seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 16:18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. 19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the Lord your God, 22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the Lord your God hates.
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the Lord your God, 22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the Lord your God hates.
Finishing up chapter 16 with a wish and a warning if you ask me.... today we wish we had un-perverted and impartial judges. Today we wish there were no fake altars or sacred stones. Remember, some of the people they were about to run out of the promised land thought their gods wanted them to heat up those sacred stones until they were glowing hot and then lay their babies on it as a sacrifice. These were some sick people and the Israelites were just human enough to blindly follow them, not only in the judicial practices but in the spiritual sense as well.
This is from the bibletrack.org site.
Let's just head this potential problem off right from the beginning. As a friend of mine says, "It's not the money; it's the money!" Or, as verse 19 puts it, "for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous."
This was a typical setting for the altars of the heathen to Baal. Don't do anything that even looks like it. The word "grove" in the KJV comes from the proper Hebrew name "Asherah," a Phoenician goddess - the female counterpart to Baal. Asherah first shows up in scripture all the way back in Exodus 34:13 and Baal in Numbers 22:41.
This was a typical setting for the altars of the heathen to Baal. Don't do anything that even looks like it. The word "grove" in the KJV comes from the proper Hebrew name "Asherah," a Phoenician goddess - the female counterpart to Baal. Asherah first shows up in scripture all the way back in Exodus 34:13 and Baal in Numbers 22:41.
Is this the modern asherah pole?
