ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Falaite Sune 23, 2023

The Canaanite Consorts  בעל אשרה 

    HOLOKI MO TUTU E ‘OTUA KENANI   

JUDGES 6:25-26

THAT NIGHT THE LORD SAID TO [GIDEON], "TAKE YOUR FATHER'S BULL, AND THE SECOND BULL SEVEN YEARS OLD, AND PULL DOWN THE ALTAR OF BAAL THAT YOUR FATHER HAS, AND CUT DOWN THE ASHERAH THAT IS BESIDE IT AND BUILD AN ALTAR TO THE LORD YOUR GOD ON THE TOP OF THE STRONGHOLD HERE, WITH STONES LAID IN DUE ORDER. THEN TAKE THE SECOND BULL AND OFFER IT AS A BURNT OFFERING WITH THE WOOD OF THE ASHERAH THAT YOU SHALL CUT DOWN."

FAKAMAAU 6:25-26

25 Pea ‘i he pō ko ia na‘e folofola ‘a e ‘Eiki kiate ia, ‘Ave ‘a e pulu mui ‘a ho‘o ‘eiki, pea mo hono ua ‘o e pulu ‘oku fitu ta‘u, pea holoki ‘a e ‘ōlita ‘o Peali, ‘a ia ‘oku ‘a ho‘o tangata‘eiki, pea tā ‘a e ‘āsela ‘oku tu‘u ai; 26 pea te ke fokotu‘u ha ‘ōlita kia Sihova ko ho ‘Otua ‘i he funga ‘o e talitau‘anga ni ‘aki ‘a e me‘a kuo ‘osi teu; pea ke to‘o hono ua ‘o e pulu, ‘o fai‘aki ha feilaulau-mōifua, ‘o tutu ‘aki ‘a e ‘akau ‘o e ‘āsela ‘a ia kuo ke tā.

Baal and Asherah were a popular couple in the Canaanite pantheon. Baal, a junior god, was the sky deity; Asherah was the fertility goddess. Worshipers sacrificed to Baal for good weather and good crops, and to Asherah for fertility and children. A fruitful earth and fruitful wombs-those were elementary needs, especially in the ancient world. The Israelites, sharing those needs, and suffering from a chronic case of the wandering idolatrous eye, often became devotees of Baal and Asherah. That was the case in Gideon's family, who had an altar to Baal and an Asherah pole smack-dab in their backyard.

Syncretism-worshipping the true God alongside faux deities-was, and still is, humanity's premier temptation. Thus "You shall have no other gods" always accuses us, driving us to repentance and faith. In the Father, Son, and Spirit alone do we, with ever wandering hearts, find peace and abiding rest.

Teach us, Father, to fear, love, and trust in you above all things.