“Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the
streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire,
and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven…” (Jeremiah
7:17-18).
In ancient times national warfare was a battle of national gods. The nation who subdued another nation in battle ostensibly had a stronger god than the other (e.g. 1 Kings 20:23). This was the shocking meaning behind the power–plays of the exodus where a slave people destroyed and plundered a world superpower. The primary meaning behind it is theological. It means something about the god(s) of Egypt. It means something about the God of Israel/Moses. And centuries later during the time of Jeremiah the divine power-game behind national warfare still remained. Keep this in the back of your mind as we look more specifically at this scripture.
A few decades before these scriptures were spoken through Jeremiah, the Assyrian empire wiped out Israel and nearly destroyed Judah. Shortly thereafter another wave of imperial power was rising and its army set its course toward Judah. They were Babylonians from the east. Interestingly both of these two empires worshiped a fertility goddess named Astarte or as the Babylonians called her –Ishtar. So guess who was responsible for their imperial success in battle? That's right. The great goddess of Babylon also known as “The Queen of Heaven.”
Quick excursus: In modern philosophy a movement was undertaken to root all of philosophy in ‘reason.’ The cultural ethos was how “enlightened” western culture had become and the philosophy and values based on it was called the Enlightenment. The cultural superiority of Europe’s technology and science with respect to the rest of the world was supposedly the obvious evidence of this superiority. What was the Christian response to this movement? On the whole, Christian scholarship and philosophy rerouted its beliefs to be based on the ultimate foundations of ‘reason/rationality.’ It no longer saw itself as “The Queen of the Sciences,” as it used to be. But instead it was a derivative worldview that one should eventually come to when you first center your life around ‘reason/rationality.’ Do you see the move there? It was subtle, but momentous. Christianity became a useful appendage for something more central –more foundational. It was not the first time the followers of God have capitulated to the reigning cultural ideas and pressures around them. In Jeremiah’s day, the people of Judah were feeling the same pressures.
Why could the armies of Babylon march destructively through the Levant with little resistance? The first answer to that question came relentlessly through the pleading lips of Jeremiah himself: “Babylon is the judgment of Yahweh on Yahweh’s own people and their sin.” The second answer to that question came from reigning cultural ideas of the day: “Because Babylon’s god was a very strong god.” In this calamity, the most significant response from the people of Judah would be how they chose to answer this question. Would they just assume what everyone else assumed or would they be counter–cultural? Were the cultural ideas around them more foundational than those old-school prophetic ideas? The answer they chose is in the initial verse at the top.
The people of Judah offered sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven, so that perhaps she might show them mercy. Make no mistake, it is not like the people didn’t care about worshiping Yahweh. They still did in their own way. But Yahweh was decentered. Something more foundational –something more culturally acceptable– took its place. Sound familiar? If you don’t see the absolute betrayal here, you will miss the heart of this scripture. And furthermore, if you’re tempted to distance yourself from these seemingly silly choices the people of Judah made here… you probably haven’t looked close enough at your own capitulations to the cultural values you swim in. Every generation since Christ (like the Enlightenment and on into today) has had those “followers of God” who don’t look very different than the rest of the culture around them.
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| The Queen of Heaven |
In ancient times national warfare was a battle of national gods. The nation who subdued another nation in battle ostensibly had a stronger god than the other (e.g. 1 Kings 20:23). This was the shocking meaning behind the power–plays of the exodus where a slave people destroyed and plundered a world superpower. The primary meaning behind it is theological. It means something about the god(s) of Egypt. It means something about the God of Israel/Moses. And centuries later during the time of Jeremiah the divine power-game behind national warfare still remained. Keep this in the back of your mind as we look more specifically at this scripture.
A few decades before these scriptures were spoken through Jeremiah, the Assyrian empire wiped out Israel and nearly destroyed Judah. Shortly thereafter another wave of imperial power was rising and its army set its course toward Judah. They were Babylonians from the east. Interestingly both of these two empires worshiped a fertility goddess named Astarte or as the Babylonians called her –Ishtar. So guess who was responsible for their imperial success in battle? That's right. The great goddess of Babylon also known as “The Queen of Heaven.”
Quick excursus: In modern philosophy a movement was undertaken to root all of philosophy in ‘reason.’ The cultural ethos was how “enlightened” western culture had become and the philosophy and values based on it was called the Enlightenment. The cultural superiority of Europe’s technology and science with respect to the rest of the world was supposedly the obvious evidence of this superiority. What was the Christian response to this movement? On the whole, Christian scholarship and philosophy rerouted its beliefs to be based on the ultimate foundations of ‘reason/rationality.’ It no longer saw itself as “The Queen of the Sciences,” as it used to be. But instead it was a derivative worldview that one should eventually come to when you first center your life around ‘reason/rationality.’ Do you see the move there? It was subtle, but momentous. Christianity became a useful appendage for something more central –more foundational. It was not the first time the followers of God have capitulated to the reigning cultural ideas and pressures around them. In Jeremiah’s day, the people of Judah were feeling the same pressures.
Why could the armies of Babylon march destructively through the Levant with little resistance? The first answer to that question came relentlessly through the pleading lips of Jeremiah himself: “Babylon is the judgment of Yahweh on Yahweh’s own people and their sin.” The second answer to that question came from reigning cultural ideas of the day: “Because Babylon’s god was a very strong god.” In this calamity, the most significant response from the people of Judah would be how they chose to answer this question. Would they just assume what everyone else assumed or would they be counter–cultural? Were the cultural ideas around them more foundational than those old-school prophetic ideas? The answer they chose is in the initial verse at the top.
The people of Judah offered sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven, so that perhaps she might show them mercy. Make no mistake, it is not like the people didn’t care about worshiping Yahweh. They still did in their own way. But Yahweh was decentered. Something more foundational –something more culturally acceptable– took its place. Sound familiar? If you don’t see the absolute betrayal here, you will miss the heart of this scripture. And furthermore, if you’re tempted to distance yourself from these seemingly silly choices the people of Judah made here… you probably haven’t looked close enough at your own capitulations to the cultural values you swim in. Every generation since Christ (like the Enlightenment and on into today) has had those “followers of God” who don’t look very different than the rest of the culture around them.
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