Ask Donnell: Asherah Poles In US Nightclubs?
We received the following question from Claudia;
"Donnell, Good morning. I am reading now the book of 1st and 2nd Kings, and reference is made to the putting up of asherah poles in Israel, in pagan worship. I did some research on what really is an asherah pole. I found out, but I also saw an article that says it is again becoming popular in clubs and other nightspots in America. Young people are rubbing them for good luck, and giving offerings to it. Will this new trend be because of a ‘lack of knowledge’, or is there a rise in atheist beliefs out of a denial of the existence of God? Have a good day."
Interesting question Claudia. This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I had no idea that Asherah poles still exist today. However, I'm not totally surprised. Many of these ancient religious practices exist in different forms today. Though the exact traditions may no longer be practiced in their original forms the spirits behind them are the same. With each generation these practices are repackaged and re-branded so that they remain relevant.
I did some research on the use of Asherah Poles in US nightclubs and came up with one article online which pretty much says the same thing you're saying. So I assume this is where you got your information also. From the looks of it, this is the only information available so it cannot be readily verified. Nonetheless, here's a sample of what they had to say;
SANTA MONICA — Out of fashion for 4,000 years, asherah poles have shown up in night clubs and hip restaurants in Los Angeles and Miami, where patrons consider them trendy, mystical symbols of ancient power.
“People want to connect to something with ancient roots, not some modern religion,” says a night club owner who added carved, modern-looking poles to his facility. “People rub them to get good luck with their careers and relationships.”........
As far as anyone can tell, the poles first showed up at a fashion show in West L.A., where the set designer used religious icons to spice things up. People raved about the sleek asherah poles so much that local clubs added them to their décor. Poles are often accompanied by a carved bowl at the base where people offer “sacrifices” of spare change, or even jewelry.
“It represents natural religion, I guess,” says Sasha, 23, who dropped a dollar into an asherah bowl before ordering a blue-colored beverage at the bustling Octopus Bar. “It makes me feel connected to the earth and to spiritual energy. Maybe it will help me be lucky.”
Source: "As asherah poles come into vogue, Jewish group goes on crusade" at Lark News
Even though these facts are subjective and we cannot confirm or deny how true they are, this lines up perfectly with the following scripture;
Romans 1:21-25(NLT) - Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
When people don't want God they turn to foolishness. They rub the belly of Buddha. They rub magic lamps and hope genies come out. They wear good luck charms. They believe daily horoscopes and fortune cookies. They call psychic hotlines. They practice superstition. They drink blood and pretend to have vampire power. Maybe these things work just fine for them or maybe not. Regardless, instead of accepting the truth they open themselves up to the lies of the enemy.
What is Asherah and why does it matter?
1 Kings 15:13(NKJV) - Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
Asa didn't play any games with Asherah. He removed his grandmother from her throne because she was involved in the practice. He then proceeded to cut down the image she created and burn it to the ground. Why did he take it so seriously? What's the big deal with Asherah?
The Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology says the following;
Asherah. The people of Israel had been settled in the promised land for only a brief time before their attention turned to the deities of the Canaanites. The Book of Judges chronicles this apostasy. The people forsook the Lord God to serve Asherah and her husband Baal (Ashteroth is an alternative name for Asherah, Judges 2:13 ; 3:7 ).
The name "Asherah" and its variant spellings occur thirty-nine times in the Old Testament. In a number of these instances, Baal is mentioned along with Asherah. Evidence from Ugaritic mythologies and other texts suggests that the term refers to both the Canaanite goddess and cultic objects facilitating her worship.
That Baal and Asherah are mentioned together in several Old Testament passages suggests that the Canaanites and other peoples considered Asherah to be an important "high deity" along with Baal. The most explicit passage disclosing the close relationship between the two comes from the narrative about Ahab and Jezebel's confrontation with Elijah ( 1 Kings 18:1-19:18 ). Their endorsement of and participation in the worship of these Canaanite deities is the most extreme of any incidents related in Scripture concerning Israelite rulers who adopted the worship of these gods. In fact, Jezebel went so far as to insist that Ahab provide for the worship of her Phoenician deities.......
The most shocking endorsement of Israel's buying into Canaanite religion was the construction of a temple for the worship of Baal at Samaria. This, as mentioned above, was promoted by Ahab (869-850 b.c.) and Jezebel, his wife, who was the daughter of the Tyrian king Ethbaal ( 1 Kings 16:29-34 ). This temple was constructed with the help of Tyrian artisans, along with an altar on which to offer sacrifices and a "sacred pole" (NRSV) or "wooden image" (NKJV). Because of this apostasy, judgment was poured out on Ahab and Jezebel. Jehu later destroyed this temple ( 2 Kings 10:18-31 ).......
In sum, why would people choose to mess with Asherah poles again after all these years? I'm not sure. However, I put nothing beyond anyone who rejects God. If they don't want the truth they will believe a lie. What seems like harmless fun for some of these people could awaken spirits that will wreak complete havoc in their lives. Since we know the truth we should stay as far away from this stuff as possible.
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Another form of antichrist has emerge and we know that anyone against the word of god is antichrist abortion rights, same sex marriages, no prayer in schools…. he’s just setting the stage for the one and only finale….
Vanessa, we know how this story ends. God wrote it all out for us so that we would be prepared for it.
I agree with Vanessa, it is even more important as Kingdom Citizens that we remain sober and vigilant and ensure that our focus is on God and nothing else, because these things emerge so subtly, if we don’t keep our focus we too can be deceived.
Amen Joanne. We must keep our eyes wide open.
Also Owls. Many t-shirts and pieces of jewlery today have images of owls on them, you can read more about it on this link;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch
we live in an intresting world.
You all pray for me , I will pray for you.
God Bless.
Thanks for the info Miss Walker. May God bless and keep you.
Interesting read! I hear of all sorts of stuff like this going on in club Zen in T&T, too. And yes it’s true that the popularity of owls is increasing. I’ve seen the jewellery and my neighbour has an ornament of an owl hanging up in his garage. The thing looks sooo creepy.
Wow! Trinidad too? I just saw this show on TV with a kid spray painting a “hellish” looking owl on the wall. I just thought it was random. I had no idea this is a growing trend. As I said, they have repackaged and re-branded these ancient occult practices and made them relevant to each generation. This is so real. We have to represent The Kingdom even more.
Interesting. I didn’t realize it was happening in T&T too. Keep up the good work, Donnell. The more information we get , the better we can pray
Thanks Gaynelle. God bless you.
Donnell, this is amazing. In the garden, peter cut off the ear of the soldier, and Jesus did not think twice put the ear back. He healed the soldier. Now, even though they had doubts or had never seen Jesus’s miracles, this was in front of their faces, evidence that he was geniune – the Son of God. Yet they ignored this and just carried on. I think this speaks to purpose.
That’s true Claudia, people choose to ignore God and still claim He’s not there.
Donnell – I appreciate your comments. BUT PLEASE, PLEASE, check out the sources. LARK NEWS is a SPOOF WEBSITE. These are Christian writers (who in my opinion are gently and humorously) spoofing Christianity. I find some of their stories hilarious because they look so real. They make fun of Christians, Christianity, and Christian trends without tearing down anyone. But NONE of those stories are true.
Sometime, read some of the articles and have a good laugh, OK?
Joseph, thanks for your response. Did you read what I said? I said the information in the article cannot be verified. Regardless, the blog was about a principle in The Bible which is relevant to anyone at anytime. That’s the point of it so read the blog again and you’ll realize I never said the article was real.
I’m bewildered that, humans have repackaged Ancient idolatory. I was studying the book of 2king 22 and 23 and read about king josiah and how he abolished idol worship and asherah poles in particular, just to read now that human still worship this detestable thing. Gods wrath is not afar off, it will to say we will soon be called Home. Praise the Lord Jesus, our Saviour…
Amen.
This is all rather amazing. I have often thought of the motivational similarity between modern abortion and ancient child sacrifice (in Carthaginian No. AFRICA and Syro-Palestine). I had assumed the latter to be motivated by the need to control population size and “quality” of children (one of the motivations for “exposing” newborns in ancient Greece. The Roman’s too practiced abortions and babies were presented to the father(or Male head of household) to accept into the family or to kill. I’m not all that surprised though. Among Catholics the justifiably cynical remark has been made of pro-choice (pro-death) Catholics is that they would make abortion a sacrament (ie a religious rite) if they could.
Mary Ann, thanks for your input.