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This article is from Today's
Native Father, issue #99, September/October, 1998. Related articles from
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HARMLESS CUSTOMS?? A Family Bible Study by David Hertzler |
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God’s people the Israelites were tempted by the pagan customs of the nations around them. Among these customs was the worship of Asherah, one of the oldest pagan deities known to man. She is also known as Ishtar, Astarte, Isis or Ashtoreth. She was the goddess of fertility who made crops to grow and people and cattle to bear young. In the hot midsummer month named for her son Tammuz, vegetation dried up and people fasted and mourned until Tammuz rose from the dead to make the earth green again. In the scriptures below you will find some of the customs associated with worship of Asherah. Fill in the blanks. 2 Kings 21:2-9 Manasseh, a worshipper of Asherah, sacrificed ________________________ as a burnt offering. He practiced _______________________ and _______________________ and consulted _________________________ and __________________________. He placed a __________________________________ in the Temple. 2 Kings 17:7-12 The worshippers of Asherah set up ____________________ of the goddess under the shade trees and burned _____________________ on the altars. Ezekiel 8:9-14 Worshippers of Asherah painted pictures of ___________________ on the walls. They excused themselves by saying, “The Lord does not _______________.” The women mourned for _________________________. Jeremiah 44:15-19 The women poured out _________________________ to the queen of heaven and baked ___________ shaped like her. They did this with the approval of their _______________. How many of these practices sound like “harmless customs” to you? How many of them remind you of things you have seen at Halloween? Do you see any similarity between the worship of the “queen of heaven and her son who rose from the dead,” and some modern religious practices? Describe in your own words God’s reactions to these practices. Read Jeremiah 44:26-30, Ezekiel 8:9-10, 2 Kings 21:11-15, 2 Kings 17:18-23. |
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