Praises
JUDI received an article from Jo on showing the Jesus film in Gambia. It is posted on the blog for everyone to read. JUDI welcome new granddaughter Emrys Meridia Courter. She was a few days early and is beautiful and healthy! LUCILLE's news from her pet scan was good. She has no metastases and surgery should be pretty straightforward. She will have her surgery in The Villages November 28th. ROSE got the doctor she wanted and has an appointment with him on December 2! Also her husband's cardiac tests are all okay so far! KATHY is thankful for moments of joy the Lord provides for her and Bobby. Today they danced to some music a neighbor was playing and gave several in the neighborhood a happy moment . JUDI went to Atlanta to celebrate her sister-in-law's 70th birthday. It was a surprise and the birthday girl had no idea! It was a great celebration. CAROL's mentoree from Bushnell now has now been moved to Lowell prison. She is doing extremely well spiritually and Carol is thrilled. Thanks were offered for all the family in town for Thanksgiving. Requests CAROL had a series of four surgeries on her pancreas 4 1/2 years ago. She is experiencing some of the same difficulties and has called the doctor who cared for her at that time please pray it's absolutely nothing. MANY of us have family coming for Thanksgiving. Please pray for travel mercies for everybody traveling this busy weekend. And for a blessed, thankful time for everybody! JUDY's granddaughter, Annie, leaves for Japan on Wednesday. She will be there for two years with the Air Force. Please pray for her adjustment and safety. Remember to lift up those who are incarcerated, those Christians around the world who are being persecuted, those who are suffering other horrible problems like starvation and illness. And as always for our country. by Jim Burgen from No More Dragons
Being the Hunted What did Jesus call people who were attacked by dragons, regardless of the righteous way they were conducting their lives? Jesus called these people normal. Jesus made a few promises about what would happen to us, regardless of our faith. Here is what Jesus promised those who love Him the most: In this world you will have trouble. - John 16:33 Jesus didn’t say, “In this world, there is a slight chance that you will go through hard times.” Jesus didn’t say, “If you don’t have enough faith, you will have trouble.” Jesus didn’t say, “If you go to church, stop cussing, don’t drink too much, and always keep your promises, then you won’t have any trouble.” Instead, Jesus said that trouble will hunt you. Period. If you are alive and breathing, you will have trouble in this world. Either you will hunt the dragon, or the dragon will hunt you. There is no escaping it. Jesus had every right to make this statement. Jesus believed all the right things, and He had stronger faith and loved God more than you and I will ever be able to. Still, soon after making this statement, Jesus was arrested and nailed to a cross. Faith, belief, and love do not buffer or barricade your life from trouble and hardship. In fact, sometimes it feels like having faith and doing the right things can attract trouble. I want to address the dragon that I most often see hunting the people around me: depression. This includes both the deep blues anyone can feel and the diagnosable imbalance that plagues so many. No one asks for this dragon, but he swallows up many people regardless. This dragon is big, heavy, overwhelming, and he has the potential to crush, suffocate, and swallow you up. This dragon doesn’t create bad days or bad weeks. He creates bad childhoods, bad decades, and bad lives. On and on, day after day, year after year, this dragon causes pain with no relief in sight. Remember that overwhelmingly sad feeling when you learned that someone you loved died? Remember the guilt and embarrassment you felt after your biggest failure was exposed? Remember facing the biggest problem in your life and thinking that it was impossible to fix? Remember that time, as a little kid, when someone held you under the swimming pool too long, and you thought you were going to drown? Roll all of those emotions into one, carry them around with you every day from the time you wake up until the time you fall asleep, and you will begin to understand the dragon of depression. When you experience the dragon of depression, your entire world is seen only through the lens of sadness, hopelessness, mourning, loss, emptiness, grief, pain, anger, frustration, guilt, and death. Death is always there, looming and lurking: “I can’t live another minute like this. Death has to be better than this. The people around me would be better off if I wasn’t here to hurt them. I can’t do this anymore. This is never going to get any better.” The dragon of depression is a cyclical prison cell. It’s like a dog chasing its own tail: “I am depressed. Because I’m depressed, I can’t do what I need to do. This makes me feel like a failure. That makes me depressed. Because I’m depressed, I can’t do what I need to do. This makes me feel like a failure. That makes me depressed.” David, the famous king from the Bible, knew these feelings well: Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of Your unfailing love. Among the dead no one proclaims Your name. Who praises You from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. - Psalm 6:2-6 How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death. - Psalm 13:1-3 King David wasn’t alone, and you aren’t either. This might surprise some readers, but Jesus understands what depression feels like. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before Jesus was arrested, He experienced the height of His depression: Then He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” - Matthew 26:38-39 If you read Hebrews 4:15, it is clear that Jesus had been tempted in every way that we are, yet He walked through those temptations without sinning. But somewhere along the way, it seems some biblical scholar or translator decided “depression” was no longer included in the long list of ways that Jesus was tempted. In my opinion, it’s tough to read, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” without concluding that Jesus was struggling with depression. Jesus essentially said, “I’ve been swallowed up to the core of My being with sorrow. The suffocating weight of My sadness is about to crush My life.” Elsewhere, the Bible says this about Jesus’ time in the garden: Being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. - Luke 22:44 There is a medical condition (hematidrosis) brought on by extreme emotional anguish, strain, and stress during which the capillaries in the skin rupture, allowing blood to flow out of a person’s sweat pores. So for hours, alone in a dark corner of a remote garden, Jesus fell down, curled up on the ground, cried, and prayed so intensely for deliverance from His circumstances that the blood vessels burst inside His skin. You can call it whatever you want, but to me it looks like emotional depression. Jesus understood, and still understands, depression. Weeks before Jesus was in the garden, He came face-to-face with everything I’ve just described. They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet Him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. - Mark 5:1-5 Depression can be caused by many different things. In this guy’s case, depression was caused by satanic attack or demonic oppression. The man in this story was possessed by many demons. If you’re anything like me, you immediately think of The Exorcist or some sci-fi movie, but the reality is that, all through the Bible, we read descriptions of battles being fought in the spiritual realm. The New Testament teaches that while a Christian cannot be possessed by Satan or one of his demons, he can be oppressed. Satan continues to wage war against Christians by attacking or tempting us. Depression can also be caused by guilt. Sometimes the weight of our downfalls and sins can cause us to grieve and mourn to the point of depression. That’s one of the reasons King David was depressed. He had just been convicted of adultery and murder, and his child was about to die. He used phrases like, “My bones wasted away... my strength was sapped... Do not forsake me, my God... My heart has turned to wax... my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth... Troubles without number surround me” (Psalm 32:3-4, Psalm 71:18, Psalm22:14–15, Psalm 40:12). The apostle Peter understood depression after he denied knowing Jesus. After his sin of denying Jesus, Peter wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75). Judas understood depression after he betrayed Jesus to his death. When the weight and guilt of what he had done finally hit him, Judas decided that committing suicide was the only way out of the belly of the dragon in which he found himself swallowed (Matthew 27:1-5). Depression can also be caused by the difficult circumstances of our lives. Life can get so hard that it makes us depressed, and that’s what Jesus was feeling in the Garden of Gethsemane. He understood why He needed to be sacrificed. He even knew the wonderful outcome that would result from His torture and death. Yet even though Jesus knew that the next few days would ultimately become the most wonderful event ever to occur in the history of the universe, the thought of them still caused Him to collapse to the ground, curl up, and cry until blood seeped from His pores. Depression can also be the result of a physical illness. Sometimes the circumstances of our bodies can cause us to become depressed. I’m not talking about body image issues causing someone to become depressed (although that happens often). I’m talking about synapses misfiring and chemicals becoming imbalanced. I’m talking about diseases within our bodies. This can be the most difficult cause of depression to wrestle with because you can’t quite put your finger on the reason you are suffering. You’re simply suffering. More on this in a minute. Regardless of the cause of depression, one factor remains constant: depression always centers on death and pain. Depression is about death. The naked guy on the beach in Mark 5 lived in a cemetery. When you feel dead inside, you begin to dwell on the things of death, and eventually that place becomes your home. Depression is also about pain. The man would cry out and cut himself with razorsharp stones. Depression has many causes, it revolves around death and pain, and it has no easy fixes. Let’s continue with the story about the naked man on the beach: When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of Him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” - Mark 5:6-9 Later in this story, Jesus sends the spirits away and heals the man. That’s when the crowd shows up: When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. - Mark 5:15 Jesus is bigger, stronger, and Most High over everything. In the story about the naked man at the beach, the demon of depression recognized and yielded to the authority of Jesus. Jesus is bigger than depression. Whether you personally hunted down your dragon or it stalked and ambushed you, Jesus can set you free again. Jesus is bigger than depression. — Jim Burgen from No More Dragons Depression: Fighting Dragons by Jim Burgen from No More Dragons PRAISES
JAN is excited to be retiring this week. She has felt God's presence in all of her decisions and is looking forward to the next phase of her life. KATHY reports that Bobby had a great doctor's appointment this week. The new medication seems to be working and he is much more peaceful. They are hoping to get onto a program to get the medications at a good rate. ANNA has a new part-time job working at Bealls. Today was her first day and she had fun. CAROL H's granddaughter posted a tribute to Carol and her husband, Ollie, on Facebook today. She stated that her grandparents have been a big influence in her life and she really thanks them. What a blessing! ROSE and LUCILLE praise God for all the love and support they have received since their cancer diagnoses. They are also feeling blessed by the excellent medical care in the USA! LUCILLE is rejoicing because she gets to go visit her daughter and granddaughter (Linda and Erin) this week. It's been way too long since she's seen them! JAN, ROSE and LUCILLE all give thanks for the lovely flower tributes from Dr. Dawn Paul. They blessed us all! PRAYER REQUESTS Please pray for travel mercies for: - JAN who is going to Virginia - ANNA who is going to Atlanta - JUDI who is going to Atlanta and - JO who will be returning from showing the Jesus film in Africa. LUCILLE has consults set up with two surgeons and a pet scan scheduled for tomorrow. Please pray for all her information and choices to be clear. ROSE and her husband are dealing with Rose's diagnosis and some difficulties that have shown up for her husband, Bob. He is having some cardiac related testing. Rose is praying nothing is found. Please pray for the ministries that Judi is working on concerning houses for people moving from incarceration back into society. She continues to have meetings for planning. This week a certified counselor came forward offering to help with individual counseling. Please pray for all who are incarcerated, all who truly hunger and thirst, for those who are being persecuted for following Jesus Christ as their savior. We have been praying for Carol's friend, Jane, who has been on hospice care. She continued praising the Lord until she fell into a coma and passed away last week. Her life has been a beacon to all those around her. Please pray for her family and all those who love her. Please pray for our country as we move into this transition period. We ask for your leadership, guidance and direction Lord God. PRAISES Praise God for the safe arrival of Jo Bailey and the team AND the pictures of her with children she's met in Africa. Give the "Jesus" film fruit! BETSY is thankful for travel mercies for all of her travel in the last year. She has driven about 10,000 miles and all safe! JUDI is thankful for the time she and her hubby were able to spend with their daughter and grandchildren in Connecticut (even though it was wicked cold!!!) JUDI is thankful for the continuing progress being made with the plans for the transitional housing locations (one for men and one for women) who are being released from incarceration. She is thankful for those who have stepped forward to help - the work is daunting and the needs for women are much different than those for men. The Lord is working mightily opening doors and she asks the Lord to send workers with an understanding of female needs and a heart and compassion for "the least of these." Jesus reminds us what He said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:37-38). We are asking you Lord. Please also give wisdom and understanding at all steps along the way. PRAYER REQUESTS ANNA was unable to be with us tonight because she's struggling with back pain. CAROL's friend Jane, for whom we have been praying, has passed away. Please lift up all her family and friends. DARLENE's brother Ervin has had the first surgery and now it must heal completely so he can have the second surgery. Please pray for him to heal well and for his mental attitude as he goes through this downtime. He is very discouraged. BETSY's neighbor Jim has just been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer which has moved to his brain. Please pray for him and his wife Beth as they begin treatment. KATHY G. has visited our Bible study and would like to join but her husband is unwell. He was able to go to his daughter's wedding but today his foot was being amputated. Please lift them up. KATHY request continued prayer for Bobby. He continues to be very agitated and fearful. Please pray for peace of mind for him and for her. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow . Please pray it would be productive. CAROL's friend Judy's son Danny has lupus and the doctors are not able to find treatment that is working for him. He is a young man with the family and things are pretty difficult. JANE's mother-in-law is hospitalized again for congestive heart failure. LEELA has breast cancer and has had two failed surgeries. She has now lost her job and her home. Her son is unable to be with her because of military training. Please pray for both of them. ELLEN has had a very difficult mastectomy and reconstruction. She was in intensive care for 10 days. Please pray for good healing for her. Lord, may we hear the your direction in tonight's lesson. May each of us hear your call to holiness clearly and OBEY! Let there be NO other gods before you in our hearts! JUDI asks for prayer for all those who are incarcerated and locked away from their freedom and loves ones; for those who are truly hungry and thirst for clean water; for those who are ill in countries that cannot afford medicine. Help us to provide relief for those truly in need and rehabilitation for those that need to learn how to help themselves and become independent of entitlements. Update - 11/10/2016: Please up your prayers to include our Rose – her biopsy has returned with the diagnosis of endometrial cancer. Her surgeon’s office is in the process of scheduling her surgery. She hopes to be with us on Monday night but in the meantime please pray for acceptance, courage, strength and comfort. We love you Rose!!! Our Great Physician will wrap you and your medical teams in His arms and guide the way. Update - 11/11/2016 - Dear Prayer Warriors – Our precious Lucille needs all of our prayers. During her colonoscopy on Tuesday a 5cm mass was found in her colon. Please pray that it be contained and able to be removed with surgery. Please pray for good results from her PET scan scheduled for Tuesday and that no more cancer is found. Please pray for acceptance, comfort and understanding for Lucille and her family. This is difficult for all. Please ask the Lord to bless her medical team (surgeon / oncologist / office staff). We lift Lucille up to our Great Physician, storm the heavens for her and surround her with love.
Have you been keeping up with us these last few weeks by reading the Books of I and II Kings? – If you are as confused as I have been about all these kings of Israel, then the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin and who was a good guy and who was a bad guy . . . then you might find the chart above helpful also. But in any even - WOW!!! Talk about disobedience to the Lord!!! So the books cover from about 975 – 560 BC – from the death of David to the death of his kingdom – about 400 years of turbulent times! Super-powers emerged (Assyria and Babylon) and it was said that “building a kingdom on this stretch of land was like building a bird’s nest on a busy highway!” The Israelites held together during the long reign (41 years) of Solomon then divided into two. Judah became the southern kingdom comprised of only two of the twelve tribes – Judah and Benjamin and retained Jerusalem. The rest of the tribes created a northern kingdom and took with them the name of Israel. They are eventually overrun by the Assyrians and much later in 597 BC the southern kingdom is invaded by the Babylonians and Jerusalem is destroyed. We learn that the “official ‘annals’ in the royal archives” kept the records of the facts and figures of wartime – some of which is included in the Bible, but mostly these books recount the sad story of division and decline – largely due to idolatry and Yahweh’s judgment upon His own people for forsaking Him. (Hmmm – is this beginning to sound familiar to us in the times we are in where the Lord is being removed from everything?) While the overall storyline of these books are faintly depressing, the underlying tone is one of hope and faithful determination. Solomon – WOW – the narrators are full of praise about him – we learn about:
So . . . Solomon was a pretty smart guy – the wisest man who ever lived is how he is referred to. So what happened?
And he does –
HIGH PLACES In your Old Testament reading, these are mentioned 117 times – they were centers for Canaanite idol worship that the Jews were commanded to tear down. But instead, these places became idols that subtly seduced God’s people year after year—they couldn’t stay away! What about today? Are followers of Christ still tempted by high places? Let’s ask it a different way: Do believers sometimes succumb to today’s “ism-idols” —rampant materialism, impure sexism or me-ism? Our author, Nancy, opens our 2 Kings study taking us back to the beginning again – she reminds us over and over how God says to His people . . . “If you will do this . . . then I will do that . . . “ Feel free to read up on all of these yourself – they are contained in Leviticus 26:1-13; 26:14-20; Deuteronomy 4:25-28; 4:29-31; 28:1-14; 18:`5-65; Joshua 24:20; 1 Kings 9:4-5 and 6-9. Suffice it to say . . . He asks for obedience and for His people to follow His laws. Simple, eh? Well, not so much because, over and over, they disobey – the worship false idols, they sacrifice their children to the false gods, they build high places, the erect Asherah poles, they offer sacrifices and burn incense. Over and over – they disappoint. Over and over God shows them mercy. He promised David that there would always be one of his bloodline on the throne – forever. IF his children obey Him. But they don’t. But He does – He always keeps one of his bloodline on the throne. He never disappoints – not them and not us. But, when the Israelites separated themselves from the Davidic Kingdom they also separated themselves from God and His promises. We learned that thirty-two times in the books of the 1st and 2nd Kings, the king was “evil in the sight of the Lord” and only eight times was a king “right in the sight of the Lord.” Hmmm – four times as many evil as good / right. Here are just a few examples so we can understand why God was so disappointed: Jeroboam, king in Israel – well, he decided he would create his own religion – this would prevent his people from traveling back to Jerusalem and maybe leaving his kingdom. He created two golden calves (hmmm – sound familiar?) for them to worship, along with shrines on high places. He anointed priests (really? Who gave him that authority?) And instituted a new festival and offered sacrifices to his “cows.” (See 1 Kings 12:25-33). Rehoboam, king in Judah – built high places, erected sacred stones and Asherah poles; had male shrine prostitutes and the people performed the same detestable practices as those God had told His people to annihilate when He gave them over to the Promised Land. (See 1 Kings 14:22-23). Ahab, king in Israel – he marries Jezebel (if you haven’t read about her – now’s the time) who was a devout follower of Baal; he succumbs to her religion, serves and worships him, sets up an altar to him in the temple he builds for him (seriously???) in Samaria and has Jericho rebuilt (perhaps he did not read about the curse in Joshua 6:26). (See 1 Kings 16:29-33). Ahaz, king in Judah – sacrificed his son in the fire as an offering to the Canaanite gods and he offered other sacrifices and burned incense at the high places. (See 2 Kings 16:2-4). Then we have Manasseh, king in Judah, who rebuilds the same high places that his father had destroyed; erects altars to Baal, made an Asherah pole; built altars to other gods in the temple of the Lord; sacrificed his own son; practiced sorcery and divination; consulted mediums and spiritists. He is a pretty bad dude!!! (See 2 Kings 21:1-9). So . . . we know that God is all powerful and easily could have wiped these people out. Why doesn’t He??? Because He keeps His promises and He promised David that he would “maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.” Let’s move on to a few of those who were “right in the sight of the Lord” but let’s remember that “right” did not mean “perfect.” They also had failures. Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his days. He expelled the male shrine prostitutes and got rid of the idols that his father had made; he even deposed grandma Maacah from her position as the “queen mum” because she made an Asherah pole. BUT . . . he did not remove the high places. (See 1 Kings 15:9-15). Jehoshaphat walked in the ways of his father, Asa, and rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes that remained after Asa. But . . . he also did not remove the high places. (See 1 Kings 22:41-46) There was no one like Hezekiah of all the kings of Judah. He trusted in the Lord, held fast to Him, followed Him, and kept his commands. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones, cut down the Asherah poles, even broke the bronze snake that Moses made because the people were worshiping it and even gave it a name, Nehustan. But . . . even with all the right things he did – he succumbed to pride as he proudly showed off all his wealth to Babylon. He didn’t even appear to be concerned about how his actions would affect his future offspring when Isaiah, the prophet, told him “and some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” (See 2 Kings 18:1-8 and 20:12-19). Then we have Josiah who repaired the temple. When the Book of Law was found he tore his robe and sent the priest off to learn more from the prophetess. He responded to what he learned by burning the articles made for Baal, tore down the Asherah poles, he deposed the priests who were making offerings in the high places, restored Passover; put away mediums and necromancers. However, with all he did – it was not enough to assuage the wrath of the Lord from turning away from his people after he died. (See 2 Kings 22:1 - 23:30) Now . . . it looks like there might be some unification of the kingdoms. Jehoram from David’s line in the south marries Athaliah, the daughter of a king of Israel in the north. Their son, Ahaziah, takes the throne in Jerusalem. BUT . . . when he dies, his mother, Athaliah, tries to kill off all the descendants of David who might lay claim to the throne so that she can take the throne herself. This is the ONLY time a non-descendant of David sits on the throne over Judah during this period. As we know (Jeremiah 29:11) God ALWAYS has a plan to prosper and to protect the royal line of King David. We read about this in 2 Kings 11, but briefly . . . a baby from David’s line, Joash, was hidden in the temple for seven years at which time he is crowned king and brought back to the royal palace. Athaliah is put to death. Throughout these two books we are reminded over and over (then, as now) that the Lord is full of grace – a grace we often spurn by our disobedience and idolatry. He constantly reminds us of how faithful He is to us (in spite of ourselves) and how faithful we should be to Him. He continued to warn them over and over by sending them prophets. It is not as if they didn’t know – He was not silent – He kept His promise. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, took King Jehoiachin / his family / his military / his people to Babylon, leaving behind only the poorest of the poor, and took all the treasures of the temple that King Solomon had made (as the Lord said would happen). He made Mattahiah (Jehoiachin’s uncle) king in his place and renamed him, Zedekiah. King Neb burned down the Temple, broke down the walls of Jerusalem and carried off the people (except the poor who were left to tend the vineyards and fields). Has the line of David ended? NO! Jehoiachin is released from prison by King Neb’s successor, Evil Merodah and is given a seat of honor at his table. So you see . . . God’s promises are never broken – a son of David would reign on his throne forever. If you aren’t sure – read Matthew 1:6-16 and you too will be convinced. In case you don't understand the significance of the Asherah pole, why it was an idol and therefore, forbidden by the Lord . . . Question: "Who was Asherah / Ashtoreth?" Answer: Asherah, or Ashtoreth, was the name of the chief female deity worshiped in ancient Syria, Phoenicia, and Canaan. The Phoenicians called her Astarte, the Assyrians worshiped her as Ishtar, and the Philistines had a temple of Asherah (1 Samuel 31:10). Because of Israel’s incomplete conquest of the land of Canaan, Asherah-worship survived and plagued Israel, starting as soon as Joshua was dead (Judges 2:13). Asherah was represented by a limbless tree trunk planted in the ground. The trunk was usually carved into a symbolic representation of the goddess. Because of the association with carved trees, the places of Asherah worship were commonly called “groves,” and the Hebrew word “asherah” (plural, “asherim”) could refer either to the goddess or to a grove of trees. One of King Manasseh’s evil deeds was that he “took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple” (2 Kings 21:7). Another translation of “carved Asherah pole” is “graven image of the grove” (KJV). Considered the moon-goddess, Asherah was often presented as a consort of Baal, the sun-god (Judges 3:7, 6:28, 10:6; 1 Samuel 7:4, 12:10). Asherah was also worshiped as the goddess of love and war and was sometimes linked with Anath, another Canaanite goddess. Worship of Asherah was noted for its sensuality and involved ritual prostitution. The priests and priestesses of Asherah also practiced divination and fortune-telling. The Lord God, through Moses, forbade the worship of Asherah. The Law specified that a grove of trees was not to be near the altar of the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:21). Despite God’s clear instructions, Asherah-worship was a perennial problem in Israel. As Solomon slipped into idolatry, one of the pagan deities he brought into the kingdom was Asherah, called “the goddess of the Sidonians” (1 Kings 11:5, 33). Later, Jezebel made Asherah-worship even more prevalent, with 400 prophets of Asherah on the royal payroll (1 Kings 18:19). At times, Israel experienced revival, and notable crusades against Asherah-worship were led by Gideon (Judges 6:25-30), King Asa (1 Kings 15:13), and King Josiah (2 Kings 23:1-7). Thanks for all your continued prayers for Jo and team because as you can see below, they made it safely to Gambia and are spreading the Word through the Jesus film. Jo has made a new BFF by the name of Soba ;-) AND . . . EVEN baby goats are loving on Jesus!!!
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April 2018
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