination and telling fortunes were also practices that the priests and priestesses of Ashira carried out in the Old Testament the word ashirah is mentioned 40 times where 33 of these occurrences referring to the sacred Ashura polls used in Pagan and heretical Israelite worship there are only seven occurrences of the name of Shira that referred to the goddess herself retail description of Ashira or an Ashira pole is not provided in the Old Testament nor is the origin of Ashira worship described in Kanan sacred sites and altars were adorned with Ashira poles First Kings chapter 14 verse 23. for they also built for themselves high places to worship idols and sacred pillars and ashiram for the goddess ashirah these were on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree the city of tire on the Mediterranean Coast was home to the best Cedars of Lebanon and was an important center for worshiping ashirah from Israel's Inception God commanded his people not to worship idols or any other false gods Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 7. you shall have no other gods before me intermarrying with Pagan Nations and practicing Pagan worship were forbidden for the Hebrews Ezekiel chapter 11 verse 12.
and you will know without any doubt that I am the Lord for you have not walked in my statutes nor have you executed my ordinances that you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the Nations around you second Kings chapter 17 verse 15. they rejected his statutes and his Covenant which he made with their fathers as well as his warnings that he gave them and they followed vanity that is false gods idols and McCain vain empty-headed they followed the Pagan practices of the Nations which surrounded them although the Lord had commanded that they were not to do as they did God warned Israel not to worship canaan's Gods before they entered the Promised Land Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 14 through 15. you shall not follow other gods any of the Gods of the peoples who surround you for the Lord your God who is among you is a jealous impassioned God demanding what is rightfully and uniquely his otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled and burned against you and he will destroy you from the face of the Earth the Jewish law explicitly forbade reverence of ashirah Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 21.
you shall not plant for yourself and ashirah of any kind of tree or wood beside the altar of the Lord your God which you shall make Judges chapter 6 verse 26 depicts the collapse of an Ashira pole by using it to fuel the fire of a sacrificial offering to the Lord Judges chapter 6 verse 26. and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this mountain stronghold with stones laid down in an orderly way then take the second Bull and offer a burn sacrifice using the wood of the Ashira which you shall cut down when ASA reigned in Judah he expelled the male called prostitutes sodomites from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers Solomon rehoboam and abigment made he also deposed his great-grandmother mayaka from being queen mother because she had made a horrid obscene vulgar image for the goddess of Shira ASA cut down her horrid image and burned it by the Brook Kidron First Kings chapter 15 verses 12-13 the Lord had given the Jews the command to demolish and remove all of the high places and sacred sites across the territory but Israel disobeyed God and continued to worship idols even introducing the cult of Ashira into the temple in Jerusalem Ahab transferred 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Ashira into Israel so the people could worship the pagan gods that belonged to his wife Jezebel First Kings chapter 18 verses 18 through 19. Elijah said I have not brought disaster on Israel but you and your father's household have by abandoning rejecting the Commandments of the Lord and by following the Bales now then send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel together with a 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess ashirah who Eid at Queen Jezebel's table [Music] a famous Asura poll stood in Samaria in the days of King jehoias second Kings chapter 13 verse 6.
yet they did not turn from the idolatrous sins of the Royal House of jeroboam who made Israel sin but walked in them and the ashirah set up by Ahab also remained standing in Samaria Israel's capital Manasseh king of Judah heeded the Despicable practices of the Pagan Nations he reconstructed the high places and set up altars for Baal and an Ashira Pole he sacrificed his own son in the fire practiced sorcery and divination and even made a carved image of Ashira and set it up in the temple second Kings chapter 21 verse 7. he made a carved image of the Goddess Ashira and set it up in the house Temple during the reign of Josiah the high priest hilkaya cleansed the Temple of all images depicting the goddess of Shira one reason Israel fell to the Assyrians was God's anger over the worship of Ashira and male despite God's clear instructions Ashira worship was a perennial problem in Israel as Solomon slipped into idolatry one of the Pagan deities he brought into the kingdom was ashirah called the goddess of the sidonians First Kings chapter 11 verse 5. for Solomon went after ashtoreth the fertility goddess of the sidonians and after milcam their horror detestable Idol of the ammonites First Kings chapter 11 verse 33.
because they have abandoned me and are worshiped ashtor the goddess of the sidonians kimosh the god of the moabites and Malcolm the god of the sons of Ammon and they have not walked in my ways and Fallen my Commandments doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances as did his father David at times Israel experienced a Revival King Josiah LED notable Crusades against ashirah worship second Kings chapter 23 verse 4. then the king commanded hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second Rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Temple of the Lord all the Articles made for Baal for the goddess Ashira and for all the starry hosts of heaven and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron a carried their Ashes to Bethel where Israel's idolatry began the gods of the Old Testament were nothing more than demons masquerading as gods and all idolatry is ultimately devil worship First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 20. no I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offered a demons and not to God I do not want you to be participants with demons Ashira was similar to many other Idols in that he personified natural forces that had supposedly produced all things throughout history and right into the days that we now live humans have always been fascinated with demon-driven Gods to do what looks extraordinary this temptation hasn't been limited to the Heathen without knowledge of God but has also crept into the hearts of those who once loved and knew the god that made the Unseen World this longing deceived Gods often stems from greed Rebellion or a two impatient soul who feels God is too slow for the supernatural change he desires Psalm chapter 16 verses 2 through 5.
those who run after other gods will suffer more and more I will not pour out Libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips we need to be cautious about what we allow to infiltrate Our Lives the seemingly innocuous can be Insidious so we must exercise Extreme Caution why is idol worship such a powerful temptation the answer to this is sin we worship modern Idols because of our sinful nature resisting the glorification of Idols is a battle of the redeemed Ephesians chapter 6 verses 11-14 put on the full armor of God for his precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily armed Soldier so that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil for our struggle is not against flesh and blood contending only with physical opponents but against the rulers against the powers against the world forces of this present Darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the Heavenly Supernatural places therefore put on the complete armor of God so that you will be able to successfully resist and stand your ground in the evil day of danger [Music] that the crisis demands to stand firm in your place fully prepared immovable Victorious so stand firm and hold your ground having tightened the wide band of Truth personal Integrity moral courage around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness an upright heart when we hear the word Idol we usually think of statues and things reminiscent of those glorified by pagans in age-old cultures however the idols of the modern world often bear no likeness to the artifacts used thousands of years ago in today's society many people's Ashira has been replaced by an unquenchable desire for Acceptance in the eyes of the world in the end it doesn't matter what empty pleasure we chase after or what Idol or false God we bow down to the result is the same this is because there is only one God and all other gods are false understanding contemporary Idols can help us understand why they are our powerful temptation anything we place ahead of God in our lives can be an idol clearly some of the things we idolize are sinful yet scripture tells us that so then whether you eat or drink or whatever you do all to the glory of our great God First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31. Luke chapter 16 verse 13. Noah's servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other you cannot serve both God and Mammon that is your Earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God as we vigorously pursue our Idols we often push God aside we rarely spend time with God because we spend so much on these idolatrous Pursuits we sometimes also turn to Idols seeking soulless from the hardships of life and the turmoil present in our world behaviors may be used to temporarily escape a challenging situation or the rigors of daily life we need to place our trust in the Lord who will keep us from all harm and who has promised to supply all of our needs when we trust in him Psalm chapter 121 verse 7.
the Lord will protect you from all evil he will keep your life we also need to remember the words of Paul who teaches us not to be anxious about anything but rather to pray about everything so the peace of God which surpasses all understanding can guard our hearts and Minds Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 through 7. do not be anxious or worried about anything but in everything every circumstance and situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving continue to make your specific requests known to God and the peace of God that peace which reassures the heart that peace which transcends all understanding that peace which stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus is yours the good things of this world are gifts from God meant to be enjoyed with a thankful heart in submission to him and for his glory nevertheless when the gift replaces The Giver or the Creator replaces the Creator we have fallen into idolatry no Idol can give us Eternal hope or meaning in our lives in pursuit of idols we will be left empty unsatisfied and eventually on the road that leads to destruction Matthew chapter 7 verse 13. enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and Broad and easy to travel is a path that leads the way to destruction and eternal laws there are many who enter through it God despises idolatry completely it brings God's Wrath down and those involved idolatry brings curses upon the people and the land Exodus chapter 20 verse 5.
idolatry incites God's Wrath it defiles and pollutes people and the land so to answer the question why are Idols dangerous specifically God's Wrath is falling on idolatry nothing is more terrifying than the wrath of an all-powerful all-righteous God and according to Paul God's Wrath is coming on idolatry God's Wrath falls on the idolater because God is jealous there are two kinds of jealousy righteous and holy jealousy and unrighteous weak and insecure jealousy and God's jealousy is not only Justified he deserves our most profound and strongest affections and admiration and if we find God to be sold dull or insignificant that we must substitute other things that truly satisfy us more than he does we offend him and destroy ourselves what exactly is an idol how does it appear today first and foremost in the heart covetousness which is idolatry Paul says thus idolatry today is the activity of the human heart this is not a bodily Act then there's a fruit on a branch it all starts in the heart craving wanting enjoying and being Satisfied by anything other than God this is what Paul calls covetousness at us ordered love or desire loving more than God which should be loved less than God and only for God's sake but this disordered heart is in a state of covetousness which is an act of loving too much which should be loved less finally what exactly is an idol that is the issue it is the thing or person that was loved more than God desired more than God treasured more than God and enjoyed more than God it might be good grades it could be other people's approval it could be a commercial success it could be a hobby a musical group a sport or you're meticulously maintained yard your own appearance could be an idol Anything could happen so Paul puts it like this in Romans chapter 1 verse 25.
