“Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,”
I am always interested in history. In my geology world, we use a concept known as uniformitarianism. It means the present is key to the past. We can look at geological processes that happen today and predict things from the rock record, like environment of deposition, water depth, etc.
When you read the Bible, you need to use this concept. Here we find the Asherah pole in verse 21. It appears many times in the Old Testament. The pole is an idol the Canaanites used to worship. It signified fertility, so they worshiped at the pole to be fertile. We have come a long way in modern science today, so we don’t see Asherah poles around, much less people worshiping at them here in America. In fact, we see pole worship all over Native American culture and many other cultures. It might not look like an Asherah pole from Bible times, but it still is an idol.
The Israelites are a third-generation culture out of Egypt by now. Everyone except for Moses, Joshua, and Caleb has witnessed the exodus from Egypt. Many signs and wonders have been displayed by God while this generation grew up in the desert, so they knew about God and His ways.
One of the first signs of veering off the road of Christianity is when you start introducing small idols into your life. Before, you would rely on God for everything, and slowly, you would stop praying as much. You would start to ask questions using “why,” “where,” and “how” instead of trusting God.
This is exactly what the Israelites did. They knew enough of God to worship Him, but for the small stuff they would turn to other idols in their life, like sacred poles and stones, to fill the gap where their lack of faith was weak or where they thought to take things into their own hands. In verse 21, God says that He hates those things because it erodes your faith like a river erodes the earth and carries the sand and clay far from where it was deposited originally.
The Bible says we are to put our trust on the rock of God, not bits and pieces but the whole truth. When the storms come and rains come, those bits and pieces will not be enough to hold you up. You will either be transported downstream to find something new to grasp onto or broken trying to find the pieces to rebuild. Build your house on the rock of God. Break down all those things you put your trust in that are not God’s Word and rebuild your house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24-27)
Prayer: Father, help to build my house on the rock of your word. I pray that you help me get rid of all of the idols in my life that are in my way of trusting you. I commit my whole life to you right now, without trusting in idols, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Leave a comment